The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 408

HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-16. - Vows unto the Lord,. This section, although fragment•cy, yet reveals to us with great -cJeamess the Divine mind concerning one important portion of practical religion. It lays down directly the princ:i-plo that vows to God were lawful and binding. It lays down indirectly the limitation (although it only applies it to the case of women not suijuris) that no vows to God were valid with- out the consent of the ~awtul guardian, if such therl'l were. It implies the general rule that no vows are bmdmg to the damage of any who are not parties to the vow· and this is itself a part of the yet wider principle that God is not served nor honoured by anything which involves the injury or dishonour of man. In applying the teach- ing of this chapter there is indeed the serious preliminary difficulty of deciding whether vows are lawful at all under the Christian dispensation. Inasmuch as no direct utterance can be found in the New Testament upol} the subject, it can only be argued upon broad principles of the gospel, and will probably for ever continue to be decided in different ways by different people. It will be truly said upon one side that by virtue of our Christian baptism and profession our whole self is dedicate unto God, to live a life of entire holiness, such as leaves no room for further and self-imposed limitations and restrictions. On the other side it will be truly replied that although in principle all that we have and are is " not our own," but "bought with a price," and only held in trust by us for the glory of God and the good of men, yet in practice there are many different degrees of self-renunciation between which a good Christian is often called in effect to make his choice, and that his vow may be simply his answer to the inward voice which bids him (in this sense)" go up higher." It will be said, again, and truly said, that the law of Christ is essentially a law of liberty, and therefore inconsistent with the constraint of vows; that as soon a.~ a man crosses his natural will, not because his higher will deliberately emb,·aces pain for the sake of God, but because he is bound by a vow, his service ceases to be free and ceases to be acceptable. On the other side it will be said, and truly said, that just because we are 11-'lder the law of liberty, therefore we are at liberty to use whatever helps Christian experience finds to be for practical advantage in the hard conflict with self; the law of liberty will no more strip the weakling of the defens- ive armour which gives him confidence than compel the strong man to hamper him- self with it. Once more, it will be said that the Christian service is "reasonable," i. e. one which continually approves itself to the honest intelligence of him that renders it; but since it may happen to any to have hie convictions altered by growing know- ledge or greater experience, it is not fit that the conduct of any be permanently re- strained by vows. .And this is to a certain extent unanswerable. No vow could oblige a Christian to act contrary to hie matured convictions of what was really best for him, and so for God. If, e. g., one who had vowed celibacy co.me to feel in him- self the tmth of 1 Cor. vii. 9, he would be a better Christian in breaking than in keeping his vow; for we are not under the law, which rigorously enforces the letter, but under the Spirit, who loves only that which makes for true holiness, It may, however, be truly urged that while no vow ought to be held absolutely binding upou a conscience which repudiates it, yet many vows may be taken with all practical assurance that the conscience never will repudiate them. One thing of course is certain; all vows (at least of abstinence) stand upon the same footing in principle, however various an aspect they may wear m practice, A vow, e. g., of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors is in principle exactly as defensible or as indefensible as a vow of perpetual celibacy; nor can an attempt to defend one while condemning the other be absolved from the charge of hypocrisy. This being the doubtful state of the argument, of which th1} true Christian casuist can only say, "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind," it remains to treat of vows in that sense in which they are allowed by all, viz., as promises made by the soul to God, whether fortified or not by some outward ceremonial, whether made in response to the more general persuasions of the gospel, or the more secret drawings of the Holy Spirit. Consider, therefore- I. THAT A MAN MUST NOT BREAK RIB WOBD UNTO Gon. If a man is obliged iri hon- CB', XU. 1-16.) THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 895