Verses 1–8
Introduction
This chapter has to do with the rights of God to His people. He will make His people His property, no matter how far they have distracted. In this chapter we see the path by which God will realize this.
The question is not what God will do if someone is unfaithful, but what He will do if someone wants to be faithful and makes a vow about it before the LORD. Here we find the two principles, that of grace and that of responsibility. Grace in the sense that God can work dedication in believers, but also responsibility that the believer in that dedication acts according to the commandments of God. If there is dedication, God sets the standard for it, not man. The standard is the measure of the sanctuary (Leviticus 27:25).
The making of vows, like the sacrifices, is very old (Genesis 28:20; Job 22:27). A vow can exist in the promise to give something to God. Someone can also, for His glory, renounce something that he is permitted to possess. The idea that plays a role in making a vow is that one does something that is pleasing to Him and that one then becomes part of His special grace. It may also be the intention, in a special case in which the help of God is urgently needed, to secure this help, by solemnly committing oneself to a service in advance.
In the provisions of the law, we can distinguish two aspects with regard to vows:
1. He who does not make vows does not sin; if anyone promised anything to God, he must keep that vow (Deuteronomy 23:22-Isaiah :).
2. Nothing may be promised to the LORD that belongs to Him already, or by which His order sanctified by the law is broken, or to which sin and shame cling (Leviticus 27:26; Numbers 30:3-:; Deuteronomy 23:18). Also, nothing less in value than what was actually promised to Him may be brought as payment of the vow. The reverse is also not allowed (Leviticus 27:10).
Vows can consist of either the promise of a dedication to God, or a withdrawal from something. In both cases it is a vow of which the purpose is to honor Him. The law distinguishes the two cases in vows of dedication and vows of abstinence. A vow of abstinence we can see in the Nazarite vow of Numbers 6 (Numbers 6:1-Judges :). In our chapter it is only about vows of dedication.
What can be dedicated to the LORD is mentioned:
1. a human being (Leviticus 27:2-Ruth :),
2. an animal (Leviticus 27:9-1 Chronicles :),
3. a house (Leviticus 27:14-Ezra :),
4. a piece of land (Leviticus 27:16-Lamentations :).
A vow can be made voluntarily, but not made undone voluntarily. A person who makes a vow and wants to be released from the obligation of it must be valued by the priest. It is important whether someone is fully aware of what he promised or whether he has made his promise a little hastily. In the latter case, he can be relieved from his promise. He can redeem his promise and for that he must be valued.
Hasty vows are often warned of (Ecclesiastes 5:4-Deuteronomy :; Deuteronomy 23:21-Isaiah :; Proverbs 20:25). Israel has made such a promise. At Sinai they promised three times: We will do all that the LORD has spoken (Exodus 19:8; Exodus 24:3Exodus 24:7). The LORD has not demanded such a promise. They have not been able to fulfill that promise. A price has to be paid to relieve them. That is what the Lord Jesus did.
Dedication of Persons
A person who vows usually does so in case of illness or imminent danger. On condition of healing or deliverance, such a man promises then to dedicate himself, or his wife, or his child, or his slave to the LORD, as a special property.
In general, all in Israel are the property of the LORD (Exodus 19:5). But whosoever promised himself so to the LORD, or was promised to Him by his parents or master, became therefore a serf of the sanctuary. Such a person no longer has anything to do with social life, but must serve in the tent of meeting whenever he has the opportunity to do so.
Someone who has become the property of the LORD in this special way can redeem himself or be redeemed. The money from the redemption benefits in his place the service of the sanctuary (2 Kings 12:4). In determining the price of the value at which he can redeem himself or has been redeemed, account shall be taken of age, sex and property. Most pays he who is in the power of his life.
Age | Value
from one month to 5 years | 5 shekels
from 5 years to 20 years | 20 shekels
from 20 years to 60 years | 50 shekels
over 60 years | 15 shekels
In Exodus 30 there is a similar amount for every numbered one of twenty years and older (Exodus 30:11-Nehemiah :). That has to do with reconciliation. The price paid by the Lord Jesus for the reconciliation is the same for every member of the church: the price of His blood. The development of spiritual life that every believer possesses, is different and the measure of dedication is different. There are the little children, or babies, in the faith, young people in the faith, and fathers in the faith (1 John 2:12-2 Chronicles :).
The value of each person’s life according to his spiritual development is determined by our Priest, the Lord Jesus. If we judge and value each other, we can be very wrong. The Lord is not. He is entitled to our whole person and everything we have. The Macedonians understood this principle and “first gave themselves to the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8:5).
The fact that the estimation for those over sixty years falls so dramatically from fifty to fifteen shekels may have something to do with a relapse in the spiritual life. As one gets older, there is a danger that everything is no longer experienced as before. Isaac became blind. But that’s not how it should be. Moses was one hundred and twenty and Caleb eighty-five years old, but the power of their spiritual life was not diminished.
The difference between man and woman also has a spiritual meaning. The female speaks of the position, the male represents the force with which that position is realized. It is one thing to know that you are in Christ, a child of God, that is one’s position; it is something else to live according to that, that is the realization. The Lord also knows how to value us on this. It may be that we know what we are, but we don’t show much of it in practice.
Samuel is one who has been ordained by his mother to the LORD from birth. For him no estimate needs to be paid, because his mother meets the requirements (1 Samuel 1:11; 1 Samuel 1:28).
According to His age, the Lord Jesus must be estimated at fifty shekels. However, the estimate on which He is valued is only thirty silver pieces (Zechariah 11:12-1 Chronicles :). But that is a valuation by man. God has valued Him on His true value and given Him the place of glory at His right hand.
Whoever cannot pay his estimate (Leviticus 27:8), whoever feels his shortage, can go to the priest, the Lord Jesus. He knows perfectly what value we have for Him. This is beautifully expressed in the parables of the talents (Matthew 25:14-Amos :) and the pounds (Luke 19:11-Daniel :).
There is a difference between the gift someone has, the talents, and the faithfulness with which the gift is used, the pounds. The gift is different, which is expressed in the parable of the talents, where the slaves are given a different number of talents. The pound is the same for everyone, what we see in the parable of the pounds, where every slave gets one pound.
Someone who has a small gift, but who is faithful in its exercise, is valued higher than someone who has a large gift, but is unfaithful in the exercise thereof. The pursuit of the greatest gift of grace is a task for all of us (1 Corinthians 12:31). Someone who is faithful, gets more entrusted. Ability the Lord gives; acting with them to His honor, dedicating ourselves to them, is our responsibility.