Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.
Parallel Translations
-
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh,
he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.
-
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:
He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.
All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
Show all 3 translations
-
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When either man or woman shall clearly utter a vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to consecrate himself unto the LORD,
he shall abstain from wine and strong drink: he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
All the days of his Naziriteship shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the pressed grapes even to the grapestone.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Commandments (5)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (31)
- Luke 1:15 (vv2–3) For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even…
- Judges 13:5 (v2) for, behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son. No razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the…
- Amos 2:11-12 (v2) I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn’t this true, you children of Israel?” says…
- Romans 1:1 (v2) Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,
- 1 Timothy 5:23 (v3) Be no longer a drinker of water only, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.
Show all 30 cross-references
- Leviticus 10:9 (v3) “You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This shall be a statute…
- Judges 13:14 (v3) She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her observe…
- Amos 2:12 (v3) “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Don’t prophesy!’
- Ephesians 5:18 (v3) Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
- Numbers 6:5 (v4) “ ‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled in which he separates himself to…
- Proverbs 31:4-5 (v3) It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes to say, ‘Where is strong drink?’ lest they drink, and…
- Jeremiah 35:6-8 (v3) But they said, “We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, neither…
- Luke 7:33-34 (v3) For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and…
- Luke 21:34 (v3) “So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (v3) Abstain from every form of evil.
- Hebrews 7:27 (v2) who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For…
- Exodus 33:16 (v2) For how would people know that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn’t it that you go with us, so that we are separated,…
- Leviticus 20:26 (v2) You shall be holy to me, for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
- Leviticus 27:2 (v2) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When a man consecrates a person to Yahweh in a vow, according to your valuation,
- Numbers 6:5-6 (v2) “ ‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled in which he separates himself to…
- Numbers 6:8-9 (v4) All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh. “ ‘If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his…
- Numbers 6:12-13 (v4) He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days…
- Numbers 6:18-19 (v4) The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, take the hair of the head of his separation, and…
- Numbers 6:21 (v4) “ ‘This is the law of the Nazirite who vows and of his offering to Yahweh for his separation, in addition to that which he is able to…
- Judges 16:17 (v2) He told her all his heart and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If…
- 1 Samuel 1:28 (v2) Therefore I have also given him to Yahweh. As long as he lives he is given to Yahweh.” He worshiped Yahweh there.
- Proverbs 18:1 (v2) A man who isolates himself pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.
- Acts 21:23-24 (v2) Therefore do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses for…
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 (v2) What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and…
- Galatians 1:15 (v2) But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace
30 distinct cross-references across this passage (31 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (25 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v2 Which separated themselves from the world, and dedicated themselves…
Which separated themselves from the world, and dedicated themselves to God: which figure was accomplished in Christ.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Num 6:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 6:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Ver. 1. And the Lord spake.] Est Venus in vinis: therefore after the law for the privy harlot, here is a law given for abstinence from wine and strong drink, which some have called lac veneris. The whore cometh forth with a cup, {Rev 17:4} as with a fit instrument.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Either man or woman; for both sexes might make…
Either man or woman; for both sexes might make this vow, if they were free and at their own dispose, for otherwise their parents or husbands could disannul the vow, Num 30:5, and in that case they sinned in taking God’s name in vain, and vowing what they could not perform.
A vow of a Nazarite; whereby they did sequester themselves in a great part from worldly employments and enjoyments, that they might entirely consecrate themselves to God’s service; and this either for their whole lifetime, of which see Jdg 13:5; 16:17; 1Sa 1:11; Luk 1:15; or for a less and limited space of time, of which in this chapter.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 After the law for the discovery and shame of…
After the law for the discovery and shame of those that by sin had made themselves vile, fitly follows this for the direction and encouragement of those who by their eminent piety and devotion had made themselves honourable, and distinguished themselves from their neighbours. It is very probable that there were those before the making of this law who went under the character of Nazarites, and were celebrated by that title as persons professing greater strictness and zeal in religion than other people; for the vow of a Nazarite is spoken of here as a thing already well known, but the obligation of it is reduced to a greater certainty than hitherto it had been. Joseph is called a Nazarite among his brethren (Gen 49:26), not only because separate from them, but because eminent among them. Observe,
I. The general character of a Nazarite: it is a person separated unto the Lord, Num 6:2. Some were Nazarites for life, either by divine designation, as Samson (Jdg 13:5), and John Baptist (Luk 1:15), or by their parents' vow concerning them, as Samuel, Sa1 1:11. Of these this law speaks not. Others were so for a certain time, and by their own voluntary engagement, and concerning them rules are given by this law. A woman might bind herself with the vow of a Nazarite, under the limitations we find, Num 30:3, where the vow which the woman is supposed to vow unto the Lord seems to be meant especially of this vow. The Nazarites were, 1. Devoted to the Lord during the time of their Nazariteship, and, it is probable, spent much of their time in the study of the law, in acts of devotion, and instructing others. An air of piety was thereby put upon them, and upon their whole conversation. 2. They were separated from common persons and common things. Those that are consecrated to God must not be conformed to this world. They distinguished themselves, not only from others, but from what they themselves were before and after. 3. They separated themselves by vowing a vow. Every Israelite was bound by the divine law to love God with all his heart, but the Nazarites by their own act and deed bound themselves to some religious observances, as fruits and expressions of that love, which other Israelites were not bound to. Some such there were, whose spirits God stirred up to be in their day the ornaments of the church, the standard-bearers of religion, and patterns of piety. It is spoken of as a great favour to their nation that God raised up of their young men for Nazarites, Amo 2:11. The Nazarites were known in the streets and respected as purer than snow, whiter than milk, Lam 4:7. Christ was called in reproach a Nazarene, so were his followers: but he was no Nazarite according to this law; he drank wine, and touched dead bodies, yet in his this type had its accomplishment, for in him all purity and perfection met; and every true Christian is a spiritual Nazarite, separated by vow unto the Lord. We find St. Paul, by the persuasion of his friends, in complaisance to the Jews, submitting to this law of the Nazarites; but at the same time it is declared that the Gentiles should observe no such thing, Act 21:24, Act 21:25. It was looked upon as a great honour to a man to be a Nazarite, and therefore if a man speak of it as a punishment, saying for instance, "I will be a Nazarite rather than do so or so," he is (say the Jews) a wicked man; but he that vows unto the Lord in the way of holiness to be a Nazarite, lo, the crown of his God is upon his head.
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II. The particular obligations that the Nazarites lay under. That the fancies of superstitious men might not multiply their restraints endlessly, God himself lays down the law for them, and gives them the rule of their profession.
1. They must have nothing to do with the fruit of the vine, Num 6:3, Num 6:4. They must drink no wine nor string drink, nor eat grapes, no, not the kernel nor the husk; they might not so much as eat a raisin. The learned Dr. Lightfoot has a conjecture (Hor. Heb. in Luc. 1.15), that, as the ceremonial pollutions by leprosy and otherwise represented the sinful state of fallen man, so the institution of the order of Nazarites was designed to represent the pure and perfect state of man in innocency, and that the tree of knowledge, forbidden to Adam, was the vine, and for that reason it was forbidden to the Nazarites, and all the produce of it. Those who gave the Nazarites wine to drink did the tempter's work (Amo 2:12), persuading them to that forbidden fruit. That it was reckoned a perfection and praise not to drink wine appears from the instance of the Rechabites, Jer 35:6. They were to drink no wine, (1.) That they might be examples of temperance and mortification. Those that separate themselves to God and to his honour must not gratify the desires of the body, but keep it under and bring it into subjection. Drinking a little wine for the stomach's sake is allowed, to help that, Ti1 5:23. But drinking much wine for the palate's sake, to please that, does by no means become those who profess to walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (2.) That they might be qualified to employ themselves in the service of God. They must not drink, lest they should forget the law (Pro 31:5), lest they should err through wine, Isa 28:7. Let all Christians oblige themselves to be very moderate in the use of wine and strong drink; for, if the love of these once gets the mastery of a man, he becomes a very easy prey to Satan. It is observable that because they were to drink no wine (which was the thing mainly intended) they were to eat nothing that came of the vine, to teach us with the utmost care and caution to avoid sin and every thing that borders upon it and leads to it, or may be a temptation to us. Abstain from all appearance of evil, Th1 5:22.
2. They must not cut their hair, Num 6:5. They must neither poll their heads nor shave their beards; this was that mark of Samson's Nazariteship which we often read of in his story. Now, (1.) This signified a noble neglect of the body and the ease and ornament of it, which became those who, being separated to God, ought to be wholly taken up with their souls, to secure their peace and beauty. It signified that they had, for the present, renounced all sorts of sensual pleasures and delights, and resolved to live a life of self-denial and mortification. Mephibosheth in sorrow trimmed not his beard, Sa2 19:24. (2.) Some observe that long hair is spoken of as a badge of subjection (Co1 11:5, etc.); so that the long hair of the Nazarites denoted their subjection to God, and their putting themselves under his dominion. (3.) By this they were known to all that met them to be Nazarites, and so it commanded respect. It made them look great without art; it was nature's crown to the head, and a testimony for them that they had preserved their purity. For, if they had been defiled, their hair must have been cut, Num 6:9. See Jer 7:29.
3. They must not come near any dead body, Num 6:6, Num 6:7. Others might touch dead bodies, and contracted only a ceremonial pollution by it for some time; some must do it, else the dead must be unburied; but the Nazarites must not do it, upon pain of forfeiting all the honour of their Nazariteship. They must not attend the funeral of any relation, no, not father nor mother, any more than the high priest himself, because the consecration of his God is upon his head. Those that separate themselves to God must learn, (1.) To distinguish themselves, and do more than others. (2.) To keep their consciences pure from dead works, and not to touch the unclean thing. The greater profession of religion we make, and the more eminent we appear, the greater care we must take to avoid all sin, for we have so much the more honour to lose by it. (3.) To moderate their affections even to their near relations, so as not to let their sorrow for the loss of them break in upon their joy in God and submission to his will. See Mat 8:21, Mat 8:22.
4. All the days of their separation they must be holy to the Lord, Num 6:8. This was the meaning of those external observances, and without this they were of no account. The Nazarites must be devoted to God, employed for him, and their minds intent upon him; they must keep themselves pure in heart and life, and be in every thing conformable to the divine image and will; this is to be holy, this is to be a Nazarite indeed.
III. The provision that was made for the cleansing of a Nazarite, if he happened unavoidably to contract a ceremonial pollution by the touch of a dead body. No penalty is ordered by this law for the wilful breach of the foregoing laws; for it was not supposed that a man who had so much religion as to make that vow could have so little as to break it presumptuously: nor could it be supposed that he should drink wine, or have his hair cut, but by his own fault; but purely by the providence of God, without any fault of his own, he might be near a dead body, and that is the case put (Num 6:9): If a man die very suddenly by him, he has defiled the head of his consecration. Note, Death sometimes takes men away very suddenly, and without any previous warning. A man might be well and dead in so little a time that the most careful Nazarite could not avoid being polluted by the dead body; so short a step is it sometimes, and so soon taken, from time to eternity. God prepare us for sudden death! In this case, 1. He must be purified from the ceremonial pollution he had contracted, as others must, upon the seventh day, Num 6:9. Nay, more was required for the purifying of the Nazarite than of any other person that had touched a dead body; he must bring a sin-offering and a burnt-offering, and an atonement must be made for him, Num 6:10, Num 6:11. This teaches us that sins of infirmity, and the faults we are overtaken in by surprise, must be seriously repented of, and that an application must be made of the virtue of Christ's sacrifice to our souls for the forgiveness of them every day, Jo1 2:1, Jo1 2:2. It teaches us also that, if those who make an eminent profession of religion do any thing to sully the reputation of their profession, more is expected from them than others, for the retrieving both of their peace and of their credit. 2. He must begin the days of his separation again; for all that were past before his pollution, though coming ever so near the period of his time set, were lost, and not reckoned to him, Num 6:12. This obliged them to be very careful not to defile themselves by the dead, for that was the only thing that made them lose their time, and it teaches us that if a righteous man turn away from his righteousness, and defile himself with dead works, all his righteousness that he has done shall be lost to him, Eze 33:13. It is all lost, all in vain, if he do not persevere, Gal 3:4. He must begin again, and do his first works.
IV. The law for the solemn discharge of a Nazarite from his vow, when he had completed the time he fixed to himself. Before the expiration of that term he could not be discharged; before he vowed, it was in his own power, but it was too late after the vow to make enquiry. The Jews say that the time of a Nazarite's vow could not be less than thirty days; and if a man said, "I will be a Nazarite but for two days," yet he was bound for thirty; but it should seem Paul's vow was for only seven days (Act 21:27), or, rather, then he observed the ceremony of finishing that vow of Nazariteship from which, being at a distance from the temple, he had discharged himself some years before at Cenchrea only by the ceremony of cutting his hair, Act 18:18. When the time of the vowed separation was out, he was to be made free, 1. Publicly, at the door of the tabernacle (Num 6:13), that all might take notice of the finishing of his vow, and none might be offended if they saw him now drink wine, who had so lately refused. 2. It was to be done with sacrifices, Num 6:14. Lest he should think that by this eminent piece of devotion he had made God a debtor to him, he is appointed, even when he had finished his vow, to bring an offering to God; for, when we have done our utmost in duty to God, still we must own ourselves behind-hand with him. He must bring one of each sort of the instituted offerings. (1.) A burnt-offering, as an acknowledgment of God's sovereign dominion over him and all he had still, notwithstanding his discharge from this particular vow. (2.) A sin-offering. This, though mentioned second (Num 6:14), yet seems to have been offered first (Num 6:16), for atonement must be made for our sins before any of our sacrifices can be accepted. And it is very observable that even the Nazarite, who in the eye of men was purer than snow and whiter than milk, yet durst not appear before the holy God without a sin-offering. Though he had fulfilled the vow of his separation without any pollution, yet he must bring a sacrifice for sin; for there is guilt insensibly contracted by the best of men, even in their best works - some good omitted, some ill admitted, which, if we were dealt with in strict justice, would be our ruin, and in consequence of which it is necessary for us to receive the atonement, and plead it as our righteousness before God. (3.) A peace-offering, in thankfulness to God who had enabled him to fulfil his vow, and in supplication to God for grace to preserve him from ever doing any thing unbecoming one that had been once a Nazarite, remembering that, though he was now freed from the bonds of his own vow, he still remained under the bonds of the divine law. (4.) To these were added the meat-offerings and drink-offerings, according to the manner (Num 6:15, Num 6:17), for these always accompanied the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings: and, besides these, a basket of unleavened cakes, and wafers. (5.) Part of the peace-offering, with a cake and wafer, was to be waved for a wave-offering (Num 6:19, Num 6:20); and this was a gratuity to the priest, who had it for his pains, after it had been first presented to God. (6.) Besides all this, he might bring his free-will offerings, such as his hand shall get, Num 6:21. More than this he might bring, but not less. And, to grace the solemnity, it was common upon this occasion to have their friends to be at charges with them, Act 21:24. Lastly, One ceremony more was appointed, which was like the cancelling of the bond when the condition is performed, and that was the cutting off of his hair, which had been suffered to grow all the time of his being a Nazarite, and burning it in the fire over which the peace-offerings were boiling, Num 6:18. This intimated that his full performance of his vow was acceptable to God in Christ the great sacrifice, and not otherwise. Learn hence to vow and pay to the Lord our God, for he has no pleasure in fools.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–4 And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same…
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time, or immediately after the law concerning the woman suspected of adultery was given; with which the following law concerning Nazarites may be thought to have a close connection, as some Jewish writers observe, women being concerned in it as well as men; and as wine leads to adultery, as Jarchi observes, abstinence from it, which the Nazarite's vow obliged to, and forbearance of trimming and dressing the hair, and a being more strictly and closely devoted to the service of God, were very likely means of preserving from unchastity, and any suspicion of it:
saying; as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–4 The law of the Nazarites. What they were to…
The law of the Nazarites. What they were to abstain from, ver. 1-8. How to be cleansed from casual uncleanness, ver. 9-12. How to be discharged from their vow, ver. 13-21. The form of blessing the people, ver. 22-27.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–3 The vow of the Nazarite, 1, 2.
CHAPTER VI
The vow of the Nazarite, 1, 2.
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In what it consisted, 3-8.
When accidentally defiled, how he is to be purified, 9-12.
The sacrifices he is to bring, and the rites he is to perform,
when the vow of his separation is fulfilled, 13-21.
The manner in which the priests are to bless the people, 22-26.
The name of the LORD is to be put on the children of Israel,
whom He promises to bless, 27.
NOTES ON CHAP. VI
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Num 6:1. The foregoing law about women, suspected of…
Num 6:1. The foregoing law about women, suspected of adultery, is here followed by another relating to the conduct of those who, by a singular course of religious devotion, were desirous to prevent all such sins; namely, by making vows of uncommon purity, and devoting themselves to God in an extraordinary manner. These persons were called Nazarites; that is, persons voluntarily separated from the world, and dedicated to the worship and service of God, with peculiar strictness. With respect to these, God appointed the following rules to be observed.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v1 The law of the Nazarite is appropriately added to…
The law of the Nazarite is appropriately added to other enactments which concern the sanctity of the holy nation. That sanctity found its highest expression in the Nazarite vow, which was the voluntary adoption for a time of obligations to high and strict modes of self-dedication resembling, and indeed in some particulars exceeding, those under which the priests were placed. The present enactments do not institute a new kind of observance, but only regulate one already familiar to the Israelites Num 6:2.
Num 6:2
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A Nazarite - Strictly, Nazirite. This term signifies “separated” i. e., as the words following show, “unto God.” It became a technical term at an early date; compare Jdg 13:5, Jdg 13:7; Jdg 16:17.
Num 6:3
Liquor of grapes - i. e. a drink made of grape-skins macerated in water.
Num 6:4
From the kernels even to the husk - A sour drink was made from the stones of unripe grapes; and cakes were also made of the husks Hos 3:1. This interdict figures that separation from the general society of men to which the Nazarite for the time was consecrated.
Num 6:5
Among the Jews the abundance of the hair was considered to betoken physical strength and perfection (compare 2Sa 14:25-26), and baldness was regarded as a grave blemish (compare Lev 21:20 note, Lev 13:40 ff; 2Ki 2:23; Isa 3:24). Thus, the free growth of the hair on the head of the Nazarite represented the dedication of the man with all his strength and powers to the service of God.
Num 6:7
The consecration of his God - i. e. the unshorn locks: compare Lev 25:5 note, where the vine, left during the Sabbatical year untouched by the hand of man, either for pruning or for vintage, is called simply a “Nazarite.”
The third rule of the Nazarite interdicted him from contracting any ceremonial defilement even under circumstances which excused such defilement in others: compare Lev 21:1-3.
Num 6:9-12
Prescriptions to meet the case of a sudden death taking place “by him” (i. e. in his presence). The days of the dedication of the Nazarite had to be recommenced.
Num 6:13
When the days of his separation are fulfilled - Perpetual Nazariteship was probably unknown in the days of Moses; but the examples of Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist, show that it was in later times undertaken for life. Again, Moses does not expressly require that limits should be assigned to the vow; but a rule was afterward imposed that no Nazarite vow should be taken for less than thirty days. To permit the vow to be taken for very short periods would diminish its solemnity and estimation.
Num 6:14, Num 6:15
The sin-offering (compare the marginal references), though named second, was in practice offered first, being intended to expiate involuntary sins committed during the period of separation. The burnt-offering (Lev 1:10 ff) denoted the self-surrender on which alone all acceptableness in the Nazarite before God must rest; the peace-offerings (Lev 3:12 ff) expressed thankfulness to God by whose grace the vow had been fulfilled. The offerings, both ordinary and additional, required on the completion of the Nazarite vow involved considerable expense, and it was regarded as a pious work to provide the poor with the means of making them (compare Act 21:23 ff; 1 Macc. 3:49).
Num 6:18
Shave the head - As the Nazarite had during his vow worn his hair unshorn in honor of God, so when the time was complete it was natural that the hair, the symbol of his vow, should be cut off, and offered to God at the sanctuary. The burning of the hair “in the fire under the sacrifice of the peace offering “represented the eucharistic communion with God obtained by those who realised the ideal which the Nazarite set forth (compare the marginal reference).
Num 6:20
The priest shall wave them - i. e. by placing his hands under those of the Nazarite: compare Lev 7:30.
Num 6:21
Beside that that his hand shall get - The Nazarite, in addition to the offerings prescribed above, was to present free-will offerings according to his possessions or means.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2–4 Sanctified, and separated from the common sort of people,…
Sanctified, and separated from the common sort of people, and obliged to observe abstinence like the Nazarites, as the Hebrew intimates in one word, nazir. All this was done to acquire greater sanctity and perfection. Septuagint, "whoever has made a great vow to be very pure to the Lord," and intends thus to signalize his zeal for God’s glory. The original term means also to distinguish oneself by a wonderful thing. There were Nazarites for life, like Samson and St. John the Baptist; and others for a limited time, like St. Paul. Their abstinence from wine, &c., lasted generally for a month, and was to be performed at Jerusalem. Those of the female sex could not bind themselves by vow till they were ten years and a day old, nor boys before they were full 13. (Calmet) --- The custom of cutting the hair, in honour of some god, was very common among the pagans; and St. Cyril (de ador. 16,) seems to think that the Hebrews had seen it practised in Egypt, and that Moses judged it expedient to let them do so for the sake of the true God, in order to divert their minds from giving way to superstition. (Calmet) --- The Hebrews made vows to abstain from wine for 30 days, and then to offer sacrifices, and to cut their hair, when they were attacked by any dangerous illness. (Josephus, Jewish Wars ii. 15.) St. Paul perhaps made a vow of this nature, in the perils of the sea, Acts xviii. 11. (Spencer, Rit. iii. 6.) Juvenal alludes to this custom, when he observes, that sailors with their heads shaved, delight in safety to recount the dangers to which they have been exposed: Gaudent ubi vertice raso,
Garrula securi narrare pericula Nautæ. (Sat. ii.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 The Nazirite in God’s Army
FIFTH SECTION
The Nazirite in God’s Army
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Num_6:1-21
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman 12shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord; 3He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any 3liquor of grapes, nor eat 4moist grapes, or dried. 4All the days of his 5separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the 6vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. 5All the days of the vow of his 2separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. 7He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the 7consecration of his God is upon his head. 8All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. 9And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his 4consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. 10And on the eighth day he shall bring two 8turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the 9tabernacle of the congregation: 11And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned 10by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. 12And he shall 11consecrate unto the Lord the days of his 2separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a 12trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be 13lost, because his separation was defiled.
13And this is the law of the Nazarite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought unto the door of the etabernacle of the congregation: 14And he shall offer his 14offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings. 15And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their 15meat offering, and their drink offerings. 16And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: 17And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his kmeat offering, and his drink offering. 18And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his 2separation at the door of the etabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his 2separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. 19And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his 2separation is shaven: 20And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave 16shoulder: and after 21that the Nazarite may drink wine. This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his ioffering unto the Lord for his separation, besides that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he 17vowed, so he must do after the law of his 2separation.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. [Nazarite should in strictness be written Nãzirite. The accepted spelling has no doubt prevailed amongst Christians from its being supposed that this vow is referred to in Mat_2:23. The Bib. Comm.—Tr.]. The Nazirite, too, only attains his full significance by his relation to the army of God, to the affairs of Jehovah’s kingdom. He is in this relation the counterpart of the emulous warrior; he has submitted himself to a special consecration to God, and therewith to death. Such consecrations occur among all considerable nations as heroism of spontaneous growth, especially among the Greeks and Romans, among Germans and Swiss, and not only in the shape of heroes, but also of heroines. To this class belong Kodrus, Leonidas, the two Decii Mus and many others of later date, not to speak of heroic army corps, both ancient and modern. Hence the Naziriteship, may not be regarded as an original, theocratic institution, any more than the institutions of divorce, of the oath, and similar things. But it is to be regarded as a theocratic arrangement which consecrated and sanctified a natural disposition and tendency to heroic self-sacrifice.
