Last week we talked about the fact that a Nazarite was one who would be taking vows and skipping wine. They were not to drink alcohol, use grape products or come near a dead body. We discussed all of these rules that God handed down to Moses about the vows of a Nazarite. This week we want to explore the “whys” of those rules.
Do they sound a bit crazy to you?
COME AS A CHILD BIBLE STUDY LESSON 263
We are so glad you have joined our bible study today.
As we arrive at Lesson 263 in the COME AS A CHILD BIBLE STUDY; we will continue our discussion taken from Numbers; Chapter Six.
SAMPSON WAS ONE OF THOSE TAKING VOWS
We spent a little bit of time discussing a small portion of the story of Sampson last week. Sampson was probably the earliest Nazarite we can find mentioned in the bible.
However; because Joseph (the son of Jacob) was said to be separated from his family while dedicated to God; he too is sometimes called a Nazarite. Joseph would have lived long before the day of the time of the judges and the life of Sampson.
These two men were some of the few Israelites who were found taking vows and skipping wine in order to be a Nazarite and fulfill their vow to God.
VOWS WITH PROTOCOL
It appears that many unrecorded Nazarites were actually already out there making their vows to God for an uncertain amount of time before God decided to give Moses some guidelines for them to follow.
Now; God was simply establishing the right rituals and procedures to be used when someone decided to be consecrated with such a vow.
ALL OF THE WRONG MOVES FOR ALL OF THE RIGHT REASONS
Have you ever had a time in your life when you were so enthusiastic to please God with all of your heart, but your knowledge was very limited; and in the end you actually did everything all wrong?
Maybe you were a new Christian and you were just beginning to grow up into the knowledge and wisdom of God. I can certainly remember being in that state and making all kinds of goofy mistakes.
For instance; I called the wrong day the Sabbath. Without realizing it; I celebrated a lot of things in a pagan way instead of a godly way. Though acting on good intentions, I had no concept of God’s Holy Days, and I would have laughed at you if you had suggested that I learn about them.
My knowledge had been skewed by the world.
Like so many others; I didn’t understand (at the time) that abortion meant murder; or that only God had the right to decide if I should or should not have children. By the grace (and unknown protection) of God I escaped bad circumstances and awful consequences; and I didn’t have to deal with any of those situations; but with my limited knowledge at that time I certainly might have handled any situation much different than I would go about doing so today.
ILLOGICAL SOUNDED LOGICAL
In those days and in my former frame of mind, in those times before God began to lead me to other places and better knowledge; things such as birth control and population-control just seemed like logical ideas; and even sounded like more humane things to do.
As for diet; I really didn’t care what types of food I put into my body, because I thought all of the dietary laws were just Old Testament silliness; and all of that stuff had changed after Jesus died on the cross.
I really had absolutely no concept of the Hebraic heritage that Jesus was born into on this earth. I actually believed that he was pale-skinned, had long brown hair and blue eyes, and might have walked around in clean white robes, never getting dirty.
My teaching up to that point had been that drinking wine was a sin.
This could go on for hours; but I’ll spare you any more details.
DISCOVERING THE WORD OF GOD
All of these concepts were pretty set in stone with me until the day that I began to grow up in God’s Kingdom.
Somewhere around the age of 23 in a time of my life when I was feeling very outcast and alone; I began to read the bible from cover-to-cover.
I was deliberately looking for answers to the secrets of life. All of my choices up until that point had been terribly wrong and very unfruitful.
Each time that I finished reading the whole bible; I would simply turn back to Genesis 1:1 and start all over again.
Every single time I saw something that I had never know before; even though I had read the words repeatedly.
God taught me a bit at a time in slow-building layers.
At the point that I started studying the scriptures in this way; I quickly began to discover what Christianity was truly all about; but the hunger and the thirst for The Word of God never ended when I finished the readings. I kept searching for more and more, and eventually, I came to understand that all of the good answers honestly were inside of the scriptures found in God’s Holy Word.
That particular study-pattern has now continued in my life for years.
Every day God shows me something new; something that I never understood before. Like C.S. Lewis said; I’m constantly “surprised by truth!”
MY OWN PERSONAL VOW
Having taken a vow to follow Jesus for the remainder of my life on earth and then throughout all of eternity; I continue to learn with each passing year.
My ignorance has been very humbling and painful and over the years I have made one mistake after another; but God has shown me grace with forgiveness; and I rest in the fact that he is my Father who loves me more than I can imagine.
My Beloved Jesus gently guides me through God’s Holy Spirit that dwells within my being. He shows me delightful things; things I could never have found on my own accord.
Fortunately for me, and probably half of the rest of the world too, God looks at and is aware of the intentions of the heart. However, he also expects us to use the knowledge that we have been given. He encourages us to keep growing and adding even more to that knowledge every day as we continue to walk with him.
This is what it is to live in a constant state of grace, and to know that we serve a merciful, loving and graceful God.
BECOMING ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS BEFORE GOD
It wasn’t until I KNEW the scriptures and began to pick apart some new truths and apply them personally, that the whole picture of Christianity took on a whole new flavor for me.
During that pivotal time, I think I became accountable for my own actions before God. At that point; God KNEW that I KNEW.
Now; even though I had gained more knowledge; I also realized I had a lot more responsibility resting on my shoulders.
A DEEPER CLARIFICATION FOR A GOOD PROCESS
This picture of my own personal progression might have been very similar to the way that one want about taking a vow as a Nazarite in the days before God stepped in with clarification and gave Moses further instructions on the matter of vows taken before God.
