Numbers 30:9

"But the vow of a widow, or of her that is divorced, even everything wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand against her. And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and Jehovah will forgive her."

The teaching here is that widows and divorced women were in the same category as all mankind (as in Numbers 30:1,2) and were required to discharge their pledges, oaths, sworn promises, and vows. Even in those instances in which a woman had made binding vows (not disallowed) before she was widowed or divorced, the woman's obligations stood.

It is dramatically clear from all this that a person's spoken word is of the utmost importance, and that his eternal well-being can be vitally affected by what a person says. As our Lord Jesus Christ stated it:

"And I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of Judgment. For BY THY WORDS THOU SHALT BE JUSTIFIED AND BY THY WORDS THOU SHALT BE CONDEMNED." (See Matthew 12:36,37).

Right here is the little end of that tap-root which feeds and nourishes all of the corruption and immorality threatening to engulf all mankind today. What is it? It is simply this, that men cannot be counted on to do what they say they will do. How casually men take their most solemn vows! Behold how countless thousands dishonor, deny, and repudiate their marriage vows! And in the matter of holy religion, how many millions are there today who have forsaken and abandoned even their baptismal vows! May all people cease and desist from the sin of broken vows. This vital sub-structure of all human truth and order is crumbling; and, unless there shall come about a change, the future of our modern world is indeed dismal and threatening.

Another condition prevalent in the times of Moses is that of the absolute inferiority of women, a condition that prevailed all over the world of that era and which continued down until the times of Jesus Christ. "Only the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ lifted women to a place of equality with men, equality in rights and in moral responsibility before God."[8]