The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite (Numbers 6:1-2)

The Hebrew word referred to is נָזִיר nazir (Strong’s 5139) means pure; therefore, a Nazirite is one given in devotion, or one who is consecrated.  It is the principle of being separated or set aside for God’s exclusive use.

The vow came with parameters and conditions (Numbers 6:2-21) stipulating avoidance of:

• and abstaining from the fruit of grapevine, including raisins, juice, vinegar or wine.
• any other fermented drink
• the use of the razor on the head
• the dead

The vow could be for life or for a given period, and it was usually voluntary and crucially when concluded this was sanctified through sacrifice.

Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the period of their dedication is over. They are to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.  There they are to present their offerings to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, a ram without defect for a fellowship offering, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and a basket of bread made with the finest flour and without yeast – thick loaves with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves brushed with olive oil. (Numbers 6:13-15)

In addition, the Nazirite would shave their hair and place it in the altar fire.

Some children were dedicated before birth, so they are born within the vow, for instance, Samuel:

In her deep anguish, Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, ‘Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.’ (1 Samuel 1:10)

Others were anointed through divine intervention. Samson is arguably the most famous Nazirite, but it was the angel that announced his lifetime calling:

A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth.  The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, ‘You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.  Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.  You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.’ (Judges 13:2-5)

While this of the Mosaic covenant, Nazirites are not confined to the Old Testament – take John the Baptist.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.  When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.  He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.  He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.  And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ (Luke 1:11-17)

There are comparisons that testify that Samson is a forerunner for John the Baptist. Both of them:

• were miraculously born to barren mothers (a sign of God’s sovereignty, think also of Sarai/Sarah, Rachel, Rebekah and Hannah)
• both mothers were past natural child-bearing age
• both fathers were told their sons should abstain from fermented drink
• both sons would lead the disobedient away from evil
• both gave their lives as a sacrifice to God

Moreover, one, Samson, had a weakness with lust and was sexually immoral whilst the other, John, was put to death for pointing out the sexual sin of Herod. But in both cases, they met violent death as a result of their indulgence or exposure of sexual sin. And both played their part in the destruction of temples. Samson destroyed the temple of the Philistines, to whose god, Dagon, the Israelites had turned and been turned over to for forty years prior to Samson. While John the Baptist continually excoriated the priestly classes calling them ‘a brood of vipers’ (Matthew 3:7). It would fall to Jesus to prophesy the destruction of Herod’s Temple, the condemnation of its rulers and overseers began with John.

John the Baptist’s ministry ended and there was a sacrifice which he recognised, saying of the Lamb of God, ‘he must become greater; I must become less’ (John 3:30) but instead of the offspring of sheep, the sacrifice was at once human and divine, ie. Jesus.

 

The Old Testament serves to inform those living under the New Covenant of God’s wishes. The Nazirite principle is seen in the following passage:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

Followers redeemed in Christ and filled with his Spirit are similarly set apart for holiness, (see 2 Timothy 1:9, 1 Peter 1:15 and 2:9).

Paul himself seems to have entered into a Nazirite vow:

Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time…. before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. (Acts 18:18)

And Luke records James and elders of the church greeting Paul with these words to prove he was obedient to the Law (and therefore not teaching Jews to abandon their observance), in so doing it shows taking a Nazirite vow was still commonplace amongst Jews:

There are four men with us who have made a vow.  Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved.    (ibid 21:23-24)

Note also, Jesus abjures from drinking the fruit of the vine, but only in his resurrected form and only for a period:

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’ (Matthew 26:27-29)

Jesus does not a Nazirite vow, he is already pure; but inasmuch as Jesus is saying that he will abstain from feasting with wine until the fellowship is restored it harks back to the vow.

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches against the swearing of oaths:

Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfil to the Lord the oaths you have made.’  But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.  And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.  All you need to say is simply ‘Yes,’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:33-37)

Does God contradict himself in this?  Jesus expects people to make commitments and keep them, but not to bind them with unnecessary words. If the commitment is genuine then no pledge is needed, a simple statement of intent is all that is needed; if the commitment is not genuine, a half-hearted, then no amount of words can ensure the keeping thereof. In keeping with Jesus’ teaching in the extended sermon, he is concerned with the heart and with authentic Godly desire.

What then the Nazarite Vow? As always, the Old Testament and the Mosaic Law point forward to Christ and in Him the fulfillment of Scripture.  And the lesson for the follower of Christ is to seek holiness in sacrifice, thus the calling to be set apart.

Paul quotes Isaiah in pleading with the believers in Corinth:

‘Come out from them
  and be separate,
  says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
  and I will receive you.’  (2 Corinthians 6:17)

The challenge then set by Christ is to be set apart in behaviour whilst remaining in the world.  To ‘in the world and not of it’   Clearly this is no easy task and one that Jesus both recognised and petitioned his Father:

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.  Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.  (John 17:16-19)