Playground games we enjoyed as kids come to mind as I read God’s regulations of vow keeping for His people.  Wait, what, now?  Consider this; as children, we would naturally gather to play a game of tag, kickball, Red Rover, Mother May I, tether ball, etc. but sometimes we would become board with these known games and make up games with our own created rules—most rules were made up as we played the game!  The rules would change often to suit our team’s advantage until someone on the other side would shout, “Hey, no take backs!”  “You said the rule was…” and then an argument would ensued which seemed to be part of the game’s fun—until the teacher came over to set us straight.

God is the Teacher of His People. God does not promise what He will not deliver and fulfill.  God is teaching His people to be more like Him in this way by instructing them how to keep a vow holy and deliver on the promise of the vow with a pure heart.  This is not as much about giving to God, although tithing is taught, as it is keeping a promise (vow) made that has been pronounced holy to God by the priest.  No take backs!

Leviticus is ending with teaching vow keeping rather than with an account of a special demonstration of God’s glory and holiness. It might seem odd to us until we dig deeper.  Our promises to God must be as firm as His covenant with us. “Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastic 5:2). “It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, and afterward to reconsider his vows” (Proverbs 20:25).

Leviticus 27

Redeeming What Is the Lord’s

The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent value, ³ set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; ⁴ for a female, set her value at thirty shekels; ⁵ for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels and of a female at ten shekels; ⁶ for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels of silver and that of a female at three shekels of silver; ⁷ for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels and of a female at ten shekels. ⁸ If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.

⁹ “‘If what they vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, such an animal given to the Lord becomes holy. ¹⁰ They must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; if they should substitute one animal for another, both it and the substitute become holy. ¹¹ If what they vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the Lord—the animal must be presented to the priest, ¹² who will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, that is what it will be. ¹³ If the owner wishes to redeem the animal, a fifth must be added to its value.

¹⁴ “‘If anyone dedicates their house as something holy to the Lord, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, so it will remain. ¹⁵ If the one who dedicates their house wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become theirs.

¹⁶ “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord part of their family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed. ¹⁷ If they dedicate a field during the Year of Jubilee, the value that has been set remains. ¹⁸ But if they dedicate a field after the Jubilee, the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain until the next Year of Jubilee, and its set value will be reduced. ¹⁹ If the one who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become theirs. ²⁰ If, however, they do not redeem the field, or if they have sold it to someone else, it can never be redeemed. ²¹ When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the Lord; it will become priestly property.

²² “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord a field they have bought, which is not part of their family land, ²³ the priest will determine its value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the owner must pay its value on that day as something holy to the Lord. ²⁴ In the Year of Jubilee the field will revert to the person from whom it was bought, the one whose land it was. ²⁵ Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.

²⁶ “‘No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord; whether an ox or a sheep, it is the Lord’s. ²⁷ If it is one of the unclean animals, it may be bought back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If it is not redeemed, it is to be sold at its set value.

²⁸ “‘But nothing that a person owns and devotes to the Lord—whether a human being or an animal or family land—may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the Lord.

²⁹ “‘No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; they are to be put to death.

³⁰ “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. ³¹ Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. ³² Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. ³³ No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’”

³⁴ These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The principle behind the regulations in this chapter is that of substituting money for something given in dedication to God (a person, an animal, or a piece of property), and giving that money to the priests for the upkeep of the sanctuary. These vows were strictly voluntary and were expressions of the worshiper’s gratitude to God for His blessing.  God sees our hearts and knows our motivations to give. 

I’m reminded of what happened to members of the early church as told in the book of Acts.  Everyone was so caught up in the living lives for Jesus, desiring to be like Him, while doing what Jesus said to go and teach others.  The people, though persecuted because of their zeal of knowing and living for Christ, “gave all they had” in gratitude to God for saving their souls.  One storehouse was formed with the purpose to share goods with anyone in need. What a grand movement of building churches that spread the Good News of Jesus’s salvation while meeting the needs of everyone involved!  God Holy Spirit was indeed moving in the hearts, minds, and souls of His people committed to Christ and His work. 

However, there was this one couple who so wanted to be like the others in giving up all for God; that they vowed to do the same—almost.  Here’s the true story:

“Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.”  Acts 5:1-2

Their action seemed almost reasonable until they both lied about the transaction…Here’s the rest of the story—

“Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶ Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.” Acts 5:3-11

Ananias and Sapphira represent just how much we humans do not trust the truth. They sold a piece of property and gave half the money to the church. They lied to Peter and the apostles, claiming that the land sold for the amount they gave. Their sin was not in holding back some of the money for themselves; it was in misrepresenting the truth. Their deceit resulted in their deaths. Great fear of God followed.

Death seems harsh but to make a vow to God you have no intention in keeping affects all other relationships, too.  Death might not be physical; but lying certainly erodes trust with others who we say we love and care deeply.  According to Jesus, the two greatest and most important commandments of Love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul and love your neighbor like you love yourself are the foundational to our relationship with God and others.  Jesus added, “Love each other like I have loved you.”

With God there is no room for deceit in hearts, minds, and souls committed to God.  Max Lucado writes; 

“It seems to me that the wages of deceit are still death. Not death of the body, perhaps, but the death of:

• a marriage—Falsehoods are termites in the trunk of the family tree.
• a conscience—The tragedy of the second lie is that it is always easier to tell than the first.
• a career—Just ask the student who got booted out for cheating or the employee who got fired for embezzlement if the lie wasn’t fatal.
• faith—The language of faith and the language of falsehood have two different vocabularies. Those fluent in the language of falsehood find terms like “confession” and “repentance” hard to pronounce.

We could also list the deaths of intimacy, trust, peace, credibility, and self-respect. But perhaps the most tragic death that occurs from deceit is our witness. The court won’t listen to the testimony of a perjured witness. Neither will the world. Do we think our coworkers will believe our words about Christ when they can’t even believe our words about how we handled our expense account? Even more significantly, do we think God will use us as a witness if we won’t tell the truth?” –Lucado’s Encouraging Word Bible.

Be careful.  Dishonesty can affect—and infect—every aspect of our life.  Make a vow to God with an honest, contrite heart with a committed intention and discipline to keep your promise. 

Lord,

Thank you for another lesson in Leviticus that at first glance we might have missed. Cleanse our hearts and remove all deceitfulness. Renew our minds. Transform our thinking and behaviors to be more like you.  Refresh our repentant souls with your tender mercies.  Restore the joy and peace of your salvation always at work within us who believe and trust you.  You are Life!  I seek you.

In Jesus Name, Amen