The Nazirite is, of course, related to the priest, more nearly approached to the priest, as also the monk in Christian times, perhaps also in respect to particular priestly rights. Indeed, in certain respects, he submits to a stricter law. To the priest indulgence in wine was only prohibited before his entering on a sacred ceremony; to the Nazirite it was altogether prohibited. With respect to avoiding uncleanness from contact with the dead, he was even raised above the priest and put on an equality with the high-priest. Yet he must not be identified with the ascetic in his contemplative tendency, as is done by Philo, Oehler, Keil and others. It is true that the idea of universal priesthood appears in a stronger light in the Naziriteship, possessing as it did equal rank with the priesthood in many things, yet mainly in a practical direction; although on the other hand the former with their vows remind us of the Nazirites. Again the Nazirite has some of the characteristic traits of the prophet, with whom, also, he is classed by Amo_2:11. And that leads to the inference that the Nazirite is always raised up by God for a special concern of the kingdom of God. His aim is not spiritual contemplation, or it would not be made so prominent that he consecrates himself to Jehovah in a special sense for a definite time. In this sense also we understand the יַפְלִא Num_6:2. Hence the prophetic spirit, under the direction of the spirit of revelation, might also call forth life-long Naziriteships, pronouncing a special consecration to God over children not yet born. But such cases were, then, no arbitrary determinations of the future of the child on the part of the parents, such as occurred often in the middle ages, and made miserable the monks Gottschalk and Ulrich von Hutten. They were prophetic prognostications which the event justified, e. g. the times of Samson, Samuel and John Baptist. Every one of these proves that the Naziriteship had ever a great theocratic purpose; and the same may be said of the Naziriteship of James the Little. It only needs to be mentioned that in the Christian world the idea of the Nazirite was changed into a morally depraved caricature by the fourth monastic vow, but which as such also revealed beside a demoniacal power, and throws great shadows into our time.
The union of the Naziriteship with practical purposes appears in a great variety of ways. Samson was little disposed to contemplativeness; he was called to arouse in the children of Israel the consciousness of superiority with respect to the character of the Philistines. Thus, too, the Naziriteship of Paul, to which he was moved to submit himself by the counsel of the Nazirite James (Act_21:26), had a definite object, also the union with four other Nazirites, whose expenses Paul paid. From the last mentioned fact it appears, that the expenses of Nazirites, which consisted especially in the appropriate offerings, might for poor persons be paid by those having means. In the history of Paul there appears already a very dark caricature of Naziriteship in the forty men that had taken a vow to kill him (Act_23:21). The appearance of a disposition to Naziriteship appears plainly also in the history of Daniel and of his three companions (Dan_1:8), and not less in the history of Judith (chap. 9). In the times of the Maccabees, when Israel was contending with heathenism, Naziriteship again made itself felt (1Ma_3:49). “Under Jannæus there appeared once a baud of three hundred Nazirites,” Oehler. [See on all the points treated above Smith’s Bib. Dict., Art. Nazarite.—Tr.].
According to Knobel, this law of the Naziriteship did not belong to the fundamental laws of the theocracy. But why not? “Especially because the Naziriteship was not enjoined, and not even recommended, but only permitted, yet, of course, when once undertaken it must conform to definite rules.” According to that criterion, how many ordinances must be dropped out of the fundamental laws of the theocracy! Even of the sacrifices, as has been remarked already, it is said that they were not originally commanded by Jehovah, but were only taken under control and care, theocratically sanctified (Jer_7:22; Amo_5:25). The literature relating to this matter is given by Knobel, p. 25; Keil, p. 213. Compare also Oehler’s article Naziräat in Herzog’s R.-Enc. The notices of the deliverances of the Talmud, and also the divergence of theological interpretations in regard to this subject, give undeniable indications of how the fundamental idea of the Naziriteship has become obscured. Here is to be considered, too, the view that would derive the Naziriteship from foreign parts, especially from Egypt (Spencer, Michaelis, S. Oehler, p. 206). The general, human substratum of the Naziriteship is heroism. The culminating points are: 1) the absolute prohibition to use wine, as the negative side of Naziriteship. 2) The entire preservation of and keeping pure the hair of the head, to which belongs also the injunction strictly to avoid contamination from a dead body, or atonement in case such contamination be incurred. 3) The extraordinary festive sacrifice to be offered at the expiration of the period of Naziriteship.
1. The Nazirite, Num_6:2. Man or woman might voluntarily determine to be such. Only the vow of a woman, that was dependent on her father or on her husband, was conditioned on the acquiescence of the masculine head. [For the statement concerning woman’s vows there is the authority of chap. 30. But there is only probable inference for the statement concerning servants. See Smith’s Bib. Dict., art Vows.—Tr.]. The same obtained in the case of vows of servants. The theocratic vow of parents regarding a child was occasioned by the spirit of revelation, as in Samson’s case, whose mother was commanded to practise abstinence even until his birth (Judges 13); or at least it was sanctioned by this spirit, as in the case of Samuel, and thus rested on prophetic prognosis. Such a vow, therefore, abrogated the law of voluntariness as little as does infant baptism.
2. He shall separate himself from wine, etc., Num_6:3-4. The primary object of this prohibition is already intimated in the history of Aaron’s sons who were destroyed. Theocratic enthusiasm must as strictly as possible be preserved pure from all disturbance by the spirit of drunkenness. Hence the prohibition not only of wine and of all spirituous, strong drink, not only of flat wine, wine or other vinegar, but even of grape juice just expressed (מִשְׁרַת). The prohibition is symbolically intensified and completed by forbidding the enjoyment of fresh and even of dried grapes (raisins). Keil’s notion only obscures the simple, fundamental thought, when he says that the prohibition to use grapes looks to abstinence from all deliciæ carnis so damaging to sanctification. The grape confections of Hos_3:1 hardly serve to prove this.
The prince of the Mohamedan secret sect, called The Old Man of the Mountain, sent forth his assassins to the terror of the princes and statesmen whom he would rob. These assassins had also consecrated themselves to death, and fortified themselves for their undertaking by indulging in the fearfully intoxicating hashish. From this word, Sylvester de Sacy derives the designation Assassins. [See Chambers’Encycl. articles Hashish and Assassin.—Tr.]. So, too, a modern conqueror sought to render his brave soldiers still braver by intoxication.
The mere abstinence from the use of wine did not of itself alone make a Nazirite. This is proved by the family of the Rechabites who formed a sort of hereditary abstinence society in the midst of Israel (Jer_35:6-7), according to a command of their patriarch Jonadab. The same thing occurred now and then in the Orient, and finally in Mohammedanism became a law of world-wide influence. On the completion of his Naziriteship the Nazirite might again drink wine; a proof that the abstinence was sanctioned only for a special object.
3). Then shall no razor come upon his head, etc., Num_6:5. The enthusiasm of the Nazirite was not to be made fanatic by the use of wine. On the other hand the consecrated growth of the hair was to serve as a symbol and animating sign (seal) of the strength of that enthusiasm. On the various misconceptions of this symbol, see Keil, p. 215. A sign of mourning, Michaelis. A sign of separation, of renouncing the world (monkishness), Hengstenberg. A sign of more perfect freedom, Vitringa. On the contrary, a sign of dependence, with reference to 1Co_11:3; 1Co_11:16, Baumgarten. “Lev_25:5; Lev_25:11 gives a clue to the proper signification, according to which, during the Sabbatic and Jubilee years, the grape-vines were not pruned, but suffered to grow luxuriant, and their fruit was not gathered, and which as such were called Nazirites. That is, the consecration of the vine is accomplished by letting its whole productive force develop unmolested, and by exempting what it produced from profane (?) interference and use. In like manner, the free growth of the Nazirite’s hair is the symbol of strength and fulness of life,” etc. The affair, however, seems to be somewhat different. Not every bush in its strength and fulness of life could be called a Nazirite. But the vine could be so-called, because from its very nature it was the symbol of inspiration and joy (Joh_15:11). Thus the hair-growth of the Nazirite would be the symbol of a higher power of life, of an inspiration dedicated to God. And this complete divine dedication of this heroic vigor might be contaminated and deprived of its vigor ever so easily. It was not noxious either to vigor, or to fulness of life, or even to the symbol of it, the long growing hair. when they came into the contaminating region of a dead person; but with this divinely consecrated growth of hair it was different. Its gleam, its validity vanished in the neighborhood of the dead. For the consecrated one becomes absorbed in his consecration as if he were nothing but life itself, and knew nothing but life. The sight of a corpse and contemplation of it can translate him into the sentiment of vulgar reality, and the beautiful faith of being invincible vanishes. Thus the undesecrated hair of the Nazirite’s head, the pledge of his consecration to God, which is at the same time a wreath, a diadem (נֵצֶר) of God, that God has placed on his head, a wreath of victory put on him in advance,—that is, the proper signature of the Nazirite. The divine consecration to God must be regarded by the theocrat above all else as a consecration from God (as justification underlies sanctification). It cannot be said that this symbolism is merely conventional. When, for example, Paul says (1 Corinthians 11) that the woman ought, beside her uncut hair, to have also a covering on her head, it does not denote merely her dependence on the man, but also her womanly dignity, which she has through the man; she is the δόξα of the man. But the man must neither have long hair, nor cover his head while he prays, because a direct, spiritual ray of God rests on his head, that makes him appear an image to God’s honor. Because in the New Testament this is absolutely fulfilled, the symbol of the Naziriteship is laid aside for him (whereas the woman in the church must still be in dependence on the man for the sake of order). On the other hand the symbol still obtains in the Old Testament, hence the Jews remain covered during worship, and hence for the Nazirite also the symbol of letting the hair grow, also, under conditions, for the Israelites generally (see Jer_7:29; compare, in reference to the priests, Lev_21:5). This significance of the hair of the head obtains also among Gentile nations, see Knobel, p. 29. Perhaps Absalom, with his long hair, meant to play the part of a Nazirite along with his other demagogical contrivances, and the Jews have regarded him as a Nazirite (see Oehler, p. 206).
4. The period of the vow. According to Num_6:6, this is entirely indefinite. It depends on the self-determination of the Nazirite. The later Rabbinical limitation: the shortest time is thirty days, springs from their ignoring the original idea.
5. He shall come at no dead body, and he shall not defile himself by funeral usages. On this point the conditions are stricter for the Nazirite than for the priest, and, as has been already remarked, he stands on a par with the high priest (see Lev_27:11). But it may happen that in an unlooked for way some one may die beside him, in his immediate proximity, so that according to Levitical law, he becomes unclean. Then he is unclean for seven days (Num_19:11; Num_19:14; Num_19:16; Num_31:19), and moreover the consecration of his head is nullified. “The defiled hair must be removed,” says Knobel, “since it especially takes (!) and retains (!) such uncleanness (see Lev_14:8), indeed, at the expiration of the Naziriteship, it could not be offered to God.” See the same author with reference to a similar custom among the Syrians. On the eighth day the purification of the Nazirite is accomplished by a sacrifice, as in the case of other acts of purification (see Leviticus 15), by a pair of doves as a sin-offering and burnt-offering, to which is added a lamb of a year old as a guilt-offering. Knobel explains the guilt-offering in an extraordinary way p. 27); by his heedlessness the time is protracted in which he has withdrawn himself from his duty to his family by his idle life. Then he would have had to bring a capital guilt-offering at the expiration of his Naziriteship. The fellowship of death, into which he was inadvertently brought, was a communion of guilt; for guilt is the communion of the consequence of sin. Since, however, the Naziriteship was not a thing to be carried out piece-meal, as the reading of a breviary, the days so far accomplished were lost (Heb. fall). He must begin over again. Hence on the seventh day he must shear his head; the hair, as something desecrated, was simply cast away; according to tradition, it was buried.
In the case of a lifelong Naziriteship, the notion of the defilement of the hair seems to have been disregarded, e. g., in Samson’s case (Oehler, p. 206). We will not enter here on the question, whether Samson’s long hair was properly the “vehicle” of his strength. Anyway the growth of the hair was the usual symbol of a Nazirite; but the symbol in conjunction with the heart, is never mere symbol, but a vehicle, though an ethical and not a magical one.
6. The festival offering at the close. It is twice called the law of the Nazirite, Num_6:13; Num_6:21, and it is assumed that something great has been performed. One he lamb for a burnt-offering; one ewe lamb for a sin offering; one ram for a peace offering (Num_6:14). This recalls the great peace offering at the priest’s consecration (Leviticus 9). The sin-offering allows us to infer, that even a Naziriteship is not carried out Without shortcomings. But it is a small offering, and only follows the burnt-offering. But the ram of the Nazirite is more or less like the most superior sacrifices. “And he must bring a basket of unleavened bread of wave flour, i. e., with unleavened pastry of fine wheat flour, expressly cakes mixed with oil, and wafers anointed with oil (see Lev_2:4), and their meal offering and drink offering, i. e., according to Num_15:3 sqq., the oblations of meal, cakes and wine belonging to the burnt-offering and thank offering,” Num_6:15.
The construction of Num_6:15 is not quite clear, but is likely to be construed according to Num_6:16 (both meal-offering and drink-offering). The most mysterious, and likely, too, the most important offering is, in this case, the hair of the Nazirite’s head (Num_6:18). He must shear or cut it himself, and then cast it into the fire that burns under the peace-offering. Thus he offers his hero-ornament to Jehovah as a whole sacrifice; he gives the Lord the glory for the beautiful work accomplished.
His consecrated hair was the counterpart of the diadem of the high-priest. It is reflected in the most various forms; in waving helmet plumes, iron crosses, horse-tails, eagle feathers. But these adumbrations of heroism are seldom offered quite pure to Jehovah. But the Nazirite gives glory to God, as the elders of the Church triumphant cast down their crowns before the Lamb (Rev_4:10).
The repast of the peace-offering (Num_6:19) concludes all, of which the priest, beside the wave breast and the heave thigh and two cakes out of the basket, receives the shoulder (the upper part of the fore quarter). According to Keil, this signified that the table communion with the Lord, shadowed forth in the repast of the peace-offering, took place in an eminent degree. But the peace-offering meal, as has already been remarked, is a meal of the one making the offering, in which Jehovah takes part, represented by His priest. Thus, then, the allowance of the shoulder says that the Nazirite can give more of what he enjoys to Jehovah than common sacrificers.
After the conclusion of the vow, the Nazirite could drink wine again, Num_6:20.
On offerings of hair, besides those mentioned in the Bible, see Oehler, and especially Knobel, p. 29. The conventional ingredient in the meaning of the hair appears prominently in a war of the Argives with the Lacedæmonians. The former made a vow to cut their hair, the latter to let their hair grow (Weber, Lehrbuch der Weltgesch, I., p. 145).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. [The Nazirite would be an extraordinary servant of Jehovah, a devoted hero in the sphere of divine things, i. e. of religion. The scriptural examples of Naziriteship do not give an instance of devotion to a particular deed. They were rather with reference to a general aim. The inspiration to special deeds in harmony with their consecration came to them in the course of their separation, and might be expected so to come. The rules of abstinence, the long hair, etc., marked them as consecrated and ready for extraordinary duty. The service was noble, whether it fell to the lot of the Nazirite actually to do a heroic deed or not, provided only the condition of the vow were strictly adhered to. During the wanderings, men or women might become Nazirites of special devotion to the hope of entering the promised land, and thus of the earnest, uncomplaining pilgrimage, following hard after God in all his leadings.
The notion of something extraordinary, doing something more than others, is more than implied; it is expressed in the verb יַפְלִא, Num_6:2. For it does not appear why the verb should not have the meaning actually ascribed to it elsewhere, excepting where used in connection with vows. Yet in Lev_27:2 this universal sense is allowed. The noun פֶּלֶא is always rendered “wonderful thing.” The meaning of Num_6:2 would then be: When a man or woman would do something extraordinary by vowing a Nazirite vow, “Si mirandum aliquis facerit.” Munster vers. Facius.
The Lord Jesus sets before all that would follow Him the ideal of the Nazarite when He says: “What do ye more than others!” Mat_5:47. (Que faites-vous d’extraordinaire? French version. See Vinet’s sermon on this text in his Nouveaux Discours, etc., p. 128.)
2. Num_6:9-12. “More was required for the purifying of the Nazirite than of any other person that had touched a dead body. This teaches us, that sins of infirmity, and the faults we are overtaken in by surprise, must be seriously repented of, and that an application must be made of the virtue of Christ’s sacrifice to our souls for the forgiveness of them every day, 1Jn_2:1-2. It teaches us, also, that if those who make an eminent profession of religion do anything to sully the reputation of their profession, more is expected from them than others, for the retrieving both of their peace and of their credit.” M. Henry.
3. Num_6:13-21. “And when the Christian is finishing his course of faith and holiness, of self-denial and bearing the cross, and is about to close his eyes in death, and open them in the realms of uninterrupted joy; he will still acknowledge that he has nothing to trust to but the blood of Christ, since the best which he hath done is mixed with sin, and needs forgiveness; he will give glory to the Lord of all that he hath done in any measure well, and depart, perhaps, with joyful, at least with peaceful expectations for the future, to go and drink the new wine of the kingdom with his beloved Redeemer in the realms of bliss.” Scott.—Tr.]
HOMILETICAL HINTS
Num_6:1-21. The Nazirite a type of Christian self-denial. The theocratic hero a type of Christian heroism. Difference between the free Naziriteship and the unfree monasticism. The former a holy form related to a holy object. The sombre counterfeit of the Naziriteship (unholy objects, unholy means).
Footnotes:
[1]Or, make themselves Nazarites.
[2]will do something special (great).
[3]must.
[4]fresh.
[5]Or, Nazariteship.
[6]Heb. vine of the wine.
[7]Heb. separation.
[8]turtle-doves.
[9]Tent of Meeting.
[10]on.
[11]separate again.
[12]guilt-offering.
[13]Heb. fall.
[14]oblation.
[15]meal-offering.
[16]thigh.
[17]voweth.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–4 THE NAZARITE OF DAYS, Num_6:1-21.
THE NAZARITE OF DAYS, Num_6:1-21.
There is in Mosaism nothing relating to the perpetual Nazarite. Only three are mentioned in the Bible — Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist. These were Nazarites not of personal choice but from their birth, either by reason of divine ordination or parental consecration. There is in the Scriptures no positive injunction or recommendation of this vow, nor is there any prescribed period for the limited Nazarite. According to the best Jewish authorities the usual time was thirty days, but double vows for sixty and treble for one hundred days were sometimes made. For some occasions on which vows were made, see Act_18:18, note.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–4 2. shall make a special vow] as in Num_15:3;…
2. shall make a special vow] as in Num_15:3; Num_15:8, Lev_22:21; Lev_27:2. The exact force of the term is not clear, but it does not seem to differ from ‘make a vow.’
a Nazirite1 [Note: The spelling Nazarite, of the A.V., is erroneous.] ] Heb. Nâzîr, denotes ‘one separated’ (as R.V. marg.). The full form is ‘a Nazir of God’ (Jdg_13:5; Jdg_13:7), i.e. a religious devotee. Two kinds of Nazirites are mentioned in the O.T.2 [Note: See art. Nazirite in Hastings’ DB. iii.] , (1) those who were bound for life, (2) those who took the vow for a specified time. There is no evidence that the latter class existed before the exile. Of life-long Nazirites Samson is the clearest instance; and see Amo_2:11 f., and perhaps 1Sa_1:11, Luk_1:15. The Rechabites (Jer_35:6-10) may have been devotees of a somewhat similar type. Temporary Nazirites were very numerous in later Jewish history. They are probably referred to in Act_18:18; Act_21:23 f. ‘The Nazirites who had accomplished their days’ are spoken of in 1Ma_3:49. And in the Mishna, the authoritative compendium of rabbinic regulations, one section or ‘tract’ is called Nazir, and deals exclusively with the subject. The temporary vow was frequently taken for purely private and personal reasons, such as thanksgiving for recovery from illness, for the birth of a child, and so on. The present passage deals with an already established custom, and is written chiefly with the object of prescribing the offerings to be made at the conclusion of the vow.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–4 (2) When either man or woman shall separate themselves…
VI.
(2) When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow . . . —Better, When a man or woman shall make a special (or singular) vow (as in Lev_27:2)—the vow of a Nazirite. The verb which is here used denotes the doing something wonderful or extraordinary, and the spiritual lesson seems to be that Christ’s servants are expected and required to do something more than others (Mat_5:46-47). The vows here referred to were made for a specific period. At a later time, however, some were consecrated or set apart as Nazirites during the entire period of their lives, as in the case of Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist. This consecration, however, appears to have been made rather as the result of Divine revelation than of arbitrary appointment on the part of their parents. The meaning of the word Nazirite (Hebrew nazir) is contained in the concluding words of the verse—to separate (i.e., himself) unto Jehovah—where the cognate verb is used.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Numbers 6
Numbers 6
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord." Verse 1-8.
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The ordinance of Nazariteship is full of interest and practical instruction. In it we see the case of one setting himself apart, in a very special manner, from things which, though not absolutely sinful in themselves, were, nevertheless, calculated to interfere with that intense consecration of heart which is set forth in true Nazariteship.
In the first place, the Nazarite was not to drink wine. The fruit of the vine, in every shape and form, was to him a forbidden thing. Now, wine, as we know, is the apt symbol of earthly joy - the expression of that social enjoyment which the human heart is so fully capable of entering into. From this the Nazarite in the wilderness was sedulously to keep himself. With him it was a literal thing. He was not to excite nature by the use of strong drink. All the days of his separation he was called to exercise the strictest abstinence from wine.
Such was the type, and it is written for our learning - written too, in this marvellous book of Numbers, so rich in its wilderness lessons. This is only what we might expect. The impressive institution of the Nazarite finds its appropriate place in the book of Numbers. It is in perfect keeping with the character of the book, which, as has been already remarked, contains all that specially belongs to life in the wilderness.
Let us then inquire into the nature of the lesson taught us in the Nazarite’s abstinence from everything pertaining to the vine, from the kernel even to the husk.
There has been but one true and perfect Nazarite in this World - but one who maintained, from first to last, the most complete separation from all mere earthly joy. From the moment He entered upon His public work, He kept Himself apart from all that was of this world. His heart was fixed upon God and His work, With a devotion that nothing could shake. No claims of earth or nature were ever allowed, for a single moment, to come in between His heart and that work which He came to do. "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?" And again, "What have I to do with thee?" With such words did the true Nazarite seek to adjust the claims of nature. He had one thing to do, and to that He separated Himself perfectly. His eye was single and His heart undivided. This is apparent from first to last. He could say to His disciples, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of;" and when they, not knowing the deep significance of His words, said, "Hath any man brought Him anything to eat?" He replied, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work (John 4) So also, at the close of His course here below, we hear Him giving utterance to such words as these, as He took into His hand the paschal cup: "Take this, and divide it among yourselves: for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come." Luke 22: 17, 18.
Thus we see how the perfect Nazarite carried himself throughout. He could have no joy in the earth, no joy in the nation of Israel. The time had not come for that, and therefore He detached Himself from all that which mere human affection might find in association with His own, in order to devote Himself to the one grand object which was ever before His mind. The time will come when He, as the Messiah, will rejoice in His people and in the earth; But, until that blissful moment arrives, He is apart as the true Nazarite, and His people are united with Him. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." John 17: 16-19.
Christian reader, let us deeply ponder this first grand feature of the Nazarite character. It is important we should faithfully examine ourselves in the light of it. It is a very grave question indeed how far we, as Christians, are really entering into the meaning and power of this intense separation from all the excitement of nature, and from all merely earthly joy. It may perhaps be said, "What harm is there in having a little amusement or recreation? Surely we are not called to be monks. Has not God given as richly all things to enjoy? And while we are in the world, is it not right we should enjoy it?"
