Judges 21 - Foolish Promises

Have you ever made a vow or a promise and then found yourself not able to live up to the thing?  In this chapter we find the tribes of Israel having wiped out all but a few Benjamites struggling with what to do to provide brides so the tribe is not wiped out altogether. It is one thing to discipline bad behavior and another thing to wipe your brother off the planet. 

Here we see the result of a vow they made; to curse any man who gave their daughter in marriage to anyone in Benjamin. It wasn't a promise to God but a promise to each other and now they have ended the war and feel compassion toward their brother. Their hasty words had them in a bind. How could they not break their vow but yet provide Israelite wives for the tribe of Benjamin?  

Honestly, it would have been better for them to break the vow than to wipe out the town that didn't come to battle and then turn their heads as Benjamin "kidnapped" brides from among the dancing virgin daughters. If they had only has been as passionate about honoring God's  authority as their own. One poor choice led to another and another. But so it goes when you have no king and everyone does what is right in his own eyes. 

In fact they did have a King. It was God himself. God is our ultimately authority whether we acknowledge Him or not. We all stand or fall before God alone, believers and unbelievers. When we speak out foolish words we are bound by our integrity to honor them. When they are foolish, they will no doubt cause pain and strife in their fulfillment and perhaps create a worse situation than existed prior to the vow. 

We need to check outselves before God and consider our words. It is better to be quiet before God than to speak rashly and create an awkward vow that leads us to more foolishness. 

May God richly bless you as you seek Him and as you serve Him.