The Book of Numbers – The weight of our Words

Going back a few years, I had another mum at my son’s school who was always very friendly whenever we saw each other at school events and we would have a lovely chat and she would say, “We have to meet up outside of school, we should catch up over coffee”.  My son graduated from school at the end of last year, and in the six years that I have seen her on and off at school she never called me for any catch ups and did not consider any of my efforts to meet up. And each time she would see me she would say the same thing. I had soon understood that she had no intention of following through on her words. My experience informed me of how much weight I need to give to the intention behind her words.

In Numbers 30, Moses speaks God’s command to the people about the intention and weight of their words. In those times, vows and oaths were often made, carried out towards God or towards people and the breaking of it was a violation to whom it was made to. A vow was a promise, and a promise was meant to be kept.  

Numbers 30:1-2 “Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: “This is what the Lord commands: When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.”

The passage begins with the seriousness of what it means to make a vow to the Lord. Once made, it was an obligation that needed to be fulfilled. A promise to God was meant to be followed through with action. A vow made was not meant to be rash or something that you had no intention of fulfilling.

Most of the chapter addresses vows made by women. For women, either the woman’s father or husband could nullify the vow made by her. In the culture then, fathers and husbands were the primary carers and providers for the women and therefore if the women failed to fulfill the obligation of the vow, the men had to ensure to fulfill it. Hence God gave them the right to do so, but they could do so only if they heard it and negated it within the first day of it being made, otherwise the vow would stand.

Vows are not a big part of our practice today as it was back then, and while much of this passage centres around promises/vows made by women, the main message is not to be missed, the importance of keeping our word.

Be it to God or to another person, how do you fare with keeping your word?

Self- Reflection: How are your commitments to God going? Are you following through on what you promised to God. Promise to be more diligent in spending time with him, to set aside distractions, to commit to a time of prayer and fasting, to lay down your tendency to sit on media more than the word of God.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”

We are to give careful consideration to what we promise and commit to. If our word cannot be taken seriously, what does it reflect about us? Actions always speak louder than words. Preaching alone is never enough, but practising what we profess serves to create a lasting impact on anyone. Jesus taught us in Luke 6:45b, “Out of the abundance of our heart, the mouth speaks.” When our words are not followed through with action, it is telling of the intention within the heart.  

Jesus in Mathew 5 teaches us to let our ‘yes’ be yes and our ‘No’, no.

Mathew 5: 37a “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’”

The Lord intends for us to be people of our word. Why, because we are called to reflect God. “God is not human, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19). And when our word can’t be trusted, rather than reflect our heavenly father, we look more like the devil, the father of lies (John 8:44).

Self-Reflection: Are there any yeses you have said that need follow through with action?

Prayer: Lord, it is easy to speak out promises, but you ask us to carefully consider what we say and commit to. Help us Lord, to not be flippant, but with discernment make our commitments. Lord may we always look to you for steadfastness to follow through with our promises.  May we consider our yeses and noes and may we be men and women of our word so that we reflect you in what we say and do. Amen.

God Bless.