Part XX7.1 - Vows of Devotion
CHAPTER XXVII.
VOWS OF DEVOTION. THIS chapter, as we have just seen, is not concerned with the making of statutes, etc., between the Lord and the people, but with the giving of commandments for them. The main point is the doing by any of the people of something as a voluntary act, or, as it is termed, the making of " a singular vow," a vow special or remarkable in itself. Directions are minutely given for such cases, but the fact of their occurrence seems to imply the knowledge of the full standing of grace which the previous part of this book has taught. The specific directions here given show the Lord’s approval of such a vow. There was neither any injunction to make it, nor yet any direct commendation of the act; nevertheless, if a person did so, there were commandments to guide him. It was, therefore, an act which the Lord’s people might rightly and acceptably do, yet only in accordance with the directions given. It had reference to the persons of men or women, to beasts clean and unclean, to houses, and to fields either of inheritance or purchase. The object seems to be the dedication of any of these to the Lord. The vow recognises the act of the Lord Himself in having given, and returns to Him that which He had first bestowed. It is something more than God required; but at the same time His requirements are carefully guarded, and must not be trenched upon. Accordingly, if any should make this singular vow, it must be denned by the Lord’s regulations, and His estimate of the value of the thing dedicated must be strictly attended to. Any person might make the vow; but the persons must be for the Lord according to the specified estimation. There is a contrast between this passage and Exodus 30:11-16. The object there was an atonement for the soul, and for that all were to give alike, as an acknowledgment that all equally needed it, and that for his life one could give no more than another. The amount paid was, therefore, unvarying, viz., half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary as in the present case. The subject of this chapter is not, however, redemption; but relates to the value of service in the case of a redeemed person; and this is to be decided by God’s estimate. The first paragraph refers to the dedication of persons; and the Lord’s estimate of value, as given below, is arranged according to age, the female in each case being of less value than the male:
MALE. FEMALE.
1. From 20 years old to 60, 50 shekels. 30 shekels.
2. „ 5 „ 20, 20 „ 10 „
3. „ 1 month to 5 years, 5 ,, 3 ,,
4. ,, 60 years and upwards, 15 „ 10 ,,
Leviticus 27:8. " But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him."
God knows and marks accurately the condition and power of service in any who profess to dedicate themselves to Him. And thus, if dedication has taken place, it becomes a matter of requirement with God that that which is dedicated should be rendered. But we are also shown how to settle the value of a person under peculiar circumstances. God truly comes in with His own grace in this instance as in all others; and if any be poorer than the usual estimation, he may, on presenting himself to the priest, be valued according to his ability. Hence there is a way for the poor also to devote their small service to the Lord, through the intervention of the priest. God would estimate the dedicated person at His own just estimation, and would require it; but if the man were too poor, as all are, the matter might be arranged through the mediation of the priest. God’s estimation is already declared, and cannot be changed; it is definite ; but the priest’s is according to the man’s ability, and this is grace in the acceptance of service thus devoted to the Lord, when one discovers himself to be falling short of what he ought to do, of rendering the vowed offering to God. God has estimated rightly, and the value declared is the true value, and is required; if we cannot pay it, we must go to the priest, the Lord Jesus. The priest’s estimation is said to be " according to his ability that vowed." We find a similar provision in the offerings, as mentioned, e.g., in Leviticus 5:7. Here it seems to be the acceptance of service devoted to the Lord, not according to the just estimate of what that service ought to be, but in grace, according to the ability of one found to be poorer than the Lord’s estimation. This is probably an instance of the vows to which the Lord refers in Matthew 5:33. They were to be strictly performed; but He says, " Swear not at all." For here we discover intimations that, if any did vow, he might be found to be poorer than the Lord’s estimation, and that grace would be needed even in the acceptance of the performed vow. The true spirit of service rendered is found in 2 Corinthians 8:12 we read:-" For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." Since the dedication is for service, the valuation is the highest for such as are best able by reason of age to render it-those who are from twenty to sixty years old. And the service is rendered under the constraint of motives implanted in the soul, not from the compulsion of a fixed law. God gives abundantly to His people, and loves a cheerful giver. The true moral force of the vow to us is, perhaps, that all our service is due to the Lord. And so this chapter would seem to occupy the place of the Apostle’s " therefore " in the epistles-as in Romans 12:1, " I beseech you therefore," &c. But the Lord receives our due service in that grace which can make allowance for failure; and so He sets aside the vows in Matthew 5:1-48. For we can but give Him His own, and that, too, in the use of the power communicated by Himself. Therefore, our vowing to do anything implies that we