To all this we reply, It is not a question of the harm of this, that, or the other. There was no harm, as a general rule, in and, nothing abstractedly wrong in the vine tree. But the point is this, if any one aimed a being a Nazarite, if he aspired to this holy separation unto the Lord, then was he to abstain wholly from the use of wine and strong drink. Others might drink wine; but the Nazarite was not to touch it.
Now, the question for us is this, Do we aim at being Nazarites? Do we sigh after thorough separation and devotion of ourselves, in body, soul, and spirit, unto God? If so, we must be apart from all these things in which mere nature finds its enjoyment. It is upon this one hinge that the whole question turns. The question, most assuredly, is not "Are we to be monks?" but "Do we want to be Nazarites?" Is it, our heart’s desire to be apart, with our Lord Christ, from all mere earthly joy - to be separated unto God from those things which, though not absolutely sinful in themselves, do, nevertheless, tend to hinder that entire consecration of heart which is the true secret of all spiritual Nazariteship? Is not the Christian reader aware that there are, in very deed, many such things? Is he not conscious that there are numberless things which exert a distracting and weakening influence upon his spirit, and yet were they to be tried by the standard of ordinary morality, they might be allowed to pass as harmless?
But we must remember that God’s Nazarites do not measure things by any such standard. Theirs is not an ordinary morality at all. They look at things from a divine and heavenly standpoint, and hence they cannot suffer anything to pass as harmless which tends, in any wise, to interfere with that high tone of consecration to God after which their souls are fervently breathing.
May we have grace to weigh these things, and to watch against every defiling influence. Each one must be aware of what it is which, in his case, would prove to be wine and strong drink. It may seem to be a trifle; but we may rest assured that nothing is a trifle which breaks the current of our soul’s communion with God, and robs us of that holy intimacy which it is our privilege ever to enjoy.
But there was another thing which marked the Nazarite. He was not to shave his head. "All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow."
In 1 Corinthians 11: 14, we learn that it argues a lack of dignity for a man to have long hair. "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him" From this we learn that if we really desire to live a life of separation to God, we must be prepared to surrender our dignity in nature. This our Lord Jesus Christ did perfectly. He made Himself of no reputation. He surrendered His rights in everything. He could say, "I am a worm and no man." He emptied Himself thoroughly, and took the very lowest place. He neglected Himself, while He cared for others. In a word, His Nazariteship was perfect in this as in all beside.
Now here is just the very thing which we so little like to do. We naturally stand up for our dignity and seek to maintain our rights. It is deemed manly so to do. But the perfect Man never did so; and if we aim at being Nazarites we shall not do so either. We must surrender the dignities of nature, and forego the joys of earth, if we would tread a path of thorough separation to God in this world. By and by both will be in place; but not now.
Here again, be it remarked, the question it is not as to the right or wrong of the case. As a general rule, it was right for a man to shave his locks; but it was not right, nay it was altogether wrong, for a Nazarite to do so. This made all the difference. It was quite right for an ordinary man to shave and drink wine; but the Nazarite was not an ordinary man; he was one set apart from all that was ordinary to tread a path peculiar to himself; and to use a razor or taste wine would involve the entire surrender of that peculiar path. Hence, if any inquire, Is it not right to enjoy the pleasures of earth, and maintain the dignities of nature?" Quite right, if we are to walk as men but wholly wrong, yea, absolutely fatal, if we want to walk as Nazarites."
This simplifies the matter amazingly. It answers a thousand questions and solves a thousand difficulties. It is of little use to split hairs about the harm of this or that particular thing. The question is, What is our real purpose and object? Do we merely want to get on as men, or do we long to live as true Nazarites? According to the language of 1 Corinthians 3: 3, to "Walk as men" and to be "carnal" are synonymous. Does such language really govern us? Do we drink into the spirit and breathe the atmosphere of such a scripture? Or are we ruled by the spirit and principles of a Godless, Christless world? It is useless to spend our time arguing points which would never be raised at all if our souls were in the right temper and attitude. No doubt, it is perfectly right, perfectly natural, perfectly consistent, for the men of this world to enjoy All that it has to offer them, and to maintain their rights and their dignities to the very utmost of their power. It were childish to question this. But, on the other hand, what is right, and natural, and consistent for the men of this world, is wrong, unnatural, and inconsistent for God’s Nazarites. Thus the matter stands, if we are to be governed by the simple truth of God. we learn from Numbers 6, that if a Nazarite drank wine or shaved his locks, he defiled the head of his consecration. Has this no voice, no lesson for us? assuredly it has. It teaches as that if our souls desire to pursue a path of whole-hearted consecration to God, we must abstain from the joys of earth, and surrender the dignities and the rights of nature. It must be thus, seeing that God and the world, flesh and spirit, do not and cannot coalesce. The time will come when it will be otherwise; But, just now, all who will live to God, and walk in the Spirit, must live apart from the world, and mortify the flesh. May God, of His great mercy, enable us so to do!
One other feature of the Nazarite remains to be noticed. He was not to touch a dead body. "All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because the consecration of his God is upon his head."
Thus we see that whether it was drinking wine, shaving his locks, or touching a dead body, the effect was the same; any one of the three involved the defilement of the head of the Nazarite’s consecration. Wherefore it is plain that it was as defiling to the Nazarite to drink wine or to shave his Head, as it was to touch a dead body. It is well to see this. We are prone to make distinctions which will not stand for a moment in the light of the divine presence. When once the consecration of God rested upon the head of any one, that great and important fact became the standard and touchstone of all morality. It placed the individual on entirely new and peculiar ground, and rendered it imperative upon him to look at everything from a new and peculiar point of view. He was no longer to ask what became him as a man; but what became him as a Nazarite. Hence, if his dearest friend lay dead by his side he was not to touch him. He was called to keep himself apart from the defiling influence of death, and all because "the consecration of God" was upon his head.
Now, in this entire subject of Nazariteship, it is needful for the reader to understand, very distinctly, that it is not, by any means, a question of the soul’s salvation, of eternal life, or of the believer’s perfect security in Christ. If this be not clearly seen it may lead the mind into perplexity and darkness. There are, two grand links in Christianity which, though very intimately connected, are perfectly distinct, namely, the link of eternal life, and the link of personal communion. The former can never be snapped by anything; the latter can be snapped in a moment, by the weight of a feather. It is to the second of these that the doctrine of Nazariteship pertains.
We behold, in the person of the Nazarite, a type of one who sets out in some special path of devotedness or consecration to Christ. The power of continuance in this path consists in secret communion with God; so that if the communion be interrupted, the power is gone. This renders the subject peculiarly solemn. There is the greatest possible danger of attempting to pursue the path in the absence of that which constitutes the source of his power. This is most disastrous, and demands the utmost vigilance. we have briefly glanced at the various things which tend to interrupt the Nazarite’s communion; but it would be wholly impossible, by any words of ours, to set forth the moral effect of any attempt to keep up the appearance or Nazariteship when the inward reality is gone. It is dangerous in the extreme. It is infinitely better to confess our failure, and take our true place, than to keep up a false appearance. God will have reality; and we may rest assured that, sooner or later, our weakness and folly will be made manifest to all. It is very deplorable and very humbling when "the Nazarites that were purer than snow," become "blacker than a coal;" but it is far worse when those who have become Thus black, keep up the pretence of being white.
Let us look at the solemn case of Samson, as set before us in the sixteenth chapter of Judges. He, in an evil hour, betrayed his secret and lost his power-lost it though he knew it not. But the enemy soon knew it. It was soon made manifest to all that the Nazarite had defiled the head of his consecration. "And it came to pass, when Delilah pressed will daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; that he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man." Verses 16, 17.
Here alas! was the betrayal of the deep and holy secret of all his power. Up to this, his path had been one of strength and victory, simply because it had been one of holy Nazariteship. But the lap of Delilah proved too much for the heart of Samson, and what a thousand Philistines could not do was done by the ensnaring influence of a single woman. Samson fell from the lofty elevation of the Nazarite down to the level of an ordinary man.
"And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees; Alas! alas! a fatal sleep to God’s Nazarite! and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house." Judges 16: 18-21.
Oh! reader, what a picture! How solemn! How admonitory! What a melancholy spectacle was Samson, going out to shake himself, "as at other times!" Alas! the "as" was out of place. He might shake himself, But it was no longer" as at other times," for the power was gone; the Lord was departed from him; and the once powerful Nazarite became a blind prisoner; and instead of triumphing over the Philistines, he had to grind in their prison house. So much for yielding to mere nature. Samson never regained his liberty. He Was permitted, through the mercy of God, to gain one more victory over the uncircumcised; but that victory cost him his life. God’s Nazarites must keep themselves pure or lose their power. In their case, power and purity are inseparable. They cannot get on without inward holiness; and hence the urgent need of being ever on the watch against the various things which tend to draw away the heart, distract the mind, and lower the tone of spirituality. Let us ever keep before our souls those words of our chapter, "all the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord." Holiness is the grand and indispensable characteristic of all the days of Nazariteship; so that when once holiness is forfeited, Nazariteship is at an end.
What then, it may be asked, is to be done? The scripture before us supplies the answer. "And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering; but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled." Numbers 6: 9-12.
Here we find atonement, in its two grand aspects, as the only ground on which the Nazarite could be restored to communion. He had contracted defilement, and that defilement could only be removed by the blood of the sacrifice. We might deem it a very trying matter to touch a dead body, and particularly under such circumstances. It might be said, "How could he help, touching it when the man had suddenly dropped dead by his side?" To all this the reply is at once simple and solemn. God’s Nazarites must maintain personal purity; and, moreover, the standard by which their purity is to be regulated is not human but divine. the mere touch of death was sufficient to break the link of communion; and had the Nazarite presumed to go on as though nothing had happened, he would have been flying in the face of God’s commandments, and bringing down heavy judgment upon himself.
But, blessed be God, grace had made provision. There was the burnt offering - the type of the death of Christ to Godward. There was the sin offering - the type of that same death to usward. And there was the trespass offering - the type of the death of Christ, not only in its application to the root or principle of sin in the nature, but also to the actual sin committed. In a word, it needed the full! virtue of the death of Christ to remove the defilement caused by the simple touch of a dead body. This is peculiarly solemnizing. Sin is a dreadful thing in God’s sight - most dreadful. A single sinful thought, a sinful look, a sinful word is enough to bring a dark, heavy cloud over the soul, which will hide from our view the light of God’s countenance, and plunge us into deep distress and misery.
Let us, then, beware how we trifle with sin. Let us remember that ere one stain of the guilt of sin even the very smallest could be removed, the blessed Lord Jesus Christ had to pass through all the unutterable horrors of Calvary. That intensely bitter cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" is the only thing that can give us any proper idea of what sin is; and into the profound depths of that cry no mortal or angel can ever enter. But though we can never fathom the mysterious depths of the sufferings of Christ, we should at least seek to meditate more habitually upon His cross and passion, and, in this way, reach a much deeper view of the awfulness of sin, in the sight of God. If, indeed, sin was so dreadful, so abhorrent to a holy God, that He was constrained to turn away the light of His countenance from that blessed One who had dwelt in His bosom from all eternity; if He had to forsake Him because He was bearing sin in His own body on the tree, then what must sin be?
Oh! reader, let us seriously consider these things. May they ever have a place deep down in these hearts or ours that are so easily betrayed into sin! How lightly, at times, do we think of that which cost the Lord Jesus everything, not only life, but that which is better and dearer than life, even the light of God’s countenance! May we have a far deeper sense of the hatefulness of sin! May we, most sedulously, watch against the bare movement of the eye in a wrong direction, for we may rest assured that the heart will follow the eye, and the feet will follow the heart, and thus we get away from the Lord, lose the sense of His presence and His love, and become miserable, or, if not miserable, what is far worse, dead, cold, and callous - "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."
May God, in His infinite mercy, keep as from falling! May we have grace to watch, more jealously, against everything, no matter what, that might defile the head of our consecration! it is a serious: thing to get out of communion; and a most perilous thing to attempt to go on in the Lord’s service with a defiled conscience. True it is that grace pardons and restores, but we never regain what we have lost. This latter is set forth, with solemn emphasis, in the passage of scripture before us:" He shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering; but the days that were before shall be lost (or shall fall, as the margin reads it), because his separation was defiled."
This is a point, in our subject, full of instruction and admonition for our souls. When the Nazarite became defiled, by any means, even by the touch of a dead body, he had to begin over again. It was not merely the days of his defilement that were lost, or let fall, but actually all the days of his previous Nazariteship. All went for nothing, and this simply by reason of touching a dead body.
What does this teach us? It teaches this, at least, that when we diverge, the breadth of a hair, from the narrow path of communion, and get away from the Lord, we must return to the very point from which we set out, and begin de novo. We have many examples of this in scripture; and it would be our wisdom to consider them, and also to weigh the great practical truth which they illustrate.
Take the case of Abraham, in his descent into Egypt, as recorded in Genesis 12. This was, very evidently, a divergence from his proper path. and what was the consequence? The days were lost or let fall, and he had to set back to the point whence he had swerved, and begin over again. Thus, in Genesis 12: 8, We read, "And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east; and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord." Then, after his return out of the land of Egypt, we read, "He went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord." (Gen. 13: 3, 4) All the time spent in Egypt went for nothing. There was no altar there, no worship, no communion; and Abraham had to get back to the self-same point from which he had diverged, and begin on the new.
Thus it is in every case; and this will account for the miserably slow progress which some of us make in our practical career. We fail, turn aside, get away from the Lord, are plunged in spiritual darkness; and then His voice of love reaches us in restoring power, and brings us back to the point from which we had wandered; our souls are restored, but we have lost time and suffered incalculably. This is most serious, and it should lead us to walk with holy vigilance and circumspection, so that we may not have to double back upon our path, and lose what can never be regained. True it is that our wanderings, and our stumblings, and our failings give us an insight into our own hearts, teach us to distrust ourselves, and illustrate the boundless and unchangeable grace of our God. All this is quite true; but still there is a very much higher way of learning both ourselves and God, than by wandering, stumbling, or failing. Self, in all the terrible depths of that word, should be judged in the holy light of the divine presence; and there, too, our souls should grow in the knowledge of God as He unfolds Himself, by the Holy Ghost, in the face of Jesus Christ, and in the precious pages of holy scripture. This surely is the more excellent way of learning both ourselves and God; and this, too, is the power of all true Nazarite separation. The soul that habitually lives in the sanctuary of God, or, in other words, that walks in unbroken communion with God, is the one who will have a just sense of what nature is, in all its phases, though it be not learnt by sad experience. And not only so; but he will have a deeper and more just sense of what God is, in Himself, and to all who put their trust in Him. It is poor work to be learning self by experience. We may depend upon it, the true way to learn it is in communion; and when we learn it thus, we shall not be characterised by perpetually dwelling upon our personal vileness, but rather we shall be occupied with that which is outside and above self altogether, even the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.
We shall, in closing this section, quote, at length, for the reader, the statement of "The law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings; and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering. And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven; and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and the heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine. This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation." Numbers 6: 13-21.
This marvellous "law" leads us onward to something future, when the full result of Christ’s perfect work shall appear; and when He, as the Messiah of Israel, shall, at the close of his Nazarite separation, taste true joy in His beloved people, and in this earth. The time will then have come for the Nazarite to drink wine. From all this He set Himself apart, for the accomplishment of that great work, so fully set forth, in all its aspects and in all its bearings, in the foregoing "law." He is apart from the nation, and apart from this world, in the power of true Nazariteship, as He said to His disciples on that memorable night, "I will not drink henceforth (ap arti) Of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom." Matthew 26: 29.
But there is a bright day coming, when Jehovah Messiah shall rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in His people. The prophets, from Isaiah to Malachi, are full of the most glowing and soul-stirring allusions to that bright and blissful day. To quote the passages would literally fill a volume. But if the reader will turn to the closing section of Isaiah’s prophecy, he will find a sample of that to which we refer; and he will find many similar passages throughout the various books of the prophets.
We must not attempt to quote; but we would warn the reader against the danger of being led astray by the uninspired headings attached to those magnificent passages which refer to Israel’s future, such, for example, as "The blessings of the gospel" - "The enlargement of the Church." These expressions are calculated to mislead many pious readers who are apt to take for granted that the headings are as much inspired as the text; or, if not inspired, that they, at least, contain a correct statement of what the text sets forth. The fact is, there is not a syllable about the Church from beginning to end of the prophets. That the Church can find most precious instruction, light, comfort, and edification from this grand division of the inspired volume, is blessedly true; but she will do this just in proportion as she is enabled, by the Spirit’s teaching, to discern the real scope and object of this portion of the book of God. To suppose, for a moment, that we can only derive comfort and profit from that which exclusively or primarily refers to ourselves, would be to take a very narrow, if not an egotistical, view of things. Can we not learn from the Book of Leviticus And yet who would assert that that section refers to the Church?
No, reader; you may rest assured that a calm, unprejudiced, prayerful study of "The law the prophets" will convince you that the great theme of both the one and the other is God’s government of the world in immediate connection with Israel. True it is, that throughout "Moses and all the prophets" there are things concerning (the Lord) Himself. This is plain from Luke 24: 27. But it is "Himself" in His government of this world, and of Israel in particular. If this fact be not distinctly seized, we shall study the Old Testament with little intelligence or profit.
It may seem to some of our readers, a strong statement to assert that there is nothing about the Church, properly so called, throughout the prophets, or indeed in the Old Testament; but a statement or two from the inspired pen of St. Paul will settle the whole question for any one who is really willing to submit to the authority of holy scripture. Thus in Romans 16. we read," Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets evidently of the New Testament, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith." Verses 29, 26.
So also in Ephesians 3 we read, "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the Grace of God, which is given me to youward; how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ;) which. in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men,,, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit* that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel....... and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been HID IN God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." Verses 1-10.
{*The "Prophets" in the above quotations, are those of the New Testament, as is evident from the form Of expression. Had the apostle meant Old Testament prophets, he would have said,’’ His holy prophets and apostles." But the very point he is insisting upon is, that the mystery had never been revealed until his time - that it had not been made known to the sons of men in other ages - that it was hid in God; not hid in the scriptures, but in the infinite mind of God.}
But we must not pursue this deeply interesting subject of the Church; we have merely referred to the foregoing plain passages of scripture, in order to settle the reader’s mind as to the fact that the doctrine of the Church, as taught by Paul, finds no place in the page of the Old Testament; and therefore, when he reads the prophets and meets the words "Israel," "Jerusalem," "Zion," he is not to apply such terms to the Church of God, inasmuch as they belong to the literal people of Israel, the seed of Abraham, the land of Canaan, and the city of Jerusalem.* God means what He says; and, therefore, we must not countenance anything that borders upon, or looks like, a loose and irreverent mode of handling the word of God. When the Spirit speaks of Jerusalem, He means Jerusalem; if He meant the Church, He would say so. We should not attempt to treat a respectable human document as we treat the inspired volume. We take it for granted that a man not only knows what he means to say, but says what he means; and if this be so, in regard to a poor fallible mortal, how much more so, in regard to the only wise and living God, who cannot lie?
{*The statement in the text refers, of course, to the Old Testament prophecies. There are passages in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians in which all believers are viewed as the seed of Abraham (see Rom. 4: 9-17; Gal. 3: 7, 9, 21; Gal. 6: 16); but this is, obviously, a different thing altogether. We have no revelation of "the Church," properly so called, in the Old Testament scriptures.}
But we must draw this section to a close, and leave the reader to meditate alone upon the ordinance of the Nazarite, so pregnant with sacred teaching for the heart. We wish him to ponder, in a special way, the fact that the Holy Ghost has given us the full statement of the law of Nazariteship in the Book of Numbers - the wilderness book. And not only so, but let him carefully consider the institution itself. Let him see that he understands why the Nazarite was not to drink wine; why he was not to shave his locks; and why he was not to touch a dead body. Let him meditate upon these three things, and seek; to gather up the instruction contained therein. Let him ask himself, "Do I really long to be a Nazarite - to walk along the narrow path of separation unto God and, if so, am I prepared to surrender all those things which tend to defile, to distract, and to hinder God’s Nazarites?" And, finally, let him remember that there is a time coming when "the Nazarite may drink wine;" or, in other words, when there will be no need to watch against the varied forms of evil within or around; all will be pure; the affections may flow out without check; the garments may flow around us without a girdle; there will be no evil to be separated from, and therefore there will be no need of separation. In a word, there will be "a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." May God, in His infinite mercy, keep us until that blessed time, in true consecration of heart unto Himself
The reader will observe that we here reach the close of a very distinct section of our book. The camp is duly arranged; every warrior is set in his proper place (Num. 1, 2); every workman is set to his proper work (Num. 3, 4); the congregation is purified from defilement. (Num. 5) Provision is made for the highest character of separation to God. (Num. 6) All this is very marked. the order is strikingly beautiful. we have before us not only a cleansed and well ordered camp, but also a character of consecration to God beyond which it is impossible to go, inasmuch as it is that which is only seen, in its integrity, in the life of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Having then reached this lofty point, nothing remains but for Jehovah to pronounce His blessing upon the whole congregation, and accordingly we get that blessing at the close of Num. 6; and surely we may say, a right royal blessing it is. Let us read and consider.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise we shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them."
This copious blessing flows through the channel of priesthood. Aaron and his sons are commissioned to pronounce this wonderful benediction. God’s assembly is to be blessed and kept of Him, continually; it is ever to bask in the sunlight of His gracious countenance; its peace is to flow as a river; Jehovah’s name is to be called upon it; He is ever there to bless.
What a provision Oh! that Israel had entered into it, and lived in the power of it! But they did not. They quickly turned aside, as we shall see. They exchanged the light of God’s countenance for the darkness of Mount Sinai. They abandoned the ground of grace and placed themselves under law. In place of being satisfied with their portion in the God of their Fathers, they lusted after other things. (Compare Ps. 105 and Ps. 106) In place of the order, the purity, and the separation to God with which our book opens, we have disorder, defilement, and giving themselves to idolatry.
But, blessed be God, there is a moment approaching in the which the magnificent benediction of Numbers 6 shall have its full application; when Israel’s twelve tribes shall be ranged round that imperishable standard, "Jehovah-shammah" (Ezek. 48: 35); when they shall be purified from all their defilements, and consecrated unto God in the power of true Nazariteship. These things are set forth in the fullest and clearest manner, throughout the pages of the prophets. All these inspired witnesses, without so much as one dissentient voice, bear testimony to the glorious future in store for the literal Israel; they all point forward to that time when the heavy clouds which have gathered and still hang upon the nation’s horizon shall be chased away before the bright beams of "the Sun of righteousness;" when Israel shall enjoy a cloudless day of bliss and glory, beneath the vines and fig-trees of that very land which God gave as an everlasting possession unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
If we deny the foregoing, we may as well cut out a large portion of the Old Testament, and not a small Part of the New, for in both the one and the other the Holy Ghost doth most clearly and unequivocally bear testimony to this precious fact, namely, mercy, salvation, and blessing to the seed of Jacob. We hesitate not to declare our conviction that no one can possibly understand the Prophets who does not see this. There is a bright future in store for God’s beloved, though now rejected people. Let us beware How we deal with this fact. It is a very grave matter to attempt to interfere, in any wise, with the true and proper application of the word of God. If He has pledged Himself to bless the nation of Israel, let us have a care how we seek to force the stream of blessing to flow in a different channel. It is a serious thing to tamper with the declared purpose of God. He has declared it to be His purpose to give the land of Canaan an everlasting possession to the seed of Jacob; and if this be called in question, we do not see how we can hold fast the integrity of any one portion of the word of God. If we show ourselves to trifle with a large division of the inspired canon and most assuredly it is trifling with it when we seek to divert it from its true object - then what security have we in reference to the application of scripture at all? If God does not mean what He says when He speaks of Israel and the land of Canaan, how do we know that He means what He says when He speaks of the Church and her heavenly portion in Christ? If the Jew be robbed of his glorious future, what security has the Christian as to his?
