Will God forgive me for breaking a vow I made to Him?

It was feeling, it was ignorance, no doubt; but should he have trusted himself to utter words so strong of the gracious way and act of His Master? How blessed that he had, that we have, to do with One Who does not hold His peace so as to bind the soul with a bond, Who knows when and how to disallow the foolish and even God-dishonouring word; so that it shall not stand and the soul be forgiven! (See Num. 30) The Lord made Peter's words utterly void the moment He heard them, as we shall see, in the grace which corrects every fault, and bore all our iniquity.

The first case of which we read in the chapter is, "If a man vow a vow to Jehovah, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth." Do we not know who this is? We know the One who never needs to recall a word: indeed, there is none other. His word stands; we can trust it without fear.

But it is not so with the woman, the weaker vessel. "If a woman also vow a vow to Jehovah, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth; and her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she has bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she has bound her soul shall stand." This is our position, as it was that of Israel. They held the place of the woman according to the type of this chapter, as the man was Jehovah-Messiah, no doubt, in its full import. But it was Jehovah that spoke, and His words stood; Jehovah-Messiah was the unfailing One of Israel. Many a rash word they said; many a foolish vow they made. How did He treat all? In two ways. He acted in the power of His own grace, and therefore disallowed what was wrong, not binding the foolish vow on her who spoke so unadvisedly with her lips. He allowed her words to pass away, to be broken, to have no binding efficacy. How gracious is the Lord! On the other hand, dealing in His governmental wisdom, He might allow the foolish to prove her own folly; and so He did. This too has been true of Israel. He has permitted that His people should feel the consequences of what they said in their pride. But assuredly the day is coming when He will act in the fulness of His grace, and all that is foolish will be as unheard, unregistered, and blotted out for ever.

Some day the vow under which Israel has put herself will be disallowed, then Israel is received back into favor. "And the Lord shall forgive her" (verse 8).

The second section of the chapter (Num. 6:9–13) deals with the case of a Nazarite’s vow being broken. On the one hand this section is very solemn, on the other hand it is immensely comforting, for we shall see that God has provided an offering especially for this case (Num. 6:10) and that He makes a fresh start possible (Num. 6:11, 12).

This central section of our chapter (vs. 9–12), however solemn it may be on the one hand, does not leave us without hope. For the Nazarite all was not lost. In His grace God gave an offering (vs. 10–11) and even the possibility make a fresh start.

The Nazarite realises that he has not been walking as the Lord would have him to walk, just as Peter realised that the Lord couldn't own the fleshly self-confidence that had marked him. Numbers 6 makes provision for such failure. Two turtle doves or two young pigeons were to be offered, the one as a sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering. The sin-offering reminds us of what we were in all our sins. The love of God met us in our need, and the Lord Jesus died for us to deal with what we are in ourselves. The burnt-offer­ing speaks of our acceptance, not in our own merit, but in the Lord Jesus, who is of infinite worth in the sight of God. Our eyes look to Him, we are occupied with Him, and this is where true strength lies. After this the Nazarite would take up his vow again, not in his own strength but in the strength of God.

Should we fail, ‘for we all often offend’ (Jas. 3:2), let us not give up. A fresh start is possible. It will not happen without loss, for ‘the first days are forfeited’ (Num. 6:12). But we should certainly not imagine that all is over, or that the Lord has no further use for us.

Although the Nazarite had failed, he was to "consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation," for God has delight in those who seek to live for Him in this world, and that in spite of their weaknesses and failures. The lamb of the trespass offering gives the assurance before God that all His claims have been met in regard to our failures, and that our relations with Him rest on the perfection of the work of His own Son.

The priesthood of Christ comes in to maintain me practically where the blood of Christ has set me. As in the expression in the Epistle of John, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous [Jesus Christ is at God's right hand on all principles of righteousness], and He is the propitiation [the mercy-seat] for our sins." "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It is a much easier thing for a child to ask for pardon for some fault than to confess it. We may be asking for pardon for any special sin, and we have no Scripture warrant to know that it is put away; but when we confess it, it is a matter of faith to know that it is put away. I am speaking now of a believer: were it the question of an unconverted person, the blood of Christ meets that. God is "faithful and just (not gracious and merciful merely), to forgive us our sins," etc. The moment I have judged myself about it, I am entitled to know that it is gone.

And happy, I may say, is this further witness to the value which a spirit of confession and repentance has with our God, beloved. As it is written, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;" and again, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins." For I doubt not, that it was to Job's few words of confession and repentance that the Lord referred when He turned to the friends and told them, that they had not spoken of Him the thing that was right, like His servant Job. They had not made confession at the end, as he had done. And let us cherish this assurance. There are comfort and strength in it. The language of repentance prevails. "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself," says Jehovah — and then came the divine compassion: "Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still." Or, as we may learn from Hosea, words of confession and repentance from Israel, in the latter day, mightily prevail with God. "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously." "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely," is the divine answer, with a rich and beautiful chapter of promises.