have the power to do, which we have not, and comes of evil, that is, of nature. But, on the other hand, the Lord loves us to give out of the abundance which He has given, and in the confidence that we have unfailing resources. " Freely ye have received, freely give." " He loveth a cheerful giver." But all this relates to the service of persons, and the money given is the equivalent for the service of the tabernacle according to the estimation of the person who could not personally render the service. They could not actually be in the tabernacle, and thus a medium was appointed through which their service might be rendered. God would in this manner receive their vow, and the estimation would be a holy thing unto the Lord. They would be contributing to the service of the sanctuary, though they were not actually in it. Yet they were connected with it, and in the priesthood had access. The mere fact that the Lord estimated the value of any person or thing that was vowed to Him, shows that it was already His by right. And this is seen still more strongly in the case of those who proved poorer than the estimation, and were not able to render what they had vowed. And so it is said, " Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price ;" and, " When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do." For the fact is that anything which a man can vow is already God’s by right. It is only on the ground of the full redemption of grace that any one can render service, and all those who would render it should know that God must exercise much grace, even in receiving that which they can render. But the Priest, the Lord Jesus, is with God, and not only presents the sacrifice and the blood, but also the service in His estimation, and it is according to the estimation of the Priest that God accepts it. The parable of the talents has a connection with this. For if the slothful receiver had known the grace of God as set forth in this chapter, he would not have spoken of Him as a hard Master, but would have known how He accepts each man according to his ability." VER. 9, 10. The ordinance with regard to " a beast whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord " is positive: it may not be changed ; or, if it be changed, both it and the exchange shall be holy. In the case of persons, they were to be for the Lord, when vowed, by the estimation; that is, it was appointed for them that the estimated value in shekels of silver should be in lieu of the persons. In that of clean beasts, the vow must stand just as it was promised; there could be no redemption. In that of unclean beasts, they were to be estimated by the priest; and, if they were redeemed, a fifth part was to be added to the estimation. The same rule applied to a house. In the case of a field of possession, it might be redeemed, and the estimation was to be calculated according to the number of years from the time of Jubilee. But in that of a purchased field, only the estimation could be given to the Lord; because the field itself would have to go out in the Jubilee, and would again become the possession of its hereditary owner. The clean beasts are typical of Christ, of His purity and perfectness, of all that He was as an offering to God. They are said to be beasts " whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord." What we offer unto the Lord is of the grace which we have in Christ, of the fruits of His Spirit Which is in us. But whatever we are in fact, God requires us to be in spirit even as He is, and still to yield ourselves, under the power of His Spirit, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Him. The doing this is called Xoy«^ \arptiav (" reasonable service "), that is, an offering unto God of worship, or rather of service, in spiritual intelligence. What the beasts signify is also shown in many places of Scripture; as, when the Lord says,-" I will have mercy, and not sacrifice ;" " Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldst not." But God did require an actual sacrifice once in the person of Christ Jesus, in order that we might be able to approach Him; and He still requires symbolical sacrifices, our living bodies, the fruit of our lips, &c. If we desire to offer these to Him, we may not redeem nor exchange them; for, " whether they be good or bad, they are holy." God must see all our service, and all in which we stand related to Him, perfect in Christ; and at the same time we should render to Him the spiritually intelligent worship and service which is His due, and which He has empowered us to render. But we must beware lest our failing in the latter should lead us to think of failure as before God. The consciousness of our own shortcomings should rather cause us to feel the preciousness of Christ, Who is for us " an offering and sacrifice to God of a sweet smelling savour;" and should make us realise what we are in Him, and long to be like Him practically. We see, then, from the clean beasts what we may give to God; but we may not alter, or change, or in any way dispense with, that which we offer. For it is Christ and our perfection in Him. This God requires, otherwise He cannot regard us. He receives no imperfect offering in Christ, and by the Spirit; and though our own sense of imperfection may make us feel that we must have an exchange, yet both the offering and the exchange are holy. The latter is Christ, the Perfect, the former ourselves, the ever imperfect; but in Him and with Him we are perfect in service and acceptable to God. We may thus see reason to change, but must remember that neither the vowed animal nor the exchange could be withdrawn. Of unclean beasts, which could not be offered in sacrifice, the estimation only could be presented to the Lord.
