Numbers 6:2 – “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the LORD as a Nazirite,
Numbers 6:3 – they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins.
Numbers 6:5 – “‘During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the LORD is over; they must let their hair grow long.
Numbers 6:6 – “‘Throughout the period of their dedication to the LORD, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body.
A Nazarite is a man or woman who has made a vow to be dedicated to God for a certain period of time. No gender discrimination. Both men and women can take the vow of dedication to God.
Samuel was a Nazirite dedicated to God by his mother for a life time. Samson was a Nazirite chosen by God before birth. John the Baptist was a Nazirite dedicated to God.
Because of their dedication to God, a Nazarite couldn’t take wine or even juices from fruits that made wine. Not even eating the fruit. This was abundance of caution.
As believers who have vowed to be faithful to God we must also apply abundance of caution. There are things we avoid totally because they are sinful. There are other things we avoid because they are close to those which are sinful. They are not sinful but because of proximity, we avoid them.
Nazirite wouldn’t eat grapes and raisins. This was abundance of caution against possibility of taking alcohol. Christians avoid music with secular beats, rhythm and dance, out of abundance of caution.
Christians are strong enough to resist temptation. However, out of abundance of caution, they wouldn’t hang out with members of opposite gender under circumstances that are even remotely suspicious. A Nazirite didn’t even eat grapes and raisins in order to create a boundary away from alcohol.
Baptized believers just like Nazirite have taken vows to dedicate their lives to God. Therefore, they are choosy on what they eat. They are choosy on how they dress. They are choosy on what they read, watch and listen to. They are choosy on the people they associate with. They are choosy, not because those things are sin, but out of abundance of caution!
Hair gives the human look some decency and attractive designs. Hair can be an obsession of both men and women who are concerned about their looks. A Nazirite was dedicated to God and his or her attention must be to God and God alone. Therefore a Nazirite had to leave their hair Untrimmed.
A baptized believer must avoid distractions. Anything that takes attention from God should be done away with. The hair was to remind the Nazirite that how they look like before people doesn’t matter, what matters is how God perceives them. What God thinks of you and me is more important than what others think. Let us be like Nazirites who live for God and to please God.
A Nazirite kept off dead bodies. They kept off from dead bodies even those of their closest relatives. Death of another person brings us to our lowest moments. In their lowest moments the Nazirite had to be loyal to God. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God, not even death of a relative.
A Nazarite prioritized his or her vows over anything else. If only modern day believers would prioritize their baptismal vows over everything else. If only we acted with abundance of caution, our testimony to the world would be irrefutable. May we be like Nazirites in our time, in Jesus’s name, Amen!
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Interesting about not taking even the fruits that were used to brew booze.I didn’t know this. Thank you.
So Jesus being a Nazarite did not shave his hair for 33 years?
Jesus was a Nazarene from Nazareth. Nazirite was a person who has made a vow to be dedicated to God. Nazirite comes from the root word of abstaining from something. Nazareth comes from the word that refers to a watchtower. Nazareth was a watchtower place. Therefore a person from Nazareth is NOT automatically a Nazirite for the two are not related. Jesus was a Nazarene but not a Nazirite. We do not have biblical evidence showing that Jesus became a Nazirite. The three Nazirites in scripture are (1) Samson (2) Samuel (3) John the Baptist
Thank you for your messages Prof. I always learn a lot every.
I have question,what exactly are we talking about when we say dead bodies?
When we interpret scripture, we take the first simple and direct interpretation unless we have reason to believe that there is a deeper meaning. Then we have homiletical meaning where we apply the message we have interpreted to our daily lives.
The simple direct interpretation of dead bodies is therefore dead bodies. People who have died. Ceremonial cleanliness required that there is care in handling dead bodies. Out of abundance of caution, Nazirites completely avoided all dead bodies, even their own relatives. This was to avoid ceremonial uncleanliness as stipulated by the now defunct law of Moses. Therefore dead bodies were just that, dead bodies.
Homiletically we can associate it by saying that dead bodies could be anything dear and emotional that has potential to make one unclean and therefore must be avoided.
humbled by this great caution Prof. May God bless you abundantly
Amen!