OFFERINGS AND VOWS
Numbers 28; Numbers 29; Numbers 30
THE legislation of chapters 28-30 appears to belong to a time of
developed ritual and organised society. Parallel passages in Exodus
and Leviticus treating of the feasts and offerings are by no means
so full in their details, nor do they even mention some of the
sacrifices here made statutory. The observances of New Moon are
enjoined in the Book of Numbers alone. In chapter 15 they are simply
noticed; here the order is fixed. The purpose of chapters 28-29 is
especially to prescribe the number of animals that are to be offered
throughout the year at a central altar, and the quantities of other
oblations which are to accompany them. But the rotation of feasts is
also given in a more connected way than elsewhere; we have, in fact,
a legislative description of Israel’s Sacred Year. Daily, weekly,
monthly, and at the two great festal seasons, Jehovah is to be
acknowledged by the people as the Redeemer of life, the Giver of
wealth and blessedness. Of their cattle and sheep, and the produce
of the land, they are to bring continual oblations, which are to be
their memorial before Him. By their homage and by their gladness, by
afflicting themselves and by praising God, they shall realise their
calling as His people.
The section regarding vows (chapter 30) completes the legislation on
that subject supplementing Leviticus 27, and Numbers 6. It is
especially interesting for the light it throws on the nature of
family life, the position of women and the limitations of their
freedom. The link between the law of offerings and the law of vows
is hard to find; but we can easily understand the need for rules
concerning women’s vows. The peace of families might often be
disturbed by lavish promises which a husband or a father might find
it impossible or inconvenient to fulfil.
1. THE SACRED YEAR.
Numbers 28-29
Throughout the year, each day, each sabbath, and each month is to
be consecrated by oblations of varying value, forming a routine of
sacrifice. First the Day, bringing duty and privilege, is to have
its morning burnt offering of a yearling lamb, by which the Divine
blessing is invoked on the labour and life of the whole people. A
meal offering of flour and oil and a drink offering of "strong
drink"-that is, not of water or milk, but wine-are to accompany the
sacrifice. Again in the evening, as a token of gratitude for the
mercies of the day, similar oblations are to be presented. Of this
offering the note is made: "it is a continual burnt offering, which
was ordained in Sinai for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire
unto the Lord."
In these sacrifices the whole of time, measured out by the
alternation of light and darkness, was acknowledged to be God’s;
through the priesthood the nation declared His right to each day,
confessed obligation to Him for the gift of it.. The burnt offering
implied complete renunciation of what was represented. No part of
the animal was kept for use, either by the worshipper or the priest.
The smoke ascending to heaven dissipated the entire substance of the
oblation, signifying that the whole use or enjoyment of it was
consecrated to God. In the way of impressing the idea of obligation
to Jehovah for the gifts of time and life the daily sacrifices were
valuable; yet they were suggestive rather than sufficient. The
Israelites throughout the land knew that these oblations were made
at the altar, and those who were pious might at the times appointed
offer each his own thanksgivings to God. But the individual
expression of gratitude was left to the religious sense, and that
must often have failed. At a distance from the sanctuary, where the
ascending smoke could not be seen, men might forget; or again,
knowing that the priests would not forget, they might imagine their
own part to be done when offering was made for the whole people. The
duty was, however, represented and kept before the minds of all.
In the Psalms and elsewhere we find traces of a worship which had
its source in the daily sacrifice. The author of Psalms 141., for
example, addresses Jehovah:
"Give ear unto my voice when I cry unto Thee. Let my prayer be set
forth as incense before Thee The lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice."
Less clearly in the fifth, the fifty-ninth, and the eighty-eighth
psalms, the morning prayer appears to be connected with the morning
sacrifice:
"O Lord, in the morning shalt Thou hear my voice; In the morning
will I order my prayer unto Thee, and will keep watch." {Psa 5:3}
The pious Hebrew might naturally choose the morning and the evening
as his times of special approach to the throne of Divine grace, as
every believer still feels it his duty and privilege to begin and
close the day with prayer. The appropriateness of dawn and sunset
might determine both the hour of sacrifice and the hour of private
worship. Yet the ordinance of the daily oblations set an example to
those who would otherwise have been careless in expressing
gratitude. And earnestly religious persons learned to find more
frequent opportunities. Daniel in Babylon is seen at the window open
towards Jerusalem, kneeling upon his knees three times a day,
praying and giving thanks to God. The author of Psalms 119 says:
"Seven times a day do I praise Thee, Because of Thy righteous
judgments."
