Numbers 30 has some important truths about the importance of a father and husband. “These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father’s house”. God gives Moses direction on how to deal with women and their vows, as well as men and their vows. This chapter truly shows the responsibility of a father and a husband as leader of the home. The consequences are severe and important. Being a dad and hubby matters much – it needs to be done well.
God first commands Moses this way about men: “If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth”. What we say matters. It matters a lot. There is no place this is more true than in the vows of marriage. We promise things before God and a church full of witnesses. We cannot just decide one day that what we said no long applies because the feelings have changed, or the circumstances are different, or we have drifted apart. Guys – we need to pay close attention to what God’s expectations are for us.
But from there Moses is given direction about fathers and their daughters. Bottom line is that a father has the ability to negate a vow made by his daughter. Assuming he is paying attention. Assuming he is taking responsibility. Assuming he is fulfilling his role as the leader of his family. If a father hears her words and says that they are wrong “the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her”. Do you see the power of being a dad here? A father paying attention and intervening when he hears his daughter making bad vows and promises can spare her God’s wrath. But that assumes an engaged and active dad. One paying attention and listening.
But God goes further and gives the same responsibility to a husband. “If, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her”. So assuming a husband is leading in his marriage, paying attention and listening to his wife, and exercising judgment as the spiritual head of the home – God has assigned some special powers. He was able to negate the vow made by interjecting at the time. In both cases it means that men are not passively going through the motions but actively involved with their daughters and bride. Never forget God’s design for the family and marriage. Done His way, it is a beautiful thing!
