Vows – The Ninth Commandment

Vows

The Ninth Commandment

Deuteronomy 23:21-23

“‘If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth.’”

Ecclesiastes 5:4-6

A vow is a declaration of intent, made before and unto the Lord, to fulfill certain obligations, based on blessings or the promise of blessing God has provided.

So Jacob, as he went to the land of his forebears, vowed to give a tithe to the Lord of everything he acquired, given that the Lord had promised him in a dream to give him the land of his fathers (Gen. 28:10-22).

So also we, given the promise of a loving spouse to care for us as none other, vow our faithfulness and love to the Lord in return. Given the promise of a caring and nurturing community of fellow believers, and the oversight of loving shepherds, we vow faithfulness and fruitfulness in church membership. Called to the ministry and given thus the promise of caring for the flock of God, church officers vow faithfulness in duty and devotion.

We must be careful to fulfill our vows, or we will be condemned by them. Dealing truthfully with the Lord means being serious about what we vow, and living each day before the Lord in an effort to fulfill all that we have promised.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.