These, perhaps, signify what we are by nature, that is, when yet unredeemed, and thus unclean. Here, therefore, is an acceptance in grace, for the beast was to be presented before the prieat for estimation; he was to value it, whether it were good or bad; and as he valued it so should it be. The bad would probably signify nature unsubjected, and the good nature subjected and so made the present instrument of service. But there may be the desire to redeem the unclean animal, in which case a fifth part is to be added to the estimation; that is, a little more than the estimated value is to be given, and that, too, in the silver of the shekel of the sanctuary. Thus it is that the knowledge of redemption conveys the knowledge of a power of service beyond that which is natural. And it is on this ground that our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost; for we are not our own, but are bought with a price. The body is not to be prostituted to evil, it is a part of the TTfpuroi’ijo•ir, or "purchased possession," and the abode of the Spirit, in Whom we are one with the Lord; for " he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." In this case, as in that of persons, the shekel of the sanctuary is the medium by which any such offerings are accepted. The priest is the valuer; the shekel of the sanctuary the standard of value, and this is of silver. The priest points to the grace which brings us to God in acceptance; the shekel of the sanctuary to the exact and perfect righteousness which is the standard of judgment; and the silver to the purity and value of the medium. The fifth part added shows the additional value brought by redemption and the knowledge of it, " if He will at all redeem it." The priest’s estimation is in grace; but the price is more than that, for the redemption confers the value. The Lord Jesus fully pays the price and more for all whom He esteems, and that which was precious becomes more so.
We have seen that the persons, though God’s just estimate of their value is given, would be accepted, that is, in grace, according to the estimation of the priest, according to the ability of him that vowed. The clean beasts, if once given, could neither be changed nor estimated; but themselves, as given, must be the Lord’s. And if any would wish to exchange, both that which was originally given and the exchange must be holy. But the unclean beasts were to stand according to the estimation of the priest, and the amount of his estimation was to be for the Lord. Redemption was, however, to be allowed in this case, by paying a fifth part more than the amount of the priest’s estimation. So with regard to the next instance, the house sanctified to the Lord; it was to be estimated by the priest, whether good or bad, and to stand according to his estimation. And redemption was permitted in this case also, as in that of the unclean beasts, and on the same terms:-" he shall add the fifth of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his." The house is the work of man’s hands, and is so distinguished from the land which was inalienably given of God. If it be, as was supposed in the case of the house in the Jubilee, the building up in present service of that which will be found for future reward in the inheritance, then the sanctifying it to the Lord will be the acknowledgment of Him as the fountain of all power for such service, and of our own failure in actual use of the power. And service needs, too, to be estimated by the priest, whether it be good or bad. The fifth part added to the estimation is the acknowledgment of gracious acceptance in redemption, and the renewed exertion consequent upon that knowledge. Then, the field of possession is to be valued according to the seed, and may be redeemed at an estimation having reference to the Jubilee. The full time was reckoned at the rate of an homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver, and deduction was to be made according to the number of years that had already passed since the Jubilee, if the field had been sanctified after it. The field, which was given of God and inalienable, is the inheritance of heaven and eternal life, and the present dedication of it to God, and its redemption to present possession, show the consciousness that it can only be held of grace and redemption, and indicate renewed exertion towards the attainment of it (Php 3:11). Consequently, the dedication will diminish in value in proportion to our apprehension of the nearness of the great day of actual possession. Of this redemption in its effect it is said, " it shall be assured to him." And if there be no redemption, or if the field be sold to another, and so remain till the Jubilee, then it shall be for ever holy unto the Lord, and shall be the priest’s. This hints at the condition of those who disregard the offer of grace which is unto all, and so lose the inheritance. But there is no frustration of the grace of God, neither could there be; and the declaration that it shall be the priest’s marks the sovereignty of grace. The condition of the Jews as contrasted with the Church may be here