A vow of a Nazarite.
The law of vows (with special reference to the Nazarite)
1. The principle of the vow is that God has placed earth’s good things at man’s disposal; and it is a becoming thing in him to give so much of it back to God (1Ch 29:14; 1 Chronicles 29:16; John 1:16). But once made, there was no option in the performance of the vow. No vow was better than a vow unpaid (Deuteronomy 23:21-22 : Ecclesiastes 5:4-6).
2. The subjects of vows were endless as a man’s possessions. They extended even to the person of himself or others over whom he might have control (Leviticus 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 man’s 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 (Numbers 6:3-4). As a similar regulation was made regarding the priests when in God’s service (Leviticus 10:9), the inference is that indulgence in strong drink specially unfits a man for God’s presence or indwelling.
2. He is to leave his hair unshorn (Numbers 6:5), obviously as a badge of his position. The meaning of the Nazarite’s long hair, i.e. his subjection to God, gives meaning to the woman’s long hair (1 Corinthians 11:10), viz. her subjection to man.
3. He must not come into contact with the dead (Numbers 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 (Judges 13:1-25.). In the case of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11), no mention is made of abstinence, and in the case of John Baptist (Luke 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 (Leviticus 10:9, &c.). He classes the Nazarite with the prophet (Amos 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 heart’s 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 1 Corinthians 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 cancer’s touch. They are the weed’s first seed.
2. 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 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 God’s most righteous wrath. It is a proof of innocence destroyed-of evil touched--of vengeance merited. It is abomination’s 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 Lord’s. 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 Lord’s. 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 (Numbers 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 Samson’s 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 Lord’s 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 1 Corinthians 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 Nazarite’s 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 soul’s 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 (Ephesians 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 (Romans 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 child’s 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 devil’s 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 don’t take the wine?” “Yes,” said the doctor. “Then,” said the sailor, “when you get into the St. Katherine’s 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 God’s grace to keep him.