Daily Devotion | Numbers 30 | 2026 June 17

Title: Daily Devotion |Numbers 30 | 2026 June 17

Scripture: Numbers 30 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 June 17

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Jose M.

Good morning, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Peace be to you. Thanks be to God's grace that we have come to a new day to study our daily bread. The passage we are studying today is Numbers chapter 30. Let us pray.

O God, we give You thanks. We thank You that You have been so gracious to us. You are so faithful, and You also call us to rely on Your faithfulness, and You also call us to live out Your faithfulness. We ask that You would give us faith in our lives, so that by faith we may live the victorious life. Be with us. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Well, today we come to Numbers chapter 30. Numbers 30 deals with the regulations concerning vows and oaths. The content itself is not terribly complicated. First, if a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath, he must bind himself and not break his word. The regulations for women are written in much more detail. If a young woman is still in her father's house, she must listen to her father. If she makes a vow and her father does not permit it, it shall not stand. If she is married and her husband does not permit it, it shall not stand either. A widow or a divorced woman may bind herself by her own pledge. A woman is to submit to her husband, and the husband has the authority to decide whether her vow or her oath has any effect.

This content is not too complicated, not too hard to understand — although it is a bit convoluted, if you read it carefully, the meaning should not be difficult. But here, New Testament Christians have some questions about this passage. Why? Because we have been influenced by faulty interpretation of Scripture. For example, we read Matthew chapter 5, where it is very clear — verses 34 to 37: "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not break your oath, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is His footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King." And so on — I will not read it all. But here, we New Testament Christians, if we have not received some theological training, we tend to think: "Hasn't the New Testament already abolished oath-taking? Hasn't it also abolished vow-making? So these regulations in chapter 30 are from the past and have nothing to do with us now." Many people have this mistaken understanding. But this is indeed wrong. Why? Because in the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 22, there is a dedicated chapter on lawful oaths and vows. So this is something we need to pay attention to. That is to say, in fact, Scripture does permit us to make vows and take oaths.

Throughout church history, this has also been the consistent tradition. The question is, how do we interpret Matthew 5:34–37? So we need to clarify this first. First, the New Testament church may still take oaths and may still make vows. The question is how to interpret the content of Matthew 5. Next, some people find this hard to understand: "Isn't it stated very clearly? Why does it need interpretation?" Let me give you a counterexample, and you will see. I am not going to focus on this passage today; I will just give you one counterexample. Paul himself and Jesus Himself both took oaths. In 2 Corinthians 1:23 — 2 Corinthians 1:23 — "But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth." I call God to witness against my soul — that is an oath. I swear, calling God to bear witness to my soul. By giving this one counterexample, I can show you that the Apostle Paul swore oaths. He also made vows — in the book of Acts there are vows — I will not go into detail. By giving this one counterexample, you can see that oath-taking is permissible, and vow-making is also permissible. So I am telling you this.

Now the question is, how do we interpret Matthew 5:33–37? Here, what the Lord Jesus is really reminding the Israelites is: do not take oaths lightly. "Do not swear at all" does not mean literally that you cannot take any oath whatsoever. Rather, it means that when you take an oath, you must be careful. Pay attention — heaven, earth, Jerusalem, your own head — none of these can be sworn by. Whatever you are able to do, do that. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one. That is the meaning.

So I think this involves an issue of hermeneutics. Sometimes we are not very familiar with the principles of interpretation, especially with the Lord Jesus — we are not very familiar with the Jewish way of speaking. Sometimes He speaks in very absolute terms — for example, "not a single person survived" — but that is not literally true; there were still some, but it is just a way of saying "many." In Exodus we can see this — "all the livestock..." but then later there were still livestock. That is a Jewish expression. The Lord Jesus here does the same thing; He uses a very absolute form of expression, but it does not actually mean that absolutely no oath can ever be taken. This is something we need to pay attention to in interpretation. So today we will briefly mention this — since we have come to this passage, let us address it.

When interpreting Scripture, be careful not to arbitrarily expand the meaning. "Doesn't the Bible say so? Didn't Jesus say so?" But in fact, you must consider it from the perspective of the whole Bible — not every oath is forbidden, not every vow is forbidden. Also, you need to understand it within the correct framework. Paul also took oaths, and Jesus Himself took oaths. So I trust I have made this clear — let it stand here.

Now next, I would like to share about the role of vows and oaths in the life of a Christian. We should not neglect this matter. Earlier we said it is permissible. Also, you should note that in the life of Christians — now in Chinese churches it is rare, but if you go to Western churches, in cultures with a Christian tradition, those in public office, presidents, take oaths — when they are inaugurated, they place their hand on the Bible and swear an oath, promising to follow God's law and the Scriptures. But that was in earlier pious times; now it is mostly just a formality. However, this kind of oath-taking — including in court, when you go to testify and say, "I swear that I am telling the truth" — this kind of oath does have practical effect.

