Your Practice During Lent and the Nazarite Vow -- any connections?

Numbers Chapter 6: Sanctification Through the Nazarite Vow

Numbers 6:1-27

Day 42 of self-isolation. I can start counting all the things I have not been able to do in the last six weeks, the greatest of which are be able to hug my grandchildren or even to see some of them in person, and to attend a worship service live. On the other hand, I could also count the things I have been able to do: more bible study, more project work around the house, teaching my spouse how to attack Sudoku puzzles, and losing more games of Scrabble to her. The worse of it all is that our own provincial premier is still quiet about when things will start to open up. Meanwhile thousands, nay millions, of jobs are being lost worldwide. The debate is now not so much about whether the world will change or not after all this, but how much and how. We press on. 

The Passage

This chapter begins by setting up the Nazarite Vow. It is for men and women. It is voluntary. It is a dedication to the Lord for a set period of time. Verses 3-7 indicate what such a person cannot do during that period within in which he/she is deemed to be holy (vs. 8):

·      Have no wine or strong drink; no vinegar, no grape juice, no fresh or dried grapes, anything produced by the grape vine (from seeds to skin).

·      No razor shall touch their head; hair shall be allowed to grow freely.

·      Can’t go near a dead person, including his father, mother, brother, or sister.

If someone dies suddenly next to them and touches their hair, he (becomes unclean) and must shave their hair right off on the seventh day when they become clean again. On the eighth day they go to the priest with the appropriate offerings. On that same day their head is consecrated (vs. 11).

His/her days as a Nazarite are dedicated again (vs. 12) because the former days became void as he/she was defiled by the dead person touching them.

Verse 13 takes up to the end of the period of dedication. Various offerings are taken to the priest and presented to the Lord (to vs. 17).  The Nazarite’s dedicated head of hair is shaven and put on the fire of the sacrifice (vs. 18). The priest than puts the boiled ram’s shoulder, one unleavened cake, and one unleavened wafer into the hands of the Nazarite. This is followed by waving these along with the breast and thigh of the offered animal before the Lord. At that point the Nazarite may drink wine (vs. 20).

Verse 21 tells us that when such a Nazarite vow is made, it may be accompanied by a financial or tangible offering if one can afford it.

Verses 22-26 describes the blessing that God wanted Moses to tell the sons of Aaron (the Levite priests) to share with the sons of Israel:

²³ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

²⁴ The Lord bless you, and keep you;

²⁵ The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;

²⁶ The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’

^27 “So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.” 

Thoughts on the Passage

To begin with I note that this Vow of the Nazarite appears to be for both men and women although the detailed description uses the male gender throughout the chapter. It appears to be voluntary and for a set period of time.  It requires discipline to refrain from certain drink and food as well as from touching or being in contact with a dead person.

The most famous case of the Nazarite Vow was that of Samson, although in his case it was not voluntary as it was promised by his parents to the angel who told them they would have a son, and it was implemented from Samson’s birth to the point that Delilah had her way and he let her cut his hair. Now Chuck Smith reminds us to be careful. Samson’s strength did not come from his long hair. His strength came from his consecration to the Lord. When his hair was cut, that was symbolic of his cut commitment to God. And while Samson was the best-known person who took this vow, we may also want to remember that our Lord and Savior was also known as a Nazarene. Two others who had taken this Vow were John the Baptist (Luke 1:15) and the Apostle Paul (Acts 18:18). The Vow was open to women, but the only record we have of one perhaps doing so, or the equivalent, was Samson’s mother during her pregnancy (Judges 13:4).

There is one other example as found in the Mishna. (The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions known as the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of rabbinic literature.) It, according to David Guzik, “relates how Queen Helena had almost completed seven years of a Nazirite vow when she was defiled and therefore had to keep it for another seven years." (Wenham)

The whole thing reminds me of how many Christians approach Lent – giving up certain things like alcohol or desserts or whatever.

But God seems to look positively on such dedication as we read near the end of the chapter. God dictates a blessing for the sons of Israel.  What is not clear is whether this blessing was for all the sons of Israel, or those that had taken the Nazarite Vow and kept it.

At the end of the period of the consecrated life, there are offerings to be made and a ceremonial release to go through. Of course, this involves the ability to be able to pay for the what needed to be brought to the priest to undertake the ceremony. Thus, David Guzik writes:

No wonder when Paul visited Jerusalem, he was invited to pay the expenses of some Christians who had taken a Nazirite vow and were ready to conclude it with this sacrifice (Acts 21:23-24). The Nazirite vow was not something that could be entered into lightly.

What is clear is that will bless, and does bless, those who are sanctified and those who exercise discipline in living for Him.  Robert Jamieson writes this about these verses:

This passage records the solemn benediction which God appointed for dismissing the people at the close of the daily service. The repetition of the name "Lord" or "Jehovah" three times, expresses the great mystery of the Godhead--three persons, and yet one God. The expressions in the separate clauses correspond to the respective offices of the Father, to "bless and keep us"; of the Son, to be "gracious to us"; and of the Holy Ghost, to "give us peace." And because the benediction, though pronounced by the lips of a fellow man, derived its virtue, not from the priest but from God, the encouraging assurance was added, "I the Lord will bless them."

