Better To Ask Permission than Ask For Forgiveness

“It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.” (Pr 20:25 AV)

 

Commentators are of little help here.  They tend to favour a corrupted rendition of this passage.  Their idea is to rashly make a vow.  In doing so they ignore a Hebrew definition that agrees with the English word.  The word ‘…devoureth…’ does mean to utter words.  But it can also mean to swallow down.  In preferring the corrupt text, the meaning is entirely lost.  Solomon is advising his children to be well-informed before making a choice.   Ignorance is not an excuse.  Especially willful ignorance.  When the choice involves things that are specifically intended for sacred use, this is infinitely more important.  The obvious application would be the shewbread or sacrifice that was intended for temple worship.  Imagine someone coming to the temple, because they hadn’t eaten, partook of that which was intended for worship because they saw it laying there unintended.  Then, after they ate that thing, decided it was ethically wrong to eat something which didn’t belong to him and asked for its providence.  Not good.  To eat a sacrifice not intended for you was a snare to the soul.  Yet, we sometimes do this.  We avail ourselves of something out of necessity or desperation, then ask later if it was ok.  This is the concern here.

The classic example of what we are all guilty of is the proverbial cookies or desserts that are cooling and we think they are there for the consuming.  We are in the Christmas Cookie season!  My mother has a recipe that is out of this world.  And I’m not just saying this because she is my mother.  Her recipe is something that causes backflips!  We have had professional bakers beg us for this recipe.  My mother had a double-chest freezer.  She had a commercial-size freezer in the basement.  At Christmas time, my mother would gather all of us kids on a Saturday and we would bake and frost cookies all day long.  Her goal was to fill that commercial-size freezer.  The thing is, once the freezer was full, she would not let us touch them until two weeks before Christmas.  One can imagine how quickly eleven children can go through Christmas cookies.  Especially this world-renown recipe of hers.  There was only one caveat.  If, while we were frosting cookies, one would brake, we could eat it.  We are talking about children here, right?  Children who are addicted to Christmas cookies!  Because they were frozen, Mother would take a box out of the freezer ahead of time.  However, they sat in the open.  What do you think would happen?  Hungry little sugar addicts would take a cookie and then blame ignorance for the infraction.  We didn’t know Mom had them sitting out to thaw.  We didn’t know she had plans for this batch.  It wasn’t our fault!

One commentator mentioned things we know belong to God.  Things like our time for worship or our tithe to God’s house.  We can irresponsibly use these and then claim ignorance.  That is a no-no.  We can also spend opportunities that affect our testimony and then claim ignorance.  We just spoke of this Sunday morning.  We make choices and do not stop to realize how these choices affect the spiritual welfare of another.  In First Corinthians chapter eight, Paul specifically warns the Corinthians their choices could result in the spiritual salvation of those who are watching.  We cannot plead ignorance.  Solomon is training his children, but one will eventually assume his throne.  For this future king, it is especially important to know every consideration before choosing because the consequences of that choice have far-reaching implications.  More so than others who are not king.  Ignorance is no excuse.  To use it deliberately is an even greater wrong.  We cannot apologize for something which could have been known.  It doesn’t work that way.  God expects us to know everything we can know regarding the choices that are before us.  No excuses.  No ‘convenient ignorance’.  No turning the other way while doing something that could be wrong.  Eventually, this behavior will catch up with us and all those times we got away with it will come crashing down around one irreversible and highly consequential decision.  Ask questions.  Get permission.  May sure it is ok.  One of these times it will not be and it might cost us dearly.