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Curses

 The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty men were involved in this plot. They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. (Acts 23:12-14)

             Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food. (I Samuel 14:29)

             It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows. (Proverbs  20:25)

             Today’s passage is thanks to my sister’s pastor, who included it in a sermon but didn’t camp out on it as much as I want to. I doubt they meant to miss even one meal, but it’s pretty certain they didn’t intend to miss more than one. But can you imagine making a public and official vow to not eat until you accomplished something? Worse yet, can you imagine making a vow that nobody else was allowed to do something?

            There are some passages that talk about people making rash vows. Daughters’ and wives’ vows could be nullified by fathers and husbands. I’m sure I’ve read something dealing with rash vows made by a more general person, but I can’t find them now.

            In Deuteronomy, the people of Israel stood on two mountains, and they responded to promises of blessings if they obeyed the Law, and curses if they didn’t. And that’s the challenge, because if you made a vow and you didn’t follow through on the vow, you incurred a curse. Returning to the vow not to eat anything until something was accomplished, I have to shake my head because such a vow is so obviously unwise.

            And that is where we have to turn from the “foolish folks” in Bible times to our own lives. What sort of vows do we make? What sort of promises? What sort of decisions do we make that we know aren’t good ones, but we make them anyway? Why do we do these things to ourselves? And yet we do. And this is where we need open our eyes and look at what we’re doing. 

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