Reader, let us remember that "All (not merely some of) the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus," and while we rejoice in the application of this precious statement to ourselves, let as not seek to deny its application to others. We most fully believe that the children of Israel shall yet enjoy the full tide of blessing presented in the closing paragraph of Numbers 6; and until then the Church of God is called to partake of blessings peculiar to herself. She is privileged to know the presence of God with her and in her midst continually - to dwell in the light of His countenance - to drink of the river of peace - to be blessed and kept, from day to day, by Him who never slumbers nor sleeps. But let us never forget - yea: let us deeply and constantly remember - that the practical sense and experimental enjoyment of these immense blessings and privileges will be in exact proportion to the measure in which the Church seeks to maintain the order, the purity, and the Nazarite separation to which she is called as the dwelling-place of God - the body of Christ - the habitation of the Holy Ghost.
May these things sink down into our hearts, and exert their sanctifying influence upon our whole life and character!
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–4 THE VOW Or THE NAZIRITE (verses Mat_2:23) A very…
THE VOW Or THE NAZIRITE (verses Mat_2:23) A very little reflection will show that "the Nazarene" not only was no Nazir, but that he even took pains to let it be seen that he was not. John the Baptist was the Nazir of the New Testament, and in all outward things the contrast was strongly marked between them. (Luk_7:14, Luk_7:33, 34 Joh_2:2)
Vers. 1-21. Individual consecration to God.
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In this section we have, spiritually, the consecration of the individual life to God as a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice. (Rom_12:1) This consecration was the ideal for all Israel; (Exo_19:6) but inasmuch as the people at large could not attain unto it fully, a tribe and a family were in varying degree "separated" unto the Lord. In order, however, that individuals might not be hindered from obeying the call to self-dedication as the Spirit moved them, the vow of the Nazirite was allowed, encouraged, and regulated. Consider, therefore
I THAT ANY INDIVIDUAL IN ISRAEL WHO WAS OF AGE TO TAKE A VOW MIGHT BECOME A NAZIRITE, WHETHER MAN OR WOMAN, WHETHER OF THE PRIESTHOOD OR OF THE PEOPLE. John the Baptist was a priest; Samuel a Levite; Samson of the tribe of Dan. Even so it is the fundamental character of the gospel that every individual Christian, without any distinction of male or female, clerical or lay, is free to obey the call of the Spirit to an individual consecration of self to God. All are indeed called to "die unto sin, and rise again unto righteousness;" unto all it is said, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God"; (Col_3:3) but yet it is palpably true that individuals here and there are specially moved by the Spirit to realize this their consecration, to translate into practical life their professed detachment from the world and attachment unto God. And this action of the Spirit is perfectly free; none can say beforehand who may be moved to dedicate himself or herself to a life of entire self-sacrifice and of unlimited obedience.
II THAT THE CHILD OF ISRAEL SO CALLED INWARDLY BY THE SPIRIT WAS PERMITTED AND ENCOURAGED TO TAKE A VOW. Yet this vow limited as to obligations and as to time, so as it should not become a snare. And it appears that a Christian apostle took a vow of the sort. (Act_18:18) Even so it would seem that religious vows are not now in themselves unlawful or displeasing, provided they be really free, and that there be provision for being discharged from them. And note that almost all the Nazirites of Scripture appear to have been lifelong Nazirites, we know not why. Probably it is the tendency of all vows to become perpetual, because there seems something arbitrary and incomplete in any self-devotion or self-denial which ends before life itself ends. Nevertheless, it is plain that the Divine command contemplated only vows for a specific time.
III THAT THE FIRST OBLIGATION OF THE NAZIRITE WAS TO ABSTAIN FROM EVERYTHING PRODUCED BY, OR MADE FROM, THE VINE, HOWEVER HARMLESS. Even so, if any man will dedicate himself, according to his Christian liberty and the impulse of the Spirit, to the nearer following of Christ, he must renounce all the excitements of this world, all those stimulants of pleasure, gain, or ambition which intoxicate the mind and distract it from the service of God; and not only that which is plainly evil and confessedly dangerous, but also that which has any savour of evil, any suspicion of danger, about it. The wisdom of him who would at any cost please God is not to walk as near the border line of things unlawful or unwise as possible, but rather to give them a clear berth, so as through no mischance he may be entangled therein; and this because of human weakness, whereby
(1) we glide so easily from pleasures or cares lawful to the like unlawful, and
(2) we find it so much easier to take a simple and decided line, even against ourselves, than a wavering and uncertain one. (Luk_9:24 Luk_10:42 Luk_18:22 1Co_6:12 1Co_9:25, 27 2Ti_2:4; and cf. Mat_19:12 1Co_7:32)
IV THAT THE SECOND OBLIGATION OF THE NAZARITE WAS TO DEDICATE THE FREE, UNTOUCHED GROWTH OF HIS HAIR TO THE LORD. Even so the servant of God must dedicate to him the whole forces of his nature, unrestrained and undiminished by any conventionalities of the world, by those customs and fashions of society which cramp and limit on every side the possibilities of usefulness and of power which are in man. The true servant of Christ, neither acknowledging the principles nor guided by the maxims of the world, must be content to be singular, to be wondered at. to be regarded as extreme. (cf. Luk_7:33 2Co 11, 12 Gal_6:14 Php_3:8) "Let your moderation" (Greek, to epieikev , "forbearance") "be known unto all men" is a text much more often misquoted in the devil"s service than quoted in Christ"s.
V THAT THE THIRD OBLIGATION OF THE NAZIRITE WAS NOT TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH DEATH, EVEN FOR HIS NEAREST RELATIONS. Even so the servant of God must cross his nearest earthly affections, and do violence to his most natural feelings, rather than expose himself to the contagion of spiritual death. Where this danger really exists may indeed be known only to God and to him; but where he knows it to exist he is bound to avoid it at any cost of affection or of appearance, so as he make it not a cloak for escaping duty. (Mat_10:35-37 Luk_14:26, 33 9:60-62; and cf. Mat_5:29, 30 1Co_5:11 2Co_6:14) Few have strength and vigour of soul to mix with impunity in the society of those spiritually dead; wisdom and loyalty alike demand that we avoid them except we can really do them good.
VI THAT THE CASE OF THE NAZIRITE BEING UNAVOIDABLY DEFILED WITH DEATH WAS PROVIDED FOR, AND PROVISION MADE FOR HIS BEGINNING AFRESH. Even so God knows that in the confusions and mixtures of life it is hard indeed to escape altogether from the subtle contagion of spiritual deadness, which will often seize upon a soul most unexpectedly from unavoidable contact with others. No profession and no earnestness of self-devotion is a safeguard against this danger. But if it come to pass that the soul be thus defiled, and deadness come over it, all is not therefore lost, nor is its consecration at an end. It must offer the sacrifice of a contrite heart, and begin again with penitence and patience, not counting that which is behind, nor dwelling on its loss, but reaching forth after those things which lie before it. (Psa_37:24 Mic_7:8 Php_3:13, 14)
VII THAT WHEN THE SELF-DEVOTION OF THE NAZIRITE WAS PERFECTED, IT STILL NEEDED TO BE-COMMENDED UNTO GOD THROUGH THE FOURFOLD SACRIFICES OF THE LEVITICAL LAW. Even so our highest service and greatest self-denial is not acceptable to God except it be offered through and with the prevailing sacrifice of Christ. And inasmuch as one of these sacrifices was a sin offering, so is there need that the best of our best things should be purged from the sin which clings to them by the atoning death of Christ.
VIII THAT THE HAIR, THE SYMBOL OF SEPARATION, WAS AT LAST TO BE PUT IN THE ALTAR FIRE UNDER THE PEACE OFFERING. Even so the good will, the earnest desire, the single purpose with which we have been enabled to serve God, is to be brought at last when its work on earth is done and simply laid upon the altar of the love of God, and of our thankful communion with him in peace through Christ; and this not as being anything worthy in itself, but only as being part of our gratitude to God.
IX THAT ON THIS OCCASION, AND THIS ALONE, THE SECOND SHOULDER WAS ACCEPTED BY GOD AS HIS OWN PORTION FROM THE PEACE OFFERING. Even so it is undeniable that a more devoted life does infallibly lead to a greater acceptance with God and to a fuller communion in peace and thankfulness with him.
HOMILIES BY W. BINNIE Vers. 1-21. Separated to the service of God (the law of the Nazarite).
This passage, barren and unpromising as it looks, is nevertheless invested with an undying interest by the circumstance that three of the most famous men in the sacred history belonged to the order whose rule is here prescribed. Samson, with all his faults, was a heroic character, and he was a Nazarite from his mother"s womb. Samuel, his contemporary, was a hero of a purer and higher type, the earliest of the great prophets after Moses, and he too was a Nazarite, by his mother"s consecration, before he was born. As Samuel was the first, John the Baptist was the last, of the old prophets, and he likewise was a Nazarite from his birth.
I WHAT, THEN, WAS A NAZARITE? The term (more correctly written Nazir, or Nazirite) is a Hebrew one, and signifies separated, or set apart. In Israel there were three orders of men who may be said to have been separated to God"s service.
1. The priests. Their office was hereditary. The separation attached to Aaron"s house. The work to which they were separated was to offer sacrifice, to burn incense, and to bless the people.
2. The prophets. Their office was not hereditary. The true prophet was such by a Divine call addressed to him individually. His wink was purely spiritual. He delivered to the people the word of the Lord.
3. The Nazarites proper. Their separation was neither hereditary, like the priests", nor necessarily by special Divine call, like the prophets". It was by their own act, or that of their parents, and was sometimes spontaneous, sometimes by a more or less stringent Divine direction. Any free man or woman any man or woman not under some prior obligation incompatible with it could separate himself or herself by the Nazarite"s vow. The separation might be either for a limited period or for life.
II Regarding THE DUTIES PERTAINING TO THE ORDER, nothing is here laid down It is simply implied that the Nazarite was to show an example of pre-eminent devotedness to God. To judge by the lives of Samuel and John the Baptist, the Nazarite"s devotedness was to be manifested in the best of all ways, namely, by a life of active labour in diffusing the knowledge and fear of the Lord. However, the law did not prescribe this. It simply put around the Nazarite"s separation the hedge of legal recognition and ceremonial regulation. How the garden thus protected was to be filled what flowers and fragrant herbs and fruit it was to yield was left to be determined by the motions of God"s free Spirit in the individual Nazarite"s heart. Anyhow, the practical working of this kind of separation in Israel came to be such that it was looked upon as a sure sign that piety was flourishing when the Nazarites abounded. (see Amo_2:11, Amo_2:12)
III Turning to THE LAW AS LAID DOWN HERE IN NUMBERS, it is to be observed that the Nazarite"s separation was to be expressed in three ways.
1. By entire abstinence not only from wine and strong drink, but from all the produce of the vine (verses 3, 4). John Baptist came neither eating nor drinking.
2. By absolutely refusing to defile themselves for the dead (verses 7-12).The rule was as absolute on this head for the Nazarite as for the high priest. Not even for father or mother, for wife or child, might he contract defilement. If by any chance he should come in contact with a dead body, the law demanded a sin offering for atonement and a burnt offering in token of renewed dedication, and his term of separation had to begin anew.
3. By letting the hair of the head grow unshorn. (verse 5; cf. 1Co_11:10, marg.) Every child remembers the seven locks of Samson"s head. When the period of separation was expired, the head was shaved and certain prescribed offerings were presented, besides any freewill offering the person might choose to bring (verses 13-21). As these last offerings were costly, it was not uncommon for wealthy persons to come forward and bear the Nazarites" charges. (Act_21:24)
IV WHAT CONCERN HAVE WE WITH THIS LAW OF THE NAZARITE? Is any corresponding vow of separation to be in use under the New Testament? The Church of Rome, I need hardly say, founds on the Nazarite"s vow an argument for her religious orders, so called orders of men and women who are bound by oath to lifelong poverty, celibacy, and obedience. But there is no real correspondence between the two institutions. Not one of the three vows of the religious orders was included in the vow of the Nazarite. He could, hold property; he was generally married; he submitted his conscience to no man s authority. No warrant can be extracted from this law for ensnaring consciences with the threefold vow. Yet it by no means follows that this Old Testament vow has no lesson for us. It furnishes a valuable analogy. The Apostle Paul evidently felt this, for he liked to think of himself as a man" separated unto the gospel of God", (Rom_1:1) and to think of this separation as having taken place (like Samuel"s and John Baptist"s) before he was born. (Gal_1:15) This does not refer merely to his being separated to preach the word, for that was common to him with all ministers of the gospel; nor does it refer simply to his apostolate. It refers but to his special work as the great missionary apostle. There is room and need in the Christian Church not only for men separated by the authority and call of the Church to official service, but for men also who are moved to separate themselves to free and unofficial service. Robert Haldane of Airthrey was not an ordained minister, never held a pastoral charge, never administered the sacraments, yet he devoted his whole time and wealth to the cause of Christ. Selling Airthrey Castle, he purchased a mansion house where he could live at less expense, and he thenceforward lived for the diffusion of true religion at home and abroad. Blessed be God, Mr. Haldane was not singular in this sort of separation. It answers exactly, under the Christian and spiritual dispensation, to the separation of the Nazarite under the law. Without doubt men and women separated thus to God will have a great part to play in the victorious progress of the kingdom of Christ. It should be the constant prayer of the Church that Christ would, of her young men, raise up not only prophets (he is doing that), but Nazarites also. B.
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT Vers. 1-8. The temporary vow of the Nazarite symbolical of the lifelong vow of the Christian.
Though the Israelites had a priesthood, they were themselves "a kingdom of priests." Individual responsibility toward God was pressed upon their consciences in many ways; e.g., Act_18:18 Act_21:6) But a higher form of vow is that of entire consecration for life, that we may be daily led by the Spirit of God, and live the life of faith on the Son of God. Our Nazarite state is to be lifelong. None can disallow the Christian"s vow to Christ. (cf. Num_30:1-5 with Mat_10:37) The consecration which we avow must be marked by three facts, of which we see symbols in this chapter
I SELF-DENIAL (verses 3, 4);
II VISIBLE PROFESSION (verse 5);
III PERSONAL PURITY (verses 6-8).
I The priests had, when "on duty," to exercise the self-denial required of the Nazarite. (Lev_10:9) The kind of self-denial demanded is a significant testimony in favour of total abstinence (see Milton"s words in "Samson Agonistes:" "Oh, madness, to think use of strongest wines," etc.). Self-denial, in a wider sense, at any rate, always required of us, because we are always "on duty". (Mat_10:38 Luk_9:23Jo Luk_12:25)
II The Nazarites" locks marked their separation. Our consecration must be marked not by tonsures or cowls, but by verbal avowals (Rom_10:9, Rom_10:10) and good works, (Mat_5:16 Php_2:14-16) which shall excel those of men who make no profession to the supernatural life of the disciples of Christ. (cf. Mat_5:47, Mat_5:48)
III We are "called to be saints," personally pure and separated from the world and its dead works. (Joh_17:11-19 2Co_6:17) Christ"s claims on us are paramount (Luk_9:59, Luk_9:60) and perpetual. (Rev_2:10) We cannot violate our pledges and go on as though our relations to Christ were unchanged, but must renew our vows (verse 12; Eze_33:12, Eze_33:13). When the period of the vow ended, the restraints were removed, but the honour remained. So will it be with us at death. P. (Joh_12:26, etc.)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 A vow of a Nazarite.
Num_6:1-21
A vow of a Nazarite.
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The law of vows (with special reference to the Nazarite)
1. The principle of the vow is that God has placed earths good things at mans disposal; and it is a becoming thing in him to give so much of it back to God (1Ch_29:14; 1Ch_29:16; Jon_1:16). But once made, there was no option in the performance of the vow. No vow was better than a vow unpaid (Deu_23:21-22 : Ecc_5:4-6).
2. The subjects of vows were endless as a mans possessions. They extended even to the person of himself or others over whom he might have control (Lev_27:1-34).
3. But the vow at once most prominent in the Old Testament, and coming nearest to the personal consecration asked for in the New, is that of the Nazarite. The Nazaritish vow is explainable neither on the one hand as stoicism, nor on the other as a mystic representation of the Divine power working in man. It represents the ideal of sacrifice, in the devotement of a mans own person to God.
I. The marks of dedication laid upon the Nazarite.
1. He is to abstain from all alcoholic liquor; and, to avoid danger or suspicion, must abstain from all that comes from the vine (Num_6:3-4). As a similar regulation was made regarding the priests when in Gods service (Lev_10:9), the inference is that indulgence in strong drink specially unfits a man for Gods presence or indwelling.
2. He is to leave his hair unshorn (Num_6:5), obviously as a badge of his position. The meaning of the Nazarites long hair, i.e. his subjection to God, gives meaning to the womans long hair (1Co_11:10), viz. her subjection to man.
3. He must not come into contact with the dead (Num_6:7). The lesson lay in the close connection between death and sin, and carried the promise of victory over death to him who sought the victory over sin.
II. The examples presented in scripture of the nazarite vow. The vow was generally taken for a short period--from thirty to sixty days--and probably its very commonness prevents its being much noticed in Scripture. But there are some notable examples of Nazarites for life. Samson was, in the full sense of the word, a life-Nazarite (Jdg_13:1-25.). In the case of Samuel (1Sa_1:11), no mention is made of abstinence, and in the case of John Baptist (Luk_1:15) no mention is made of the hair; but it is probable that they were both full Nazarites.
III. Its application to ourselves.
1. In Bible times it was a permissible and honourable thing to abstain from intoxicating drinks. When God had any specially great or holy work for a man to do, He would have him a Nazarite or an abstainer (Lev_10:9, &c.). He classes the Nazarite with the prophet (Amo_2:11). Have we any less reason to-day to be abstainers than these men had?
2. The Nazaritish vow raises the question of our entire consecration to God. Christ was not an abstainer because He is the one perfect example of consecration, and representative of the body which shall yet stand in its completed freedom before God. There will be no vows in heaven, because at every moment the hearts choice will be all that it should be. But if we put vows from us now, we have to ask, Is it because we are above them, or because we are below them? (W. Roberts, M. A.)
The ordinance of Nazariteship:
1. The fruit of the vine, in every shape and form, was to him a forbidden thing. Now, wine, as we know, is the apt symbol of earthly joy--the expression of that social enjoyment which the human heart is so fully capable of entering into. From this the Nazarite in the wilderness was sedulously to keep himself. It is a very grave question indeed how far we, as Christians, are really entering into the meaning and power of this intense separation from all the excitement of nature and from all merely earthly joy. It may perhaps be said, What harm is there in having a little amusement or recreation? Has not God given us richly all things to enjoy? And while we are in the world, is it not right that we should enjoy it? We reply, it is not a question of the harm of this, that, or the other. There was no harm, as a general rule, in wine, nothing abstractedly wrong in the vine tree. The question for us is this, Do we aim at being Nazarites? Do we sigh after thorough separation and devotement of ourselves, in body, soul, and spirit, unto God? If so, we must be apart from all these things in which mere nature finds its enjoyment.
2. But there was another thing which marked the Nazarite. He was not to shave his head. In 1Co_11:14, we learn that it argues a lack of dignity for a man to have long hair. From this we learn that if we really desire to live a life of separation to God, we must be prepared to surrender our dignity in nature. Now here is just the very thing which we so little like to do. We naturally stand up for our dignity and seek to maintain our rights. It is deemed manly so to do. But the perfect Man never did so; and if we aim at being Nazarites we shall not do so either. We must surrender the dignities of nature, and forego the joys of earth, if we would tread a path of thorough separation to God in this world. By and by both will be in place; but not now. This simplifies the matter amazingly. It answers a thousand questions and solves a thousand difficulties. It is of little use to split; hairs about the harm of this or that particular thing. The question is, What is our real purpose and object? Do we merely want to get on as men, or do we long to live as true Nazarites?
3. The Nazarite was not to touch a dead body (verses 6, 7). When once the consecration of God rested upon the head of any one, that important fact became the touchstone of all morality. It placed the individual on entirely new ground, and rendered it imperative upon him to look at everything from a peculiar point of view. He was no longer to ask what became him as a man; but what became him as a Nazarite.
4. We behold, in the person of the Nazarite, a type of one who sets out in some special path of devotedness or consecration to Christ. The power of continuance in this path consists in secret communion with God; so that if the communion be interrupted, the power is gone. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
Nazarite rules
1. No juice of grape, no produce of the vine, may touch the consecrated lips. This principle is broad and deep. Flee whatever may tend co weaken the firm energy, or to stir up the sleeping brood of sensual and ungodly lusts. More than gross vice is branded here. Evils may enter in a pigmy form. At first they may seem harmless. Avoid them. They are the cancers touch. They are the weeds first seed.
2. No razor approaches the Nazarites hair. His flowing locks openly announce his separate state. The dedication must not be a secret act, known only to the conscience and the Lord. Religion is not for the closet or the knees alone. It is not a lily, growing only in the shade. It is to be the one attire in which you move abroad--the holy crown which sparkles on your brow.
3. He must avoid all contact with the dead. Among the living he must live. Wherefore is death to be thus shunned? It is the penalty of sin--the sign of Gods most righteous wrath. It is a proof of innocence destroyed-of evil touched--of vengeance merited. It is abominations colleague. Therefore it is emblem of what holy men should holily abhor. (Dean Law.)
The Nazarite
It is to be noticed here that this separation was voluntary and in full accordance with the self-determination of the will power. The Nazarite, of his own choice, vowed a vow that for a certain time at least he would be all the Lords. This indicated his conscious choice. He could make the vow, or he could decline to do so. In all his dealings with men, God recognises and honours their will power. No cue is coerced into His service. No one is over-constrained to set himself apart for God. And so it is with Christian holiness--the New Testament idea of Nazaritism. Men must first of all, by the Spirit of God, will to be all the Lords. They must will to give up themselves, the world, and sin, and every wrong thing, and to be separated to God for ever. Those Nazarites to God were among the brightest shining lights of the Jewish dispensation. And is it not so now? The more complete the consecration and separation the more blessed and wide-spread and Divine is the light which shines out from this holy character. But there were certain conditions of Nazariteship then, as there are now. First of all, the Nazarite was to be a total abstainer. No man who gives himself up to the wine-cup can be wholly separated to God. There must be a separation from these things. As men draw consciously near to God there will be an abandonment of intoxicants.
2. Their hair was to remain uncut (Num_6:5). In the olden time the growth of the hair was thought to be indicative of strength. The idea may have originated in many minds from the strength in Samsons unshorn locks. But, whatever the cause, this has very generally been thought to be the case. This was done, we think, that it might be clearly indicated that nothing was to emasculate or effeminate the persons thus set apart. The person who would be all the Lords must give up everything which would mar or enfeeble his religious character or life. It has been thought by some that long hair is a token of subjection. So Paul is regarded as teaching in 1Co_11:5. Well, let it be so. And then what does this indicate to the spiritually-minded person? Why, surely, that the Christian Nazarite is entirely under subjection to God.
3. All who saw these persons knew that they were Nazarites. Their unshorn locks told at once their real character. In like manner the holy Christian will readily impress the mind of those by whom he is surrounded that he belongs to Christ.
4. Furthermore, he was not to touch any dead body, not even of those who were dearest to him. No one who aims to be a holy Christian should fail to keep his garments unspotted from the world.
5. The Christian Nazarites vow is for life. With him, this consecration is not merely for eight days, or for a month, or a year; but it is for life. (Lewis R. Dunn, D. D.)
The vow of the Nazarite; or, acceptable consecration to God
Acceptable personal consecration to God is characterised by--
1. Voluntariness. The service of the slave, or of the hireling, Be rejects.
2. Completeness. Divided allegiance is no allegiance.
3. Subordination of sensual enjoyments. Our animal passions must be controlled by moral principles. Everything which tends to weaken our souls vision, to blunt our susceptibility to spiritual impressions, to interrupt our communion with God, or to deprive us of spiritual purity and power, we are bound to abstain from.
