(Numbers 6:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When either man or woman separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves to the LORD, (3) 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.'"
In the last chapter and post, the Lord told the people to remove sin and the unclean from their camps. Now He began explaining the law of the Nazarite which also demonstrated the separateness of God's holy people. The Lord instructed Moses to now talk to the people about when a man or woman chose to separate himself (or herself) and make the vow of a Nazarite. The word Nazarite is a form of the original word "nazar" which meant "to separate, set apart, devote, or consecrate". Upon taking the vow of a Nazarite, a man or woman chose to separate himself from the world and dedicate himself to the Lord. He was to separate himself from wine and strong drink. Another definition of the word "nazar" was "abstain". A person who separated himself for the Lord would necessarily abstain from any impurities; in this case he was instructed to abstain from any wine or strong drink, which included all forms of grapes and their juices, which in their various degrees of fermentation could cause varying degrees of intoxication, or at the very least some degree of impurity or reduced lucidity.
I don't believe this proves that a Christian must totally abstain from drinking. On the contrary, in listing the blessings of the Lord, Psalm 104:15 lists wine "that makes glad the heart of man". Jesus even used wine to represent His blood! If wine was an impure thing of itself, it would have never been used to represent something so precious as Jesus's blood! Of course, there are many admonitions against drunkenness in the scriptures, as well as numerous examples of times when a person should abstain from wine, but it can in no way be concluded that drinking wine is sinful. In this case, Nazarites who devoted themselves totally to the Lord, would likewise devote their totally clear thinking minds and pure hearts to the Lord.
(4) "‘All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the kernels even to the husk.'"
All the days that a person separated himself to the Lord, not only was he not to drink any form of grape juice or wine, he was also not to eat any part of the grapevine. Although some people were Nazarites for life, others were so for just a certain amount of time, and by their own volition, and it is probably concerning them that these rules were given regarding "the days of separation".
(5) "‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.'"
All the days that a Nazarite separated himself to the Lord, he was not to use a razor on his head. This would also include scissors or anything that he might use to cut or pluck his hair, as he was to let the locks of his hair grow. This was one of the ways in which he would separate himself from the world and be holy to the Lord. Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, pointed out in scripture that an abundance of hair "was considered to betoken physical strength and perfection (compare 2Sa 14:25-26), and baldness was regarded as a grave blemish (compare...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."
(6) "‘All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body.'"
All the days that a Nazarite separated himself to the Lord he was not to go near a dead body, which would include burying the dead or perhaps even attending a funeral.
(7) "‘He shall not make himself unclean for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because the consecration of his God is upon his head.'"
A Nazarite was not even to come close to the dead body of a close family member because the dedication to his God was upon his head, which might refer to his long locks that were emblematic of his separation to the Lord; or if not literal, might just mean that because he was separated and consecrated to the Lord, he must not go near any dead body.
(8) "'All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.'"
All the days of his separation a Nazarite was considered holy to the Lord, and must refrain and abstain from the things listed above, separating himself from the world in total dedication to his Lord.
(9) "'And if any man dies very suddenly by him, and he has defiled his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.'"
In the event that someone died suddenly and unexpectedly in his presence, then his consecrated head would be defiled, and he must shave his head on the seventh day of his cleansing. Like some of the other ways a person might become unclean as described in Leviticus, we will find in later verses in Numbers that a person who touched a dead body would be considered unclean for seven days. He was to go through a purification process and then would be considered clean on the seventh day. Apparently it was after this purification process for seven days that he must shave his head.
(10) "'And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"
After the seven days of purification, and after shaving his head, on the eighth day he was to bring either two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest to the door of the tabernacle.
(11) "'And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, because he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.'"
The priest was to offer one of the birds for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to make atonement for him. Although he did not willfully sin, the person dying in his presence caused him to be unclean which is the effect of sin, and atonement must be made for him. After this, his head would be hallowed and again consecrated to the Lord, and he could begin growing his hair again.
(12) "'And he shall consecrate to 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.'"
I believe the meaning is that he would rededicate to the Lord the number of days in service to the Lord that he had first vowed. He was to bring a lamb in its first year as a trespass offering, and would begin again "the days of his separation"; all the days he had separated himself for the Lord before he became defiled by the dead were lost and he had to start over. Wow! What a sobering thought that even if we don't willfully sin, we become polluted and defiled by the sin around us! It is only by the love and mercy of our sweet Lord in that He gave us Jesus Christ to be an atoning sacrifice for all.
(13) "'And this is the law of the Nazarite when the days of his separation are fulfilled; he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"
This was the law of the Nazarite. The verse can be interpreted two different ways, depending on the punctuation which varies with different translations. Everything preceding comprised the law of the Nazarite, or what was to follow was to be considered the law of the Nazarite. Obviously both were part of the law as both had been instructed by the Lord. When the days of the Nazarite's separation for the Lord were completed, he was to be brought to the door of the tabernacle.
(14) "'And he shall offer his offering to the LORD, one male 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, (15) And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings.'"
He was to present at the door of the tabernacle his offering of a male lamb in its first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering, an unblemished ewe lamb in its first year for a sin offering, and one unblemished ram for peace offerings. Think about this! Even though he probably had not sinned while in complete dedication to the Lord, he brought a sin offering. I believe this shows that there is unknown and secret sin in all of us! The words of Psalm 139:23-24 come to mind: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." We are born into a life of sin in a sinful world; we are polluted by sin all around us and by sin in our hearts, feelings, and thoughts. Before Jesus Christ came to cover all those sins, even the most righteous men before God had to make offerings for their sins. Burnt offerings, sin offerings, peace offerings! All sorts of offerings were offered on the occasion of the Nazarite completing his period of separation. There was also a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, along with the grain offering and drink offerings which generally accompanied the sacrifices.
