Page 23 - Sarah's Children

he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her
vows or concerning the obligation of herself shall not stand; her
husband has annulled them, and Yahweh will forgive her. Every vow
and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may confirm it
or her husband may annul it. But if her husband indeed says nothing to
her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her obligations
which are on her; he has confirmed them, because he said nothing to
her on the day he heard them. But if he indeed annuls them after he has
heard them, then he shall bear her guilt." These are the statutes which
Yahweh commanded Moses, as between a man and his wife, and as
between a father and his daughter, while she is in her youth in her
father's house.

Much can be gleaned from this passage, but lest some should say this is Old
Testament and it does not apply to the saint today, let me first include Paul’s words
on this subject.

I Corinthians 14:34
The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not
permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also
says.

Paul states that women are to subject themselves to men, just as the Law also states.
The preceding passage from the book of Numbers is one of the scriptures in the Law
to which the apostle refers. So let us examine what is said.

A man has God as his head. Therefore if a man makes an oath or a binding obligation
to God he must keep it. There is none other who can annul it. Not even the High
Priest had the authority to annul such an oath, for man relates directly to God and
he needs no intermediary. In the New Testament we find this expressed in the
phrase “Christ is the head of man.”

A woman, however, is under the authority of man. She was created for man and
Yahweh has established that she should not violate her relationship to man as she
relates to His own person. Therefore, she could not make an oath to Yahweh without
considering the will of her father, if she were young and unmarried. Similarly she
had to consider the will of her husband if she were married. If her father or husband
heard the vow that she made to Yahweh and they were not pleased with the vow, they
could forbid it and the vow would not stand.

In this an incredible thing is revealed. Because of man’s position as the head of
woman, he could intervene in the relationship of the woman with God. Yahweh said