Daily Scripture Reading Leviticus 27:14-34
In the hill country of Ephraim, during the days of the Judges, lived a man named Eliab. His family had struggled for years with poor harvests and raiding bands from the east. One autumn, as the olive trees bent low with fruit, Eliab stood among them and prayed.
“Yahweh, if You will bless this season so that my family has enough to eat and seed for next year, I will set apart this entire olive grove to You. It shall be holy to Yahweh. No longer will it belong to me, but to Your sanctuary.”
The harvest that followed was the most bountiful in memory. Eliab’s wife and children rejoiced as baskets overflowed with oil and fruit. True to his word, at the next festival Eliab brought the priest to the grove.
“I have made a difficult vow,” he declared. “This grove is now set apart to Yahweh.”
The priest valued the mature grove according to the Law: twenty years of produce, the age of the trees, and the quality of the soil. The total came to four hundred shekels of silver.
Eliab’s heart tightened. Four hundred shekels was a great sum. Yet he had promised. For one full year the grove belonged wholly to Yahweh. Its oil went to the sanctuary lamps and offerings. His family ate from other fields and trusted God for provision.
As the next harvest approached, Eliab realized how much he missed working those specific trees. He returned to the priest.
“I wish to redeem the grove the Lord has accepted.”
The priest replied, “Then you must add one-fifth to its value.”
Eliab paid the four hundred shekels plus eighty more—four hundred and eighty in total. With joy he carried the heavy bag of silver to the sanctuary, then walked back to his now-redeemed grove.
Israelites in Old Testament times frequently made vows to God. They promised to give God something in exchange for God doing something for them. The 27th chapter of Leviticus contains rules that govern vows.
Lev. 27:14 ¶ ‘Now if a man sets his house apart as holy to Yahweh, then the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand.
Lev. 27:15 Yet if the one who sets it apart as holy should wish to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may be his.
Lev. 27:16 ¶ ‘Again, if a man sets apart as holy to Yahweh a portion of the fields of his own possession, then your valuation shall be proportionate to the seed needed for it: a homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver.
Lev. 27:17 If he sets apart his field as holy from the year of jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.
Lev. 27:18 If he sets apart his field as holy after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for him proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your valuation.
All land reverted to its original owner in the Year of Jubilee. The valuation of a field was relative to the length of time left until the next Year of Jubilee.
Lev. 27:19 If the one who sets it apart as holy should ever wish to redeem the field, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it so that it may stand as his own.
Lev. 27:20 Yet if he will not redeem the field, but has sold the field to another man, it may no longer be redeemed;
Lev. 27:21 and it will be that when it reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to Yahweh, like a field that is devoted; it shall be for the priest as his possession.
Lev. 27:22 Or if he sets apart as holy to Yahweh a field which he has bought, which is not a portion of the field of his own possession,
Lev. 27:23 then the priest shall calculate for him the amount of your valuation up to the year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your valuation as holy to Yahweh.
Lev. 27:24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs.
Lev. 27:25 Every valuation of yours, moreover, shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs.
Lev. 27:26 ¶ ‘However, a firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to Yahweh, no man may set it apart as holy; whether ox or sheep, it is Yahweh’s.
Lev. 27:27 But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall ransom it according to your valuation and add to it one-fifth of it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
Lev. 27:28 ¶ ‘Nevertheless, anything which a man devotes to Yahweh out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the fields of his own possession, shall not be sold or redeemed. Anything devoted to destruction is most holy to Yahweh.
Land that was vowed to Yahweh could be redeemed, but other possessions could not be redeemed.
Lev. 27:29 No one who may have been devoted among men shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
Lev. 27:30 ¶ ‘Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, belongs to Yahweh; it is holy to Yahweh.
Lev. 27:31 If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it.
Lev. 27:32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to Yahweh.
Lev. 27:33 He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’”
Lev. 27:34 ¶ These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai.
There are some examples of making vows throughout the Old Testament.
Before going into battle, Jephthah vowed that if he returned victorious, then whatever came out of his house to meet him upon his return would be offered as a burnt offering. When he returned, his daughter, his only child, was the first to greet him (see Judges 11).
Hannah was a barren woman and vowed that if Yahweh gave her a son, then she would give her son to Yahweh. Yahweh gave her a son named Samuel and Samuel was taken to live in the tabernacle after he was weaned (see 1 Samuel 1).
By the time Jesus came to earth in the first century AD, the Jews were abusing the practice of vows. They were saying things like, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is obligated.” (see Matthew 23:16). Jesus condemned that as blindness.
While making deals with God was common in Old Testament times, it is not common in the church age. That is because the New Testament prohibits the practice.
Jesus Himself, in His Sermon on the Mount, said to not make oaths. Instead, we should speak honestly. If we make a promise, then we should fulfill that promise whether or not we made a vow or put the promise in writing. People should be able to rely on our word.
Likewise, the book of James prohibits us from making vows or swearing oaths. Our yes should mean yes and our no should mean no. Once again, the point is people should be able to rely on our word.
Here are some questions to ponder.
How well do people trust your word?
When you make a promise, do you deliver?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”