Numbers 30:10 “If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath,(11) and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand.(12)But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand :: her husband has made them void, and the Lord will release her.”
To aid us in our meditation on these passages, I will bring another verse into the equation– Galations 4:8 “But then, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.(9) But now, after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?” Of which the “elements” referred to here are more properly understood as Elementals, also known as nature spirits.
“You served those which by nature are not gods” is an instance of, “she vowed… or bound herself by an agreement with an oath,” reflective of the ancient Israelites and the golden calf, which was even called adultery. What of the person who takes as their husband other gods? The recurring tendency cannot be overlooked if a person seeks to understand the connections tied to the meaning of the cross.
For example, verse 8 above and 9 ” But now, after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again… to be in bondage?”
In connection with Jer5:7 “How shall I pardon you from this? Your children have forsaken Me, and sworn by those that are not gods. When I fed them to the full, then they committed adultery…” We can let go of all doubt that the process, whether in the ancient Hebrews or the Galatians, is the same. To which the terminology of Numbers 30 may be extended, being that it is describing a mystical truth, a spiritual reality, whose affects are universal rather than localized.
Bringing us back to the concept of literal versus figurative. A mystical truth is a literal truth, only it doesn’t originate on the material plane, so to speak.
That the church is held as the Bride of Christ is a mystical truth. In other words it is quite literal, yet outwardly the marriage is on a different level, a different plane, than our normal definition of marriage might have it. That much is self-evident. We are not figurative brides. We are the literal bride.
So were the references of Numbers 30 to the “woman..in her fathers house in her youth,” the woman who takes a husband, and the widow or divorced woman, so too were we being impressed by a mystical truth from on high.
Numbers30:13 “Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. (14) Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all other agreements that bind her- he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them. (15)But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.”
Heb9:28 “so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.”
How long can a person meditate upon the connection between these passages without being moved by their profundity? Of course, as this essay examples, the implications of making this connection produces a string of questions whose answers, in essence, must correlate with the mystical truth. Mystical cum doctrinal truth. Being that I am seeking to answer a specific question, I must focus on that which pertains to the path we’ve followed thus far. Asking still, what is the truth value of a concept like that represented in the word -Stao- throughout the bible? Can the meaning of the cross be discerned apart from the event on Golgotha?
Another point presents itself from the scriptures as I think about how to best present the facts for the objective reader.
I cannot move forward without bringing attention to the actual placement of the statutes of Numbers 30. Chapters 26 and 27 are the definite expression of a transition period in the development of Israel. To the extent that the end of 26 reminds us that, (64)”among these (the 601,730 recounted children of Israel) there was not a man of those who were numbered… in the Wilderness of Sinai.(65)for the Lord said of them, ‘They shall surely die in the wilderness.’ So there was not left a man of them, except Caleb…and Joshua…”
It was a new scene, essentially. A new stage. Placing Joshua as the new leader of Israel in chapter 27. One of the only two individuals with “a different spirit in him” to survive the death sentence in the wilderness. To which chapter 28 and 29 recaps the regulatory sacrifices and offerings, and 30 reiterates the binding of vows.
For perspective I must add a requisite concept to our associations with ancient sacrifices and offerings. Hebrews9:9 “It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him… perfect in regard to the conscience– …fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.”
9:22 “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission.(23)Therefore it was necessary that the copies of things in the heavens should be purified by these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”
10:1 “For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, are not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices… make those who approach perfect.”.
to be continued…
Bobby Irelan
DOC #F-59719