The grateful remembrance of God and confession of His right to the
whole of life were thus made a rule with which no other engagements
were allowed to interfere. It is by facts like these the power of
religion over the Hebrews in their best time is explained.
We pass now to the Sabbath and the sacrifices by which it was
distinguished. Here the number seven which recurs so frequently in
the statutes of the sacred year appears for the first time.
Connection has been found between the ordinances of Israel and of
Chaldea in the observance of the seventh day as well as at many
other points. According to Mr. Sayce, the origin of the Sabbath went
back to pre-Semitic days, and the very name was of Babylonian
origin. "In the cuneiform tablets the sabbath is described as a ‘day
of rest for the soul.’…The Sabbath was also known, at all events in
Accadian times, as a dies nefastus, a day on which certain work was
forbidden to be done; and an old list of Babylonian festivals and
fast-days tells us that on the seventh, fourteenth, nineteenth,
twenty-first, and twenty-eighth days of each month the Sabbath rest
had to be observed. The king himself, it is stated, ‘must not eat
flesh that has been cooked over the coals or in the smoke, he must
not change the garments of his body, white robes he must not wear,
sacrifices he may not offer, in a chariot he must not ride."’ The
soothsayer was forbidden on that day "to mutter in a secret place."
In this observance of a seventh day of rest, specially sacred, for
the good of the soul, ancient Accadians and Babylonians prepared the
way for the Sabbath of the Mosaic law.
But while the days of the Chaldean week were devoted each to a
separate divinity, and the seventh day had its meaning in relation
to polytheism, the whole of time, every day alike, and the Sabbaths
with greater strictness than the others, were, in Israel’s law,
consecrated to Jehovah. This difference also deserves to be noticed,
that, while the Chaldean seventh days were counted from each new
moon, in the Hebrew year there was no such astronomical date for
reckoning them. Throughout the year, as with us, each seventh day
was a day of rest. While we find traces of old religious custom and
observance that mingled with those of Judaism and cannot but
recognise the highly humane, almost spiritual character those old
institutions often had, the superiority of the religion of the One
Living and True God clearly proves itself to us. Moses, and those
who followed him, felt no need of rejecting an idea they met with in
the ancient beliefs of Chaldea, for they had the Divine light and
wisdom by which the earthly and evil could be separated from the
kernel of good. And may we not say that it was well to maintain the
continuity of observance so far as thoughts and customs of the far
past could be woven into the worship of Jehovah’s flock? Neither was
Israel nor is any people to pretend to entire separation from the
past. No act of choice or process of development can effect it. Nor
would the severance, if it were made, be for the good of men. Beyond
the errors and absurdities of human belief, beyond the perversions
of truth due to sin, there lie historical and constitutional
origins. The Sabbaths, the sacrifices, and the prayers of ancient
Chaldea had their source in demands of God and needs of the human
soul, which not only entered into Judaism, but survive still,
proving themselves inseparable from our thought and life.
The special oblations to be presented on the Sabbath were added to
those of the other days of the week. Two lambs of the first year in
the morning and two in the evening were to be offered with their
appropriate meal and drink Offerings. It may be noted that in
Ezekiel where the Sabbath ordinances are detailed the sacrifices are
more numerous. After declaring that the eastern gate of the inner
court of the temple, which is to be shut on the six working days,
shall be opened on the Sabbath and in the day of the new moon, the
prophet goes on to say that the prince, as representing the people,
shall offer unto the Lord in the Sabbath day six lambs without
blemish and a ram without blemish. In the legislation of Numbers,
however, the higher consecration of the Sabbath as compared with the
other days of the week did not require so great a difference as
Ezekiel saw it needful to make. And, indeed, the law of Sabbath
observance assumes in Ezekiel an importance on various grounds which
passes beyond the high distinction given it in the Pentateuch. Again
and again in Ezekiel chapter 20 the prophet declares that one of the
great sins of which the Israelites were guilty in the wilderness was
that of polluting the Sabbath which God had given to be a sign
between Himself and them. The keeping holy of the seventh day had
become one of the chief safeguards of religion, and for this reason
Ezekiel was moved to prescribe additional sacrifices for that day.
