This morning I read the story of Jephthah from Judges. Jephthah is know mostly for his rash vow. Before he attacked the Ammonites, who were raiding Israel's towns, he vowed before the LORD that he would sacrifice as a burnt offering whatever came out of his house first when he returned from battle. He succeeded and upon his return who should come out first but his only daughter, dancing and playing the tambourine in celebration of his success! He was in a quandary. He was obligated to fulfill his vow, but this was his daughter, his only child. It's not entirely clear what happened to the girl. She seems more concerned about the prospect of never marrying than about the prospect of being sacrificed as a burnt offering. It's possible that her father was able to redeem her life by offering a bull or other animal, but she would have to remain devoted to the LORD and could never marry. I'd like to think that was what happened, but the times were brutal, and human sacrifice was occasionally practiced among the people living in Canaan at that time. In any case, Jephthah regarded his vow as binding, even though it had such unexpected consequences.
I can't help wondering how David might have responded in a similar situation. I imagine he would have fasted and prayed, grieved and mourned, and insisted on bearing the penalty for breaking his vow rather than sacrificing his child.
Perhaps Jesus had this story in mind when he told his followers not to make vows. So much of life is beyond our control that it is better not to make vows. Indeed, Jesus seems to be thinking of the kind of cavalier swearing that people use to confirm the truth of what they say or attest to their firmness of purpose. Some believers have taken Jesus' words to mean that his followers should avoid ever swearing to anything. So they refuse to swear in a court of law "to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." For the most part, vows have been supplanted in the modern world by contracts and agreements, where rights and responsibilities are delineated in precise, legal terms and hedged by a nearly impenetrable thicket of jargon, intelligible only to lawyers and judges.
One notable exception is weddings. Not everyone still makes vows at a wedding. Here, too , the legal profession has intruded with prenuptial agreements and marriage contracts. Nevertheless, most people still marry with the expectation of making a lasting commitment to one another. And in Christian wedding ceremonies, they still make vows to love and honor one another until parted by death. The vow serves to signify to seriousness of purpose, but I think it is also intended to compel the vowers to make every effort for the rest of their lives to fulfill their vows.