4. Separation from all moral evil. (W. Jones.)
Of the vows of the Nazarites, and the use thereof to us:
The Nazarites were such persons as vowed a special kind of holiness. The parts of their special holiness are two: first, while they were in this vow; secondly, when the days of it were accomplished. This is the vow and these are the rites belonging unto it: now let us observe the uses remaining for us. For albeit these ceremonies be all abrogated, yet we shall find great benefit to arise from hence to the whole Church.
1. And first concerning the sanctification of these Nazarites professing holiness above others, it was a lively figure of Christ, signifying to the whole Church the wonderful purity of Christ, who was fully and perfectly separate from sinners. But was Christ such a Nazarite as these here spoken of? I answer, no: He observed no part of this vow. The Nazarites abstained from wine, the fruit of the vine, the blood of the grape: but Christ Himself in His own person did not so. Howbeit He is indeed a true Nazarite, or rather the truth of the Nazarites, separate from all the corruptions that attend upon the rest of the sons of men, free from the common defilements of the world; and that holy One which is called the Son of God. This is a great comfort for us to consider the excellency of His sacrifice, being without blemish, for it was most requisite that the unspeakable work of the Spirit should come in, that so He might not be tainted with the common infection of original sin, but might be endued with most perfect purity and innocency, and so be fully able to cover our impurity and impiety (Eph_5:26-27), and withal as by a certain pledge assure us, that in the end all our sins and imperfections shall be done away. In Him is that fulfilled therefore which is spoken in the Lamentations, that He was whiter than the milk, and purer than the snow, and it agreeth more fitly and truly unto Him than unto these Nazarites.
2. Secondly this teacheth that such as were special ornaments of the Church, and have received a more eminent office than others, should also labour to shine before others in holiness of life, according to the measure of grace which they have received (Rom_16:7). These thus advanced of God are, in the eyes of the world, as a city set upon a hill; a little blemish is soon seen in their face, a small stain appeareth in their coat; and therefore Satan laboureth especially to tempt and seduce them. And Christ telleth His disciples that Satan desired to winnow them--them I say above others as their calling was above others; for they ,sere the master-builders, and laid the foundation of the Church, upon which others builded. Let all those therefore whose place and calling and gifts make them evident above others, take heed to themselves: let them labour to cleave more closely to God, and so to let their light shine before men that they, seeing their good works, may glorify their Father which is in heaven. These are as chief captains of the host, and the ensign-bearers of the Church, to show the way to others and to go in and out before them in an unblamable course; and though they draw not all unto them by their example, yet their fervency, their earnestness, shall serve to instruct many others.
3. Thirdly, seeing these Nazarites must keep themselves from wine and strong drink, as also from eating fresh or dried grapes, so long as the days of their separation endured, we learn hereby that it is our duty to fly from all evil, even all the occasions and allurements of sin whatsoever, though they be never so pleasant to the eye or sweet to the taste; inasmuch as we shall find them in the end to be more sharp than vinegar, more bitter than wormwood, more deadly than poison. (W. Attersoll.)
Dangerous things to be avoided:
As much as we can, let us keep ourselves from slippery places, for even on dry ground it is not very strongly that we stand. (J. Spencer.)
Degrading effects of drink
A minister of the gospel told me in 1847 one of the most thrilling incidents I ever heard in my life. A member of his congregation came home for the first time in his life intoxicated, and his boy met him on the doorstep, clapping his hands and exclaiming, Papa has come home! He seized that boy by the shoulder, swung him around, staggered, and fell with him in the hall. The minister said to me, I spent that night in that house. I went to the door, and bared my brow that the night air might fall upon it and cool it; I walked up and down the hail. There was his child dead; there was his wife in strong convulsions, and he asleep. A man but thirty-five years of age asleep with a dead child in the house, having a blue mark upon the temple where the corner of the marble steps had come in contact with the head as he swung him round, and a wife upon the very brink of the grave! I felt I must remain until he awoke, and I did. When he awoke he passed his hand over his face, and exclaimed, What is the matter? Where am I? Where is my boy? You cannot see him.--Where is my boy? he inquired. You cannot see him.--Stand out of my way. I will see my boy! To prevent confusion, I took him to that childs bedside, and, as I turned down the sheet and showed him the corpse, he uttered the shriek, Ah, my child! One year afterwards that man was brought from a lunatic asylum to lie side by side with his wife in one grave, and I attended his funeral. The minister of the gospel who told me that fact is to-day a drunken ostler in a stable in Boston l Now tell me what drink will do. It will debase, degrade, imbrute, and damn everything that is noble, bright, glorious, and godlike in a human being. (J. B. Gough.)
A faithful abstainer:
The Rev. Canon Wilberforce was once in the neighbourhood of the London Docks, in a little room as black as a chimney, but, through the preaching of the gospel, many souls have been born there. He asked if any one would get up and say what God had done for their souls. An old sailor rose and said how bad he had been; felt that he was even a devils castaway; but six years ago, in that little room, he was led to see that he was a great sinner, but that Christ was a great Saviour, and that on the cross was nailed every one of his sins. I signed the pledge and threw away my pipe, and have been upheld by God, because every morning I pray that I may be protected. Returning recently from Hong Kong, this old sailor had an accident and was badly scalded, and was very ill. When he began to recover the doctor said, You must take some port-wine. No, said the old sailor, I am a teetotaller. But, said the doctor, you need it to strengthen you. Doctor, said the old man, do you think I shall die ii I dont take the wine? Yes, said the doctor. Then, said the sailor, when you get into the St. Katherines Docks, go round to the little room and tell them that the old man died sober. But he did not die, and is alive to this hour to testify of the sufficiency of Gods grace to keep him.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Numbers 6
NAZARITISM: THE BLESSING OF AARON
Numbers 6
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1. THE custom of Nazaritism, which tended to form a semi-religious caste, is obscure in its origin. The cases of Samson and Samuel imply that before birth some were bound in terms of this vow by their parents. In the passage before us nothing whatever is said as to the reasons which the law recognised for the practice of Nazaritism. We may believe, however, that it was from the first, like many votive customs, distinctly religious. One who had been delivered from some danger or restored to health might adopt this method of showing his thankfulness to God. It is impossible to connect Nazaritism with any sacerdotal duty. A man under the vow had no function, no privilege, that in the least approached that of the priest. Nor can we trace any parallel between the Nazarite rule and that of the fakirs of India or the dervishes of Egypt and Arabia, whose poverty is their mark of consecration. There is, however, some resemblance to the vow of the Arab pilgrim, who, on his way to the holy place, must not cut or dress his hair, and must abstain from bloodshed. The prophet Amos {Amo_2:11} claims that God had raised up young men to be Nazarites, and he places their influence almost on a level with that of the prophets as a means of blessing to the people. We may believe, therefore, that they helped both morality and religion; and the conditions of their vow seem to have given them fine bodily health and personal appearance.
When the Nazarite vow was undertaken for a term, say thirty, sixty, or a hundred days, the law assumed its religious character, prescribed the conditions to be observed, the means of removing accidental defilement, and the ceremonies to be performed when the period of separation closed. Any man might devote himself without appealing to the priest or going through any religious rite; and in general his own conscience was depended on to make him rigidly attentive to his vow. There was to be no monastic association of Nazarites, no formal watch kept over their conduct. They mingled with others in ordinary life, and went about their business as at other times. But the unshorn hair distinguished them; they felt that the eye of God as well as the eyes of men were upon them, and walked warily under the sense of their pledge. The discharge which had to be given by the priest was a further check; it would have been withheld if any charge of laxity had been made against the Nazarite. The ceremonies of release were of a kind fitted to attract general attention.
The modern pledge of abstinence bears in various points resemblance to the Nazarite vow. We can easily believe that indulgence in strong drink was one of the principal sins against which Nazaritism testified. And as in ancient Israel that body of abstainers from the fruit of the vine, honorably known as a caste, acknowledged by the Divine law, formed a constant check on intemperance, so the existence of a large class among ourselves, bound to abstinence, aids most effectually in restraining the drinking customs of the present age. When we add to the approval of Nazaritism which is before us here the fact that priests in the discharge of their ministry were required to forego the use of wine, the sanction of Hebrew legislation on its moral side may certainly be claimed for the total abstinence pledge. No doubt the circumstances differ greatly. Wine was the common beverage in Palestine. It was in general so slightly intoxicating that the use of it brought little temptation. But our distilled liquors and fermented drinks are so strongly alcoholic, so dangerous to health and morals, that the argument for abstinence is now immensely greater than it was among the Hebrews. Not only as an example of self-restraint, but as a safeguard against constant peril, the pledge of abstinence deservedly enjoys the sanction of the Churches of Christ.
On the other hand, the pledge of the total abstainer, like the vow of the Nazarite, carries with it a certain moral danger. One who, having come voluntarily under such a pledge, allows himself to break it suffers a serious loss of spiritual power. The abstainer, like the Nazarite, is his own witness, his own judge. But if his pledge has been sacredly undertaken, solemnly made, any breach of it is an offence to conscience, a denial of obligation to God which must react on the will and life. It was not by using strong drink that Samson broke his vow of Nazaritism, but in a far less serious manner - by allowing his hair to be cut off. Still his case is an instructive parable.The Spirit of the Lord passed from him; he became weak as other men, the prey of his enemies. The man who has come under the bond of total abstinence, especially in a religious way, and breaks it, becomes weaker than others. To confess his fault and resume his resolution may not lift him up again. The will is less capable, the sense of sacredness less imperative and potent.
It is hard to say why the peculiar defilement caused by touching a dead body or being present at a death is that alone on which special attention is fixed in the Nazarite law. {Num_6:9 ff.} One would have expected the other offence of using wine to be dealt with rather than mere accidents, so to speak. We can see that the law as it stands is one of many that must have preceded the prophetic period. If Amos, for example, had influenced the nature of the legislation regarding Nazaritism, it would have been in the direction of making drunkenness rather than ceremonial uncleanness a special point in the statutes. From beginning to end of his prophecy he makes no distinct reference to ceremonial defilement. But injustice, intemperance, disaffection to Jehovah, are constantly and vehemently denounced. Hosea, again, does refer to unclean food, the necessity of eating which would be part of Israels punishment in exile. But he too, unless in this casual reference, is a moralist-cares nothing, -so far as his language goes, for the contact with dead bodies or any other ceremonial defilement. Judging a Nazarite, he would certainly have regarded sobriety and purity of life as the tests of consecration-drunkenness and neglect of God as the sins that deserved punishment. Hoseas condemnation of Israel is: "They have left off to take heed to Jehovah. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding." In Ezekiel, whose schemes of worship and of priestly work are declared to have been the origin of the Priests Code, the same tendency is to be found. He has a passage regarding unclean foods, which assumes the existence of statutes on the subject. But as a legislator he is not concerned with ceremonial transgressions, the defilement caused by dead bodies, and the like. Take into account the whole of his prophecy, and it will be seen that the new heart and the right spirit are for Ezekiel the main things, and the worship of the temple he describes is to be that of a people not ceremonially consecrated, but spiritually pure, and so in moral unity with God. He adopts the old forms of worship along with the priesthood, but his desire is to give the ritual an ethical basis and aim.
The statute which applies to the discharge of the Nazarite from his rule {Num_6:13-21} is exceedingly detailed, and contains provisions which on the whole seem fitted to deter rather than encourage the vow. The Nazarite could not escape from obligation as he had entered upon it, without priestly intervention and mediation. He had to offer an oblation, -one he-lamb of the first year for a burnt offering; one ewe-lamb of the first year for a sin offering; and for peace offerings a ram, with a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil; and meal offerings and drink offerings. These had to be presented by the priest in the prescribed manner. In addition to the possible cost of repeated cleansings which might be needful during the period of separation, the expense of those offerings must have been to many in a humble station almost prohibitory. We cannot help concluding that under this law, at whatever time it prevailed, Nazaritism became the privilege of the more wealthy. Those who took the vow under the appointed conditions must have formed a kind of puritan aristocracy.
The final ceremonies included burning of the hair, which was carefully removed at the door of the tent of meeting. It was to be consumed in the fire under the peace offering, the idea being that the obligation of the vow and perhaps its sanctity had been identified with the flowing locks. The last rite of all was similar to that used in the consecration of priests. The sodden shoulder of the ram, an unleavened cake, and an unleavened wafer were to be placed on the hands of the Nazarite, and waved for a wave offering before the Lord-thereafter, with other parts of the sacrifice, falling to the priest. After that the man might drink wine, perhaps in a formal way at the close of the ceremonies.
To explain this elaborate ritual of discharge it has been affirmed that the idea of the vow "culminated in the sacrificial festival which terminated the consecration, and in this attained to its fullest manifestation." If this were so, ritualism was indeed predominant. To make such the underlying thought is to declare that the abstinence of the Nazarite from strong drink and dainties, to which a moralist would attach most importance, was in the eye of the law nothing compared to the symbolic feasting with God and the sacerdotal functions of the final ceremony. Far more readily would we assume that the ritual of the discharge.was superfluously added to the ancient law at a time when the hierarchy was in the zenith of its power. But, as we have already seen, the final rites were of a kind fitted to direct public attention to the vow, and may have had their use chiefly in preventing any careless profession of Nazaritism, tending to bring it into contempt.
One other question still demands consideration: What was meant by the "sin offering" which had to be presented by the Nazarite when he had unintentionally incurred uncleanness, and the sin offering which had to be offered at the time of his discharge-what, in short, was the idea of sin to which this oblation corresponded? The case of the Nazarite is peculiarly instructive, for the point to be considered is seen here entirely free from complications. The Nazarite does not undertake the obligation of his vow as an acknowledgment of wrong he has done, nor does he place himself under any moral disadvantage by assuming it. There is no reason why in becoming a Nazarite or ceasing to be a Nazarite he should appear as a transgressor; rather is he honouring God by what he does. Suppose he has been present at a death which has unexpectedly taken place-that involves no moral fault by which a mans conscience should be burdened. Deliberately to touch a dead body might, under the law, have brought the sense of wrongdoing; but to be casually in a defiled house could not. Yet an atonement was necessary. {Num_6:11} It is expressly said that a sin offering and a burnt offering must be presented to "make atonement for him, for that he sinned by reason of the dead." And again, when he has kept the terms of his vow to the last, honouring Jehovah by his devotion, commending morality by his abstinence, maintaining more rigidly than other Israelites the idea of consecration to Jehovah, he cannot be released from his obligation till a sin offering is made for him. There is no moral offence to be expiated. Rather, to judge in an ordinary human way, he has carried obedience farther than his fellow-Israelites.
The whole circumstances show that the sin-offering has no reference to moral pollution. The idea is not that of removing a shadow from the conscience, but taking away a taint of the flesh, or, in certain cases, of the mind which has become aware of some occult injury. A clear division was made between the moral and the immoral; and it was assumed that all Israelites were keeping the moral commandments of the law. Then moral persons were divided into those who were clean and those who were unclean; and the ceremonial law alone determined the conditions of undefiled and acceptable life. If the law declared that a sin offering was necessary, it meant not that there had been immorality, but that some specified or unspecified taint lay upon a man. No doubt there were principles according to which the law was framed. But they might not be apparent; and no man could claim to have them explained. Now with regard to Nazaritism, the idea was that of a vivid and pure form of life to which a man might attain if he would discipline himself. And it seems to have been understood that in returning from this to the common life of the race an apology, so to speak, had to be made to Jehovah and to religion. The higher range of life during the term of separation was peculiarly sensitive to invasions of earthly circumstance, and especially of the defilement caused by death; and for anything of this sort there was needed more than apology, more than trespass offering. The Nazarite going back to ordinary life was regarded in more senses than one as a sinner. The conditions of his vow had been difficult to keep, and, presumably, had been broken.. He was all the more under the suspicion of defilement that he had undertaken special obligations of purity. A peculiar form of mysticism is involved here, an effort of humanity to reach transcendental holiness. And the law seemed to give up each experiment with a sigh. In the story of Samson we have only the popular pictorial elements of Nazaritism. The statutes convey hints of deeper thought and feeling.
Generally speaking the whole system of purification enjoined by the ceremonial Jaw, the constant succession of cleansings and sacrifices, must have appeared to be arbitrary. But it would be a mistake to suppose that there was no esoteric meaning, no purpose beyond that of keeping up the sense of religious duty and the need of mediation. Some intangible defilement seems to have been associated with everything mundane, everything human. The aim was to represent sanctity of a transcendent kind, the nature of which no words could express, for which the shedding of blood alone supplied a sufficiently impressive symbol.
2. The blessing which the priests were commissioned to pronounce on the people {Num_6:24-26} was in the following terms:
"Jehovah bless thee. and keep thee: Jehovah make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Jehovah lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."
By means of this threefold benediction the name of Jehovah was to be put upon the children of Israel-that is to say, their consecration to Him as His accepted flock and their enjoyment of His covenant grace were to be signified. In a sense the invocation of this blessing was the highest function of the priest: he became the channel of spiritual endowment in which the whole nation shared. It is a striking fact that the distinctive ideas conveyed in the three portions of the blessing-Preservation, Enlightenment, Peace - bear a relation, by no means fanciful, to the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. First are invoked the providential care and favour of God, as Ruler of the universe, Arbiter among the nations, Source of creaturely life, Upholder of human existence. Israel as a whole, and each individual Israelite as a member of the sacred community, should in terms of the covenant enjoy the guardianship of the Almighty. The idea is expanded in Psalm 121:
"Jehovah is thy keeper: Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, Nor the moon by night. Jehovah shall keep thee from all evil; He shall keep thy soul. Jehovah shall keep thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth and for evermore."
And in almost every Psalm the theme of Divine preservation is touched on either in thanksgiving, prayer, or exultant hope.
"For God will save Zion. and build the cities of Judah; And they shall abide there, and have it in possession. The seed also of His servants shall inherit it; And they that love His name shall dwell therein."
Often sorely pressed by the nations around, their land made the battle-field of empires, the Hebrews could comfort themselves with the assurance that Jehovah of Hosts was with them, that the God of Jacob was their refuge. And each son of Abraham had his own portion in the blessing.
"I will say of Jehovah He is my refuge and my fortress, My God in whom I trust."
The keynote of joyful confidence in the unseen King was struck in the benediction which, pronounced by Aaron and by the high-priests after him, associated Israels safety with obedience to all the laws and forms of religion.
The second member of the blessing indicates under the figure of the shining of Jehovahs face the revelation of enlightening truth. Here are implied the unfolding of Gods character, the kindly disclosure of His will in promise and prophecy, the opening to the minds of men of those high and abiding laws that govern their destiny. There is a forth-shining of the Divine countenance which troubles and dismays the human heart: "The face of the Lord is against them that do evil." But here is denoted that gracious radiance which came to its fulness in Christ. And of this Divine shining Jacob Boehme writes: "As the sun in the visible world ruleth over evil and good, and with its light and power and all whatsoever itself is, is present everywhere, and penetrates every being, and yet in its image-like [symbolic] form doth not withdraw again to itself with its efflux, but wholly giveth itself into every being, and yet ever remaineth whole, and nothing of its being goeth away therewith: thus also it is to be understood concerning Christs power and office which ruleth in the inward spiritual world visibly, and in the outward world invisibly, and thoroughly penetrateth the faithful mans soul, spirit, and heart And as the sun worketh through and through a herb so that the herb becometh solar (or filled with the virtue of the sun, and as it were so converted by the sun that it becometh wholly of the nature of the sun): so Christ ruleth in the resigned will in soul and body over all evil inclinations, over Satans introduced lust, and generateth the man to be a new heavenly creature and wholly floweth into him."
For the Hebrew people that shining of the face of God became spiritual and potent for salvation less through the law, the priesthood, and the ritual, than through psalm and prophecy. Of the revelation of the law Paul says, "The ministration of death written and engraven on stones came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the face of Moses, for the glory of his face." With such holy and awful brightness did God appear in the law, that Moses had to cover his face from which the splendour was reflected. But the psalmist. pressing towards the light with fine spiritual boldness and humility, could say, "When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek"; {Psa_27:8} "and again, Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." {Psa_80:7} And in an oracle of Isaiah, {Isa_54:8} Jehovah says, "In overflowing wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness shall I have mercy on thee."
In the third clause of the benediction the peace of God, that calm of mind, conscience, and life which accompanies salvation, is invoked. From the trouble and sorrow and tumult of existence, from the fear of hostile power, from evil influences seen and unseen, the Divine hand will give salvation. It seems indeed to be the meaning that the gracious regard of God is enough. Are His people in affliction and anxiety? Jehovahs look will deliver them. They will feet calmly safe as if a shield were interposed between them and the keen arrows of jealousy and hatred. "In covert of Thy presence shalt Thou hide them from the plottings of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly m a pavilion from the strife of tongues." Their tranquillity is described by Isaiah: "In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness which is of Me, saith the Lord."
The peace of the human soul is not, however, entirely provided for by the assurance of Divine protection from hostile force. A man is not in perfect tranquillity because he belongs to a nation or a church defended by omnipotence. His own troubles and fears are the main causes of unrest. And the Spirit of God, who cleanses and renews the soul, is the true Peace-giver. "To win true peace a man needs to feel himself directed, pardoned, and sustained by a supreme power, to feel himself in the right road, at the point where God would have him to be-in order with God and the universe." In his heart the note of harmony must be struck deep and true, in profound reconciliation and unity with God. With this in view the oracles of Ezekiel connect renewal and peace. "I will put My Spirit in you, and ye shall live I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them and I will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore."
The protection of God the Father, the grace and truth of the Son, the comfort and peace of the Spirit-were these, then, implied in Israels religion and included in this blessing of Aaron? Germinally, at least, they were. The strain of unity running through the Old and New Testaments is heard here and in the innumerable passages that may be grouped along with the threefold benediction. The work of Christ, as Revealer and Saviour, did not begin when He appeared in the flesh. As the Divine Word He spoke by every prophet and through the priest to the silent congregations age after age. Nor did the dispensation of the Spirit arise on the world like a new light on that day of Pentecost when the disciples of Christ were gathered in their upper chamber and the tongues of fire were seen. There were those even in the old Hebrew days on whom the Spirit was poured from on high, with whom "judgment dwelt in the wilderness, and righteousness in the fruitful field: and the work of righteousness was peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." He who is our peace came in the appointed time to fill with eternal meaning the old benedictions, and set our assurance on the immovable rock of His own sacrifice and power.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 “The previous chapter has provided for the exclusion from…
THE VOW OF THE NAZARITE, OR ACCEPTABLE CONSECRATION TO GOD
(Num_6:1-8)
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“The previous chapter has provided for the exclusion from the pale of God’s people of certain forms of guilt and defilement. The present one offers an opening to that zeal for God which, not content with observing what is obligatory, seeks for higher and stricter modes of self-dedication. Thus the law of the Nazarite is appropriately added to other enactments which concern the sanctity of the holy nation. That sanctity found its highest expression in the Nazarite vow, which was the voluntary adoption for a time of obligations resembling, and indeed in some particulars exceeding, those under which the priests were placed.”—Speaker’s Comm.
Nazarite, or more properly, Nazirite (Heb. נָזִיר from נָזרַ to separate), signifies a separated one, then; one consecrated, especially by a vow.
From the mode in which the law is introduced in Num_6:2, it is evident that Nazaritism was not a new institution, but was already familiar to the people. Moses “appears to have done no more than ordain such regulations for the vow of the Nazarite of days, as brought it under the cognizance of the priest, and into harmony with the general system of religious observance. It is doubted, in regard to Nazaritism in general, whether it was of native or foreign origin.… Winer justly observes that the points of resemblance between the Nazarite vow and heathen customs are too fragmentary and indefinite to furnish a safe foundation for an argument in favour of a foreign origin for the former.”
Nazarites were of two kinds, and were styled respectively, “Nazarites of days,” and “perpetual Nazarites.” The former took the vow only for a limited and specified time. The Sacred Scriptures are silent as to the length of time for which the vow was taken. “According to Nazir, the usual time was thirty days, but double vows for sixty days, and treble vows for a hundred days, were sometimes made.” Of perpetual Nazarites, three are mentioned in the Scriptures: Sampson, Samuel, and John the Baptist. The laws which are laid down in this chapter apply to those who were Nazarites for a limited period only, not to those who were Nazarites for life.