We are not legal professionals, but those who are know that many cases are decided based on testimony. If testimony is used to reach a verdict, there are many uncertain factors. In fact, as a judge, you cannot truly know all the facts; you have to rely on testimony to determine guilt. But before giving testimony, the witness must first swear an oath, and then the judge can have peace of mind. How do I know he is telling the truth? Because he has sworn an oath. If he lies to God, that is between him and God. So this is on the public level — for example, in court, or when public officials take their oaths — oath-taking has a function.

Also, relationships between people can be complicated. In a more pious society — of course, China does not have that environment now — for example, if I borrow money from someone, how do we bear witness? I write an IOU, but even that may not be enough. So what do I do? I swear to God — speaking in a pious era — this kind of oath actually has many uses. "I will pay you back next week, I swear." Since God is the witness between us, and everyone is pious — still speaking of former times — then everyone trusts it, and there is no worry. And indeed, the person pays back.

This matter of oath-taking itself can actually be used in real life. This includes the spirit of covenant — this was passed down from the Puritans. In those days, just by saying "I swear," a contract was established. There was no need for all the complexity — signing contracts, notarization — none of that was needed. In fact, from the perspective of social cost, you will find that oath-taking can greatly reduce social costs. When people are trustworthy, you do not need all that complexity. Now there are so many procedures, so complicated. It wastes a lot of social resources — notary offices and all that clutter.

Then there is the matter of vows. Vows are permissible. Oaths and vows are two different things. An oath is swearing by God in relation to other people — you say to someone, "This matter is true, and I call upon God as my witness" — that is an oath. What is a vow? A vow is when you make a promise to God: "O God, if You help me in this matter, if You bring it about, then I vow to You and will repay my vow — I will do this thing." So repaying vows is something that can be done in life — it is not forbidden. But you must be careful: the vow you make must be fulfilled — it must absolutely be fulfilled, according to these regulations. For a woman, if you are married, you must obtain your husband's consent — this vow regulation applies. For example, I make a vow: "O God, I have this illness; please heal me. If You heal me, I will dedicate my son to You as a minister." That is an example of a vow. After you make such a vow, you must carry it out. You cannot fail to do it — God remembers, and He will remind you in His own way.

Let me tell you a little story I heard about a vow. There was a man — a preacher — quite an interesting fellow. He made a vow before God. He ran a barber shop. He said, "God, if You let me open two barber shops, then I will close them down. As soon as I have two shops, I will close them, return to my hometown, and serve You as a preacher." After he made this vow, he completely forgot about it.

After a long time — perhaps ten years — he did indeed open two shops. After opening the two shops, he developed a strange illness. No matter how they examined him, they could not find the cause. He went to all the hospitals, had all the CT scans, MRIs — everything — but there was no disease. Yet he felt terrible all over, restless and unable to sit still. Later, during a time of prayer, he remembered the vow he had made. He closed both barber shops and returned to his hometown to serve as a preacher. That was over ten years ago. And his health was fine — as soon as he went home, he recovered. So this is a testimony I have encountered. I want to remind everyone: first, you may make a vow, but after you make it, please remember to repay it. Especially in times of distress, you certainly may make a vow. If you especially need God's help: "O God, if You permit — this illness of mine, or whatever it may be..." I myself once made a vow to God — I will not go into specifics — but God truly accomplished something impossible, and of course I later repaid my vow. So this is what I want to remind you: you may make vows and you may repay them — this is a privilege God gives to His children.

Alright, that part covers the passage itself. Now the question is, why is this chapter 30 placed here? Why is this discussed here? It seems disconnected from the context, as if it has no significance. But in fact, brothers and sisters, you are mistaken. The placement of these vow regulations here is actually very, very important. We know that Numbers concerns the second generation of Israelites, just before they enter Canaan, when they are about to face a battle. At this time, what do the Israelites need? They need faith. They must fight this battle by faith. To fight by faith, they need faith — they must believe in God's faithfulness. They must believe that God once swore to Abraham, and that God once gave many promises to Israel. God promised Abraham such and such, and God also swore to lead Abraham — because there was no one greater, God swore by Himself. So God is a God who takes oaths. God also made promises to Israel — these promises are somewhat like vows: "I promise you this." That is God to man. Man to God is a vow; God to man is a promise. At this time, the Israelites needed to hold tightly to God's faithfulness — that is, God had sworn to them and had given them promises — and this was their guarantee for entering the land of Canaan.

