All sacrifices, offerings, and ceremonies in these chapters were to lead men to appreciate the wonderful enjoyment they had in fellowship with the Lord. He alone is the all-sufficient Saviour from sin. We should seek Him and trust in Him.
The Lord went before them, "...the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day," "...forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness..." (Nehemiah 9:19,21). The Lord defended them, protected them, caused them to be victorious over their enemies, and supplied their every need. As they looked back on their experiences, every offering and sacrifice was a time of deep gratitude, a time of enjoyment and thanksgiving. "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand" (Philippians 4:4,5).
The laws regulating vows are given in chapter 30. The man who keeps his word and performs all he vows illustrates the sanctity and importance of the vow in ancient Israel. These injunctions involved vows of pledges made by women in which men were involved as the heads of households, and were exceptions to the general rule that anyone who made a vow must perform it. The vow of an unmarried daughter living at home might be annulled by her father, or that of a married woman by her husband, but only if the objection to it was stated at the time the vow was made. If the woman did not fulfill the vow, the man had to do so.
