For modern women, a chapter that requires an unmarried woman's vow to be ratified by her father and a married woman's vow to be ratified by her husband goes against our grain. Like the verses in Ephesians that call for wives to submit to their husbands, it flies in the face of our modern understanding of equality.
But our defensiveness against this concept isn't based in a full understanding of God's Word. Throughout Scripture, God assigns roles to various individuals, people groups, and nations. As Creator, God has the ultimate authority to determine our purpose and calling. Rebelling against God's plan for our lives is the root of the various first sin, and the root of every sin of every person since Adam and Eve. Sin is, at the heart, a belief that we know better than God.
When God assigns a role of authority, accountability comes with it. By assigning the role of headship in the family to the husband or father, God also lays on him the burden and responsibility for the family. He will be held responsible by God for their provision, protection, and leadership - especially spiritual leadership. God also will hold accountable all those He places in a leadership role in business, in government, and in the church. As Uncle Ben from Spiderman so aptly states, "With great power comes great responsibility."
Requiring the father's or husband's active or passive approval of their daughter's or wife's vow placed the responsibility on him to see the vow carried out, and the consequences were his if it was not. This sheds new light on the tradition of the father giving his daughter's hand in marriage. In essence, he is affirming her vow and committing himself to be accountable for her to fulfill the marriage vows.
Hebrews 13:17 states, "Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you."
But our defensiveness against this concept isn't based in a full understanding of God's Word. Throughout Scripture, God assigns roles to various individuals, people groups, and nations. As Creator, God has the ultimate authority to determine our purpose and calling. Rebelling against God's plan for our lives is the root of the various first sin, and the root of every sin of every person since Adam and Eve. Sin is, at the heart, a belief that we know better than God.
When God assigns a role of authority, accountability comes with it. By assigning the role of headship in the family to the husband or father, God also lays on him the burden and responsibility for the family. He will be held responsible by God for their provision, protection, and leadership - especially spiritual leadership. God also will hold accountable all those He places in a leadership role in business, in government, and in the church. As Uncle Ben from Spiderman so aptly states, "With great power comes great responsibility."
Requiring the father's or husband's active or passive approval of their daughter's or wife's vow placed the responsibility on him to see the vow carried out, and the consequences were his if it was not. This sheds new light on the tradition of the father giving his daughter's hand in marriage. In essence, he is affirming her vow and committing himself to be accountable for her to fulfill the marriage vows.
Hebrews 13:17 states, "Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you."
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