A Picture of Total Consecration
The Nazareth Vow of Numbers 6 is pretty well known for the people who were committed to it. The regulations for those who take the vow are listed as follows:
Numbers 6:2-8 (ESV) "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins. 5 "All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long. 6 "All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. 7 Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.
It is a curious thing what God commands pertaining to this vow. No cutting the hair, nothing from the grapevine, and no contact with the dead. The one correllated theme amongst the regulations seems to be signs of life. Hair grows as long as one is living, no contact with the dead is obvious, and even wine - regarded as a blessing from the Lord in many passages - is also the road to folly and death in other passages. The point is clear. The Nazarite was a person completely set apart to a life lived for God. In fact, you could say that a Nazarite was a visible representation to Israel that they were to be a Nation totally set apart for God as Holy.
In the Old Testament we see two men back to back in the narrative who are Nazarite from birth. First is Sampson who breaks every part of the vow foolishly and dies in the camp of his enemies. The second is Samuel who is a very powerful prophet and judge of Israel for all his days. He dies without leaving a physical heir to carry on his work, but does become the first in a long line of prophets in Israel who guide their course throughout history.
I see in these two Nazarites a picture of Israel and Christ. Sampson is Israel - a nation set apart from their birth for God's purposes and glory before the Nations. Yet, from their beginning they rebel and disregard their calling. Eventually they end up in the camps of their enemies and lose their strength among the nations of the world. YET... out of Israel is born the Christ, who lives a pure and totally sinless life. He is the final prophet of the Old Testament and the initiator of the New Covenant. While He did not leave a physical son to carry on His mission, He is the leader of the prophetic voice of the Church.
Numbers 6:9 (ESV) "And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it."
There is also a reason why Numbers 6 spends as much time talking about what to do when the vow is disrupted by contact with the dead and what to do when the vow is restarted and finished. It is showing that all men's attempts at being totally set apart for God ultimately fail because of death. Yet there will be one who "restarts" our consecration through His death and brings us back to use in the Hands of the Father.
What I'm saying is, we may not be very good at setting apart ourselves for God's purpose, but Jesus is. He sets us apart for God, and what He begins in us, He brings to completion.
Thank Jesus.
Numbers 6:2-8 (ESV) "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins. 5 "All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long. 6 "All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. 7 Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.
It is a curious thing what God commands pertaining to this vow. No cutting the hair, nothing from the grapevine, and no contact with the dead. The one correllated theme amongst the regulations seems to be signs of life. Hair grows as long as one is living, no contact with the dead is obvious, and even wine - regarded as a blessing from the Lord in many passages - is also the road to folly and death in other passages. The point is clear. The Nazarite was a person completely set apart to a life lived for God. In fact, you could say that a Nazarite was a visible representation to Israel that they were to be a Nation totally set apart for God as Holy.
In the Old Testament we see two men back to back in the narrative who are Nazarite from birth. First is Sampson who breaks every part of the vow foolishly and dies in the camp of his enemies. The second is Samuel who is a very powerful prophet and judge of Israel for all his days. He dies without leaving a physical heir to carry on his work, but does become the first in a long line of prophets in Israel who guide their course throughout history.
I see in these two Nazarites a picture of Israel and Christ. Sampson is Israel - a nation set apart from their birth for God's purposes and glory before the Nations. Yet, from their beginning they rebel and disregard their calling. Eventually they end up in the camps of their enemies and lose their strength among the nations of the world. YET... out of Israel is born the Christ, who lives a pure and totally sinless life. He is the final prophet of the Old Testament and the initiator of the New Covenant. While He did not leave a physical son to carry on His mission, He is the leader of the prophetic voice of the Church.
Numbers 6:9 (ESV) "And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it."
There is also a reason why Numbers 6 spends as much time talking about what to do when the vow is disrupted by contact with the dead and what to do when the vow is restarted and finished. It is showing that all men's attempts at being totally set apart for God ultimately fail because of death. Yet there will be one who "restarts" our consecration through His death and brings us back to use in the Hands of the Father.
What I'm saying is, we may not be very good at setting apart ourselves for God's purpose, but Jesus is. He sets us apart for God, and what He begins in us, He brings to completion.
Thank Jesus.
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