RSEA.D. Week 121

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  • Torah (T): Bemidbar (Numbers) 30:1 – 31:54
  • Prophets (P): Jeremiah 4:1-4
  • Apostolic (A): Matthew 5:33-37
  • Additional (ADD): Sirach 18:15-33; Baruch (Letter of Jeremiah) 6:29-35

Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

In Numbers 30:1-16, Moses was instructed to communicate the importance of entering into a vow or an oath. The implications of not following through carry severe consequences. The idea of putting a bind upon your soul is far greater than just making an empty promise that may or may not be accomplished. This command applies to men and women. A women who enters into a vow does not have the full authority to establish the matter. The covering of her father or husband can nullify the oath. The fact that a daughter attains forgiveness communicates the severity of provoking a vow. As it states in verse 2, she is to do according to all that is spoken. Her ability to uphold her oath depends on her father’s and/or her husband’s approval depending on who’s covering she is under at that time.

Numbers 31:1-53 show MASSIVE spoils from the Midianites

  • 31:32 Now the plunder, over and above the surplus which the men of army took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep, seventy-two thousand head of cattle, sixty-one thousand donkeys
    • According to the Sierra club, the average CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) has 1,000 cattle.
    • The largest U.S. cattle ranch, the King Ranch in South Texas holds 35,000 cattle on 825K acres.

How did they confirm which of the women were in fact virgins so as to spare their lives? Jerusalem Targum: “Now, therefore, slay every male among the children, and every woman who hath known a man; but every female child you will stand before the Crown of Holiness, (the priest’s tiara,) and look upon her: she who is not a virgin will be pallid in the face, but she who is a virgin child will blush in the face, like fire; them you will spare”

1. Partnered with Moab, and Balaam to destroy Israel. A Midianite woman was brought into camp by a chief of a tribe Zimri).
2. Vassals of the Amorite giant king Sihon (Jos.13:21)