We find as we go on that the week of seven days, ended by the
recurring day of rest, is an element in the regulations for all the
great feasts. Unleavened bread was to be eaten for seven days. Seven
weeks were then to be counted to the day of the firstfruits and the
feast of weeks. The feast of tabernacles, again, ran for seven days
and ended on the eighth with a solemn assembly. The whole ritual was
in this way made to emphasise the division of time based on the
fourth commandment.
The New Moon ritual consecrating the months was more elaborate. On
the day when the new moon was first seen, or should by computation
be seen, besides the continual burnt offering two young bullocks,
one ram, and seven lambs of the first year, with meal and drink
offerings, were to be presented. These animals were to be wholly
offered by fire. In addition, a sin offering was to be made, a kid
of the goats. Why this guilt sacrifice was introduced at the new
moon service is not clear. Keil explains that "in consideration of
the sins which had been committed in the course of the past month,
and had remained without expiation," the sin offering was needed.
But this might be said of the week in its degree, as well as of the
month. It is certain that the opening of each month was kept in
other ways than the legislation of the Pentateuch seems to require.
In Numbers it is prescribed that the silver trumpets shall be blown
over the new moon sacrifices for a memorial before God, and this
must have given the observances a festival air. Then we learn from 1
Samuel 20 that when Saul was king a family feast was observed in his
house on the first day of the month, and that this day also, in some
particular month, was generally chosen by a family for the yearly
sacrifice to which all were expected to gather (1Sa 20:5-6). These
facts and the festal opening of Psalms 81, in which the timbrel,
harp, and psaltery, and joyful singing in praise of God, are
associated with the new moon trumpet, imply that for some reason the
occasion was held to be important. Amos {Amo 8:5} implies further
that on the day of new moon trade was suspended; and in the time of
Elisha it seems to have been common for those who wished to consult
a prophet to choose either the Sabbath or the day of new moon for
enquiring of him. {2Ki 4:23} There can be little doubt that the day
was one of religious activity and joy, and possibly the offering of
the kid for expiation was intended to counteract the freedom the
more thoughtless might permit themselves.
There are good reasons for believing that in pre-Mosaic times the
day of new moon was celebrated by the Israelites and all kindred
peoples, as it is still among certain heathen races. Originally a
nature festival, it was consecrated to Jehovah by the legislation
before us, and gradually became of account as the occasion of
domestic gatherings and rejoicings. But its religious significance
lay chiefly in the dedication to God of the month that had begun and
expiation of guilt contracted during that which had closed.
We come now to the great annual festivals. These were arranged in
two groups, which may be classed as vernal and autumnal, the one
group belonging to the first and third months, the other to the
seventh. They divided the year into two portions, the intervals
between them being the time of great heat and the time of rain and
storm. The month Abib, with which the year began corresponded
generally to our April; but its opening, depending on the new moon,
might be earlier or later. One of the ceremonies of the festival
season of this month was the presentation, on the sixteenth day, of
the first sheaf of harvest; and seven weeks afterwards, at
Pentecost, cakes made from the first dough were offered. The
explanation of what may appear to be autumnal offerings in spring is
to be found in the early ripening of corn throughout Palestine. The
cereals were all reaped during the interval between Passover and
Pentecost. The autumnal festival celebrated the gathering in of the
vintage and fruits.
The Passover, the first great feast, a sacrament rather, is merely
mentioned in this portion of Numbers. It was chiefly a domestic
celebration-not priestly-and had a most impressive significance, of
which the eating of the lamb with bitter herbs was the symbol. The
day after it, the "feast of unleavened bread" began. For a whole
week leaven was to be abjured. On the first day of the feast there
was to be a holy convocation, and no servile work was to be done.
The closing day likewise was to be one of holy convocation. On each
of the seven days the offerings were to be two young bullocks, one
ram, and seven yearling he-lambs, with their meal and drink
offerings, and for sin one he-goat to make atonement.