shown forth; since they are cor- porately priests to God: and the Jubilee would then be the termination of the day of grace and redemption. The homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver shows the same amount as that which was required for the redemption of the best of the persons, from twenty to sixty years of age. The seed is the Word of God, and barley is characteristic of the Church in present circumstances. Only by the seed of the Word are any begotten again to the portion of life and inheritance in the kingdom, and their value is thus as much as God by the seed has made it; there was no value before. And so the homer of barley seed producing, before the Jubilee, crops to the value of fifty shekels of silver, that is, to the yearly value of one shekel, seems to represent the perfection of service. But a field which is bought, and is not a field of possession, must revert in the Jubilee; and if it be sanctified to the Lord, the estimation until the Jubilee is all that can be given. We must know that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. The Church, by her present position, occupies that which will hereafter belong to the Jew, and the value of the occupation is to be given to the Lord. When the time of Jubilee comes, the outcast Jew must return to his possession : in the meanwhile the redemption is with those who are occupying the land, and may be given as a holy thing to the Lord. Again the injunction is repeated, that all estimations must be according to the shekel of the sanctuary; for this is God’s holy standard, departure from which is error and confusion. In a word, the things which can be vowed seem to be seven-fold, and comprise all that man has to dedicate. But all these things are not subject to redemption; for some are the indications of redemption itself. 1. Persons. Male, according to age. 2. „ Female. „ „ 3. Beasts. Clean, offered in sacrifice. 4. „ Unclean, not offered to the Lord. 5. House. 6. Field of possession. 7. Field of purchase.
Leviticus 27:26. An ordinance follows which sets forth still more definitely the grace of God as the fountain of all service. None might sanctify the firstlings of the beasts, because they were already, by positive requirement, the Lord’s; the clean beasts to be offered, and the unclean to be redeemed. This was the memorial that the Lord had by strength of hand delivered Israel out of Egypt, and saved them from the destruction of the first-born (Exodus 13:12-16). And thus it reminded them that it was by the positive redemption of their persons that God had put them in circumstances to do anything, or to offer an offering to Him. But there are some things which may not be redeemed at all; viz., that which is " devoted " unto the Lord " of all that a man hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession." " None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death." In Numbers 21:2-3, we have an instance of due regard to this ordinance; and in 1 Samuel 15:18-23, an example of disregard. To us God has given positive directions respecting the matter: there are certain things which He calls upon us to devote in entire renunciation on the ground of His promises. And we can by no means realise these promises unless we are obedient to His command. " The friendship of the world is enmity with God." The world is a devoted thing; and if we think to redeem it, we are proving ourselves to be disobedient by disregarding the positive declarations of God. For He says:-" Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters."
Leviticus 27:30. Now follows a further assertion of the Lord’s claim to the tenth, whether of the fruit of the trees and the seed of the land, or of the herd or flock. The former might be redeemed, the latter might not: for the firstlings were the memorial of God’s deliverance, and the acknowledgment of Him as the originator of blessing. These tithes are a permanent recognition of God as the eternal Giver of all blessing to His people. Jacob promised them to the Lord, and they must be remembered by all the generation of Jacob. We have instances of the remembrance of them, after they had been neglected and forgotten, in 2 Chronicles 31:1-21, and Nehemiah 13:12. In Malachi 3:8-10, the Lord rebukes Israel for withholding the tithes, denouncing their conduct as a robbery of God, and challenging them to obedience in this matter as being the only way in which they could again obtain abundant blessing, since it was a simple recognition of God as the Author of it. There is redemption for the fruit and seed, but none for the herd or flock. Of the fruits the enjoyment is ours in redemption; but of all that pass under the rod, the tithe is not redeemable. There may be a reference here to the redeemed persons, " the sheep." There is to be no " search whether it be good or bad," a command which seems to be a distinct pre-shadowing of the election of grace, the Church. See Jeremiah 33:13 ; Ezekiel 20:37 ; Micah 7:14.
Leviticus 27:34. " These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai." THE END.
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