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Scripture Reading: Num. 6:1-5
I really admire the sequence of the arrangement of the chapters in the book of Numbers. Chapters one through four record the formation of the divine army, which fights for God and serves God. Immediately after this record, there is a chapter on dealing with defilement. Then there is a test of our chastity, to determine if we are single, pure, and chaste toward the One whom we love. Following this, there is a chapter on the Nazarites. In this message we will begin to consider this chapter on the Nazarites.
God desires that all of His people be Nazarites. To be a Nazarite is to be sanctified absolutely and ultimately to God. To be sanctified in this way is to be for nothing other than God.
The section on dealing with defilement shows us that God wants His people to be clean, righteous, and faithful. The test for chastity indicates that God wants us to love only Him, to love Him with our heart, with our mind, emotion, and will, and with our physical strength (Mark 12:30). He wants us to have no one else and nothing else other than Him as our first love and our unique love. Even if we love Him in such a way, we still may not be absolutely and ultimately for Him.
We may use married life as an illustration of loving the Lord without being absolutely for Him. God might have favored you with a wife who truly loves you. However, although she loves you and is altogether chaste toward you, she may not be utterly, absolutely, and ultimately for you. Even the most loving wife is still somewhat for herself in certain things.
The matter of the Nazarite is a test of our absoluteness. If we would be a Nazarite, we must be absolutely, utterly, and ultimately for God.
According to typology, among the human race the unique Nazarite is the Lord Jesus. Hence, a Nazarite is a type of Christ. A Nazarite signifies the Lord Jesus in His living for God in His humanity.
Numbers 6:2 speaks of a man or a woman making "a special vow, the vow of a Nazarite, to separate himself to Jehovah." Here we see that a Nazarite is sanctified by making a special vow to separate himself to God. At times we might have made a vow to the Lord, but it might not have been very strong or absolute, and we might not have kept it. Can you make a vow and be faithful to it for your whole life?
There is a difference between separation and sanctification. Separation is on the negative side, and sanctification is on the positive side. On the negative side, we separate ourselves from the worldly people. On the positive side, we sanctify ourselves; that is, we give ourselves to God. First we are separated, and then we are sanctified.
Separating, sanctifying, oneself to God should follow the dealing with all the defilements (chapter five). This is logical, for the dealing with defilement should precede the vow of the Nazarite.
The priests, who are such by birth, are ordained by God out of His initiation. A priest must be a Nazarite, a person absolutely for God. This is according to God's ordination. One's becoming a priest is a matter of God's initiation; it does not depend on what the person does but on what God does concerning him.
The Nazarite, who becomes such by a vow, is separated to God by himself out of his initiation. This means that a person is not a Nazarite by birth but can make himself a Nazarite by making a special vow. Thus, the priests are ordained by God out of His initiation, but the Nazarites become such by a vow out of their own initiation. Today we are in the Lord's recovery out of God's initiation and also out of our initiation. Both are needed.
The accomplishment of God's purpose requires man's cooperation to complement God's ordination. This is illustrated by the case of Samuel. Samuel was a Nazarite who complemented the deficient Eli, a priest ordained by God. In his old age Eli had certain deficiencies. However, Samuel, out of his own initiation, came in to fill up the gap caused by Eli's deficiencies and thereby to complement the deficient Eli.
"He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made from the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins" (vv. 3-4). Here we see that a Nazarite had to abstain from wine and anything related to its source. This signifies abstaining from the earthly enjoyment and pleasure (cf. Psa. 104:15; Eccl. 10:19). To abstain from all kinds of wine is to abstain from all kinds of earthly enjoyment and pleasure.
We should be careful of anything earthly that makes us happy. Earthly pleasure leads to lustful conduct and to a lustful intention. Earthly enjoyment and pleasure would defile a Nazarite.
A Nazarite had to abstain from vinegar made from wine, from the juice of grapes, and from grapes fresh or dried. This signifies abstaining from anything that issues in earthly enjoyment or pleasure. Vinegar is classified with wine because the source is the same. Wine, vinegar, and grape juice are all prohibited. From this we see that the one who is absolute for God is altogether separated from anything of earthly pleasures. This shows the absoluteness of the Nazarite.
"All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come upon his head. Until the completion of the days for which he separated himself to Jehovah, he shall be holy; he shall let the hair of his head grow freely" (Num. 6:5). Not shaving the head signifies not rejecting the headship of the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 11:3, 6).
To be a Nazarite we must take care of two things. First, we must have nothing to do with earthly pleasure. Second, we must be absolutely under authority, absolutely under the headship.
The shaving of one's head signifies the rejecting of the headship of the Lord. Spiritually speaking, for us to shave our head means that we cast off the Lord's authority over us. The Nazarite was to let his hair grow long (freely); that is, he was to remain in subjection to the Lord's headship, wherein is the power (Judg. 16:17).
Today is a day of lawlessness. If we were to do away with the police and close the courts, society would be full of robbers and murderers. We could not bear to live in such an intolerable situation. The United States of America has an excellent constitution, and based upon this constitution there are strong laws and many courts to see that these laws are carried out. Everyone who appears in a court of law must submit to the laws of the United States government. Otherwise, the entire society would be destroyed.
The fallen race is a rebellious race. The rebellious nature is still within us. Thus, it would be dangerous to be in a situation in which there is no deputy authority. This was the reason God established human government (Gen. 9:5-6). The entire government is a deputy authority representing God's authority. Speaking of this, Paul says, "Let every person be subject to the authorities over them. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are appointed by God. Therefore he who resists the authority opposes what God has appointed" (Rom. 13:1-2a). Teachers, employers, and police officers are deputy authorities. Everywhere on earth there is deputy authority.
Let us apply this matter of deputy authority to the church. Is there deputy authority in the church? If there is no deputy authority in the church, why are there elders? Recently, some have said that there is no deputy authority in the New Testament. If such a claim is true, why does the New Testament tell us that there are elders in the churches? Surely, Christ is the Head, and the authority is the Spirit, but we still need elders in the church. Without elders, the church would be in anarchy.
There is also deputy authority in our family life. The parents are the deputy authority to the children (Eph. 6:1), and the husbands are the deputy authority to the wives (Eph. 5:23). Paul even says that a wife should fear her husband (Eph. 5:33). For a wife to fear her husband means that she takes him as the deputy authority. Even in a small family there is deputy authority. Then how much more should there be deputy authority in the church!
Two particular characteristics, or two signs, of a Nazarite are, first, that he does not touch any worldly pleasure and, second, that he always keeps himself under some authority. These are solemn matters. As those who would be absolute for God, we must abstain from earthly pleasure. Furthermore, we must not shave our head; that is, we must respect authority and remain under the headship of our Lord in every way.
