Ecclesiastes 5:4 - Meaning and Application

We are taught four duties in these verses.

First, we must be careful to keep our vows. A vow is a bond on the soul (Num 30:2), a solemn promise to God. It may commit us to do something we already ought to do, or to do something special for God’s honor or for his kingdom among people. If, in trouble (Psa 66:14) or while asking for a blessing (Sa1 1:11), you have made such a vow, remember that you have opened your mouth to the Lord, and you cannot take it back.

So pay what you have promised. Bring to God what you dedicated to him. Pay it in full, and do not hold back any part of it. Pay it as promised, and do not change it, as the law required (Lev 27:10). If we have vowed to give ourselves to the Lord, then we must prove it by living in his service and for his glory, not by taking ourselves back for selfish use.

Do not delay in paying it. If it is in your power to pay today, do not leave it for tomorrow. Do not ask for extra time or wait for a more convenient season. Delay weakens the sense of duty, cools our zeal, and makes us less willing to obey. The longer we wait, the harder it becomes. Death may stop us from paying at all, and then we would stand before judgment with the guilt of a broken vow (Psa 76:11).

Two reasons are given for paying vows quickly and gladly. If we do not, we insult God, as if we planned to trick him. God has no pleasure in fools. He is not fooled, and he will surely deal with those who treat him lightly. We also harm ourselves. We lose the benefit of making the vow, and we bring on the penalty for breaking it. It is far better not to vow at all than to vow and not pay. Failing to vow is an omission, but making a vow and not keeping it is treachery and perjury. It is lying to God (Act 5:4).

Second, we must be careful about what we vow. This is necessary if we are to keep our vows well (Ecc 5:6). We must never vow anything sinful, or anything that may lead us into sin. Such a vow is badly made and must be broken. Do not let your mouth, by such a vow, cause your flesh to sin, as Herod’s rash promise led him to cut off John the Baptist’s head.

We must also not vow what we have good reason to think we cannot carry out because of human weakness, such as a promise of a single life when we do not have the strength to keep it. In doing so, people shame themselves, because they must say before the angel, “It was a mistake.” They either did not mean what they said, or did not think it through, and either way it is serious. When you have made a vow, do not try to escape it or find excuses to get free from it. Do not tell the priest, who is called the angel, or messenger, of the Lord of hosts, that you have changed your mind and want to be released from your vow. Hold to it, and do not look for a way out.

Some understand this angel as the guardian angel they think watches every person’s actions. Others understand it as Christ, the Angel of the covenant, who is present with his people in their meetings, searches the heart, and cannot be deceived. Do not provoke him, for God’s name is in him, and he is shown as strict and jealous (Exo 23:20, Exo 23:21). Those who break vows also place themselves under God’s anger, for he is angry at those who lie to him with their mouths and flatter him with their tongues. He dislikes their falsehood and may destroy the work of their hands, meaning he can frustrate their plans and ruin the efforts they were asking him to bless. If we treacherously cancel the words of our mouths and take back our vows, God may rightly overturn our plans. It is a trap for a person to keep making excuses after a vow.

Third, we must keep a healthy fear of God (Ecc 5:7). In earlier times, many people claimed to know God’s mind through dreams. They filled people’s minds with dreams until they nearly made God’s people forget his name (Jer 23:25, Jer 23:26). Even now, people sometimes trouble themselves with strange or frightening dreams, or with what others say their dreams mean, as if they predict disasters. If a person follows dreams, he will soon have many of them crowding his mind. But dreams, like many words, are full of emptiness, especially when we keep paying attention to them. They are like the idle talk of children and fools. Do not dwell on them. Do not repeat them. Do not draw upset or fearful conclusions from them. Instead, fear God, keep him before you, live in his love, and be afraid of displeasing him. Then foolish dreams will not trouble you.

The way not to be shaken by signs in the sky or afraid of the idols of the nations is to fear God as King over all nations (Jer 10:2, Jer 10:5, Jer 10:7).

Fourth, this fear of God helps us not to fear man too much (Ecc 5:8). If we set God before us, then when we see the poor oppressed, we will not be amazed as though something has gone wrong with God’s rule. We will not blame divine providence, think worse of government because some rulers abuse their power, or think less of religion because it does not keep people from suffering wrong.

It is a sad sight to see the poor oppressed because they are poor and cannot defend themselves. It is also sad to see judgment and justice twisted in a province, with oppression hiding under the cover of law and backed by power. A kingdom may have good rule in general, yet one province may still be handed over to a bad man, and then justice is abused under his administration. It is hard even for the wisest kings, when they give positions of authority, to be sure of the kind of men they appoint. They can only correct the wrong when it becomes clear.

When things look very dark, we can still rest in three truths. First, even if oppressors seem high and powerful, God is higher than they are. He is above the highest of creatures, above the highest rulers, and even above the highest angels, the thrones and dominions of the upper world. God is the Most High over all the earth, and his glory is above the heavens. Before him, princes are like worms, and the brightest of them are only like glow-worms.

Second, even if oppressors feel secure, God is watching them closely. He notices every violent turning away from justice, and he will call them to account for it. He does not merely see these things, he observes them and keeps record of them so they will be brought up again. His eyes are on all their ways, as Job says (Job 24:23).

Third, there is a world of angels, and some are higher in rank than earthly rulers. God uses them in his justice to protect the injured and to punish those who do wrong. Sennacherib, the proud Assyrian king, trusted in his powerful army, but one angel was enough to defeat him and all his forces. Some understand this phrase to refer instead to the higher courts and rulers of the nation, such as the officials who oversee provincial governors (Daniel 6:2). It may also include courts of appeal, where complaints against lower judges are heard, since such systems are needed for a good government. Let this warn oppressors that their own superiors on earth may call them to account, and in any case God, the Supreme Judge in heaven, surely will.