May 2025 – Semper Reformanda

Ecclesiastes 5:6 | Word Study

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? Ecclesiastes 5:6 (KJV)

The commonplace advice is to control one’s mouth. But this reading is interesting because the consequence does not really follow the action, it rather reveals it. We do not commit sin because we vow, rather, its our vow which reveals our sinful nature. It is because we are sinners, we cannot commit to our vows – our actions will at some point of time dishonour the vows we commit to. All vows, in that sense are ill-made because it is doomed to be broken, because it’s a human who commits to it; a being that is naturally, by nature – characteristically flawed, because we are born sinners.

Ecclesiastes 5:5 | Word Study

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Ecclesiastes 5:5 (KJV)

Qoheleth reminds us about the folly of the fool; they don’t know who they are supposed to be, temporary beings committing permanent vows. It is an eternal engagement, once committed, it must be brought to its full end. In that respect, Qoheleth suggests that the fool does not understand the full extent of their commitment. It is therefore, better not to vow at all to a God who is eternal and all powerful. God is not frivolous. On a lighter reader – this reminds us that worship should be theocentric, it should not hinge on our own whims and desires.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 | Word Study

When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Ecclesiastes 5:4 (KJV)

The other temptation we go through when we enter the house of God is to make vows. This probably occurs from a lack of understanding of ourselves. We forget we are human(s). We are in no position to make vow(s). We are finite and our words are finite, but the vows we make to is an infinite being. The intensity of this reality hits harder when we consider that a “vow is a bond upon the soul.” (Num 30:2) Secondly, it is only God who has the ability to be faithful to his words; not us. This is a humbling take: the first error (v3) was an error of not knowing God, and the second one is an error of not knowing ourselves (or over estimating ourselves, which is also prideful).