In 1997, I was working at a new job and starting my volunteer position with Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) as a teaching leader. The small company I was working for was having management issues and was understaffed. The BSF class had lost leadership when the previous leader moved away. The providential events that coincided on Wednesday, August 20 radically changed my life. In a phone call to my supervisor at BSF, I was offered a job at the headquarters in San Antonio. After spending the night in prayer, I found myself in Luke’s gospel. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) I accepted the offer, quit my job, and moved from Washington, D.C. to San Antonio. That is the closest I’ve ever come to making a vow to the Lord besides those I’ve made to my godchildren’s parents (having never been married). Ever since then, when I’ve been asked to fill positions, I’ve sought God’s guidance first. Since he arranges our circumstances to align with his plans for us, the answer is usually “Yes.” Every once in a while, when someone asks me to fill a volunteer position that doesn’t line up with my ongoing vocations, I decline, because “It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake.” (Ecclesiastes 5:5-6) Today, we will conclude eight months of meditations on Leviticus with God’s instructions to the Israelites for vows, dedications, and devotions to Him. The book ends with God’s command to His people to also give generously to him, their divine King. On this side of the cross, believers are Christ’s stewards, to manage and use wisely the resources our King has entrusted us with open hands to give what is due back to him.
Vows With Offerings of Living Creatures
At first reading, Leviticus 27 seems far removed form our modern way of life. We don’t “give” our children or relatives in service to the Lord. But we give ourselves to him, as Paul describes in Romans 12:1 “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” “Human being[s] are in no position to go back on their word to God…people desperate for the Lord’s help might make very difficult promises,…[but] these laws provide a compassionate way for the person to fulfill the vow and yet not be bound by the full implications of the rash promise.” (1) When “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons,” he gave specific instructions about the vow (the people vowed) depending on their age. (Leviticus 27:1-7) He also said, “And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.” (27:8) “To put it in blunt modern terms: a tractor that can harvest fifty acres a day simply costs more than a tractor that can harvest thirty acres a day…[But] the Lord makes a way for all people, whether rich or poor, to participate fully in worshipping him, in this case by fulfilling their vows.” (2) “If the vow is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord, all of it that he gives to the Lord is holy. He shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good…” (27:9-10) God’s people were to keep their vows and give generously to their divine King. Do we keep our implied promises to the Lord after we’ve prayed for wisdom and self-restraint? Do we wisely manage and use the resources the King has entrusted us, because they ultimately belong to him?
Transition to Dedicating Things to God
“”There is a switch here from vowing living things as holy to the Lord (people and animals) to dedicating inanimate objects as holy to the Lord (houses and land)…Since priests did not have time to care for land ‘dedicated as holy,’ the owners retained control of it until the Jubilee and made a living from it…If they failed to redeem it, or if they leased it during this time, they forfeited it, and it became priestly property…They also forfeited their right to redemption if they sold the land—that is, leased it—to someone else. Perhaps because it would be an insult to dedicate land to the Lord, profit by ‘selling’ it to another person, and then redeem that land from the Lord with money that you did not raise a finger to earn. It is one thing to redeem land from the Lord with money that costs you sweat and blood; it is an insult to redeem it with money that costs you nothing…It is a human tendency to promise God much when we need him, but to thank him little when he meets our needs.” (3) “When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the Lord, the priest shall value it as either good or bad…And if the donor wishes to redeem his house…it shall be his….But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore. But the field, when it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the Lord, like a field that has been devoted. The priest shall be in possession of it.” (Leviticus 27:14-21)
Managing What is Already Dedicated to God
“But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn [already] belongs to the Lord, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s…no devoted thing that a man devotes to the Lord, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord.” (27:26-29) “Verses 26-33 deal with involuntary offerings that cannot be dedicated to the Lord because they are already his (firstborn, tithes)…Since the firstborn [male animals] belonged to the Lord, they were already holy, and could not be dedicated. In other words, Israelites could not vow to give to the Lord an animal they owned and then pay that vow with an animal the Lord already owned himself (the firstborn). This would be like returning someone’s property to them and claiming you had given them a costly gift.” (4) Firstborn animals were usually considered tithes that the Israelites were instructed to give the Lord along with other kinds of tithes. “And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.” (27:31-33) “Although this is the first time the Israelites are commanded to tithe, it comes as no surprise. the Israelites would have understood themselves to be following in [Abraham’s] footsteps…giving a tithe to the king…[which] was a well-known practice in the Ancient Near East. Since the Lord was not only Israel’s God but also their divine King. The initial tithe went to the Levites, who in turn gave a tithe of the tithe to the priests…Deuteronomy 14 adds that the tithe was also intended to provide every third year for those who were needy, in this way demonstrating to them the Lord’s care.”(4) I wonder if we rightly see ourselves, in Christ, as possessors of God’s holy property, “a kingdom, priests to his God and Father,” for God’s “glory and dominion forever and ever”? (Revelation 1:6)