The week of this festival, commencing with the paschal sacrament,
was made to bear peculiarly on the national life, first by the
command that all leaven should be rigidly kept out of the houses. As
the ceremonial law assumed more importance with the growth of
Pharisaism, this cleansing was sought quite fanatically. Any crumb
of common bread was reckoned an accursed thing which might deprive
the observance of the feast of its good effect. But even in the time
of less scrupulous legalism the effort to extirpate leaven from the
houses had its singular effect on the people. It was one of the many
causes which made Jewish religion intense. Then the daily
sacrificial routine, and especially the holy convocations of the
first and seventh days, were profoundly solemnising. We may picture
thus the ceremonies and worship of these great days of the feast.
The people, gathered from all parts of the land, crowded the outer
court of the sanctuary. The priests and Levites stood ready around
the altar. With solemn chanting the animals were brought from some
place behind the temple where they had been carefully examined so
that no blemish might impair the sacrifice. Then they were slain one
by one, and prepared, the fire on the great altar blazing more and
more brightly in readiness for the holocaust, while the blood flowed
away in a red stream, staining the hands and garments of those who
officiated. First the two bullocks, then the ram, then the lambs
were one after another placed on the flames, each with incense and
part of the meal offering. The sin offering followed. Some of the
blood of the he-goat was taken by the priest and sprinkled on the
inner altar, on the veil of the Holy of Holies, and on the horns of
the great altar, around which the rest was poured. The fat of the
animal, including certain of the internal parts, was thrown on the
fire; and this portion of the observances ended with the pouring out
of the last drink offering before the Lord. Then a chorus of praise
was lifted up, the people throwing themselves on the ground and
praying in a low, earnest monotone.
To this followed in the later times singing of chants and psalms,
led by the chorus of Levites, addresses to the people, and shorter
or longer prayers to which the worshippers responded. The
officiating priest, standing beside the great altar in view of all,
now pronounced the appointed blessing on the people. But his task
was still not complete. He went into the sanctuary, and, having by
his entrance and safe return from the holy place shown that the
sacrifice had been accepted, he spoke to the assembly a few words of
simple and sublime import. Finally, with repeated blessing, he gave
the dismissal. On one or both of these occasions the form of
benediction used was that which we have found preserved in the sixth
chapter of this book.
It is evident that celebrations like these, into which, as time went
on, the mass of worshippers entered with increased fervour, gave the
feast of unleavened bread an extraordinary importance in the
national life. The young Hebrew looked forward to it with the
keenest expectancy, and was not disappointed. So long as faith
remained, and especially in crises of the history of Israel, the
earnestness that was developed carried every soul along. And now
that the Israelites bewail the loss of temple and country, reckoning
themselves a martyred people, this feast and the more solemn day of
atonement nerve them to endurance and reassure them of their hope.
They are separate still. They are Jehovah’s people still. The
covenant remains. The Messiah will come and bring them new life and
power. So they vehemently cling to the past and dream of a future
that shall never be.
"The day of the firstfruits" was, according to Lev 23:15, the
fiftieth day from the morrow after the passover sabbath. The special
harvest offering of this "feast of weeks" is thus enjoined: "Ye
shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth
parts of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baken
with leaven, for firstfruits unto the Lord". {Lev 23:17} According
to Leviticus one bullock, two rams, and seven lambs; according to
Numbers two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, were to be
sacrificed as whole offerings; the difference being apparently that
of varying usage at an earlier and later time. The sin offering of
the he-goat followed the burnt offerings. The day of the feast was
one of holy convocation; and it has peculiar interest for us as the
day on which the pentecostal effusion of the Spirit came on the
gathering of Christians in the upper room at Jerusalem. The joyous
character of this festival was signified by the use of leaven in the
cakes or loaves that were presented as firstfruits. The people
rejoiced in the blessing of another harvest, the fulfilment once
more by Jehovah of His promise to supply the needs of His flock. It
will be seen that in every case the sin offering prescribed is a
single he-goat. This particular sacrifice was distinguished from the
whole offerings, the thank offerings, and the peace offerings, which
were not limited in number. "It must stand," says Ewald, "in perfect
isolation, as though in the midst of sad solitude and desolation,
with nothing similar or comparable by its side." Why a he-goat was
invariably ordered for this expiatory sacrifice it is difficult to
say. And the question is not made more easy by the peculiar rite of
the great day of atonement, when besides the goat of the sin
offering for Jehovah another was devoted to "Azazel." Perhaps the
choice of this animal implied its fitness in some way to represent
transgression, wilfulness, and rebellion. The he-goat, more wild and
rough than any other of the flock, seemed to belong to the desert
and to the spirit of evil.
