February 2, 2018 Bible Study — Obligated To Testify But Avoid Foolish Vows

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 5-7.

    Today’s passage contains a list of sins for which one must make atonement. Among these sins are two of which I want to take special note. First, the passage says that it is sinful to refuse to testify when called to do so about something which you have seen or know about. If we know something regarding a case which is before the courts, or which should be before the courts, we are obligated to testify regarding that case. While the passage only states that we are obligated to testify if we are “called” to do so, I believe that this obligation goes beyond that. I do not want to make this a black-and-white obligation for us to be tattle-tales, but it does mean that we cannot let wrongdoing we are aware of go by just because the authorities do not know to call us to testify. The second sin worth noting is the making of a foolish vow, whether the vow is for good or bad purpose. So, making a foolish commitment is a sin. All of the different ways in which such a commitment might be foolish applies here, whether what we have committed to do is foolish, or if we encourage someone to do something foolish because of what we will do if they do so.