New Testament Examples of Dedication—The Colt
“Many of the precepts in [Leviticus] are moral, and always binding; others are ceremonial, and peculiar to the Jewish nation; yet they have a spiritual meaning, and so teach us…The doctrine of reconciliation to God by a Mediator, is not clouded with the smoke of burning sacrifice, but cleared by the knowledge of Christ and him crucified.” (5) Think of the New Testament’s example concerning giving as worship. “When [Jesus] drew near to Bethpage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ And they said, “‘The Lord has need of it.'” (Luke 19:28-34) “The triumphal entry contains a reminder that everything we possess has been entrusted to us by Christ. We are ultimately responsible to him for the care and stewardship we provide over things. He is the King and we are his vice-regents. He gives us everything to enjoy and use, transferring ownership to us. Like the colt’s owner, there are times when Jesus needs to repurpose our assets in ways that we had not originally envisioned…as Christians, we understand our ownership or lordship in light of the fact that Jesus is Lord over us and the giver of all things…It is assumed that the reason [the colt’s owners] are standing there with the colt is that they run a ‘rent-a-colt’ business for travelers on their way to Jerusalem. Giving the colt for Jesus to use was sacrificial, and reasonable only if Jesus truly was their Lord… But the colt is not the good news of this passage. Rather, the colt is a vehicle upon which the good news entered Jerusalem…Our generosity is not the good news. Rather, it is the atoning sacrifice of Christ that would come later in the week which continues to be power of God unto salvation. Jesus will build his church, and engage whatever asset he desires to do so. What a privilege to be called on by our Lord to return gifts for his work.” (6)
Joseph’s Tomb
Another example of sacrificial dedication is provided after our Lord was crucified. “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.” (Matthew 27:57-60) “God has intervened in his life and given Joseph a new heart…Though he possessed great wealth, his life was oriented to following and serving Jesus rather than following and serving his wealth…[but] on account of his wealth [he] had access to Pilate’s inner circle. Joseph uses the access to request and secure the body of Jesus. He was likely motivated by God’s command that explicitly stated, ‘his body shall not remain all night on the tree’ (Deut. 21:23)…Joseph gave Jesus a piece of real estate, a freshly carved tomb…[a] piece of property with the plan of using it over time as a place where all members of his family could be buried. Hence, it was likely large. But after paying for the property and construction, Joseph discovers a new purpose for the tomb as the final resting place of Jesus…But the best part of the story isn’t that Jesus was afforded a dignified burial, as good as that was. The truly good news is that Jesus only made use of Joseph’s tomb temporarily. On the third day, Christ was raised from the dead and eternal life was confirmed. We are united to Christ in his death to sin, and in his resurrection to true life, a life to God in which we cheerfully give the assets he has given to us as he may move us for the good of our neighbor and the glory of his name!” (7) As we finish Leviticus with God’s command to keep vows and give generously to him, we are reminded that we are Christ’s stewards called to manage and wisely manage the resources the King has entrusted us.
Conclusion
“The underlying assumption of this chapter is straightforward: commitments to the Lord must be honoured. This was certainly true of commitments the Israelites chose to make, such as vows or dedications. These were often fulfilled in response to the Lord answering a prayer request or providing a blessing in some way. Failure to honour them was to show deep ingratitude to the Lord. Indeed, it was even more than that: to break a promise to the King of the universe as though it did not matter was to show him the greatest disrespect…Jesus applies this principle to discipleship in general, warning those who commit their lives to him to recognize that it should not be done lightly and, in fact, must be done wholeheartedly; there is no turning back…Christians are to return material blessings to those who lead them in the Lord’s ways, and to the needy…in response to God’s marvelous grace to us in Jesus, a gift so rich and free it causes us to give liberally of our material possessions as an act of grateful worship to the Lord…The Israelites are to be in [the Promised Land] very soon, and…chapters [25-27] whet our appetite for the fulfillment of that long-awaited covenant promise…The first generation of Israel failed in these things, while the second generation largely succeeded. The question now remains: Which generation will we follow?” (8) Have you made a vow to the Lord? Have you fulfilled it? Vows aren’t necessary but devotion to Christ is. By Christ’s grace and with the Spirit’s help, I’ve kept my hand to the plow because I choose to honor the vow I made twenty-six years ago. Frankly, I’m awed by God’s empowerment to do so. I’m sure the Israelites were also amazed at God’s grace in Canaan, which we will consider for the remainder of this year, in the book of Numbers. “God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8)
Related Scripture: Genesis 14:18-21; 28:20-22; 31:13; Leviticus 22:17-23; Deuteronomy 14:28-29;23:21-23; Exodus 19:4-6; Judges 2:6-7; 1 Samuel 1:11, 22, 24-28; 8:7; 15:17-18; Nehemiah 10:38-39; 12:44; Psalms 56:12; 116:14; Proverbs 20:25; Ecclesiastes 5:1-6; Isaiah 7:10-14; Jonah 2:9; Malachi 1:14; Acts 18:18; 21:23-26.
Notes:
1. Sklar, Jay, Leviticus, An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, IVP Academic, 2014.
2. Sklar, Ibid.
3. Sklar, Ibid.
4. Sklar, Ibid.
5. Sklar, Ibid.
6. Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible, Leviticus 27, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/mhn/leviticus-27.html.
7. Jones, Andy, “Gifts for a King: A Five Day Devotional Examining Generosity to Jesus”, PCA Foundation, 2023.
8. Jones, Ibid.
9. Sklar, Ibid.
August 31, 2023
Divine Wisdom for Daily Living by Joanne Colvin 