On the moral significance of Nazaritism we cannot do better than transcribe the remarks of the Rev. S. Clark, M.A., in Smith’s Dict. of the Bible. “The meaning of the Nazarite vow has been regarded in different lights. Some consider it as a symbolical expression of the Divine nature working in man, and deny that it involved anything of a strictly ascetic character; others see in it the principle of stoicism, and imagine that it was intended to cultivate, and bear witness for, the sovereignty of the will over the lower tendencies of human nature: while some regard it wholly in the light of the sacrifice of the person to God … Philo has taken the deeper view of the subject. According to him the Nazarite did not sacrifice merely his possessions, but his person, and the act of sacrifice was to be performed in the completest manner. The outward observances enjoined upon him were to be the genuine expressions of his spiritual devotion. To represent spotless purity within, he was to shun defilement from the dead, at the expense even of the obligation of the closest family ties. As no spiritual state or act can be signified by any single symbol, he was to identify himself with each one of the three victims which he had to offer as often as he broke his vow by accidental pollution, or when the period of his vow came to an end. He was to realise in himself the ideas of the whole burnt-offering, the sin-offering, and the peace-offering. That no mistake might be made in regard to the three sacrifices being shadows of one and the same substance, it was ordained that the victims should be individuals of one and the same species of animal. The shorn hair was put on the fire of the altar in order that, although the Divine law did not permit the offering of human blood, something might be offered up actually a portion of his own person.… That the Nazarite vow was essentially a sacrifice of the person to the Lord is obviously in accordance with the terms of the Law (Num_6:2). In the old dispensation it may have answered to that ‘living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,’ which the believer is now called upon to make. As the Nazarite was a witness for the straitness of the Law, as distinguished from the freedom of the Gospel, his sacrifice of himself was submission to the letter of a rule. Its outward manifestations were restraints and eccentricities. The man was separated from his brethren that he might be peculiarly devoted to the Lord. This was consistent with the purpose of Divine wisdom for the time for which it was ordained. Wisdom, we are told, was justified of her child in the life of the great Nazarite who preached the baptism of repentance when the Law was about to give way to the Gospel. Amongst those born of women, no greater than he had arisen, ‘but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.’ The sacrifice which the believer now makes of himself is not to cut him off from his brethren, but to unite him more closely with them; not to subject him to an outward bond, but to confirm him in the liberty with which Christ has made him free. It is not without significance that wine under the Law was strictly forbidden to the priest who was engaged in the service of the sanctuary, and to the few whom the Nazarite vow bound to the special service of the Lord; while in the Church of Christ it is consecrated for the use of every believer to whom the command has come, ‘drink ye all of this.’ ” Confining our attention to the first eight verses, we have in them an illustration of acceptable consecration to God. Acceptable personal consecration to God is characterised by—
I. Voluntariness.
The self-consecration of the Nazarite was entirely spontaneous. It is true that Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist, were dedicated to the Lord as perpetual Nazarites by their parents previous to their birth. But as a rule, the vow was voluntarily assumed. In the legislation recorded in this chapter it is regarded as the free act of the individual. Our self-consecration to God must be willing and hearty, or it will not be accepted by Him. The strictest obedience, which is begotten of fear; the most careful performance of religious duties, which is not hearty; the most diligent service, which is not free, is regarded as worthless in the sight of God. To be accepted by God, we must “serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind.” The service of the slave or of the hireling, He rejects; but the free consecration of the heart and life to Him is an offering with which He is well pleased (a).
II. Completeness.
The Nazarite dedicated himself wholly to God. This is symbolised especially by the uncut hair, which is spoken of in Num_6:7 as “the diadem of God upon his head.” “The consecration of the Nazarite culminated in his uncut hair. The free growth of the hair, unhindered by the hand of man, was ‘the symbol of strength and abundant vitality’ (cf. 2Sa_14:25-26).” Hence in the Nazarite it proclaimed the fact that he had dedicated himself wholly, with all his powers, to the service of God. Our consecration to God must be unreserved to be acceptable. Divided allegiance is no allegiance. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Whole-heartedness is indispensable to true allegiance to any person or to any cause. Divided service God rejects. He claims us entirely. He requires our supreme affection. The throne of our being must be freely given to Him, or our consecration will not be accepted by Him. When our whole self is given to God, we shall keep back nothing else from Him. “May the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly,” etc. (1Th_5:23). (b)
III. Subordination of sensual enjoyments.
The Nazarite was to abstain entirely from wine and intoxicating drink. He was neither to eat nor to drink of anything prepared from the vine, “from the kernel even to the husk.” This was to represent his abstinence from every gratification of the senses, which would in any way impair the holiness of his soul. This entire abstinence from the products of the vine is not a law for Christians. It is never represented as such in the Sacred Scriptures. The Nazarite was free to “drink wine” when the period of his separation was ended. But it is a law of the Christian life, that the sensual must ever and in all things be subordinated to the spiritual. Sensual appetites must not lord it over spiritual aspirations. Our animal passions must be controlled by moral principles. Everything which tends to weaken or becloud our soul’s vision, to blunt our susceptibility to spiritual impressions and impulses, to interrupt our conscious communion with God, or to deprive us of spiritual purity and power, we are bound to abstain from. “Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” (c)
IV. Separation from all moral evil.
“Because the Nazarite was holy to the Lord during the whole period of his consecration, he was to approach no dead person during that time, not even to defile himself for his parents, or his brothers and sisters, when they died, according to the law laid down for the high priest in Lev_21:11. Consequently, as a matter of course, he was to guard most scrupulously against other defilements, not only like ordinary Israelites, but also like the priests.”—Keil and Del. The people of God must “abstain from every form of evil.” Jesus Christ was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” even while he received sinners and ate with them. A similar separation is required from His followers. “I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not anything unclean, and I will receive you,” etc. “Ye that love the Lord hate evil.” By your consecration you are “holy unto the Lord,” therefore shun utterly all sin whatsoever, (d)
Do these characteristics of acceptable personal consecration to God mark our lives?
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Personal devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ has distinguished the saints of all churches, and of all countries. They have acknowledged that they were not their own, but His. They have renounced, for His sake, all private interests, and all personal aims. They have lived, and worked, and suffered, and died for Him. They have been the slaves of Christ—His slaves, not because their spirit was crushed by a tyrannical authority which they had no power or courage to resist, but because His Divine majesty, His infinite love for them, and the glory of His personal perfection kindled their imagination, commanded the homage of their conscience, and won their hearts. They were His slaves, but they found in His service a larger freedom than they had known before they accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Mister; and, with the larger freedom, there came a fuller life and a nobler joy.
The act of consecration is an act of the will. It is a voluntary surrender of the life to Christ, a yielding to His claims as our rightful Owner. But His Ownership belongs to the moral and spiritual order, and is ultimately asserted in His personal ascendancy over the whole moral and spiritual life of those who are His. Consecration is an indispensable condition of holiness, for it is a free consent to belong to Christ, and not to ourselves; but where there is personal devotion to Christ, Christ is not merely accepted by the will as the Lord and Owner of life, He is enthroned over all the forces of our moral and spiritual nature.—R. W. Dale, D.D.
(b) It is related of the missionary, Henry Martyn, that, when at college, “he never lost an hour;” but then every moment was spent in seeking honour for himself. When, however, he had obtained the highest honours, he was disappointed in finding that he had grasped a shadow. A friend told him one day that he ought to attend to his studies not to obtain the praise of men, but that he might be better fitted to promote the glory of God. He thought such a demand very strange, and when his sister spoke to him on the subject, and begged him to give his heart to God, he did not like to listen to her, because he felt that he would have to give up many things if he became religious. At length, however, a great change came over him—a change of heart; and he resolved to “seek first the kingdom of God.” His prospects were every day becoming brighter and brighter; but the love of God had entered his heart, and he was enabled to conquer his ambition and love of fame. He became a minister of the Gospel, and was greatly esteemed for his learning and amiable manners. He began now, more than ever, to feel that he was not his own, and therefore that he must not live to himself; and although he might have risen to posts of distinction in his native land, he chose rather to be a missionary to the heathen. He sacrificed home, friendship, worldly comfort, health, earthly love, and last of all life itself, that he might tell the heathen of the true God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died to save sinners; for, as he said, “he could not endure life if Jesus were not glorified.” He left all that he might follow Jesus. He felt that it was what God required of him, and he acted in the spirit of his Divine Master, who gave Himself for the sins of the world.—Sunday School Teacher.
(c) Stimulants, like wine, inflame the senses, and through them set the imagination and feelings on fire; and the law of our spiritual being is that which begins with the flesh, sensualizes the spirit—whereas that which commences in the region of the spirit, spiritualizes the senses, in which it subsequently stirs emotiom. But the misfortune is that men mistake this law of their emotions; and the fatal error is, when having found spiritual feelings existing in connection, and associated with fleshly sensations, men expect by the mere irritation of the emotions of the frame to reproduce those high and glorious feelings … The worst case of all occurs in the department of the affections. That which begins in the heart ennobles the whole animal being, but that which begins in the inferior departments of our beings is the most entire degradation and sensualizing of the soul.
Wine is but a specimen of a class of stimulants. All that begins from without belongs to the same class. The stimulus may be afforded by almost any enjoyment of the senses. Drunkenness may come from anything wherein is excess; from over-indulgence in society, in pleasure in music, and in the delight of listening to oratory, nay, even from the excitement of sermons and religious meetings. The prophet tells us of those who are drunken, and not with wine.… This is what we want: we want the vision of a calmer and simpler Beauty, to tranquillize us in the midst of artificial tastes—we want the draught of a purer spring to cool the flame of our excited life; we want, in other words the Spirit of the Life of Christ, simple, natural, with power to calm and soothe the feelings which it rouses: the fulness of the Spirit which can never intoxicate.—F. W. Robertson, M.A.
(d) Christ had His power in the fact that He carried the impression of His separateness from the world and His superiority to it. He was no ascetic, His separation no contrived and prescribed separation, but was only the more real and radical that it was the very instinct or first impulse of His character. He could say, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me;” counting the bad kingdom to be only a paste-board affair, whose laws and ways were but a vain show, that He could not even so much as feet. This, now, is what we want, such a fulness of Divine participation, that we shall not require to be always shutting off the world by prescribed denials, but shall draw off from it naturally, because we are not of it. A true Christian, one who is deep enough in the godly life to have his affinities with God, will infallibly become a separated being. The instinct of holiness will draw him apart into a singular, superior, hidden life with God.
It is not conformity that we want; it is not being able to beat the world in its own way, but it is to stand apart from it, and produce the impression of a separated life; this it is, and this only, that yields any proper sense of the true Christian power. It is not the being popular that makes one a help to religion, no holy man was ever truly a popular character. Even Christ Himself, bringing the Divine beauty into the world, profoundly disturbed the quiet of men by His very perfections. All really bad men, adhering to their sin, hated Him, and their animosity was finally raised to such a pitch, that they crucified Him. And what does He say, turning to His disciples, but this very thing, “The servant is not greater than his lord; if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you. I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” We are certainly not to make a merit of being hated, for the worst and most wicked men can do that; as little are we to make a merit of popularity and being even with the world in its ways. There is no just mode of life, no true holiness, or fruit of holy living, if we do not carry the conviction, by our self-denial, our sobriety in the matter of show, and our withholding from all that indicates being under the world, that we are in a life separated to God, Therefore His great call is—“Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” And there is a most profound philosophy in this. If we are to impress the world we must be separate from sinners, even as Christ our Master was, or at least, according to our human degree, as being in His Spirit. The great difficulty is, that we think to impress the world, standing on the world’s own level and asking its approbation. We conform too easily and with too much appetite. We are all the while touching the unclean thing—bowing down to it, accept-its law, eager to be found approved in it. God therefore calls us away. Oh, that we could take our lesson here, and plan our life, order our pursuits, choose our relaxations, prepare our families, so as to be truly with Christ, and so, in fact, that we ourselves can say, each for himself, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me,”—H. Bushnell, D.D.
THE INVOLUNTARY DEFILEMENT OF THE NAZARITE, OR SIN IN THE CONSECRATED
(Num_6:9-12)
Provision is here made for cases in which the Nazarite involuntarily contracted defilement, by reason of a person dying suddenly by him. He was to go through the ordinary process of purification commanded for others; he was also to offer a trespass-offering as having “sinned through ignorance, in the holy things of the Lord;” his head was to be shaved, and he was to begin the days of his separation over again. We have, then, in this section—
First: A recognition of the fact that man may die suddenly and unexpectedly. “If any man die very suddenly by him.” It is here implied that death may seize a man so quickly and so entirely without any sign of his approach, that the most zealous and watchful Nazarite may be unable to avoid defilement from the dead body. While death sometimes approaches his victims with measured steps and slow, at other times he smites them with the suddenness and rapidity of a lightning-flash. He arrests not only the aged and the weak, but the young and the strong also. In the case even of the healthy and vigorous, and apparently secure, frequently there is but a step between them and death. Wise and blessed are they to whom even sudden death is great gain! (a)
Second: An illustration of the truth that a good man may fall into sin, and of the consequences of such sin. The case which is here legislated for is that of defilement which is quite involuntary, and, as we should say, accidental. It is a figure of the involuntary sins of good men, sins of infirmity, sins into which they are suddenly surprised, faults by which they are overtaken. In our present state we are exposed to subtle Satanic temptations; currents of evil influence, which are both insidious and strong, bear frequently upon us; we are in danger of being taken in an unguarded moment, and surprised into sin. “We have heard how suddenly the storm sweeps down upon certain lakes. One moment all is calm, and in another the loosened wind lashes the slumbering waters into waves and billows, as if the storm-spirit had been looking on from some rift of the hills, and watching for an opportunity of plaguing the unsuspecting lake. So is it with men who are overtaken in a fault. They are apt to imagine that momentary quiet means permanent rest, and when they resign their weapons, the enemy leaps upon them fiercely.” “You were going quietly on your way, thinking no evil, suddenly temptation, for which you were not prepared, presented itself, and before you knew where you were, you were in the dust, fallen.” It is sins of this class, class in men of sincere piety, which are illustrated in the text. It is here suggested—
I. That such sins defile and dishonour good men.
“If any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration: then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.” The head is mentioned as defiled not because uncleanness was specially retained in the hair; but because “the consecration of his God was upon his head.” His unshorn hair was the mark of his self-dedication to God. He himself, as a person thus consecrated, was regarded as impure by reason of his nearness to the dead. If a good man be ensnared by temptation and commit sin, that sin will leave its mark upon his being. We cannot sin under any circumstances without contracting some measure of defilement. Nor can any good man sin without dishonour, even his involuntary sins tarnish and soil the lustre of “the diadem of his God upon his head.” When Abram sinned through fear, by telling only a half-truth with an intention to deceive Pharaoh, how mean and dishonoured he appeared! As we look upon Pharaoh, the man of the world, rebuking Abram, the man of God, we feel how painfully the latter has humiliated and degraded himself. When the godly man is even suddenly surprised into sin by subtle and strong temptation, he incurs impurity and sad reproach.
II. That such sins require atonement on the part of good men.
The Nazarite who had unintentionally contracted ceremonial uncleanness was required to bring to the priest a sin-offering and a burnt-offering, as in the case of those who had unclean issues (comp. Num_6:10-11, with Lev_15:14-15). He was also required to bring a trespass-offering, as one who and “sinned, through ignorance, in the holy things of the Lord” (comp. Num_6:12 with Lev_5:15-16). For us in this gospel age the grand offering, which consummates and crowns all previous offerings, has been made: “Once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” And if a good man sin by reason of infirmity, or be tripped up and overthrown by temptation almost ere he is aware of it, he must penitently approach unto God through that great sacrifice,—must repent of his sin, humbly confess it unto God, and seek forgiveness from Him. (See 1Jn_1:9; 1Jn_2:1-2.)
III. That such sins involve loss to good men.
The Nazarite who involuntarily was defiled lost time. The former days of his separation were not reckoned unto him: “the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.” He was put back, and required to begin afresh: “he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation.” In this we have a striking illustration of a very solemn spiritual truth: a godly man cannot sin under any circumstances without suffering sad less—loss not only of progress, but of spiritual purity, peace, and power. This will account for the very slow progress of many in the Christian course. In an unguarded moment we are led astray, and wander from God and light into sin and darkness. In great mercy “He restoreth our soul;” but the journey home is sad and sorrowful, and we have lost much of good and gained bitter experience and painful memories. (b)
IV. That such sin will be followed by new efforts on the part of good men.
The Nazarite who had unintentionally incurred defilement began again the term of separation which he had vowed unto the Lord. “And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation.” The godly man may fall into sin, but he will not continue therein. He will “remember from whence he has fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand” “A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall I shall arise; when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me.” “There are ever,” says Archbishop Trench, “goads in the recollection of a better and a nobler past, goading him who has taken up with meaner things and lower, and urging him to reclaim and recover what he has lost; as, to take an extreme instance, it is the Prodigal’s recollection of the bread enough and to spare in his father’s house, which makes the swine’s husks, and the famine even among them, so intolerable to him” (Luk_15:17; cf. Heb_10:32). And Robertson: “In the darkest, wildest, wanderings, a man to whom God has shown His love in Christ is conscious still of the better way. In the very gloom of his remorse, there is an instinctive turning back to God.”
Conclusion.
1. Let godly men watch and pray lest they be ensnared by temptation and fall into sin. “Be sober, be vigilant,” etc.
2. Let those who, in an unguarded hour, have fallen into sin be encouraged to return penitently unto God through Jesus Christ, “Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord,” etc. (Jer_3:12-15). “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God,” etc. (Hos_14:1-7).
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) “In the midst of life we are in death.” Ha is the interjection of laughter. Ah is an interjection of sorrow; the difference betwixt them is very small, consisting only in the transposition of what is no substantial letter, but a bare aspiration. How quickly, in one minute, in the very turning of a breath, is our mirth changed into mourning! Thus it was with upwards of seventy (mostly females) who were burned to death in the sudden conflagration of the theatre at Richmond, in Virginia. “Ah!” said the narrator of the dreadful catastrophe, “how little thought the fair one, whose curls were adjusted, whose garments, costly and elegant, were disposed so as to produce on the spectator the most impressive effect, that those curls were that same night to be crisped with the devouring flame, and those garments to be denied the service of a winding sheet!”—Gleanings.
I was meditating yesterday upon death, till I was amazed that it is almost the only subject which is never treated of in conversation further than as a mere uninteresting fact. Were any number of persons intending to embark for a distant, unknown country, of whom some might be called to-morrow, and all must be called soon, would they not, whenever they met as friends and fellow-travellers, be enquiring amongst themselves how each was provided for the journey; what accounts each had heard of the place; the terms of reception; what interest and hopes each had secured, what treasures remitted, what protection insured; and would they not excite each other to despatch what was yet possible to be done, and might to-morrow be irretrievably too late? I think it would sit pleasingly on the mind when a friend was vanished out of this visible world to have such conversations to reflect upon. What astonishing scenes are now opened to the minds of many with whom, a few months ago, we used familiarly and triflingly to converse; with whom we have wasted many an inestimable hour! What clear views have they now of those great and important truths, for which the foolish bustle of this world leaves scarcely any place in the immortal mind.—Talbot.
(b) A young man was for several months in a backsliding state, which manifested itself in the usual way—of conformity to a fashionable and unholy course of life, and a neglect of the ordinances and institutions of the house of God. During this time he called on a deacon of the church, who was a watchmaker, and asked him to repair his watch. “What is the difficulty with your watch?” said he “It has lost time lately,” said the young man. The deacon looked up to him with a steady and significant eye, and said, “Haven’t you lost time lately?” These few words brought the backslider to repentance, to the Church, and to duty.—Christian Treasury.
How a single sin tends to modify the history, to check the progress, and to impair the happiness and honour of even a child of God! This was eminently the case with Aaron and Moses. They had “spoken unadvisedly with their lips” at Massah and Meribah, and therefore God had “sworn in His wrath that they should not enter into His rest,” that, namely, of the earthly Canaan. One reason why God is more apt to punish His people on earth for sin is, that they are not to be punished for it hereafter. Hence, for the sake of justice and impartiality, He often inflicts upon them severe rebukes even here, while taking little cognizance, seemingly, of the sins of some of His enemies, for whom the wrath of the future is reserved. He forgives His people and yet He “takes vengeance on their inventions.” Thus Noah’s drunkenness was punished by Canaan’s contempt and Ham’s unnatural conduct. Thus David’s sin, in the matter of Uriah, was punished by the death of the child of guilt. Thus Lot’s sin, in choosing to dwell in Sodom, was punished by the vexation he met with there, and by the sins of his family. Thus Peter’s denial of his Master was punished by that look of Christ which sent a dart of remorse through his soul, and wrung from his eyes those bitter penitential tears. And thus Aaron and Moses, might be said, in a sense, to expiate their sins by a premature and public death. There can be little doubt that God still visits His “people’s faults with rods and their sins with chastisements;” now by permitting a remorse even greater than their iniquities had deserved; now by allowing their subjection to abuse and calumny fiercer than they are entitled to; now by hiding His countenance from them; now by visiting them with the loss of friends and other painful bereavement; now by breaking their own health, and abridging their days; and now by clouding their death-beds, and depriving them there of all sensible comfort and hope. Many a one wonders bow a great, sincere, and Christian man like Dr. Johnson, should have been so gloomy in his feelings, so terribly afraid of death, so void of peace and joy in believing; but his biographer, Boswell, has, with characteristic honesty and imprudence, explained one cause at least of this, by mentioning a certain sin which did easily beset the philosopher on even to old age, although he struggled against it energetically, and most bitterly deplored its power over him; and were the biographers of other sad-hearted Christians, whose dark diaries are printed, acting with the same downrightness, they might account for much that is at present mysterious in their misery. God will by no means “clear the guilty” even among His own people; and although all their sins are laid on Christ, and pardoned for His sake at last, it is quite consistent with this that they should be punished here. This dispensation is a merciful, as well as a just one. It tends to check men in courses that might otherwise become habitual and hopeless. And it shows what a fatherly interest God takes in His people, administering to them salutary discipline, and bringing them back to Him by the rod “If ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” How happy those who receive all their “evil things” here!—George Gilfillan, M.A.
THE OFFERING OF THE NAZARITE, OR THE SACRIFICE OF THE CONSECRATED
(Num_6:13-21)
In these verses we have the ceremonies to be observed by the Nazarite when the days of his separation were ended. “The directions as to the release from consecration are called ‘the law of the Nazarite’ (Num_6:13), because the idea of the Nazarite’s vows culminated in the sacrificial festival which terminated the consecration, and it was in this that it attained to its fullest manifestation.” In these ceremonies we discover illustrations of certain important truths of universal application; to these truths let us direct our attention.
