Every evening I took off for my run fearful of the dreaded corner. I had considered buying pepper spray or toting a taser because Leroy was certain to be out.
Sure enough, as I crossed the street to the other side, Leroy leaped to his feet and came storming out of the garage. He was a Rottweiler, growling, drooling, and ready to eat a local runner. He must have weighed 175 pounds, and he scared me half to death… every night.
When Leroy got halfway down the driveway, the owner would yell his name, and the dog would stop. And then, the best part: the owner would smile and yell out, “Sorry!” Every night.
One evening I decided to try another route. It had become apparent to me that Leroy was crazy, and the owner was not sorry. Leroy was going to eat me, and the owner’s word was worthless.
A Little Something Extra
The Bible often addresses this issue of meaning what we say, of following through on our commitments and acting with integrity. God is concerned that we live in a manner that is consistent with what we say.
He wants our actions to be congruent with our words, and this issue is behind a somewhat obscure passage at the end of Leviticus. This is what’s on the mind of the writer of Leviticus in his last chapter. (I just want to go on record saying how fantastic I think it is that we’re going to study something out of Leviticus. I mean, who does that!)
The author’s presentation of God’s law ends in Leviticus 26:46, and then chapter 27 closes the book of Leviticus with a discussion of vows.
A vow is a religious commitment “that some gift or service will be given to God”. Making religious commitments was common among Semitic cultures. Ideally, these spiritual expressions of commitment indicated a person’s heart for God. The Israelites adopted this practice and followed the guidelines outlined in Leviticus 27.
The chapter is kind of an appendix to all the teaching regarding the Law that has come before it. In other words, making a vow to God was not required by the Law, but the writer anticipated its being part of the normal culture of the day. Therefore, guidance was needed, and he offered it here.
Leviticus had already addressed tithing and various offerings, but a vow was a special additional gift to God. Such vows could be made regarding people (Leviticus 27:2-8), animals (vv. 9-13), houses (vv. 14-15), and land (vv. 16-25).
The point is, when making a vow, a person committed to God a little something extra. And as I’ve experienced—and maybe you have, too—those little extras can be the most special gifts of all.
My wife, Marla, and I started the ministry in Poland in 1993 after we completed our Polish language and culture studies. (Actually, you don’t ever complete your study of the Polish language. It is said to be the language of heaven… because it takes forever to learn 
!)
In 2018 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the ministry work, and it was a spectacular and meaningful experience. As the founder of the work, I was thanked and honored in so many significant ways. It was an amazing and very touching time for me.
After all the celebrations, though, a Polish colleague who had served on our first staff team—the group of people who really started the Bible curriculum publishing effort—asked to meet me for coffee. He had been part of the celebrations but wanted a time for just the two of us.
Over coffee he presented with me a beautiful framed lithograph of Psalm 42… in ancient Polish. I had been blessed with many other expressions of gratitude that weekend, but this gift was something truly special. Like the vows of Leviticus 27, this lithograph was a special, additional gift—and it hangs in my study today.
The Option of Redemption
As I mentioned, the vows could involve people, animals, property, or land. As we see in Hannah’s vow regarding her son Samuel (1 Samuel 2), Israelites could devote a person to God as a special offering. Hannah dedicated Samuel to God with a Nazarite vow and temple service:
"For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord." (1 Samuel 1:27-28 NASB)
Devoting our children to God is not as strange as it seems. In fact, it continues today. Many Christian traditions involve baby dedications or something akin to that.
The vows mentioned in Leviticus 27 could have included children, but what seems very strange to the modern reader is how Leviticus 27:1-8 assigns value to that which is vowed, that which is dedicated to the Lord.
While today you and I may dedicate our children to the Lord, the pastor doesn’t tell us that they are worth $17.50. It seems so strange to attach a certain and varying monetary value on the dedicated person based on gender and age. Yet the writer of Leviticus actually put a value of fifty shekels on a man between the ages of twenty and sixty.
The writer assigned monetary values to women, young people, and children as well. To the modern reader, this seems really weird. You probably think, No wonder no one preaches from Leviticus! And what is a shekel anyway?
The reason for assigning a monetary value is because once the vow is made, it is binding. The only way out is to redeem the vow is by giving that specified amount of money.
This notion of redeeming the offering made with a vow is crucial to understanding what is going on in this passage. I’ll give you a hint. Notice that the theme of redemption appears in each section:
- If [the owner] should ever wish to redeem [the animal]… (Leviticus 27:13 NASB)
- If the one who consecrates [his house] should wish to redeem it… (v. 15 NASB)
- If the one who consecrates [the field] should ever wish to redeem [the field] … If he will not redeem the field… (vv. 19-20 NASB)
- If [an unclean animal]... is not redeemed… (v. 27 NASB)
- If… a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe… (v. 31 NASB)
The option of redeeming an offering that a person had promised with a vow was an acknowledgment that circumstances can change. We can make a commitment and then something happens that causes us to renege on what we vowed to give to God. Sometimes our situation changes, and we need what we had promised to God.
In those Old Testament days, for instance, you might make a vow and commit your best breeding bull to God, and then some calamity hits, resulting in the death of your other five breeding bulls. You need the gift you gave, and you want to take it back. That’s no problem with God. An appraiser will determine the value of the bull, and you will give that amount plus 20 percent.
In twenty-first-century, first-world terms, you make a vow and donate a nice car to the church, but then your other two nice cars break down and fall apart. You can have your donated car back, but you are required to give the church the Kelley Blue Book value of the car… plus 20 percent.
What we vow to give to God—what we do, in fact, give to Him—can be redeemed, and redeeming means “substituting something in exchange.”
Here’s an example: If I commit to cooking dinner for you and then for whatever reasons can’t do it, I can redeem that promised meal by giving you $20 to go out to eat. This kind of exchange is behind the teaching in Leviticus 27:10. The guideline prevents our making a vow, dedicating a beautiful racehorse to God, and then redeeming it with some old swayback nag that’s one step away from the glue factory. If you want to redeem with cash that which you vowed, then you will have to tack on 20 percent of its value.
And—as mentioned above—you do not determine the value; the priest does. (It’s kind of like having your house appraised by a third party.) This same procedure—payment according to a third-party appraisal plus a penalty of usually 20 percent—applies to vows that dedicate to God housing (v. 14) and land, family lands (v. 16) as well as other purchased fields (v. 22).
Leviticus 27 teaches us that our giving at church, to a ministry, missionary or Christian project is ultimately a gift to God. We are not investing in His work and seeking a Kingdom return. Leviticus 27, reminds us that our gift is an act worship, giving to God. Therefore, we should take it very seriously because He does!
Next week we will look at the important implications of this teaching in Leviticus 27.