He keeps us; He makes His face shine on us; He is gracious to us; He lifts His countenance upon us; and He gives us peace.  I always get a kick out of pastors uttering this blessing as a form of benediction at the end of a service, using the introductory phrase, “May the Lord . . .”.  In my humble opinion, “the Lord does. . .”.   What an amazing “smile of approval” that is.

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Jacob’s Prediction About Dan - Genesis 49:16-18

“Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel.  Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned snake in the path, That bites the horse’s heels, So that his rider falls backward.  For they salvation I wait, O Lord.”

Dan was Jacob’s fifth son, and the first from Bilhah, the handmaiden of Rachel, his second and most beloved wife.  His Hebrew name means ‘judge’ as we read in Genesis 30:6 that Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.”

So indeed, Jacob, as guided by God, predicts that Dan and Dan’s tribe will be a judge over the people.  In fact, later in Scripture we read that this tribe provided one of Israel’s greatest judges, Samson.

From there though the text becomes more complex.  It speaks of where Dan’s tribe will reside.  They will be so located (as indeed they were) in a place that is between the mountains of current day Lebanon and the Golan Heights.  Given that, and being a tough and hardy tribe (a serpent, a horned snake), they would protect the nation of Israel (be in the way of) from the attacks of enemies (bites the horse’s heels, so that his rider falls backward) coming from the north.  We would do well to also remember that this might apply simply to Samson himself who did indeed deliver the Israelites from the Philistines, both through his judgments and his physical actions.

But the reference to be “a serpent” may also allude to the fact that they are not all they should be for later we discover that it was Dan’s tribe that introduced idolatry to the people of Israel and Jeroboam set up an idol of a calf in the city of Dan, known as the center of idol worship.

It is also interesting to note that while Dan was a son of a concubine, yet he and his descendants were to be a tribe among God’s people.  This may well be an indication that in God’s society, or as Matthew Henry says, “in His spiritual Israel” there is not distinction between those that were from bondage and those that were free.

As I study this section on Jacob’s predictions about Dan, I realize that one could make a study of comparing Jacob’s predictions for each of his sons with what Scripture later says about either the son, or a descendant of the son, by examining other texts in the Bible which refer to the son’s name or to the son’s tribe.

This present section, however, does end with what I would call an emotional insert – perhaps a last plea to one’s God, an expression of one’s greatest desire – as one approaches his death.   Jacob has made predictions for seven of his sons and has five more to go.  I can imagine him having become very physically exhausted at this point, given his age, his health, and the heaviness of the implications of his words.  It is at this point that Jacob gives his audible aside – perhaps speaking for himself more than for his sons, although how wonderful it would be if they too were of the same mind.  Totally unrelated to any of the prophecies he has so far uttered, he says, “I wait for your salvation, O Lord.”

Let me suggest that this personal testimony to the hope in His God may well have been placed right here just to ensure that he simply got it said.  The risk was that he might not have been able to finish all his predictions about the remaining five sons, and might have died in the process without having made it clear to God, and to those willing to hear, that Jacob’s life was indeed all about “waiting for the Lord’s salvation”.

It is important to find some foundational tie to this ‘salvation’ Jacob was crying for in his last days.  First, we may notice the relationship of this plea to an earlier statement Jacob had made as part of his prediction about Judah in verse 10 of this chapter.  Clearly, there, the reference is to Christ, the Prince of Peace (Shiloh).  Now again here in this verse, he makes a direct reference to the fact that he personally is waiting for that Prince of Peace, that salvation, the Hebrew word for which is “Yashua” or Jesus.  In verse 10, Jacob has stated it as a fact – peace, salvation will indeed come.  In verse 18, he personalizes it, owning it, declaring it as his very own desire.

What then can we gain from this small section on Dan, but more significantly on Jacob’s signature line, “I wait for your salvation, O Lord”?

First, we need to realize that being in a position to ‘judge’ for or on behalf of others is a serious responsibility.  Those that are granted that privilege, especially in the body of God’s people, are to understand that they must rely on God’s wisdom and His direction in how they are to rule or judge.  And the rest of us have an obligation to pray for such judges that they may be ‘godly’ in the carrying out of their responsibilities.  One of the biggest problems with our world today is that men and women have attained seats of unquestionable authority such as in the Supreme Courts of our countries and have left God waiting on the sidewalk outside the hallowed chambers in which they rule.  But perhaps some of the blame for that must go towards the absence of prayers on their behalf from God’s people, from you and I.

Second, we need to accept, like Jacob, the fact that there is “salvation” to be found.  The Prince of Peace does exist and He does save.

Third, we need to personalize that “salvation”.  Jesus Christ must be our Lord, our Savior, our Hope, and our Salvation.

Finally, we are to be thankful that we, in one sense, have an advantage over Jacob.  We don’t have to wait for Shiloh.  The Prince of Peace has come.  Our Salvation is here.  And if we accept Him, we are saved – now, today, and forever.  We can rejoice in that as we in turn wait for His physical return.

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