  1. 30:1 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the word which YHWH has commanded.
    1. 30:2 When a man vows a vow to YHWH, or swears a swearing to [tie up a bond](MTT) upon his soul, he will not profane his word. He will do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
      1. נֶדֶר neder (H5088) means “to vow” and is when one promises to perform an act if another performs a certain act (cf. Genesis 28:20-22; Numbers 21:2-3; Judges 11:30)
        1. Genesis 28:20-22; 20 Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If Elohim will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and YHWH will be my Elohim, 22 then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be Elohim’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”
        2. Numbers 21:2; Israel vowed a vow to YHWH, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”
        3. Judges 11:30-31; Jephthah vowed a vow to YHWH, and said, “If you will indeed deliver the sons of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it will be, that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it will be YHWH’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
        4. 1 Samuel 1:11; (Hannah) vowed a vow, and said, “YHWH of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to YHWH all the days of his life, and no razor will come on his head.
      2. שָּׁבַע shava’ (H7650) literally means “to seven oneself” where a person completely submits to a promise or oath with words and spoken seven times (cf. Genesis 33:3). In ancient times, “A common practice was to make seven declarations when making an oath. This declaration can be making the oath seven times or doing seven things to show the sincerity of the oath.” – Jeff Benner
        1. Genesis 33:3; (Jacob) himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
      3. לֶאְסֹר אִסָּר lesor isar (H631 + H632) literally means to “tie up a bond” where אִסָּר isar means to tie or bind something in order to move it by force. “The yoke is bound to the neck of the oxen and used by the driver to turn the head of the oxen. A yoke was also used for prisoners.” – Jeff Benner (cf. Genesis 39:20; Genesis 40:5)
    2. 30:3 Also, when a woman vows a vow to YHWH and she will [tie up a bond](MTT) in her father’s house, in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow and her bond, which she [tied up upon her soul],(MTT) and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows will stand, and every bond with which she [tied up upon her soul];(MTT) [he will establish it].(DSS) 5 But if her father forbids her in the day that he hears, none of her vows or of her bonds, which she [tied up upon her soul],(MTT) will stand. YHWH will forgive her, because her father has forbidden her.
    3. 30:6 If she has a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips with which she has [tied up upon her soul],(MTT) 7 and her husband hears it, and says nothing to her in the day that he hears it; then her vows will stand, and her bonds, which she [tied up upon her soul](MTT) will stand. 8 But if her husband [forbid her sign](MTT) in the day that he hears it, then he makes void [all](DSS) her [vows and her bonds](DSS) which are on her and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has [tied up upon her soul].(MTT) YHWH will forgive her.
      1. Deuteronomy 23:21-23; When you vow a vow to YHWH your Elohim, you will not be slack to pay it, for YHWH your Elohim will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, it will be no sin in you. 23 You will observe and do that which has gone out of your lips. Whatever you have vowed to YHWH your Elohim as a freewill offering, which you have promised with your mouth, you must do.
      2. Ecclesiastes 5:4-7; When you vow a vow to Elohim, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Don’t allow your mouth to lead you into sin. Don’t protest before the angel that this was a mistake. Why should Elohim be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, as well as in many words; but you must fear Elohim.
    4. 30:9 But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has [tied up upon her soul],(MTT) will stand against her.
    5. 30:10 If she vowed in her husband’s house or [tied up upon her soul],(MTT) by a bond with an oath, 11 and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her and didn’t disallow her, then all her vows will stand, and every bond, which she [tied up upon her soul],(MTT) will stand. 12 But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, will not stand. Her husband has made them void. YHWH will forgive her.
    6. 30:13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.
    7. 30:14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her bonds which are on her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her in the day that he heard them. 15 But if he makes them null and void after he has heard them, then he will bear her iniquity.”
    8. 30:16 These are the statutes which YHWH commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father’s house.
  2. 31:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Avenge the sons of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you will be gathered to your people.”
    1. 31:7 They fought against Midian, as YHWH commanded Moses. They killed every male.
    2. 31:8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
    3. 31:9 The sons of Israel took the women of Midian captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder.
    4. 31:14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the army. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive? 16 Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the word of Balaam, to commit trespass against YHWH upon the word of Peor, and so the striking was among the congregation of YHWH. 17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
    5. 31:19 “Encamp outside of the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives. 20 You will purify every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.”
    6. 31:21 Eleazar the priest said to the men of army who went to the battle, “This is the statute of the Torah which YHWH has commanded Moses. 22 However the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that may withstand the fire, you will make to go through the fire, and it will be clean; nevertheless it will be purified with the water for impurity. All that doesn’t withstand the fire you will make to go through the water. 24 You will wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be clean. Afterward you will come into the camp.”
    7. 31:25 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Count the plunder that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation; 27 and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in army, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.
    8. 31:28 Levy a tribute to YHWH of the men of army who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred; of the persons, of the cattle, [of the flocks, and of the donkeys].(DSS)
      1. 31:29 Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for YHWH’s wave offering. 30 Of the sons of Israel’s half, you will take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of YHWH’s tabernacle.”
      2. 31:31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as YHWH commanded Moses. 32 Now the plunder, over and above the surplus which the men of army took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand head of cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him.
        1. 31:36 The half, which was the portion of those who went out to army, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep; 37 and YHWH’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five. 38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which YHWH’s tribute was seventy-two. 39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which YHWH’s tribute was sixty-one. 40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of whom YHWH’s tribute was thirty-two persons.
        2. 31:41 Moses gave the tribute to YHWH, the wave offering [of Elohim],(LXX) to Eleazar the priest, as YHWH commanded Moses.
        3. 31:42 Of the sons of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men who fought, 43 now the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 thirty-six thousand head of cattle, 45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand persons,
          1. 31:47 even of the sons of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of YHWH’s tabernacle, as YHWH commanded Moses.
      3. 48 Then [all](DSS) the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, [who came from the service of the army],(DSS) came near to Moses. 49 They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of army who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us. 50 We have brought YHWH’s offering, what every man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, [and](DSS) earrings, and necklaces, [and he made](DSS) atonement for our souls before YHWH.”
      4. 31:51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels. 52 All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to YHWH, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand [and] seven hundred fifty shekels. 53 The men of army had taken surplus, every man for himself.
      5. 31:54 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Appointed Tent for a memorial for the sons of Israel before YHWH.

Exhortation
Counsel, comfort, and encouragement (Acts 13:14-15)

Words have power and “our word is our bond” as the Master teaches in our Apostolic portion, oaths and vows are “of the evil one”:

