April 11, 2016
Week 4, Day 1
Read: Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
SOAP: Ecclesiastes 5:4-5
S:
“When you vow a vow to YHVH, don’t defer to pay it;
for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay
that which you vow. It is better that
you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay.”
O&A:
I will tell y’all: this passage is stomping on my
toes big time.
Pay: to perform, make good; to be in a covenant of
peace
No delight: YHVH has no pleasure/delight in (the
words/vows of) fools
Fools: impiety; stupid or silly
Better: good thing
Okay, so vow.
Oh my. How often do we say “I
will” or “I can”, or commit ourselves to things, sometimes haphazardly..? How many of us, when we took our wedding vows
repeated the officiant, saying, “I promise/I will love, honor, cherish my
spouse”… Our words have weight, and
meaning. In this verse, it’s not taking
a vow in the sight of YHVH, but making a vow TO YHVH. Now on to payment.
“Defer not to pay it.” So when I was in college, I took out a
student loan. Only one, and boy howdy,
am I glad it was just one! It took me a
long time to pay that thing off! But
little by little, I did.
(HalleuYah!) At one point, even
though we had the money for the monthly payment, I wasn’t making it. Long story, short, we had moved and changed
banks, and I forgot to change the stored payment information. Imagine my surprise when my loan went into
default! They were close to some serious
steps (like tapping into our bank account), because of my mistake. Thankfully, it was figured out, I got back on
the payment plan, etc., etc., etc. So
when scripture says, “Don’t defer to pay it”, it’s a nice way of saying, “Quit
procrastinating – make good on that vow!”
Don’t wait to do it, especially if it’s in your power to do.
Yeshua told this parable: “A man had two sons, and he
came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.' He answered,
'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind, and went. He came to the
second, and said the same thing. He answered, 'I go, sir,' but he didn't go.
Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to him, "The
first." Yeshua said to them, "Most assuredly I tell you that the tax
collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you.
For Yochanan came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn't believe
him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it,
you didn't even repent afterward, that you might believe him.”
What does this have to do with vows? One son had vowed to do the work, but
didn’t. His words sounded good, but his
actions didn’t follow. The other son
said he wouldn’t, but chose to be obedient instead. One was more pious/reverent to Abba, whereas
the other was showing impiety/irreverence for Abba (which leads us to
foolishness).
This scripture says, “He has no pleasure in
fools.” OUCH. That ‘no delight’ is no joke. The Hebrew word chephets means ‘a valuable
thing’.
Add in the “no”, and it’s saying when we speak
empty or vain words (or empty vows) to our Elohim/God, our words are not
valuable to YHVH.
As I searched out the word for better, I realized
that even in Genesis 1:4 (as well as like like 597 other times in the Bible) it
is used as good. As in, “Elohim saw the
light, and it was good.” This made me
think of an old rhyme: ‘Good, better, best.
Never let it rest, till your good gets better, and your better gets
best.” Abba doesn’t look at it, or see
it, the way we do, like there are degrees of good. No, He says it’s either good (tov) or it’s not
good.
Again, this passage today was incredible. I got more out of it than I can even put into
coherent words, because I’ve been meditating on it all day. Abba revealed to me that a lot of my vows
come from a place of wanting to help, and sometimes not being able to. That was nicely put, but not so nice
considering there are still broken vows.
Oh, I am so SO glad that YHVH is not a vow-breaker, nor a vain
vow-maker!!!
My husband
is reading a book on being careful of what we speak, how we speak, etc., so it
was neat to talk about what Abba was revealing to me with my beloved
groom.
This last week has been awful. Having lost one of my dearest and bestest of
friends, came close to losing another close friend the same day that my best
friend died… I found I was speaking a lot, and I mean a LOT of my own words,
regarding pain, sorrow, sadness, grief, you name it. I listened to this beautiful worship song
today, where the lyrics spoke of how, when the heart cries, only God hears it,
and when the heart stops crying, the soul cries out to Him. And in the midst of this beautifully
sorrowful song, she is praising YHVH!
And in that moment, Abba ministered directly to me. I’ll post the song if anyone’s interested in
hearing it. <3
P:
Abba, oh Abba.
You are so mighty and excellent.
I cling to You once again, and I praise You and I thank You for who You
are. I ask Your forgiveness for every
empty vow, every vain word, even every vain thought I’ve had, those that I can
remember and those that I can’t. I
accept Your correction in this area of my life where I have fallen short, and
it is a painful correction for me. Help
me curb my tongue, and better yet, guide my heart so that the things that flow
out of it are of You, and not of me, for You are worthy and good! I thank You,
Abba, for Your constant and consistent faithfulness, and that Your word does
not return to You void! I pray that as I ask Your forgiveness, others will
forgive me as well. In Yeshua’s name,
Amein.
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