From the festivals of spring we now pass to those of autumn, the
first of which coincided with the New Moon of the seventh month.
This was to be a day of holy convocation, on which no servile work
should be done, and it was marked by a special blowing of trumpets
over the sacrifices. From other passages it would appear that the
trumpets were used on the occasion of every new moon; and there must
have been a longer and more elaborate service of festival music to
distinguish the seventh. The offerings prescribed for it were
numerous. Those enjoined for the opening of the other months were
two bullocks, one ram, seven he-lambs, and the he-goat of the sin
offering. To these were now added one bullock, one ram, and seven
he-lambs. Altogether, including the daily sacrifices which were
never omitted, twenty-two animals were offered; and with each
sacrifice, except the he-goat, fine flour mingled with oil and a
drink offering of wine had to be presented.
There seems no reason to doubt that the seventh month was opened in
this impressive way because of the great festivals ordained to be
held in the course of it. The labour of the year was practically
over, and more than any other the month was given up to festivity
associated with religion. It was the seventh or sabbath month,
forming the "exalted summit of the year, for which all preceding
festivals prepared the way, and after which everything quietly came
down to the ordinary course of life." The trumpets blown in joyful
peals over the sacrifices, the offering of which must have gone on
for many hours, inspired the assembly with gladness, and signified
the gratitude and hope of the nation.
But the joy of the seventh month thus begun did not go on without
interruption. The tenth day was one of special solemnity and serious
thought. It was the great day of confession, for on it, in the holy
convocation, the people were to "afflict their souls." The
transgressions and failures of the year were to be acknowledged with
sorrow. From the evening of the ninth day to the evening of the
tenth there was to be a rigid fast-the one fast which the law
ordained. Before the full gladness of Jehovah’s favour can be
realised by Israel all those sins of neglect and forgetfulness which
have been accumulating for twelve months must be confessed,
bewailed, and taken away. There are those who have become unclean
without being aware of their defilement; those who have unwittingly
broken the Sabbath law; those who have for some reason been unable
to keep the passover, or who have kept it imperfectly; others again
have failed to render tithes of all the produce of their land
according to the law; and priests and Levites called to a high
consecration have come short of their duty. With such defects and
sins of error the nation is to charge itself, each individual
acknowledging his own faults. Unless this is done a shadow must lie
on the life of the people; they cannot enjoy the light of the
countenance of God.
For this day the whole offerings are, one young bullock, one ram,
seven he-lambs; and there is this peculiarity, that, besides a
he-goat for a sin offering, there is to be provided another he-goat,
"for atonement." Maimonides says that the second he-goat is not that
"for Azazel," but the fellow of it, the one on which the lot had
fallen "for Jehovah." Leviticus again informs us that Aaron was to
sacrifice a bullock as a sin offering for himself and his house. And
it was the blood of this bullock and of the second he-goat he was to
take and sprinkle on the ark and before the mercy-seat. Further, it
is prescribed that the bodies of these animals are to be carried
forth without the camp and wholly burned-as if the sin clinging to
them had made them unfit for use in any way.
The great atonement thus made, the reaction of joy set in. Nothing
in Jewish worship exceeded the solemnity of the fast, and in
contrast with that the gladness of the forgiven multitude. Another
crisis was past, another year of Jehovah’s favour had begun. Those
who had been prostrate in sorrow and fear rose up to sing their
hallelujahs. "The deep seriousness of the Day of Atonement," says
Delitzsch, "was transformed on the evening of the same day into
lighthearted merriment. The observance in the temple was
accomplished in a significant drama which was fascinating from
beginning to end. When the high priest came forth from the Most Holy
Place, after the performance of his functions there, this was for
the people a consolatory, gladsome sight, for which poetry can find
no adequate words: ‘Like the peace-proclaiming arch in painted
clouds; like the morning star, when he arises from the eastern
twilight; like the sun, when opening his bud, he unfolds in roseate
hue.’ When the solemnity was over, the high priest was escorted with
a guard of honour to his dwelling in the city, where a banquet
awaited his more immediate friends." The young people repaired to
the vineyards, the maidens arrayed in simple white, and the day was
closed with song and dancing.
This description reminds us of the mingling of elements in the old
Scottish fast-days, closing as they did with a simple entertainment
in the manse.
