Soft Determinism - A man is responsible for his own fate, and he has the possibility of influencing God's decree by moral repentance, which focuses on his good actions.
Hard Determinism - A man has no control over his destiny. You cannot fix or change your destiny. There is one escape hatch, and it is a horrible one: through a Neder.
Neder - A deal made with the most severe oath. It is the ultimate deal; if nothing else works, you can always turn to the Neder. There is a chance that the Lord will accept your oath and grant you your desire, but the price would be too high and unbearable. It often involves the one thing that is hardest for parents to give up: their children.
A religious ritual that harms children is considered an abomination, which the Lord prohibits. In the Old Testament (Tanakh), it is written that the Canaanites enacted such forbidden rituals:
"...You must not worship the Lord your God in their way,, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods..." (Deuteronomy 12:31)
"'...The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. They have built the high places of Topeth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire - something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind..." (Jeremiah 7:30-31)
In Leviticus 20, we read of the connection between the "Molek" and the ritual of Child Sacrifice.
"...The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cute them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek..." (Leviticus 20:1-5)
Examples of the use of Neder Oath in the Bible
Jephthah's Oath (Judges 11-12)
Born in the Gilead area, a part of the Manasseh Tribe, Jephthah, the son of a prostitute, was born into low status. After his father died, his brothers (with the support of the Elders) banished him, causing his status to drop to the bottom. He was considered an "empty people"; outcasts who were expelled from society for some reason or another and were at the very lowest point of social status.
Jephthah's story took a turn, however, when Ammon attacked Gilead. The Elders (who had prior to this supported his banishment) asked him to return and become the leader of the tribes living in Gilead. They wanted him to lead them to victory against the Ammonites. If he succeeded, then Jephthah's status would change dramatically, from the lowest point to the highest, to Leadership. Jephthah agreed and gave a Neder (Oath) to God. He promised God that if the Lord would grant him victory over his enemies and he would win the war, then he would sacrifice (he would give a present to God) the first thing to greet him on his return home from victory.
"...And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering..." (Judges 11:30-31)
The Lord granted Jephthah his victory, but the price he would have to pay would be terrible, for it was his daughter who came to greet him on his return.
There was no chance that a house pet would come to greet him when he arrived home. The change of fate here, from the defeat of Ammon to victory, required great compensation. Maybe Jephthah's cry at this point derived from the understanding that his Neder had been accepted by God and that now the time had come to pay the price.
Jephthath did not have a Kingdom to save; in asking for God's help, he was, in fact, asking to save himself, his status. He wanted to climb to the highest point. His personal ambitions led Jephthah to this agreement.
He wanted to return home as a leader, as the head of all of Gilead, and in exchange, he knew the outcome in advance. He was willing to give up his only daughter and her descendants.
His daughter asked only for 2 months, to go out to the mountains with her friends and cry for her virginity, for she would never have children. After 2 months, she returned, and Jephthah sacrificed her as a burnt offering to God. In doing so, he also sacrificed his dynasty; his line would not continue, for she was his only daughter.
Hannah's Neder
Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, lived in Ramathaim Zuphite, a small town north of Jerusalem.
Although she had a loving husband, Hannah was barren, and therefore her status inside the household began to drop.
Elkanah took himself a second wife, Peninah, who behaved terribly towards Hannah and hurt her.
Hannah went to the Tabernacle in Shiloh, and there she prayed to God and gave her Neder to the God of Israel. The High Priest, Eli, saw her pray and thought that she was drunk, so great was her anguish and the intensity of her prayer.
"In her deep anguish Hannah prayer to the Lord, weeping bitterly." (1 Samuel:10)
"As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine."" (1 Samuel:12-14)
The one who gives the Neder knows that he/she has lost a war. They are hopeless and that is why they feel the need to give the Neder.
Hannah was not fighting for her kingdom, but she felt that she was fighting for her life. She was barren and as such was not fulfilling her only obligation, her only duty, to her husband, and therefore was a disgrace. Her status was at rock bottom. She was a living dead who was not earning her keep.
She knew that she would never bear children and that her fate and status would never change. This is why she gave her oath to God.
She would lose her child, but without the oath, she would never have a child anyway. The important thing was for her to give birth to a son. She specifically says to give the newborn child to God.
"...I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." (1 Samuel:27-28)
Numbers 30 explains the Vows and the difference between the Neder of a man and that of a woman. When a man makes a Neder, he is obligated to uphold it, and under no circumstance can he break his pledge. For a woman, however, the rules are slightly different.
If the woman is living in her father's house when she gives the oath, and her father is silent, then the oath must be kept. It must be considered like the oath of a man.
If the father hears of the oath and disagrees, and tries to stop her, the Lord forgives her, and she is no longer obliged to fulfill her oath.
"...When a young woman still living in her father's household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her." (Numbers 30:2-5)
The oath of a married woman is identical to that of an unmarried woman living in her father's house. The husband takes the place of the father. If the husband hears his wife's oath and is silent, then she is committed to it. If he speaks out against it, then she is not committed, and the Lord forgives.
"If she married after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herslf will stand. But if her husband forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies that vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her." (Numbers 30:6-8)
Elkanah heard and knew of Hannah's Neder and asked her to go forward with it after the child was born. If the one who gives an oath does not pay his part, then the child would pay with his life.
After giving the Lord her firstborn child, Hannah then gave birth to three more sons and two daughters, and in this way, she escaped social banishment. Every year she would return with her children to visit her son Samuel in Shiloh (at the time of the festivities), and she would leave him behind every time.
The Old Testament does not forbid the giving of an Oath, but it sees the price of it as an abomination. The Tanach (Old Testament) condemns two kings of the Kingdom of Judah, Ahaz and Manasseh, both of whom sacrificed their children.
King Ahaz and King Manasseh (grandfather and grandchild) reigned in the 8th Century BC. In their time, large parts of the territory of the Kingdom of Israel were conquered by the strong Assyrian Empire. For 300 years, the Empire was the biggest and mightiest power in the ancient Middle East.
Both Ahaz and Manasseh witnessed the growth and power of Assyria. They saw Aram being conquered, the North being taken over, and the exile of the 10 Tribes at the hands of the Assyrian Empire.
King Ahaz and King Manasseh were Vassal Kings, meaning enslaved kings who paid taxes to the Assyrian Kingdom.
Both King Ahaz and King Manasseh offered their children as sacrifices in order to save their kingdom. In both cases, God did not accept their Neder.
Jeremiah saw Jerusalem besieged and observed the dire situation of the Jews as punishment for their deeds. He also witnessed fathers hurting their sons, viewing this as an abomination.
"...They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire - something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind..." (Jeremiah 7:31)
Jeremiah continues to assign blame repeatedly.
"...They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal - something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind..." (Jeremiah 19:5)
The offering of a child as sacrifice was the last act of desperation of the Kings in ancient times, in an attempt to save their Kingdoms.
In extreme cases, the Kings chose their Kingdom over their sons.
King Mesha of Moab rebelled against Joram, Son of Ahab, King of Israel. In turn, Israel (King Joram), Judah (King Jehoshaphat), and Edom rose against Moab.
When Moab was struck and almost defeated, King Mesha of Moab sacrificed his firstborn.
"...Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The fury against Israel was great; they withdrew and returned to their own land." (2 Kings 3:27)
Moab was spared. The Lord had answered King Mesha's Neder.
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