The Dubious Value of Vowmaking
Judges 21:1-11
Synopsis Judges 21:1-11 7/27/2018
Prior to the battle, the leaders of Israel had made a vow that no one would give their daughter in marriage to any man from the tribe of Benjamin. After the fighting was finished, there were only a few hundred Benjaminite men left. And, the Israelites killed all the Benjaminite women.
So, the vow created a new problem. The problem was that none of the Benjaminite survivors could find Israelite wives from which to procreate.
The Israelite leaders looked for a solution by inquiring if there was any Israelite group that had not taken the vow. They came to realize there was. A clan from Jabesh-gilead had failed to respond to the general call for all tribes. So the assembly sent soldiers to punish the men and women who failed to respond, but allowed for young, unmarried women to survive.
The Value of Vows
It may have seemed like a good idea when they did it. But vowing to isolate the Benjamites was rash and knee-jerk. So was vowing death to anyone who failed to report.
This is the great danger of believing that you know what’s coming next – that you can read the future.
Givenness Deals with What Is
Deal only with what actually is. This is the Way of Givenness. It is essentially a way of responding. There is no speculation. And there is no attempting to leverage what I don’t control. It’s a way to keep things real. And, it’s a way for me to avoid making rash mistakes.
Living in this way is the difference between betting and investing. If I’m a gambler, sometimes I win. But statistics suggest that most of the time I’ll lose.
But responding to what’s given is like investing. It means dealing with fundamental truths. It means that no matter what, I can’t lose.
“But I say to you, do not swear at all: not by heaven, for it is God’s throne: nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.” Matt 5:34-37