The feast of tabernacles continued the gladness of the ransomed
people. It began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, with a
holy convocation and a holocaust of no fewer than twenty-nine
animals, in addition to the daily sacrifice, and a he-goat for a sin
offering. The number of bullocks, which was thirteen on this opening
day of the feast, was reduced by one each day till on the seventh
day seven bullocks were sacrificed. But two rams and fourteen
he-lambs were offered each day of the feast, and the he-goat for
expiation, besides the continual burnt offering. The celebration
ended, so far as sacrifices were concerned, on the eighth day with a
special burnt offering of one bullock, one ram, and seven he-lambs,
returning thus to the number appointed for New Moon.
It will be noticed that on the closing day there was to be a "solemn
assembly." It was "the great day of the feast" (Joh 7:37). The
people who during the week had lived in the booths or arbours which
they had made, now dismantled them and went on pilgrimage to the
sanctuary. The opening of the festival came to be of a striking
kind. "One could see," says Professor Franz Delitzsch, "even before
the dawn of the first day of the feast, if this was not a Sabbath, a
joyous throng pouring forth from the Jaffa Gate at Jerusalem. The
verdure of the orchards, refreshed with the first showers of the
early rain, is hailed by the people with shouts of joy as they
scatter on either side of the bridge which crosses the brook fringed
with tall poplar-osiers, some in order with their own hands to pluck
branches for the festal display, others to look at the men who have
been honoured with the commission to fetch from Kolonia the festal
leafy adornment of the altar. They seek out right long and goodly
branches of these poplar-osiers, and cut them off, and then the
reunited host returns in procession, with exultant shouts and
singing and jesting, to Jerusalem, as far as the Temple hill, where
the great branches of poplar-osier are received by the priests and
set upright around the sides of the altar, so that they bend over it
with their tips. Priestly trumpeting resounded during this
decoration of the altar with foliage, and they went on that feast
day once, on the seventh day seven times, around the altar with
willow branches, or the festive posy entwined of a palm branch and
branches of myrtles and willows, amidst the usual festive shouts of
Hosanna; exclaiming after the completed encircling, ‘Beauty becomes
thee, O Altar! Beauty becomes thee, O Altar!"’ So, in later times,
the festival began and was sustained, each worshipper carrying
boughs and fruit of the citron and other trees. But the eighth day
brought all this to a close. The huts were taken down, the
worshippers sought the house of God for prayer and thanksgiving. The
reading of the Law which had been going on day by day concluded; and
the sin offering fitly ended the season of joy with expiation of the
guilt of the people in their holy things.
The series of sacrifices appointed for days and weeks and months and
years required a large number of animals and no small liberality.
They. did not, however, represent more than a small proportion of
the offerings which were brought to the central sanctuary. Besides,
there were those connected with vows, the free-will offerings, meal
offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings. {Num 29:39} And
taking all together it will be seen that the pastoral wealth of the
people was largely claimed.
The explanation lies partly in this, that among the Israelites, as
among all races, "the things sacrificed were of the same kind as
those the worshippers desired to obtain from God." The sin offering,
however, had quite a different significance. In this the sprinkling
of the warm blood, representing the life blood of the worshipper,
carried thought into a range of sacred mystery in which the awful
claim of God on men was darkly realised. Here sacrifice became a
sacrament binding the worshippers by the most solemn symbol
imaginable-a vital symbol-to fidelity in the service of Jehovah.
Their faith and devotion expressed in the sacrifice secured for them
the Divine grace on which their well-being depended, the
blood-bought pardon that redeemed the soul. Among the Israelites
alone was expiation by blood made fully significant as the center of
the whole system of worship.
2. THE LAW OF VOWS
Numbers 30
The general command regarding vows is that whosoever binds
himself by one, or takes an oath in regard to any promise, must at
all hazards keep his word. A man is allowed to judge for himself in
vowing and undertaking by oath, but he is to have the consequences
in view, and especially keep in mind that God is his witness. The
matter scarcely admitted of any other legislation, and neither here
nor elsewhere is any attempt made to lay penalties on those who
broke their vows. To use the Divine Name in an oath which was
afterwards falsified brought a man under the condemnation of the
third commandment, a spiritual doom. But the authorities could not
give it effect. The transgressor was left to the judgment of God.