I. That the lives even of the best of men in the present state are imperfect.
When the Nazarite had successfully fulfilled the days of his separation he could not approach God without a sin-offering. He was required to “offer one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish,” as an expiation for sins involuntarily committed during the period of consecration. This, though mentioned second in the text, was offered first. “Though he had fulfilled the vow of his separation without any pollution, yet he must bring a sacrifice for sin; for there is guilt insensibly contracted by the best of men, even in their best works—some good omitted, some ill admitted, which, if we were dealt with in strict justice, would be our ruin, and in consequence of which it is necessary for us to receive the atonement, and plead it as our righteousness before God.” “When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do.” When we have done our uttermost and best, we still need an interest in the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, (a)
II. That our services are acceptable to God only as we give ourselves to Him.
After the sin-offering, the Nazarite was to “offer unto the Lord one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering.” The burnt-offering was an acknowledgment of God’s sovereign claims upon the Nazarite, and a symbol of his surrender of himself, body and soul, to the Lord. So, also, the hair of his head, which had been worn in honour of God, he was to cut off at the door of the tabernacle, and put it into the altar fire which was under the sacrifice of the peace-offerings, thus offering up a portion of his own person in sacrifice to the Lord. The grand meaning and end of all sacrifice is the surrender of ourselves to God. Our most treasured possessions we must give to Him; we must worship Him with our best. Apart from this self-sacrifice all other sacrifices and services are worthless in the sight of God. The worth and efficacy of the death of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for sin consisted in the entire surrender of Himself to the will of God. And the grand object of that death as set forth by St. Paul on one occasion is, that every man should sacrifice himself to God. “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again.” “We are Christ’s ‘slaves.’ He purchased us, not to set us free and to make us our own masters, but that we might belong to Him. The rights of a master over a slave appeared to the Apostle to represent the rights of Christ over us … The slave has no personal independence. He has to do his master’s will. His master determines where he shall live and what he shall do. He works to increase, not his own wealth, but his master’s. He has to live for his master, not for himself. The renunciation of all personal objects in the presence of Christ is the precise characteristic of Christian living.” Without this self-renunciation all other services and sacrifices are vain in the sight of God. (b)
III. That all that is good both in ourselves and in our services is attributable to God.
The Nazarite was also required to “offer unto the Lord one ram without blemish for peace-offerings, and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat-offering and their drink-offerings.” By reference to Lev_7:11-12, it will be seen that this was offered “for a thanksgiving.” The Nazarite presented the sacrifice of peace-offerings unto the Lord as an expression of thankfulness to Him for the grace by which he had been enabled to fulfil his vow. Whatever of good there is in us is the result of Divine grace. All holy desires are quickened by Him. Every worthy resolution which we form He inspires within us by His Spirit. The strength for holy living, and diligent working, and patient suffering, He imparts. “Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above,” etc “By the grace of God I am what I am.” “For who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.”
IV. That the good man when he has complied with the express requirements of the Divine law will seek for other opportunities of expressing his devotion.
“This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed his offering unto the Lord for his separation, beside that which his hand shall get, according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation;” that is, says Keil and Del., “he had to offer the sacrifices previously mentioned on the ground of his consecration vow. Beyond that he was free to vow anything else according to his ability, to present other sacrificial gifts to the Lord for His sanctuary and His servants, which did not necessarily belong to the vow of the Nazarite, but were frequently added.” The fulfilment of even the largest requirements of the Divine law cannot exhaust the devotion of the truly godly soul. He who has truly given himself to the Lord can never give Him enough to satisfy his own desire; where he has given his utmost he would fain give more. “Love never puts its own name upon anything. Love has some object, must have some object, on whose shrine it lays its every possession. Love, warm, intelligent, growing Love, keeps back nothing from God. Its beaming eyes look upon every treasure with a view of ascertaining its proper relation to the King. Love has endless resources, because it has endless sacrifices. We make a grievous mistake when we say, ‘Such a man must be rich because he gives so much to the cause of God;’ he may not be rich in material possessions, but he must be rich in the spirit of self-sacrifice. He has a wealthy heart, and that explains the bounty which astonishes and confounds those who have a prince’s gold, but a beggar’s spirit.” (c)
V. That the good man through the sacrifices by which He approaches God has communion with Him.
Such seems to be the meaning symbolized in that part of the ceremonial for which directions are given in Num_6:19-20. We quote the note of Keil and Del.: “When this had been done the priest took the boiled shoulder of the ram, with an unleavened cake and wafer out of the basket, and placed these pieces in the hands of the Nazarite, and waved them before Jehovah. They then became the portion of the priest, in addition to the wave-breast and heave-leg which fell to the priest in the case of every peace-offering (Lev_7:32-34), to set forth the participation of the Lord in the sacrificial meal. But the fact that, in addition to these, the boiled shoulder was given up symbolically to the Lord through the process of waving, together with a cake and wafer, was intended to indicate that the table-fellowship with the Lord, shadowed forth in the sacrificial meal of the peace-offering, took place here in a higher degree; inasmuch as the Lord directed a portion of the Nazarite’s meal to be handed over to His representatives and servants for them to eat, that he might thus enjoy the blessedness of having fellowship with his God, in accordance with that condition of priestly sanctity into which the Nazarite had entered through the vow that he had made.” Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the good man may have the most intimate and blessed communion with God. “Jesus saith, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” “Through Him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,” etc. (Heb_10:19-22.) “Our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
Conclusion
1. Let us give ourselves unreservedly and heartily to God. “I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,” etc.
2. Let us seek through Christ. to realize close and constant communion with Him.
“I would commune with Thee, my God,
E’en to Thy seat I come;
I leave my joys, I leave my sine,
And seek in Thee my home.
I stand upon the mount of God,
With sunlight in my soul;
I hear the storms in vales beneath,
I hear the thunders roll;
But I am calm with Thee, my God,
Beneath these glorious skies;
And to the height of Thine abode,
Nor storms nor clouds can rise.
O this is life, and peace, and joy,
My God, to find Thee so—
Thy face to see, Thy voice to hear,
And all Thy love to know.”
—G. B. Bubier.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) When, because we have accomplished some little work, we count that we may straightway take our ease, and esteem our “Well done” as already gained, very profitable will be then the warning of the parable (Luk_17:7-10); the example of the hind, who having laboured all day in the field, resumes his labours in the house, and only looks to rest and refresh himself when his master has no further need of his service; good for us that, in the words of the son of Sirach, we learn to “wax old in our work” (Num_11:20), and, so long as we are here, to see in one task completed but a stepping-stone to another which shall be begun; ever as we have surmounted one hill of labour, perceiving a new one rising above it, and girding ourselves for the surmounting of that as well.Well for us, too, is it to know and to confess that we are not doing God a favour in serving Him, but He the highest favour to us in enabling us to this service; and that He, graciously accepting our work and rewarding it, does this solely out of the freedom and riches of His grace; adding to it a worth which of Itself it does not possess; that there is another footing, that namely of the parable, upon which He might have put all—yea, upon which, though He does not, yet we must evermore put it, so far as is necessary for subduing every motion of pride and vain-glory, every temptation to bring in God as our debtor—which we evermore are doing, or are on the point of doing.—Archbishop Trench.
There is an anecdote of the saintly and learned Archbishop Usher, not unfamiliar to religious readers, which is meant to illustrate his spiritual modesty. It relates bow a friend frequently urged him to write his thoughts on Sanctification, which at length he engaged to do; but, a considerable time elapsing, the performance of his promise was importunately claimed. The Archbishop replied to this purpose: “I have not written, and yet I cannot charge myself with a breach of promise, for I began to write; but when I came to treat of the new creature which God formeth by His own Spirit in every regenerate soul, I found so little of it wrought in myself that I could speak of it only as parrots, or by rote, but without the knowledge of what I might have expressed; and, therefore, I durst not presume to proceed any further upon it.” Upon this his friend stood amazed to hear such a confession from so grave, holy, and eminent a person. The Archbishop then added: “I must tell you, we do not well understand what Sanctification and the new creature are. It is no less than for a man to be brought to an entire resignation of his own will to the will of God; and to live in the offering up of his soul continually in the frames of love, as a whole burnt-offering to Christ; and ch, how many who profess Christianity are unacquainted, experimentally, with this work upon their souls!”—F. D. Huntington, D.D.
(b) It is very possible for Christian men to miss the real extent of the devotion to Himself which is claimed by our Lord, and which, throughout the New Testament, is assumed and implied as the true Christian life. A Christian man may consider that he is at liberty to determine for himself the objects for which he will live, provided he seeks those objects in ways which the ethics of the New Testament do not condemn. He may suppose, for instance, that if he likes he may determine to accumulate a hundred thousand pounds or a quarter of a million, and that the law of Christ simply requires him to carry on his business or profession in a just and honourable manner, and to give a fair proportion of his wealth to the relief of the poor, and the maintenance of various religious societies. Or he may suppose that having set his heart upon rising to a certain social rank, or winning a certain political position, he is quite at liberty to concentrate all his strength on this object, so long as there is nothing dishonest or ignoble in the means which he adopts to secure it. But if there be any truth at all in the Apostle’s description of us, if in any sense we are the “slaves” of Christ, there is obviously a fundamental mistake in this conception of the limits of our duty. Our first question must be whether Christ wants us to accumulate a hundred thousand pounds or a quarter of a million; and whether He wants us to win the social rank, or the political power which we have resolved to make our own. A master may often trust his servants to determine for themselves how they will get a certain work done, but whether the work shall be done at all or not, is a question which must in all cases be referred to his decision. And when we are choosing an object to live for—an object which it may take us many years to achieve—it certainly shows a curious conception of the kind of relationship in which we stand to Christ, to imagine that we need not consult Him about the end for which we are to live, though we must be careful to employ only those means which He approves. Our life, on this theory, is not given to Christ. We keep it for ourselves. We are not really His. We choose the objects to which it shall be devoted. The renunciation of self which He imperatively requires of us is altogether evaded. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of our life in such a sense that it is for Him to determine the objects for which our life shall be spent, as well as the way in which these objects shall be sought. We are in such a sense His servants, that we have no right to do any work but His. If we desire that He should say to us at last, “Well done, good and faithful servants,” it is clear that whatever we do must be done for Him.—R. W. Dale, M.A., D.D.
(c) David wanted to make an offering himself, wanted to give vent to the sorrow, dependence, and gratitude of his soul; and a costless sacrifice would not have met this want. It would have been useless to suggest that such a sacrifice would be as good as any other; in itself it might be, but not to him. He felt that the occasion demanded something more, that something more was due both to God and to himself: the offering must be the fruit and form of deep and holy emotions, and to give a gift would be to mock rather than to manifest these emotions. An illustration may be taken from some of the old sacred buildings. You will find them “finished with the most circumstantial elegance and minuteness in those concealed portions which are excluded from public view, and which can only be inspected by laborious climbing or groping,” a fact explained by saying, “that the whole carving and execution was considered as an act of solemn worship and adoration, in which the artist offered up his best faculties to the praise of the Creator.” These men of “the dark ages,” as we love in the pride of our compassion to call them, had in this a true and grand idea: what would they say of our veneered and gilded modern life, in which everything is for show and nothing from reality, everything for a purpose and nothing from a principle? As these men builded, so David sacrificed. They builds not for man, and hence the secret and distant parts of their work were just as accurately conceived and finely finished as those exposed to the public gaze; their object was not to do something as cheaply and easily as possible, but something as well as possible; they wished to raise structures worthy of the Lord; they had a zeal for His glory and the glory of His worship which spurned meanness and imperfection however hidden; and the same spirit in David rendered needful to him what was needless in itself, and made it “more blessed to give” an offering of his own than one received from Araunah.
It is the end and essence of all religion to turn the mind from self to God; to give it absorbing views of the Divine beauty and glory; to fill it with Divine love and zeal; to make it feel honoured in honouring God, blessed in blessing Him; to make it feel that nothing is good enough or great enough for Him; and when the mind is thus affected and thus possessed, it will understand and share the spirit of David’s resolve, net to offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord God of that which doth cost nothing.—A. J. Morris.
THE NAZARITE
(Num_6:21)
“This is the law of the Nazarite.”
Here a new ordinance appears. Israel’s whole race was severed from the world. But the wide circumference was girdle to a narrower circle. Where all were separate, the Nazarites occupied special separation. They bound themselves by voluntary vows. The vow might be the act of men weighed down by consciousness of sin, appalled by sight of inborn evil, or penitent by grievous falls. It might be gratitude for signal mercies. It might be zeal to arouse others to think more of God. The Nazarites’ motives are unknown. But Nazarite rules are rigidly prescribed.
I. No juice of grape, no produce of the vine, from kernel unto husk, may touch the consecrated lips.
Believer, this principle is broad and deep. You openly avow that you are not your own. Your body, spirit, mind, and soul, are purchased by redeeming blood. They all are bound a living sacrifice to the one altar—Christ. Hence you must keep them pure, clean, bright, strong, vigorous for His work. They should stand as servants, with loins girt, ready at all times to discharge His will. Then sedulously flee whatever may tend to weaken the firm energy, or to stir up the sleeping brood of sensual and ungodly lusts.
II. No razor approaches the Nazarite’s hair. His flowing locks openly announce his separate state.
The dedication must not be a secret act, known only to the conscience and the Lord. Religion is not for the closet or the knees alone. It is not a lily, growing only in the shade. It must be conspicuous, as locks pendant from the head. Like the standard, it must proclaim the country to which the ship belongs. Pure religion shines as the sun, without one cloud. Thus others profit by its rays.
III. He must avoid all contact with the dead. (Num_6:6-7.)
Wherefore is death to be thus shunned? It is the penalty of sin. Therefore it is emblem of what holy men should holily abhor. Life, too, is God’s inseparable essence. Therefore, to intermix with death, denotes a separation from God. He who is Christ’s must flee the touch of everything allied to sin. The Spirit’s temple must be pure. Believer, rigidly apply this maxim. It drives you from the contagion of ungodly scenes. How many crowds are nothing but a crowded charnel house! How many books are deathful! This rule brands many a pulpit as a plague-spot. A lifeless teacher often guides in paths of death. Here, too, we see the misery of those who by dead works expect to buy soul-life. All works are dead which grow not on the stem of faith. How can they purchase life?
But no precautionary care can always keep men from the dying scene. Death has an unrestricted range. Thus the most watchful Nazarite might most unwillingly stand by the dead. If so, pollution has polluted him; his vow is broken. Therefore, atonement must be made. He is required to place a whole burnt offering on the blazing altar. He must then add a sacrifice for sin. Moreover, as a debtor, he must buy remission by a trespass-offering. Thus the chief types which shadowed out Christ’s blood must all be brought. This is not all. The former period of his Nazarate is cancelled; he must commence afresh his dedicated walk. Beware of sudden evil. Satan is a lurking foe; where least suspected, nets are spread. But there is hope for suddenly-contracted guilt. There is a Saviour waiting to obliterate; there is no stain which He removes not. Pardon found must be the starting-point of new devotedness. The cleansed hands fight with more vigour.
But what if deliberate transgression be indulged? The ordinance is silent here, and thus warns solemnly. Where shall he turn who turns presumptuously from God? Grieve not the Spirit’s gentle mind.
The Nazarite continued only for a fixed time; but grand solemnities attested the completion of this hallowed state. No rite is absent which confesses need of remission, and trust in reconciling blood. (Num_6:13-21.) What is the purport of this multitude of rites? They all seek expiation. They graphically show that holiest deeds of holiest men can only find acceptance through the dying Jesus. Believer, is not this the conscious feeling of your humbled soul? Behold the cross. There is your only help; cleanse there the stains of your most holy hours. Live under vows, as a strict Nazarite; but wrestle for forgiveness as a sad short-comer.—Henry Law, D.D.
THE PRIESTLY BLESSING
(Num_6:22-27)
“The spiritual character of the congregation of Israel culminated in the blessing with which the priests were to bless the people. The directions as to this blessing, therefore, impressed the seal of perfection upon the whole order and organization of the people of God, inasmuch as Israel was first truly formed into a congregation of Jehovah by the fact that God not only bestowed His blessing upon it, but placed the communication of this blessing in the hands of the priests, the chosen and constant mediators of the blessings of His grace, and imposed it upon them as one portion of their official duty. The blessing which the priests were to impart to the people, consisted of a triple blessing of two members each, which stood related to each other thus. The second in each case contained a special application of the first to the people, and the three gradations un-folded the substance of the blessing step by step with ever-increasing emphasis.”—Keil and Del.
Let us notice—
I. The Divine Direction.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel.” It was the duty of the priests ministerially to bless the people by prayer to God on their behalf; they were to entreat Him to bless them. But in this place they are commanded to pronounce His blessing upon them: speaking in His name, and as His representative, they were to declare the people blessed. The blessing which is pronounced in accordance with the Divine direction cannot be a mere form; it must accord with reality. The command to pronounce the blessing may be regarded as an assurance that, when it was pronounced, the blessing itself would be given. The command to the priest to pronounce the blessing is equivalent to the promise of God to bestow that blessing. The Christian minister is required both to pray for the blessing of God upon the people of His charge, and with confidence to pronounce that blessing upon all who sincerely seek God.
II. The Divine Benediction.
“Saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”
Let us notice here—
1. The significant form of the Benediction.
(1) The triple use of the sacred Name is significant. “The Priestly Blessing prescribed for ritual usage in the Book of Numbers,” says Canon Liddon, “is spoken of as putting the Name of God, that is to say, a symbol unveiling His nature upon the children of Israel. Here, then, we discover a distinct limit to the number of the Persons Who are internal to the Unity of God. The priest is to repeat the Most Holy Name Three times. The Hebrew accentuation, whatever be its date, shows that the Jews themselves saw in this repetition the declaration of a mystery in the Divine Nature. Unless such a repetition had been designed to secure the assertion of some important truth, a single mention of the Sacred Name would have been natural in a system, the object of which was to impress belief in the Divine Unity upon an entire people. This significant repetition, suggesting, without distinctly asserting, a Trinity in the Being of God, did its work in the mind of Israel.” The same thing has been argued from a consideration of the several members of the Benediction. Thus Richard Watson says, “If the three members of this form of benediction be attentively considered, they will be found to agree respectively with the three Persons taken in the usual order of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father is the Author of blessing and preservation; illumination and grace are from the Son; illumination and peace from the Spirit, the Teacher of truth, and the Comforter.” And while in the triple mention of the sacred Name and the threefold blessing, we have suggestions of the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, in the great assurance, “I will bless them,” we have a revelation of the Divine Unity—that God is One.
(2) The use of the singular number in reference to the subjects of the blessing is significant. “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee,” etc. Six times we have the pronoun in the singular number—“thee.” According to the Speaker’s Comm., the singular number indicates that the blessing is conferred on Israel collectively. May we not view it also as indicating the regard of God for the individual? “If we take the law to ourselves, we may take the blessing to ourselves, as if our names were inserted.” So the Christian believer may say, “The son of God loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
2. The Divine fulness of the Benediction. “As the threefold repetition of a word or sentence serves to express the thought as strongly as possible (cf. Jer_7:4; Jer_22:29), the triple blessing expressed in the most unconditional manner the thought, that God would bestow upon His congregation the whole fulness of the blessing enfolded in His Divine Being which was manifested as Jehovah.” Man’s need of God’s blessing is implied. That need arises from his condition as a creature dependent on God for “life, and breath, and all things;” and as a sinful creature, who merits no good from God. Apart from the blessing of God man is utterly undone. First, the blessing of God in general is pronounced, “The Lord bless thee;” and then that blessing is pronounced in some of its particular forms (a). The second clause in each verse of the Benediction defines more closely the general tenor of the preceding one. The blessing includes—
(1) The preservation of God. “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee.” Danger is implied. We are weak, inexperienced, prone to sin, exposed to temptation. God is our only sufficient and all-sufficient Guardian. What subtlety can surprise Him who is infinite in intelligence? What strength can stand against Omnipotence? “Kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation” (b).
(2) The favour of God. “The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.” When the Divine face is dark with frowns, distress and death ensue; when it is bright with favours, life and joy flow to man. “They perish at the rebuke of Thy countenance.” “Cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.” There seems to be an allusion to the shining of the sun. It gives life, light, heat, beauty, power, joy. “In His favour is life.” “The light of the Divine countenance is the sum of all delight.” (See our notes on Psa_80:3; Hom. Comm. on, Psalms, pp. 466–468).
(3) The peace of God. “The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” שָלו̇ם peace, “the sum of all the good which God sets, prepares, or establishes for His people.” M. Henry: “Peace, including all that good which goes to make up a complete happiness.” This great blessing is viewed as flowing from the gracious regard of God for man. Pardon, preservation, peace, an unspeakable wealth of blessing flows to man from the sovereign favour of our gracious God.
III. The Divine Ratification.
“And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” The Benediction was not to be the mere utterance of a pious wish; but God would give effect to it. The people were to be blessed in the Sacred Name, and as the people of God; and God promises to make good the blessing pronounced by the priests. “A Divine blessing goes along with Divine institutions, and puts virtue and efficacy into them.” God will certainly bless His own ordinances unto all those who believe.
Conclusion.
Let us firmly believe in the great willingness of God to bless us, and let us heartily seek for “the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ.”
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) When we ask God’s blessing, we pray that first He would bless us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We pray that He would bless us with the pardon of every sin, with the healing of every moral disease, with fitness for the world to come, with victory over the trials of the world that now is. We pray that He would stamp upon our hearts that Divine and inexhaustible blessing which will turn our trials into elements of sanctification, our griefs and our tears into a ministry of grace and progress, and education for glory; and all the assaults of Satan and the obstructions of sin into means of ripening and maturing us as the sons of God for a kingdom that fadeth not away. It is God’s blessing laid upon the heart within that alters to a Christian the whole world without. If the world were now to be turned into Paradise by God’s breath coming over it again,—yet, if unconverted men were left to tread that Paradise, they would soon reduce it to the desert, polluting, blasting, and destroying all. No outer change for the better will ever do without an inner one. There must not only be a pure and beautiful Paradise, but there must be a holy man and a holy woman to live in it; and it would be in vain that the millennium were to burst upon our world if we had not first a little millennium within to melt into the great millennium without, making the outer world and the inner world in harmony, at peace with God, and therefore at peace with one another. Our constant idea is, that what man wants is something done to his outer circumstances; the real and the Divine one is that something should be done for man in his inner heart. Man is sick and dying; it will be of very little, or of very transient use to change his bed; what he wants is to be eured of his disease. The great mischief is, not what sin has done to the outer world, but what sin has done to the inner world; and if the inner world can be made right, then all the outer will seem to be altered. If you go forth with a sad, a grieved, and a bruised spirit into the loveliest scenes of nature, they will all lose their charms to you. To a man who is sorrowful, his own fireside will only reflect sorrow; to a heart that is ill at ease, the fairest landscape will communicate no ecstasy. But on the other hand, let a man’s heart be overflowing with joy—let the first light of Eden that is to be, shine into his mind, and the very desert itself to that man’s eye will grow beautiful and the blackest scenes of the world will shine bright, and all nature will reflect a joy that is first in his own heart, and repeats itself by a law as beneficent as it is true, wherever he sets his foot, or in whatever path of the world he walks. What we need therefore is, first the blessing pronounced on the heart, and then we shall hear it in multiplying echoes, and reflected in sweet music from every point of the horizon around and without us.—John Cumming, D.D.
(b) Christians are kept by the supreme love of their omnipotent Saviour (Joh_10:28-29; Jud_1:1). The Lord Jesus not only redeemed His people; He is at this hour interceding for them; and His intercession keeps the saints. As Peter was kept (Luk_22:31) by the Saviour’s mediation, so all the good of all lands, in every age, are supported in temptation and brought through to the praise and glory of God. Sublime is the realization of the thought that our LIVING AND DIVINE LORD is standing before the Throne promoting the well-being of His struggling and oftentimes disspirited Church. He knows that we are still in the wilderness as “strangers and pilgrims”—still exposed to the attacks of a relentless antagonist—and still possessors of a depraved nature; hence. He “ever liveth to make intercession “for His Church. Would it not comfort our hearts in seasons of distress to ponder the fact of our Saviour’s intercession? No longer would we be oppressed with a sense of loneliness, for no spirit can be desolate for which the Son of God is interceding. Am I addressing a faint-hearted disciple of the Lord—one who is ever on the stormy lake of Galilee? Cheer thee! though human sympathy may flow scantily, Divine sympathy is unlimited in abundance. The Saviour, though unseen, is not inaccessible; and though no longer on the CROSS, He stands as the great High priest in the Holy of Holies. He will “keep” His people as the apple of His eye. He has “all power” to curb the rage of the whirlwind, and to pacify the roar of the storm, and to bring His Israel to their “desired haven”! “Kept by the power of God.” What more can we need to assure our hearts and to transfuse them with peace? “The power of God “is the stay of the universe—it is the hope of all creation animate and inanimate. Blessed God! they are well kept whom Thou keepest; do Thou in Thy abounding goodness comfort our hearts with the assurance that Thou wilt keep us unto the end! We cannot keep ourselves: we are blind and weak, and ignorant, but Thou art full of help; teach us, therefore, by Thy Spirit, to feel that “our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”—Jos. Parker, D.D.
