Protection

Numbers 30:2 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes and oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.

When I was younger, I remember salesmen coming to my door trying to sell the best ____ to the public, to me. These salesmen used a carefully scripted sales pitch that had built in ways to handle objections. These companies had figured out how to get people to buy, even if they didn’t really want the product.

How do I know this? Well, for a short period of time, when we were desperate for money, I was one of those door to door sales people! I tried to sell an AT&T home security system. It was a good product. Probably a good value.

But the secret to sales success is to get the customer to continue to agree with what you are saying. You demonstrate some aspect of the product and say something like, “And doesn’t your family deserve this kind of protection?” You just keep piling up “Yes” answers until you get to the purchase. And more likely than not, it will also be a “Yes.”

Timeshare properties use the same tactics to get you to sign. They show you the product, get you to enjoy yourself, and get you to say lots of “Yes.” That is all they are doing. They just want your “Yes.”

I can imagine that persuasive sales people are an ancient phenomenon. Those who relied on selling have always been able to frame their product in a positive light. That kind of is the point of sales, isn’t it! Buy it here rather than there, this rather than that, mine rather than theirs.

Most states have laws that prescribe a period of time in which people can back out of these kinds of sales. When I was doing it, they had three days to back out. This was a great safety measure for buyers.

Well, our text tells us about this exact situation. Well, this chapter does. For men, who at that time in history and that culture had more responsibility for the survival of the family, for men, their word was final. When they made a contract, that was it.

But if their wife or daughter signs a contract, the husband or father is able to protect them from the negative consequences of that contract if they deem it appropriate. They can protect the family unit. They can protect their survival.

This isn’t about control, but a recognition that at different times and places, people have different statuses in societies. The LORD wants to provide protect for those vulnerable, those most at risk. And sometimes he does it using other people.