The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 75: The Keeping of Vows (2024)

Episode Date: March 15, 2024

Fr. Mike gives us some background around the feast days of the Old Testament and emphasizes the importance of vows, which are serious promises made with God. Today's readings are Numbers 29-30, Deuteronomy 29, and Psalm 113. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Before we get started, I just wanted to offer a quick thank you to all those who have supported the Catechism in a Year or the Bible in a Year podcast. We hear stories every day about how those shows have transformed people's lives, and because of your prayers and financial gifts, you are a significant part of that. You might ask a question, though. The question is, what does Ascension do with these financial gifts? Great question. The answer is, we make authentically Catholic podcasts and videos and other digital content

to help people know the Catholic faith and grow closer to God. And we do it all for free. If you found this podcast to be helpful in your life and would like to help us continue making free Catholic content we can post online, please consider making a financial contribution, an ongoing financial contribution by going to ascensionpress.com support. That's ascensionpress.com support. That's ascensionpress.com support. Thank you and God bless. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast,

where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 75. Oh my gosh, 75 is a phenomenal milestone. I think it's worth celebrating the fact that you made it to this day. We are reading from Numbers chapter 29 and 30, Deuteronomy chapter 29. We're also praying Psalm 113. One of the things to keep in mind is we are getting to these last chapters in Numbers and the last chapters in Deuteronomy. And so to pay attention of like, as the story kind of wraps up

this desert wandering time period, we're going to hear some rules. Gosh, that's a surprise. But what we're also going to hear the ending of the story when it comes to the desert wanderings, not so much today, but keep that in mind as these times, as I mentioned before, the timelines are converging, right? Numbers telling the whole story from the beginning of Mount Sinai and the wandering through the wilderness, but then Deuteronomy being that look back that Moses has been able to proclaim to the people of God and then giving them that new law or not the new law, but the law once again, knowing their hearts and knowing that

they need to be reminded of the great laws of God. So the Bible translation we're reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. And if you have visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. And if you have not yet subscribed in your podcast, please do that. But don't let me tell you what to do. Once again, we are reading today from Numbers chapter 29 and 30, Deuteronomy chapter 29, and as I said, Psalm 113.

Deuteronomy chapter 29, offerings at the Feast of Trumpets. On the first day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, and you shall offer a burnt offering, a pleasing order to the Lord, one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs, a year old without blemish. Also, their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs, with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you, besides the burnt offering of the new moon and its cereal offering and the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering and their drink offering,

according to the ordinance for them, a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the Lord. the ordinance for them, a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the Lord. Offerings on the day of atonement. On the tenth day of this seventh month, you shall have a holy convocation and afflict yourselves. You shall do no work, but you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing odor. One young bull, one ram, seven male lambs, a year old, they shall be to you without blemish. And their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs. Also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and its cereal offering, and their drink offerings.

Offerings at the Feast of Booths On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy convocation, you shall do no laborious work, and you shall keep a feast to the Lord seven days. And you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord. Thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old, they shall be without blemish, and their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams, and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs. Also one male goat

for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering, and its drink offering. On the third day, eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, a year old without blemish, with the cereal offerings and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs by number, according to the ordinance. Also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, and its cereal cereal offering and its drink offering. On the fourth day, ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, with the cereal offerings and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs by number according to the ordinance.

Also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering, and its drink offering. On the fifth day, nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs, a year old without blemish, with the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs by number according to the ordinance. Also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering and its drink offering. On the sixth day, eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, with the cereal offering and the drink offering for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs by number according to the ordinance. Also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering and its drink offerings.

On the seventh day, seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, with the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs by number according to the ordinance. Also one male goat for a sin offering. Besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering and its drink drink offering. On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall do no laborious work, but you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord, one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish, and the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs by a number according to the ordinance. Also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, and its cereal

offering, and its drink offering. These you shall offer to the Lord at your appointed feasts, in addition to your votive offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your cereal offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings. And Moses told the sons of Israel everything, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Chapter 30. The Keeping of Vows. Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, This is what the Lord has commanded. When a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Or when a woman vows a vow to the Lord, and binds herself

by a pledge, while within her father's house in her youth, and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself, and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall stand, and the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her. And if she is married to a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, and her husband hears of it, and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if on the day that her husband comes to hear of it,

he expresses disapproval, then he shall make void her vow which was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself, and the Lord will forgive her. But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself shall stand against her. And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, and her husband heard of it, and said nothing to her, and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will forgive her.

Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself her husband may establish or her husband has made them void and the Lord will forgive her. Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself her husband may establish or her husband may make void. But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them. But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity. These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, as between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter while in her youth, from within her father's house. The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 29. The Covenant Renewed in Moab.

These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he had made with them at Horeb. And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and those great wonders. But to this day, the Lord has not given you a mind to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. I have led you 40 years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out upon you and your sandals have not worn off your feet.

You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. We took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. Therefore, be careful to do the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all that you do.

You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God, the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, both he who hews your wood and he who draws your water, that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the Lord your God, which the Lord your God makes with you this day, that he may establish you this day as his people, and that he may be your God as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, nor is it with you only that I make this sworn covenant, but with him who is not here with us this day,

as well as with him who stands here with us this day before the Lord our God. You know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. Beware, lest there be among you a man or woman or family or tribe whose heart turns away this day from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who when he hears the words of this sworn covenant

blesses himself in his heart saying, I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart. This would lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. The Lord would not pardon him, but rather the anger of the Lord and his jealousy would smoke against that man.

And the curses written in this book would settle upon him and the Lord would blot out his name from under heaven. And the Lord would single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law. And the generation to come, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land would say, when they see the afflictions of that land, and the sickness with which the Lord has made it they see the afflictions of that land and the sickness with which the Lord has made it sick, the whole land brimstone and salt and a burnt-out

waste, unsewn and growing nothing, where no grass can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adma and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath. Yes, all the nations would say, why has the Lord done thus to this land? What means the heat of this great anger? Then men would say, It is because they forsook the covenant of the Lord the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book.

And the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath and cast them into another land as at this day. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things Psalm 113 Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations and his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God? Who is seated on high, who looks far down upon the heavens and the earth. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord.

Father in heaven, we do give you praise. We give you glory. We thank you for this day. We thank you for the gift of your word. We thank you for the gift of your heart because you share your heart with us by sharing your word with us in a special way. We give you praise for sharing the word made flesh, Jesus Christ with us

and giving us access to your heart, Father, in Jesus Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. You give us access to your heart and we give you praise for that, especially as we're coming closer and closer to the end of this desert wanderings and coming into the period of conquest and judges. We ask you to please give us courage, give us strength, give us a persistence and a perseverance to be able to continue to listen to your word, to allow it to shape our heart, and above all, to give us your Holy Spirit that we can have access to your heart and that we have the courage to pursue you with everything we are. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Well, one of the things

I've noticed is that I say man, oh man, a lot at the end of these things, but after I get done with the prayer, I say, man, oh man. And I apologize for that because it's probably really annoying. One of the things we heard today, but man, oh man, one of the things we heard in Numbers chapter 30. Well, Numbers 29, we have a review of these are the gifts, these are the feasts. We have the Feast of Booths. We have the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Day of Atonement. You might've noticed that on the Day of Atonement, it is day they say you shall afflict yourselves. And it's the only day that it says

you shall afflict yourselves. It is the day of, as it says, the Day of Atonement, aptly named because it is a day of sorrow for sins. And so the people would take upon themselves, remind themselves of their sins and offer those sacrifices. We heard all about the sacrifices for those three different feasts, trumpets, the atonement, feast of booths. One of the things you might've noticed is the repetition on the

offering at the feast of booths. The one thing that changed every day, beginning on the first day was there were 13 young bulls. And then the second day, 12, and the third day, 11, and then so on and so forth down to the seventh day and eighth day, you shall have a solemn assembly. Seventh day, seven bulls. That's the last thing. On the eighth day then, a solemn assembly, you offer to the Lord one bull, one ram, seven male lambs. And just it changes because you're marking these days. One of the things about the Feast of Booths is that they're giving so many. You can hear this. I mean, the first day, 12 young bulls, two rams, 14 male lambs with all the cereal offerings and the drink