THE PREACHER’S BLESSING; OR THE HAPPY NEW YEAR
(Num_6:22-26)
New Year’s Day so seldom falls on a Sunday, that, when it does, it would be a pity to let it slip, without wishing you all a happy new year, according to the good old English custom. But the world’s notion of happiness, and the Gospel notion of happiness, are very different; and therefore the world’s wishes for your happiness, and the preacher’s wishes for your happiness must be very different also. The world’s good wishes are like itself, worldly: they look chiefly to the body: they reach not beyond earth, and the things of earth. Whereas the good wishes of the preacher are chiefly for your souls: he looks, and by his office is bound to look, first to the one thing needful; his desires for your welfare are guided by the Gospel, and, like that, would raise you up to heaven. Even with regard to this world, the preacher knows full well, that the greatest happiness we can any of us enjoy is a peaceful mind, a quiet conscience, the feeling that God is reconciled to us, and loves us, and cares for us, and watches over us, and will so order and arrange whatever may befall us, that all things shall work together for our good. These are the very best gifts which any man can have in this life; and they are all contained in the text. Therefore, to every one of you I say, “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee,” etc. But let us look at the text a little in detail; and let us keep in mind that this solemn blessing was of God’s own appointment; so that we may expect to find mention of all those things which He knows to be best for His people.
“The Lord bless thee”! that is, the Lord give thee every good gift, and pour down on thee in due abundance whatever is wholesome and profitable, for thy soul first, and also for thy body. “The Lord keep thee!” that is, the Lord watch over thee for good, and shield thee from every kind of evil.
“The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.” You all know the difference of feel between a sunshiny and a cloudy day. The real heat may be the same—nay, the cloudy may be warmer than the sunshiny—for we often have bright sunshine in the clear frosty days of winter, and heavy clouds in the middle of summer. But though the real heat may be the same—though the thermometer may tell us that the cloudy day is the warmer of the two—yet to our feelings it may be quite the contrary. There is something so enlivening in the sun, that I have often known persons come in from a walk on a bright winter’s day, and speak of it as very pleasant; while the same persons on a damp, cloudy evening in July, would be the first to shiver, and to wish for a fire. Now, the same difference does it make to a man’s soul, whether God’s face is shining on him or no. Let God’s face shine on the soul, it walks in the brightest sunshine; let God veil His face and cloud it over, the soul feels chilled and is discomforted. (Psa_30:7.) Do we not see many a man disquieted and ill at ease in the midst of riches and luxuries; while his poor neighbour, who lives in a sorry hovel, may look always cheerful and contented? What is this difference owing to? Not to the health and strength of the poor man; for he may be old, and often a sufferer from cold and wet, and he cannot afford to buy himself the little comforts suited to his years and infirmities. The rich man, on the other hand, may still be young; his disease, if it can be called one, is more of the mind than of the body; he can consult the best physicians; he can travel from place to place in search of pleasure; he is not forced to deny himself any one earthly thing that may tend to his ease and enjoyment. Yet with all this, in spite of his youth and riches, in spite of his having no outward ailment, and possessing every comfort and luxury that heart could wish for, he may be always growling and grumbling; while the dweller in the old hovel, with the pinching frost of poverty and age, and sometimes sickness to boot, sharp upon him, may be ever making the best of his condition, and finding out something in it to thank God for. What, then, is this difference owing to? The cause is simply this, that the poor man has led a Christian life, or at least has turned to God in earnest, and repented of his sins betimes; and so God has allowed His face to shine upon him and to cheer him; while his rich neighbour has been led astray by the deceitfulness of riches, and has been so taken up with his pleasures, or with the cares which riches bring with them, that he could not spare time to think about God. He has turned his face away from God; therefore God has turned away His face from him, and left him in clouds and heaviness. Oh, that you might but know and feel the joy and gladness which the light of God’s face can shed on the soul of the Christian!
“The Lord be gracious to thee!” that is, the Lord receive thy prayers, as a kind and merciful king hearkens to the petitions of his subjects (comp. Exo_22:27; Neh_9:17; Jon_4:2; Psa_77:7-9). To pray, then, that God will be gracious to His people, is to pray that He will listen to your supplications, and grant your requests, that He will be slow to mark what you have done amiss, and ready to take you into favour when you forsake your sins and cry to Him for pardon.
“The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee!” that is, the Lord show forth His favour and love toward you. We may suppose this expression taken from a king sitting on his throne, and looking with eyes of such goodwill on the petitioners who come before him that the by-standers perceive, and the petitioners themselves feel, that he is their friend: they feel that they have the happiness of being esteemed and loved by him, and that they can reckon with certainty on his protection. To be countenanced thus by the King of kings is the highest privilege a son of Adam can enjoy. If the king had looked favourably upon us, we should expect to receive some honour or preferment; or at least we should feel certain that, so far as he could hinder, he would not suffer anyone to hurt us. So is it with those who have God’s countenance, but in a far, far higher degree. For the king, great as he is, is only a man. His power is cut short in a thousand ways, and, at the best, can only follow us to the grave. But God is the King of kings: His power has no bounds, except His own wisdom and goodness and will: in the grave, where human rule is at an end, His rule and sovereignty are doubled, etc.
“The Lord give thee peace!” Peace is the fruit of God’s favour. “The effect of righteousness is peace.” If we know we are forgiven for Christ’s sake, we are at peace. If, out of gratitude and love to our Master and Saviour, we are living in obedience to His holy laws, then too we have every ground and reason to be at peace (1Pe_3:13).
There is a false peace, a peace arising out of recklessness and carelessness, and the never thinking about God. Would you say that Samson was at peace when he lay sleeping in the lap of Delilah? So dangerous, so deadly is the false security of the self-righteous and the careless. Rouse yourselves, I beseech you, from such fatal slumbers, if any of you have hitherto been sinking beneath them. Awake! behold, the face of the Lord does not shine, but frown upon you. Let this be the first day of a new year of godly fear and hope.
The Lord bless you this year, and keep you! etc.—A. W. Hare, A.M.
GOD WILL BLESS HIS OWN ORDINANCES
(Num_6:23-27)
The exercise of benevolence is that which every child of God should cultivate to the uttermost; but ministers above all should consider it as the distinguishing badge of their office; they are compelled indeed sometimes to “use sharpness;” but whether they rebuke, or whether they exhort, they should be actuated by nothing but a principle of love. Under the Law it was a very important part of the priestly office to bless the people, and God prescribed a form of words to be used by Aaron and his sons in the discharge of that duty. Nor can any words better express the scope and end of the Christian ministry. If the people be brought to receive abundant communications of grace and peace, and to surrender up themselves entirely to God, a minister can desire nothing more in this world; his labours are well repaid. To promote this blessed end, we shall—
I. Explain the words before us.
God is here making known His will to Moses, and directing him what orders to give to Aaron and his sons respecting the execution of their priestly office; and there are two duties which He assigns to them:—
1. To bless the people in God’s name. This was repeatedly declared to be their office (Deu_21:5), and the constant practice of the Apostles shows that it was to be continued under the Christian dispensation. In conformity to their example, the Christian Church has universally retained the custom of closing the service with a pastoral benediction. We are not indeed to suppose that ministers can, by any power or authority of their own, convey a blessing (Act_3:12); they can neither select the persons who shall be blessed, nor fix the time, the manner, or the degree in which any shall receive a blessing; but, as stewards of the mysteries of God, they dispense the bread of life, assuredly expecting that their Divine Master will give a salutary effect to the ordinances of His own appointment. The direction in the text was confirmed with an express promise, that what they spake on earth should be ratified in heaven; and every faithful minister may take encouragement from it in the discharge of his own duty, and may consider God as saying to him. Bless thou the congregation, “and I will bless them” (Luk_10:5-6; Joh_20:23).
2. To claim the people as God’s property. To “put the name of God upon them” is to challenge them as His portion, the lot of His inheritance (Deu_32:9). This every minister must do in most authoritative terms; and not only claim them as His property, but excite them with all earnestness to surrender up themselves to His service. Nor shall their exhortations be lost, for God will accompany them “with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven;” and the people, constrained by the Divine impulse, shall say, “I am the Lord’s” (Isa_44:3-5). Moreover, in their intercession for the people, they are also to urge this plea with God on their behalf (Jer_14:9; Dan_9:17-19). Thus are they to strengthen the connection between God and them, and to promote that fellowship with God, which is the end, as well as the means, of all spiritual communications.
II. Notice some truths contained in them.
Amidst the many profitable observations that may be deduced from the text there are some deserving of peculiar attention.
1. The priests under the Law, while they blessed the people, typically represented the office of Christ Himself. Christ as our great High Priest performs every part of the priestly office; and it is remarkable that He was in the very act of blessing His disciples when He was taken up from them into heaven (Luk_24:50-51). Nor did He then cease, but rather began, as it were, to execute that office, which He has been fulfilling from that time to the present hour. St. Peter, preaching afterwards to a vast concourse of people, declared to them that to bless them was the great end for which Jesus had ascended, and that He was ready, both as a Prince and a Saviour, to give them repentance and remission of sins (Act_3:26; Act_5:31). Let us then conceive the Lord Jesus standing now in the midst of us, and, with uplifted hands, pronouncing the benediction in the text; is there one amongst us that would not cordially add, “Amen, Amen”? Nor let this be thought a vain and fanciful idea, since He has promised to be wherever two or three are gathered together in His name, and that too for the very purpose which is here expressed. (Compare Mat_18:20, with Exo_20:24.)
2. The ministers are used as instruments to convey blessings; God Himself is the only Author and Giver of them. The very words which the priests were commanded to use, directed the attention of all to God Himself; nor could the frequent repetition of Jehovah’s name fail to impress the most careless auditor with a conviction, that the blessing could come from God alone. We ought indeed to reverence God’s ministers as the authorised dispensers of His blessings (1Th_5:13); but we must look for the blessings themselves to God alone; and endeavour to exercise faith on the Father as the Fountain of them, on Christ as the Channel in which they flow, and on the Holy Spirit as the Agent by whose Divine energy they are imparted to the soul (Rev_1:4-5). At the same time we should remember the obligations which these mercies lay us under to devote ourselves entirely to the service of our gracious and adorable Benefactor.
3. However weak the ordinances be in themselves, yet shall they, if attended in faith, be available for our greatest good. Nothing can be conceived more simple in itself than a priestly benediction; yet, most undoubtedly it brought down many blessings upon the people. And can we suppose that God will put less honour upon His ordinances under the Gospel dispensation? Shall not “grace, mercy and peace flow down from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ,” in answer to the fervent intercessions of His ministers? (2Ti_1:2). Though ministers be but earthen vessels, yet shall they impart unto the people the richest treasures (2Co_4:7). Their word shall not be in vain, but shall accomplish God’s good pleasure, etc. (Isa_55:10-11). Let not then the benediction be so often slighted, as though it were only a signal to depart: but while it is delivered with solemnity in the name of God, let every heart be expanded to receive the benefit. Let every one consider himself in particular as the person addressed (“thee” was repeated six times); and may the experience of all attest at this time that God is ready to “grant us above all that we can ask or think.”—C. Simeon, M.A.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Law of the Nazirite. The Priestly Benediction
The Law of the Nazirite. The Priestly Benediction
1-21. The Law of the Nazirite.
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A Nazirite (from Heb. nazir, 'to separate') is a man or woman 'separated,' i.e consecrated to Jehovah by means of a special vow of abstinence. The word has no connexion with 'Nazarene,' which means an inhabitant of Nazareth. During the period of his vow the Nazirite comes under a threefold obligation, (1) to abstain strictly from wine and all products of the vine, whether intoxicating or not (Num_6:3-4); (2) to let his hair grow (Num_6:5); and (3) to avoid all ceremonial defilement through contact with a dead body, even that of a near relative (Num_6:7). If he is accidentally defiled by the sudden death of any one beside him, he must perform rites of purification, and reconsecrate himself, counting as null whatever part of the period of the original vow may have elapsed (Num_6:9-12). At the expiration of his vow he presents certain sacrifices (Num_6:13-17), shaves his head and offers his hair upon the altar, and returns to ordinary life (Num_6:18-21). The Nazirite's vow may either be for a limited period, which is the case supposed in this passage, or for life. The antiquity of the rite is shown by what is related of Samson (Jdg_13:5), and of Samuel (1Sa_1:11), who are usually regarded as lifelong Nazirites. It is also referred to in Amo_2:12. The Nazirite was not a hermit, but a very active devotee of Jehovah. He was very jealous for the Lord God of Israel, and while the vow of consecration and abstinence may sometimes have been undertaken for private and personal reasons, as e.g. to obtain the fulfilment of a desire, it was in many cases the expression of a religious and patriotic zeal, which sought to protect the primitive simplicity of Israel from the corrupting and enervating influences of heathen civilisations and religions. In this respect the Nazirites had much in common with the prophets, with whom they are classed in Amo_2:11-12, as being 'raised up' by Jehovah Himself. In NT; references to the Nazirite vow are supposed to be found in Luk_1:15 (John the Baptist), in Act_18:18 (St. Paul), and Act_21:24.
5. See on Lev_19:27.
7. The consecration of his] RV 'his separation unto.'
9. Die.. by him] i.e. beside him. Head of his consecration] his unshorn locks were the visible sign of his vow of consecration.
14, 15. The burnt offering betokened his entire dedication to God; the sin offering was presented for the sins he may have committed unwittingly during the period of his consecration; and the peace offering was an expression of his thankfulness for having been able to complete his vow. On the meaning of these sacrifices, see Leviticus 1, 3, 4.
18. This denotes the completion of his vow: cp. Act_18:18.
21. Beside that that his hand shall get] RV 'beside that which he is able to get,' i.e. in addition to any other offerings which it may be in his power to make.
22-26. The Priestly Benediction. It is part of the duty of the priests to bless the people in the name of Jehovah: see Deu_10:8; Deu_21:5, and see on Lev_9:22, Lev_9:23. The priestly benediction consists of three double clauses of increasing length and intensity, in each of which the sacred name is used. Cp. the threefold Christian benediction in 2Co_13:14. Psalms 67 is evidently modelled on this benediction; cp. also Psa_4:6; Psa_29:11; Psa_31:16; Psa_80:3, Psa_80:7, Psa_80:19;
25. Make his face shine] show favour.
26. Lift up his countenance] take gracious notice of him.
27. Put my name upon] This may mean simply to pronounce Jehovah's name over the people in blessing and thus mark them as His by covenant relation, as the Christian minister does when he baptises 'into the name of Christ.' But in OT. the 'name of Jehovah' is His revealed character; see on Exo_3:13. So that to 'put Jehovah's name' upon a person is to declare to him the presence and nature of Jehovah. The priest does this when he blesses the people. He gives them the assurance of Jehovah's presence and favour.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1–2 Moses, saying
Moses, saying
There is a beautiful moral order in Numbers 6-7; separation, Num 6:1-12, worship, Num 6:13-21, blessing, Num 6:22-27 service, Num 7:1-89. See Heb 13:12-16.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 The Nazarite
CHAPTER 6
The Nazarite
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1. The vow of a Nazarite (Num 6:1-8)
2. The defilement of the Nazarite (Num 6:9-12)
3. The law of the Nazarite (Num 6:15-21)
4. The blessing of Aaron and his sons (Num 6:22-27)
The word Nazarite means, one who is separated. The vow of the Nazarite meant separation unto Jehovah and separation in three things: 1. Separation from wine and strong drink, vinegar of wine, vinegar of strong drink, liquor of grapes, moist or dried grapes, from all that is made of the wine-tree, from the kernels even unto the husks. 2. His hair was to grow long and no razor was to come upon his head. 3. He was to be separated from the dead. This Nazarite vow was only for a certain period of time and not permanent. When it ended he shaved his head and drank wine.
This entire chapter concerning the Nazarite is of intense interest for it contains many helpful and most blessed lessons for us. It is needless to say that no more vows like the vow of the Nazarite can be made in the literal sense of the word, just as there is no longer a special class of priests among God’s people. A Nazarite was a separate one, a saint, and such are we in Christ Jesus. But while the grace of God has constituted us saints, the practical living out of our Nazariteship remains with us. It must be the matter of the willing heart, the heart, which, in devotion to the Lord, yields itself to Him. The wine, strong drink, and all which comes from the vine stands for earthly joys, for pleasures, for that which is pleasing to the old nature. The wine and strong drink stand typically for the intoxicating pleasures which this poor, lost world indulges in and which the god of this age so often uses to dull the heart and the spirituality of the saints. But there are other things mentioned, which in themselves are harmless, like the moist grapes and dried grapes. These represent also earthly joys of a harmless character, but which cannot give to the believer the joy in the Lord which His heart craves. Christ is to be our all in all, the saint does not need anything whatever of earthly joys to sustain him. Christ is sufficient. Asaph reveals the true Nazarite spirit, when He said, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none on earth that I desire beside Thee” (Psa 73:25). Paul in writing to the Philippians gives the expression of a Nazarite: “For me to live is Christ.” “And furthermore, I consider all things but loss for the sake of the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord; for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Php 3:8).
“Legality this is not. Legality is the spirit of self righteousness, or of slavish dread, never of love, or desire after Christ, or of expectation from Him, such as that of which we have been speaking. Carry these ever so far, they can never land you in that in the direction of which they do not even point, but away from it. He who speaks of himself as doing but one thing was neither a legalist nor an extremist. He was simply a man into whose heart, forever filling it, the glory of Christ had shined.
“Let us not confound this, however, with the spirit of asceticism that has peopled monasteries with men fleeing vainly from this world, or scattered through the desert the abodes of the recluse. Nor let us imagine as involved in it any ‘death to nature,’ in which what God has made or instituted is branded as if it were unclean. It is striking that just in these two epistles in which Christian position is most emphasized (Ephesians and Colossians) the duties of earthly relationships are most largely dwelt upon. The lilies of the field could be seen by Him who as Son of Man was here on earth for us arrayed in glory beyond all Solomon’s. His hands indeed had made them, and if not a sparrow fell to the ground without His Father, He could say, ‘I and My Father are one.’ Still as ever is it true that the Lord’s works are manifold, and in wisdom has He made them all: the earth is full of His riches; yea, and His works are sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
“But the Christian Nazarite is Christ’s: therefore in his pleasures, in his business, in his duties, Christ is before him, with him, over him. He has fellowship with the Father and the Son, and there is nothing for him outside this. Here is the principle which makes him of necessity a stranger to what they find pleasure in, who find none in Him. The world’s ‘vine of wine,’ as a whole, he is separate from” (F.W. Grant, Numerical Bible).
The long hair of the Nazarite is not difficult to interpret. 1Co 11:1-15 gives the key. “if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given her for a covering.” The long hair of the woman testifies of the authority under which she is put. The long hair of the Nazarite therefore showed that he had humbled himself, made of himself no reputation. He took the place of dependence and loneliness. He gave up his rights and became nothing. And this is the place of blessing and power. The Christian Nazarite in his practical separation to the Lord, loves the low place and delights to follow after Him who emptied Himself and stooped so low. The separation from the dead has the same meaning as in the previous chapter. May it please God to give the writer and every reader of these lines a deeper longing to live as a true Nazarite, separated unto the Lord.
The Nazarite vow ended. Our separation is only as long as we are in the wilderness. The time came when the Nazarite, having fulfilled his vow, drank wine. A time of joy is coming for the saints of God, when His words shall be fulfilled. “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Mat 26:29). Then in His presence, delivered completely from sin and an evil world, we shall have joy unending, and instead of the place of lowliness we shall be exalted and share His throne with Him. Oh! for a thousand lives to devote to the Lord Jesus Christ!
The blessing with which this chapter ends gives a precious revelation of the triune God. Three times the Name of Jehovah was put upon the children of Israel; the Father-God, who keeps; Jehovah the Son, who is gracious; Jehovah the Holy Spirit, who gives peace. And there are certain people who deny the triune God and claim that no such doctrine is found in the Bible! How great will be the blessing, when He comes the second time to bless His people and all creation!
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Nazarite Vows
The Nazarite Vows
v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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v. 2. Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When either man or woman, for the sex made no difference in the case of such a vow, the only restrictions being given in Chapter 30, shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord, to live as men and women devoted to the Lord, as a special expression of piety,
v. 3. he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, the latter being a very intoxicating liquor made from barley, dates, and honey, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, the fresh, sweet grape-juice, as it comes from the press, nor eat moist grapes, as they come from the vine, or dried, in the form of raisins.
v. 4. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine-tree, from the kernels even to the husk, the prohibition with reference to foods or drinks made from grapes being absolute, as pertaining to the sensual delights with which the Nazarite had nothing to do; he was to be as remote as possible from the spirit of drunkenness.
v. 5. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head, for the free-growing head of hair was to serve as the symbol of the proper enthusiasm in its steady strength; until the days be fulfilled in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, consecrated, set aside to the Lord, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow, the symbol of the higher, divine power of life.
v. 6. All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body, not become contaminated by contact with it.
v. 7. He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, being, in this respect, like the high priest. Lev 21:11, because the consecration of his God is upon his head. The prohibition of the greater, of course, included the less, and the Nazarite was under obligation to guard against every form of contamination.
v. 8. All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.
v. 9. And if any man die very suddenly by him, without premonition or previous warning, and he, the Nazarite, hath defiled the head of his consecration, his unshorn head being the diadem of his God, the visible sign of his consecrated condition, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it, for that was the day always chosen for purposes of purification.
v. 10. And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles or two young pigeons, as in the case of Levitical uncleanness, Lev 15:14, to the priest, to the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation;
v. 11. and the priest shall offer the one for a sin-offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, reestablish the right relation between the worshiper and Jehovah, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head the same day, consecrate it to the Lord for a second time, for unhindered growth.
v. 12. And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, begin his period of consecration anew, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass-offering, to absolve the worshiper from all guilt; but the days that were before shall be lost, shall not count for the fulfillment of the vow, because his separation was defiled. For a Christian there are no unusual periods of special sanctification, although we observe certain outward times of particular devotion to the Lord, but his whole life is devoted to the service of his heavenly Father and of his Savior, Jesus Christ.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v1 separates himself ... he is separate
separates himself ... he is separate
"To separate yourself to someone" means to "dedicate yourself" to that person. AT: "dedicates himself ... he dedicates himself" (See: Idiom)
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he must keep himself from
This idiom means that he must not eat or drink them. AT: "he must not consume" (See: Idiom)
vinegar made from wine
This can be stated in active form. AT: "vinegar that people make from wine" (See: Active or Passive)
vinegar
a drink produced when wine and other strong drinks ferment too long and become sour
or from strong drink
You can make clear the understood information. AT: "or vinegar that people make from strong drink" (See: Ellipsis)
raisins
dried grapes
he is separate to me
This can be stated in active form. AT: "he separates himself to me" (See: Active or Passive)
nothing that is made from grapes
This can be stated in active form. AT: "nothing that people make from grapes" (See: Active or Passive)
from the seeds to their skins
These two extremes are given to emphasize the entire grape may not be eaten. AT: "from any part of a grape" (See: Merism)
translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
people group
Israel
Nazirite
wine
strong drink
grape
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1–3 6:1-21 The voluntary Nazirite vow allowed men or women…
6:1-21 The voluntary Nazirite vow allowed men or women to set themselves apart for the Lord. There was considerable variation in how the Nazirite lifestyle was practiced in various periods of Hebrew history. Vows were taken very seriously in ancient times as a well-established means of expressing devotion or gratitude to God. This vow could be temporary or permanent; it involved refraining from alcoholic drinks, hair cutting, and contact with corpses. Nazirite restrictions gave members of non-Levitical tribes a way to enter into a more demanding and highly respected relationship with God. The Nazirite vow is probably best known because of Samson (Judg 13–16). See also 1 Sam 1:11; Jer 35; Acts 18:8; 21:23-26; cp. Luke 1:15.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.