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Our parasha for this week is Naso which means “lift up”. Parasha Naso covers Numbers 4:21–7:89 and concerns priestly duties, laws for dealing with an unfaithful wife, the Nazirite vow, the Aaronic blessing, and the consecration of the Tabernacle. This morning I plan to focus on the Nazirite Vow.
We find in chapter 6 the requirements to enter a Nazirite Vow. The term Nazirite itself comes from the Hebrew word Nazir meaning “consecrated” or “separated”. This special vow was taken by a person who wanted to be dedicated to the Lord. In a sense, they would begin to approach the dedication and holiness of the Priesthood for a time, usually a month. Therefore, this vow was made by someone who wanted to draw near to the Lord in a very personal way, going above and beyond the requirements of the Mosaic Covenant.
There were three requirements during a Nazarite Vow. First, you were required to abstain from all intoxicating liquors, and you were forbidden from eating or drinking any substance that contained any trace of grapes.
Second, you were forbidden from cutting the hair on your head during the vow. The final requirement was not to become impure through contact with the deceased. Even if a family member passed away a Nazarite was not to be involved in the burial.
Each requirement of the vow served a specific purpose. God’s Word is filled with examples of wine and grapes being used both in the positive and negative. But the Tanakh makes it clear that we are never to drink into a state of drunkenness. In the New Testament drunkenness is considered the exact opposite of being filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18; 1 Cor 6:10). Drunkenness being the opposite of being filled with the Holy Spirit helps explain the severe requirement that the Nazirite avoid all products of the vine. Alcohol can limit our ability to draw near to our Infinitely Holy Father and so it makes sense that those who would want to draw near to him in this special way should avoid this stumbling block.
The second requirement of the Nazirite was to abstain from cutting his or her hair during the duration of the vow.
We see in this passage that the length of the hair is associated with holiness. The long hair of the Nazirite would be an outward sign to others of the vow this person had entered.
The final requirement deals with not becoming defiled by being in the presence of corpses or graves. Even in the case of a family member dying, Nazirites were not to defile themselves. This is a re The Nazarite Vow was a vow of separation to the Lord, and we can see in all these requirements how they help the Nazirite separate himself or herself from the rest of the community and the clear, uncompromising requirements for drawing near to Adonai in this way.
When the vow was completed the Nazirite offered a Sin offering, Burnt offering, and Fellowship offering which included wine. They also had their hair shaved off and the consecrated hair of the vow was offered up in the fire to the Lord, the Possessor of true holiness. But without the Temple today it is impossible to complete a Nazirite Vow.
While we have a much greater way to draw close to the Lord through Messiah Yeshua, this vow still holds important lessons for those in the New Covenant, especially about being casual with our relationship to Adonai. We can learn these lessons, in part, through the life of Samson, a Nazirite from birth.
Samson was born in answer to the prayer of his mother to the Lord for a son, and she promised to dedicate him to the Lord from birth. Samson was known for his mighty strength, but in contrast to so-called demi gods of the other religions, his strength came from the Lord and through his vow of separation to Adonai.
During his life Samson violated the requirements of the Nazirite vow and allowed sin to tempt him in many ways. In Judges 14 we encounter him wandering through a vineyard as he meets with his first wife, a pagan Philistine woman. Despite the Torah and the plea of his parents Samson decides to marry her. In this chapter, we also have Samson eating honey from the carcass of a dead animal.
Samson threw a feast when he married this woman and it was customary for wine to be served as well. The Tanakh also records Samson sleeping with prostitutes and making impulsive oaths. We can see that Samson throughout his life gave into temptation and had a history of desiring things that he shouldn’t. This would eventually lead to his downfall when he married Delilah, who was most likely also a Philistine woman.
At this point in his life he had not completely violated his Nazirite vow. Eventually though his wife learned the secret of Samson’s strength and cut off the seven locks of his hair. Samson’s confidence in his strength was his undoing and he was imprisoned by the Philistines.
But despite Samson’s shortcomings, he was used to accomplish the Lord’s will in waging war against the Philistines. In fact, at the beginning of his life we are told his actions would be used for this purpose. But Samson did not attack the Philistines out of obedience to the Lord’s will, but out of revenge. Samson lived his life selfishly and very casually, doing what his own heart desired, not desiring to do the will of God.
At the end of his life, beaten and blinded, Samson realized his strength came from the Lord, we read in Judges 16:28: Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” In his death, the Lord granted his plea for one more burst of strength which brought a Philistine temple down around the heads of his enemies, killing 3,000 which was more than he had in his entire life.
Many of us today live our lives like Samson, casually going through life without truly being dedicated to anything more than our own wants and desires. Samson’s life seemed outwardly great, he had women, respect, and power. But, it was spiritually empty and eventually the arrogance that he was untouchable caught up with him. It’s also interesting to note that by the time of Yeshua the Nazarite vow had become so casual that according to the Rabbis’ it was used as a form of betting when making a promise to someone.
Each of us have the same choice Samson had. We can choose to become dedicated to the Lord, transferring our loyalties to Him and drawing close through Messiah Yeshua. Or we can choose to live a life of sinfulness, giving into our fallen nature and reaping the punishment it brings, in this life and the next. If you have not made this choice yet, I urge you to not wait until tragedy strikes you like it took for Samson.
As we conclude, the Lord used Samson’s sinfulness to accomplish His will, but Samson could have chosen to be a true servant of God and be blessed. Those of us who have been joined to Messiah Yeshua need to live our lives in a deliberate and not casual way. We need to have a level of separation in our own lives from the things that can so easily defile us. As followers of Yeshua we should chase after the Lord and not pleasure.
May the Lord enable each of us to be good stewards of all the blessings He has given us. Through the Holy Spirit may we be more like Yeshua and less like ourselves.