offerings. Why? Because it's a feast of abundance. It's one of the great feasts of saying, Lord, you've given us so much, so we are going to give back so much. Not that the Lord needs this, and this is so important for all of us. He doesn't need this, but he's asked this of us. And in our abundance, to give in abundance is one of the things that is just such an incredible blessing. When we're surrounded by abundance, to give out of that abundance is such a gift. And that's what that Feast of Booth is all about. But in chapter 30, talks about the keeping of avows and talks about the difference between if someone, a man, makes a vow, he shall keep the vow. And if he doesn't, that shall be on his head. He has bound himself and that's a real thing. And when a woman makes a vow, same kind of thing. But it does talk about the dynamic between men

and women. If a woman is widowed or she's not married and she's not living under her father's home or in her husband's home, then she is in control of her own vows. But there's this, you know, as we said from Genesis chapter three, there is this balance when it comes to the life of the people of Israel. And that balance has to do with the fact that while men and women, male and female, are created equal in their dignity, equally made in God's image and likeness, oftentimes because of the fall, there is this sense of imbalance, right? There's this sense of what we don't like. I mean, we would say that, not just don't like, but there is an unfairness in some ways. The law here, when it comes to her

father or her husband being able to kind of cancel out her vow, isn't because that's the perfect thing or that's the way it ought to be. It's ascribing that's how life is in a broken world. And that's important for us to understand that it's not saying, okay, this is ideal world. In fact, let's talk about it like this. All of the laws, we recognize every one of the laws is not written for an ideal world. All the laws of Deuteronomy, we've been going through almost the entire book in a couple of days, we'll be completely done with this book. All the laws of Leviticus, all the laws of numbers are given to the people of Israel because they're living in a broken world. You don't need to give laws to people that are not living in a broken world, but we're trying to give, here's God,

giving that next step, that way of like, okay, when you're living in relationship with each other, when you're living in relationship with me, your tendency, your temptation is going to be to go beyond, to use each other. Your temptation is going to be to ignore me or to not give the Lord what is his due. And so these laws are here because your temptation is going to be to use each other, to manipulate each other, to dominate each other. And so these laws are there to put a cap on that. It's put a limit to that. So that's kind of like one of the ways we can understand some of the laws that are, they don't fit in our time and place necessarily. Now going on, when it comes to vows though, we note that a vow is defined as a promise made to God. And that promise is binding. That vow is a promise made to God

that's binding upon us. Now it's not the same thing as a simple resolution, like say, I want to read the Bible every day, and then you don't, and it's not like you are bound by that. And yet, we recognize that any time we make a promise to God or a vow to God, it is going to be relatively, I was going to say relatively serious, and you can take that word relative out and say really. It is going to be really serious. So much so that here is the book of Numbers that talks about how if you're released from your vow, then it will not be held against you. Which is to say that if you're not released from your vow, you don't live up to your vow, then it will be held against you. Because this is a serious thing. It is a serious thing to make a promise to the Lord,

which is one of the reasons why Jesus talks about rash oaths. He talks about taking the vow lightly. He said, don't swear upon the hair on your head because you can't make one hair white or black on your own. Don't swear upon the temple. Don't swear upon the footstool or on earth because it's God's footstool, upon heaven because it's because it's God's throne. But Jesus wasn't prohibiting the use of vows. He was highlighting the fact that the use of vows had proliferated in the early first century when Jesus was walking this earth. And what he was doing was he was highlighting the fact that we need to be very careful when we are making vows to the Lord, because we're taking our lives into our hands

when we do this kind of a thing. Now, all that is to say that in Deuteronomy chapter 29, here is the Lord who's renewing, making a new covenant in many ways with the people of Israel in the plains of Moab because they're about to head into the promised land. Moses is about to come to the end of his life. And so here is this renewal of the covenant and the renewed invitation and command of the Lord God to say, do not turn to other gods because this is what you're going to want to do. I've said this so many times, I might sound like a broken record because the temptation is always going to be, let me just fit in. Let me just look like everyone else. But here is the Lord God who says you can't look like everyone else because you're not,

not because you're special, but because you're mine. And that's the key for today as we move into the end of this Day 75 Bible in a Year podcast. Remember, you can't be like everyone else, not because you're special, but because you belong to him. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. Let's pray for each other as we continue on this incredible, incredible journey. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.