Rash Vows

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife….. How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? Judges 21:1‭, ‬7 KJV

The word of God is very strict when it comes to making vows. Vows are sworn promises to do or not to do a thing under God. The problems with vows is that it must not be taken rashly. The Hebrew word for rash is bahal, which means to act hastily. The word is clear in Eccl.5:2: ” Do not be rash with your mouth, and do not let your heart be hasty to utter a word in God’s presence. For God is in heaven and you are on earth, therefore let your words be few”. The Passion Translation also has a beautiful rendering on hasty vows: ” To make rash, hasty decisions shows that you are not trusting the Lord. But when you rely totally on God, you will still act carefully and prudently”.
Prov. 28:25 (TPT). What the word discourages is making emotional decisions in the presence of God. A good majority of people make these kinds of decisions most days under preaching pressures. So they swore they will never allow Benjamites in marriage again. Now they are looking for ways to circumnavigate that. John Reid in Forerunner quotes the New Testament Clause in these words,” Jesus advises us not to swear at all (Matthew 5:34), but to say simply, “Yes” or “No” (verse 37). If we are honest, we have no need take an oath. He goes so far as to say that anything more than “Yes” or “No” has its source in the father of lies( John8:44 )”. Today, the word of a christian should be his bond. Is that true with you?