With regard to vows and oaths the sophistry of the Jews and their
rabbis led them so far astray that our Lord had to lay down new
rules for the guidance of His followers. No doubt cases arose in
which it was exceedingly difficult to decide. One might vow with
good intention and find himself utterly unable to keep his promise,
or might find that to keep it would involve unforeseen injury to
others. But apart from circumstances of this sort there came to be
such a network of half-legalised evasions, and so many unseemly
discussions, that the purpose of the law was destroyed. Absolution
from vows was claimed as a prerogative by some rabbis; against this,
others protested. One would say that if a man vowed by Jerusalem or
by the Law he had said nothing; but if he vowed by what is written
in the Law, his words stood. The "wise men" declared four kinds of
vows not binding- incentive vows, as when a buyer vows that he will
not give more than a certain price in order to induce the seller to
take less; meaningless vows; thoughtless and compulsory vows. In
such ways the practice was reduced to ignominy. It even came to
this, that if a man wished to neutralise all the vows he might make
fir the course of a year he had only to say at the beginning of it,
on the eve of the Day of Atonement, "Let every vow which I shall
make be of none effect," and he would be absolved. This immoral
tangle was cut through by the clear judgment of Christ: "Ye have
heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear
thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: but I say unto
you, Swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne
of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; nor
by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt
thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or
black. But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is
more than these is of the evil one." In ordinary conversation and
dealings Christ will have no vows and oaths. Let men promise and
perform, declare and stand to their word. He lifts even ordinary
life to a higher plane.
With regard to women’s vows, four cases are made the subject of
enactment. First, there is the case of a young woman living in her
father’s house, under his authority. If she vow unto the Lord, and
bind herself by a bond in the hearing of her father and he do not
forbid, her vow shall stand. It may involve expense to the father,
or put him and the family to inconvenience, but by silence he has
allowed himself to be bound. On the other hand, if he interpose and
forbid the vow, the daughter is released. The second case is that of
a woman who at the time of marriage is under a vow; and this is
decided in the same way. Her betrothed husband’s silence, if he
hears the promise, sanctions it; his refusal to allow it gives
discharge. The third instance is that of a widow or a divorced
woman, who must perform all she has solemnly engaged to do. The last
case is that of the married woman in her husband’s house, concerning
whom it is decreed: "Every vow and every binding oath to afflict the
soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void
If he shall make them null and void after he hath heard them, then
he shall bear her iniquity."
These regulations establish the headship of the father and the
husband in regard to matters which belong to religion. And the
significance of them lies in this, that no intrusion of the priest
is permitted. If the "Priests’ Code" had been intended to set up a
hierocracy, these vows would have given the opportunity of
introducing priestly influence into family life. The provisions
appear to be designed for the very purpose of disallowing this. It
was seen that in the ardour of religious zeal women were disposed to
make large promises, dedicating their means, their children, or
perhaps their own lives to special service in connection with the
sanctuary. But the father or husband was the family head and the
judge. No countenance whatever is given to any official
interference.
It would have been well if the wisdom of this law had ruled the
Church, preventing ecclesiastical dominance in family affairs. The
promises, the threats of a domineering Church have in many cases
introduced discord between daughters and parents, wives and
husbands. The amenability of women to religious motives has been
taken advantage of, always indeed with a plausible reason, -the
desire to save them from the world, -but far too often, really, for
political-ecclesiastical ends, or even from the base motive of
revenge. Ecclesiastics have found the opportunity of enriching the
Church or themselves, or under cover of confession have become aware
of secrets that placed families at their mercy. No practice followed
under the shield of religion and in its name deserves stronger
reprobation. The Church should, by every means in its power, purify
and uphold family life. To undermine the unity of families by laying
obligations on women, or obtaining promises apart from the knowledge
of those to whom they are bound in the closest relationship, is an
abuse of privilege. And the whole custom of auricular confession
comes under the charge. It may occasionally or frequently be used
with good intention, and lonely women without trusted advisers among
their kindred may see no other resource in times of peculiar
difficulty and trial. But the submission that forms part of it is
debasing, and the secrecy gives priesthood a power that should
belong to no body of men in dealing with the souls of their
fellow-creatures, and fellow-sinners. At the very best, confession
to a priest is a weak expedient.
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