So why does chapter 30 bring this up? Some might say, "This is about man making vows to God, man swearing oaths to God — how does that relate to God's promises to man?" But you need to know how to read Scripture. At this point, God is requiring — what does God require in chapter 30? He requires Israel to be faithful, right? Be faithful to others, be faithful to Me. But what is He really reminding them of? He is saying, "I am faithful." But the Israelites cannot be faithful — how could they possibly be faithful? So what is chapter 30 doing here? It is reminding Israel: "I am faithful. The oath I have sworn, I will keep. The vow I have made, what I have promised you, I will surely accomplish." So it is with this faith that Israel steps onto the battlefield and enters the place of war. This is what we must remember. So what is the main point of chapter 30? It is reminding Israel: "You must have faith in Me." And the expression of your faith in Me is that in your daily life you also take oaths and keep them, and make vows and keep them. So here you must understand how important faith is to us. Faith in what? Faith in God's promises, faith in the oath God has sworn.

Brothers and sisters, I tell you, do not underestimate this. Sometimes we are misled — as if "now faith, hope, and love abide, and the greatest is love" — as if faith is not important. We are not going to interpret that passage today, but I remind you: you have misunderstood the key. Faith is the core essence of the Christian life. The reason we cannot keep the law in our lives is that we lack faith. If you lack faith, I am not saying you are unsaved — I have said this before — but your faith may be very weak. So you must always examine whether you have faith. You must examine whether your life shows the works of faith. This is something you must be especially careful about.

Over the years in fellowship, I have found that the main reason for weakness in the lives of brothers and sisters is lack of faith. You tell them: "Do this, entrust your children to God, do not value grades so much, keep God's law even though it is hard, put your relationship with God and the church first, give offerings, wives fulfill your role in bearing and raising children." The reason you cannot do these things is our unbelief. We do not believe God's word. We cannot believe what God has promised us. God has promised that if we trust Him, He will take care of everything. He has promised that His blood has covered us — that is already done. He gave us His very life — what else would He not give us? So we must rely on God, live by faith through the Lord. The expression of a life of faith is keeping God's law on earth. The reason we do not keep the law is that we lack faith. This is something we must continually examine. How important is faith to us? Without faith, you cannot enter Canaan — you will die in the wilderness. That is how serious it is. What is our life like? We live by our own judgment: "As others live, so I live; others rely on money, so I rely on money." So in many areas of my life, I work for my job, I do these things, I rely on these things. My children need tutoring — I rely on money. You are still relying on these things. I cannot say you do not believe — after all, you come to church. But I tell you, you are falling short. You cannot put on the wings of faith and soar like an eagle. Faith is like wings, lifting you up to soar in the air, to soar freely in God's law.

But if you have no faith, or very little faith, you are like a little sparrow fluttering on the ground. You live a hard life, you are weary, and you think, "Why is this faith so bitter?" But that is not the point. The point is that we cannot get past that barrier — that barrier of faith — and you must cross it. And chapter 30 encourages us to cross that barrier — to believe God's promise that He will lead you in, and you will certainly enter. Do not be afraid.

We are always afraid — afraid of having no money, afraid for our children's future, afraid of losing our job, afraid of having no food. We are always afraid. Not a moment do we truly let go and say, "For my next meal, if I have none, I will look to God. If I starve, so be it — I will go to heaven anyway." This is the thing — I have found that many brothers and sisters simply cannot do this. Of course, this requires the work of the Holy Spirit, but I think it requires practice. If you cannot do it, you will suffer greatly, living this worldly life on earth, and when you meet God face to face, you will be ashamed. You must let go — you must press on, you must die to self. You must die to this, or you will never fly. So I must remind you of this. Although I am a pastor, I can only remind you.

In fact, I have said many things very plainly — things I should and should not have said — I have said them. But you still need faith — you must listen. May God have mercy. You must keep God's statutes and ordinances — strictly observe the Sabbath, attend church, maintain marital intimacy. If anything violates these, even if I lose my job, even if I lose money, I will risk it all. But we cannot risk it. If you cannot risk it, your faith is not truly built. If you cannot risk it, life becomes awkward, entangled up and down, and you cannot soar like an eagle spreading its wings.

So why does this passage mention that a woman's vow requires her husband's consent? I think the meaning here is fairly clear. We are all like that woman — our vows are worthless — we need the true Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and the Triune God to help us, to confirm our vows and establish our oaths. Or to put it another way, only God's promises to us, God's oath to us, are true; we humans are all vain. You can understand why this is established from that perspective. Of course, the literal meaning is certainly valid — it must be obeyed as the law itself. But I also say there is a deeper meaning — what I am pointing to is that this passage actually encourages us to build our faith and to see God's faithfulness and God's power. So brothers and sisters, truly, may God have mercy on us.

If we have no faith on earth, our lives will be extremely difficult. We have already been brought out of Egypt — we have believed in Jesus, we are in the church — but we are in the wilderness. Without faith, the consequences are terrifying — we will fall in the wilderness. Because we must have faith mixed with what we hear, as Hebrews especially exhorts and warns us. So we must truly believe. I am confident that your actions are better than this, so you must live by faith, believing God's promises, believing God's providence, believing God's power. So that in this life we may live a life of faith, relying on the oath God has sworn, relying on God's promises. Well, our sharing today ends here briefly. Thank you all.