A vow is a solemn promise. It is a terrible thing to make a vow to God and than turn around to break it.

I am sure we all remember Jephthah, who foolishly made some vows to God without understanding the consequences of the vows he was making.

We should never be quick to speak, or slow to think.

Before leading the Israelites into battle against the Ammonites, Jephthah a mighty man of valor made a rash vow that he would give to the LORD whoever first came out of doors to meet him, if he returned home as the victor from battle.

He wanted to win so bad, that he did not care what he had to do to win. So he spoke too quickly!

So, when the LORD granted him victory, the one who came out to meet him was his daughter, someone he deeply cherish and loved.

All of a sudden, it came back to him the vow he made and Jephthah remembered his vow and offered her to the LORD, (Judges 11:29-40).

How heart breaking? Perhaps if he would have taken the time to think about what he was doing and would not have been so desperate to win the battle, he might, or could have won, and kept his family intact!

But, because he did not trust God to bring about his deliverance and the victory, he bargained something of great value to him.

Should Jephthah have kept this vow to the LORD? Of course he should have!

“When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed,” Ecclesiastic 5:4.

I believe that God is saying to His people in this hour, in this season, do not be rash with your mouth in making promises that you are not ready to keep, or to face the consequences of your decisions!

And He is saying that He will hear your cry and honor your prayers anyway, without you making promises and vows that you have no intention of fulfilling (may not be able to fulfill) or honoring, all to win a battle, or to get what you want ~ out of sheer desperation.

For instance, God became angry with King Zedekiah who had made a covenant with the people of Jerusalem to decree freedom to the slaves who were Hebrews, both men and women.

The covenant stipulated that no one in Judah would own a fellow Jew as a slave and so all the leaders and people who had signed the covenant set free the slaves, men and women alike.

But a little while later, they reneged on the covenant, broke their promise and forced their former slaves to become slaves again, angering God and bring about his wrath and fury! (Jeremiah 34:8-11 MSG)

So as a result, God called Jeremiah to prophesy and Jeremiah assures Zedekiah that he (Zedekiah) will die peacefully in Babylon, but that the city of Jerusalem will NOT escape.

At some time in his reign, Zedekiah (with a change of heart) freed all the slaves who should have been freed every seven years, under a command of the Law that had been neglected for many years.

However, Zedekiah then reversed his decision and allowed the freed slaves to be enslaved again.

Jeremiah delivers this message to the king: “Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you, declares the LORD — ‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine.

I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. . . . I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you.

I am going to give the order, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take it and burn it down. And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there,” (verses 17, 21–22).

Because we as a people are prone to errors of judgment (which are part of our fallen nature), this means that we may make vows foolishly, or out of a lack of experiences, as novices.

Further, we as a people don’t know what the future will bring. Only God does.

This is why we must say, “If the LORD will I will do this or do that.” And, because we don’t know what will happen on tomorrow (James 4:14) to make a vow that we will do, or not do something, is pure foolishness.

God is the one in control, not us. He “works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Knowing this, we can see that it is unnecessary to make vows and that it indicates a lack of trust in Him, Who richly wants to give us all thing!

Ecclesiastes 5:6 says, do not let your mouth lead you into sin and do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.”

Why should God be angry at what you say, and destroy the work of your hands?

 

~ Apostle Geraldine Fisher

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Apostle Geraldine Fisher has a World-Wide-Social Media Net-Work Ministry. As a Missionary, God moved her into the Office of a Prophet, revealing to her the qualities of a True prophet, humility, humiliation, loving others, interceding in prayer, as she keeps her own life clean to accurately hear from God. Since hearing the audible voice of God calling her to ministry, she’s been called to intercede and pray for others in ministry as God speaks, instructs, directs and gives prophetic words for her to give to others. God promised He would bring her to sit and to learn before great men, all of which He did!

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