  • Vows give us a false sense of power — power that belongs to God alone.
  • We have nothing to swear “on” because everything we have belongs to God.
  • It’s not our words that ultimately matter, but our will and will is much harder to control than our mouth.
  • Making a vow or swearing an oath is an easy (and foolish) way to set ourselves up for judgment.
    • Proverbs 10:19 In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely.
  1. Vow: neder (H5088) means “to vow” and is when one promises to perform an act if another performs a certain act (cf. Genesis 28:20-22; Numbers 21:2-3; Judges 11:30)
    1. There is a give and take aspect to a vow. If either participant does not uphold their end of the bargain the agreement is nullified. However, YHWH upholds His vow toward His people regardless of their failure to uphold their end (Gen. 15:12, 17-18).
    2. Psalms 105:8-10  He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded for a thousand generations: which he established as a covenant to Abraham, and he remembered his oath to Isaac. And he established it to Jacob for an ordinance, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant;
    3. Hebrews 6:13-20 13 For when Elohim made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” (cf. Genesis 22:17) Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by a greater one, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation. In this way Elohim, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for Elohim to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil, where as a forerunner Yeshua entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
  2. Swear: shava’ (H7650) literally means “to seven oneself” where a person completely submits to a promise or oath with words and spoken seven times (cf. Genesis 33:3). In ancient times, “A common practice was to make seven declarations when making an oath. This declaration can be making the oath seven times or doing seven things to show the sincerity of the oath.” – Jeff Benner
  3. Numbers 30:2 – Tie a bond upon our soul: he will not profane his word. He will do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
    1. לֶאְסֹר אִסָּר lesor isar (H631 + H632) literally means to “tie up a bond” where אִסָּר isar means to tie or bind something in order to move it by force. “The yoke is bound to the neck of the oxen and used by the driver to turn the head of the oxen. A yoke was also used for prisoners.” – Jeff Benner (cf. Genesis 39:20; Genesis 40:5)
    2. What strikes me with this term is how it associates that our “soul”, the literal essence of our being, becomes bound by what we agree to;
      1. Psalms 16:10 “For you will not abandon my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.”
      2. Ecclesiastes 12:7 “…and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to Elohim who gave it.”
      3. Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
      4. Acts 2:31 “…he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah, that neither was he abandoned in Sheol, nor did his flesh see decay.”
      5. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 May the Elohim of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
    3. In Matthew 5:33-37, Yeshua sets the premise of how we are to conduct ourselves with commitments. He states that to vow falsely, is akin to vain swearing. He is quoting Leviticus 19:12. The Hebrew is sheqer, and denotes an untruth; by implication, a sham (often adverbial) — without a cause. We are not to commit without to something in essence without considering the cost. There is a seriousness that needs to be considered when we invoke ourselves in an agreement. Yeshua says let your yes, or no, be final; anything further is wicked-double speak.
    4. Another reason I believe this is important is due to the source of our words.
      1. Proverbs 4:23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For out of it are the sources of life.
      2. Matthew 12:33-37 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten, for a tree is known by its fruit. “Brood of adders! How are you able to speak what is good – being wicked? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. “The good man brings forth what is good from the good treasures of his heart, and the wicked man brings forth what is wicked from the wicked treasure. “And I say to you that for every idle word men speak, they shall give an account of it in the day of judgment. “For by your words you shall be declared righteous, and by your words you shall be declared unrighteous.”
      3. Colossians 4:6  Let your word always be with favor, seasoned with salt, so that you know how you ought to answer each one.
      4. Mark 9:49-50  “For everyone shall be seasoned with fire, and every offering shall be seasoned with salt.  “Salt is good, but if the salt becomes tasteless, how shall you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace among one another.”

Application
Living the Word and following Yeshua (Acts 2:37; Romans 2:13)

  1. Matthew 5:33-37; “Again you have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You will not make false vows, but will perform to the Lord your vows,’ 34 but I tell you, don’t swear by an oath at all (cf. Deuteronomy 23:21-23): neither by the heavens, for it is the throne of Elohim; 35 nor by the land, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither will you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.”
  2. Ya’aqov (James) 5:12; But above all things, my brothers, don’t swear by an oath— not by the heavens, or by the land, or by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes”, and your “no”, “no”, so that you don’t fall into hypocrisy.
  3. Sirach 18:23-24; Before you make a vow, prepare yourself. Don’t be like a man who try’s the Lord. Think about the wrath coming in the days of the end, and the time of vengeance, when he turns away his face.
  4. Ecclesiastes 5:2-3; Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before Elohim; for Elohim is in the heavens, and you on land. Therefore let your words be few. 3 For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words.

Examples:
Judges 11:9-11, 30-40
1 Samuel 1:10-22

Additional Scriptures:
Sirach 18:19 – Learn before you speak.
Jacob 1:19-20 – So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.
Proverbs 17:28 – Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is counted wise. When he shuts his lips, he is thought to be discerning.

Discussion
Questions, input, and sharpening (Proverbs 27:17; Luke 2:46)

  1. Did you know the meaning of “vow” before this Torah Study?
  2. Why do we make vows?
    1. To try and demonstrate commitment or honesty
    2. To try and empower oneself for a task
    3. To obtain favor or escape punishment (Fear of Man)
    4. Out of anger and/or to avoid being hurt
      1. Common during childhood trauma and/or abuse
  3. Have you made vows in the past that were not paid to YHWH?
  4. What makes us want to go beyond our Yes, or No statement? (Genesis 3:1-5)
  5. Was the killing of the Midianite justified? (Num. 25:14-17; Targum)