(16) "'And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. (17) And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer his grain offering and his drink offering.'"
The priest was to bring all the Nazarite's offerings before the Lord. He would offer the sin and burnt offerings, the ram for the peace offerings, the basket of unleavened bread, and the grain and drink offering.
(18) "'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.'"
After having let his hair grow during the time of his vow as a symbol of his dedication to the Lord, at the end of the time of his vow, he was to shave his head at the door of the tabernacle. He was to take that hair, the symbol of his vow, and offer it to his God by placing it in the fire that was under the sacrifice of the peace offerings which was the ram that was boiling in a pot or cauldron.
(19) "‘And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite after the hair of his separation is shaved. (20) And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD; this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder; and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.'"
Then the priest was to take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer and put them upon the hands of the Nazarite. Putting his hands under the Nazarite's, he would wave them to and fro (wave) and up and down (heave) as an offering to the Lord. This shoulder of the ram was to be holy to the priest, set apart for him alone to eat, as was the wave breast and heave shoulder that was given him by another law stated in Leviticus 7:34. After all this, the Nazarite would be allowed to drink wine, which meant he could return to his previous way of living. Again I see this as proof that there is no sin in drinking wine; a Nazarite was allowed to drink wine. He certainly wouldn't have been told that it was now okay to sin!
(21) “'This is the law of the Nazarite who has vowed, and of his offering to the LORD for his separation, besides that which his hand shall get; according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.'"
The preceding described the law of the Nazarite and his offering to the Lord for his separation, the very least he was obliged to do when his period of separation was fulfilled. This was besides that which he may have voluntarily vowed; whatever he had vowed, he must do according to the law of the Nazarite, in addition to what was previously commanded above.
(22) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (23) “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘In this way you shall bless the children of Israel, saying to them, (24) “The LORD bless you and keep you; (25) The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; (26) The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
and give you peace."'"
The Lord told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons, the priests, to bless the children of Israel with a beautiful blessing: "The Lord bless you and keep you", meaning may the Lord bestow on His people His blessings and keep them from Satan and sin and the evil of the world; "the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you", meaning that the Lord cause Himself to shine His everlasting light on them, giving them spiritual light and knowledge of Him, and may He pour out large measures of His grace on them; and "the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace," probably meaning that He look upon them with a cheerful and pleasant countenance, as one who was well pleased with them and their service to Him, and thus give them peace.
The old commentaries that I study pointed out something I was not able to see in my study of the original words. I am only able to see the original word used, not the accents. Dr. John Gill, among others, wrote that "the LORD", or "Yehovah", in the three parts of the blessing, although the same word being used, had a different accent on each use of the word. The commentators said this denoted three distinct persons in the one Jehovah! In the words of Dr. Gill, "...each of them concerned in the blessing of the Lord's people, the spiritual Israel of God; Jehovah the Father blesses with all spiritual blessings, with electing, adopting, justifying, and pardoning grace, with regenerating and calling, and persevering grace, and with eternal life: Jehovah the Son blesses particularly with redeeming grace, and has a concern in all the other blessings; the saints are blessed with them in him, they are all in his hands, they are procured by him, come through him, and are the gifts of his grace: and Jehovah the Spirit blesses as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification, as the spirit of faith, as a comforter, as the spirit of adoption, and as the earnest and sealer of the saints unto the day of redemption."
(27) "And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them."
There are two possible meanings for putting the Lord's name upon the children of Israel, as is often the case with multiple meanings for individual scriptures. They shall put the Lord's name on the people; the children of Israel will be His special people called by His name. Also they were to pronounce the blessing on them in the name of the Lord; in effect, it was permission to use His sacred name to bless them. The Lord promised He would indeed bless them.
Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, pointed out that the law for a Nazarite was an illustration of what it is to be a Christian:
1. Every genuine Christian is a true Nazarite. He is separated from the world, and dedicated solely to the service of God.
2. His life is a life of self-denial; he mortifies and keeps the flesh in obedience to the Spirit.
3. All this enters into the spirit of his baptismal vow; for in that he promises to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh - to keep God’s holy word and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of his life.
4. The person who is faithful has the blessing of God entailed upon him. Thus shall ye bless the children of Israel, etc.
I would add that just like the Nazarite who became defiled, a Christian who has fallen may pick himself up and start anew in following Christ. Isn't that wonderful?! It's not, "Sorry, you failed," but He welcomes us back with loving open arms. It's true that we start over in the sense that the good deeds from before don't cover what comes after when we backslide, but the beauty is that the coming to Christ even late in life can cover all the sins of a lifetime before:
“But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed shall not be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live...But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be mentioned; in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die...When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive." - Ezekiel 18:21-22, 24, 26-27
Unlike the people in the Old Testament who had only the law, we are now saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, but the same principle applies:
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them, and their sins and iniquities I will remember no more." - Hebrews 10:16-17
"Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” - Hebrews 10:38
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.” - Romans 4:7-8
"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." - Psalm 103:12
"For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the
beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them." - 2 Peter 2:20-21
I believe there is a difference between backsliding into sin and totally turning away and rejecting Christ. God knows the heart of man. David sinned; he committed adultery and murder, but God called him a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). God, in His mercy, will draw us back to life in Him, but there are warnings that He will not do this indefinitely:
"Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." - Isaiah 55:6 (emphasis on "while" is mine)
"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting." - Romans 1:28
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