Until that point of clarification; God had looked at the intentions of the hearts of those who were basically making up their own rules for how they would go about worshiping him.
Once God spoke to Moses; all of this was different.
What God desired for those who were willing to seek him in a higher way became more clear and more concise.
Under the instructions of Moses from God, the priesthood began to teach the people the ways that God expected them to take holy vows before him.
Last week we studied this process in the life and times of Sampson, We mentioned that Sampson inherited his Mother and Father’s Nazarite vow which was taken when Sampson was still in the womb.
Details describing this can be found in the scriptures as you read Judges 13:2-5 and verses 13 and 14.
AN ANGEL DESCRIBES HOLINESS
When you look this passage up in your own bible, and you read the story for yourself, you will see that the angel that came to Sampson’s mother to tell her she would have a special child that should be consecrated to God, clearly stated that neither she nor her child should drink wine or alcohol or eat any unclean thing.
The angel bearing the good news went on to say that no razor should touch the head of this child, and that he was to be a Nazarite to God from the womb.
Obviously; God wanted certain consecrations to take place in certain ways. His thinking is so far above ours. He knows things that we can’t even begin to know.
FOLLOWING GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS
So Sampson’s mother carefully followed God’s message and eventually Sampson was born as promised.
She thought about why God said he was to be “set aside” as a Nazarite. It was because Sampson was going to the be ONE who would deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.
Does this sound familiar to some other stories?
DELIVERANCE REQUIRES HOLINESS
Now this event was going to be a true blessing to everyone; plus Sampson’s mother would no longer bear the sad stigma of a barren woman. She would gladly take her place among the honored women who brought children into the world to change it for the better.
I sincerely doubt whether Sampson’s mother ever knew WHY she and her son could not eat the wrong foods or drink the wrong drinks or allow a razor to cut their hair.
She simply accepted the things that God had said to the angel who spoke to her, and she acted purely on faith; with no questions asked.
In those days that was standard procedure.
WHEN THE STANDARD IS FAITH
Today; our standard procedures need lots of revision. We boldly question EVERYTHING, and we look up at God and fearlessly say; “Why on earth would I ever do that?”
It is truly sad.
Do we not think that the very One who created us has our best interest in mind?
Have we forgotten what a Father he is and how a loving Father always gives his child the very best advice and instructions; and never leads them down a wrong path?
PROGRESS OR BABEL?
At some point during the courses of human history (long after those days of Sampson,) we started building schools and developing educational facilities and from them came great works of science.
What started off as a good intention; (mankind trying to use science to prove the existence of God to the lost) became more and more twisted as time moved forward.
Over the years of time science seemed to become the standard for measuring everything that we did; even our relationships to our Creator. This was a very backwards movement; but it happened just the same.
MAN’S SCHOOL VS. GOD’S SCHOOL
Nevertheless; God spelled everything out for us in black and white (and stone) when he spoke to Moses in the wilderness. God set patterns in motion for living good and holy and clean and safe lives. He even laid out those requirements that he wished for those of mankind who were bravely taking a vow of consecration to God.
Something always happened when men DID decide to follow the rules for a consecrated vow (which in those days made them a Nazarite.)
COMING OUT OF THE WORLD
They (the people taking the vow) became different.
Their appearance stood out in the crowd because they didn’t cut their hair.
When they gathered with groups of others, they ate and drank in a different way.
Sometimes they didn’t even chose to present themselves to the usual groups of people in their daily lives because they were too occupied with devoting themselves to God for a period of time.
Often they were busy studying scripture and praying and even fasting.
These old Nazarites even had slightly different sacrifices required at the temple; both before and after the time of their consecration.
Though this vow was mainly between the person and God, by default of living in the world, the public usually noticed and became aware that this person was living, thinking and acting different than before. A noticeable change was usually a part of this whole process of the vow of the Nazarite.
THE BLESSINGS OF PRIVACY AND RESPECT
In those days the people didn’t question or doubt the Nazarite person’s sanity.
They usually said; “Oh they must be a Nazarite” and they respected the privacy of the person’s vow; much unlike the people of today who, as I mentioned before, respect nothing and question everything.
GIVING UP ALCOHOL
Probably one of the first things questioned today would be why on earth the Nazarite had given up drinking anything that included alcohol.
In those days almost everyone drank wine because of the unsanitary conditions of most of the drinking water supply. They didn’t have the modern filters and the Water Works Department like we do today.
As time has moved forward it has been very easy for science to bring up the fact that alcohol impairs one’s better judgment.
I’m sure the ancient people knew this too; but not to the scientific extent that we do today. This was probably one of the unspoken reasons for leaving off any products that contained alcohol.
ELIMINATING THE USE OF GRAPE PRODUCTS
Okay; but why did they have to forego grape products?
Grapes are good for you; right?
What is the deal with grapes and grape products or anything that grows from a vine-tree?
First; let’s consider the way God often spoke of his beloved Israel.
In Psalms 80:8-9 the scriptures say: “You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.”
Israel is called a “vine” here.
In Hosea 10:9 we read: “Israel was a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit.”
Again; Israel is called a vine.
In Jeremiah 2:21 we read: “I planted you as a choice vine, from the purest stock. How then did you turn degenerate and become a wild vine?”
Here again; Israel is referred to as a vine that God transplanted from one place to another in order that it could be nourished and used for good fruit.
Israel is referred to as if she was brought from a bad place and replanted and nourished; until this act of God turned a new place into a good and fruitful place.
KNOWING THE VINE FROM THE BRANCHES
We all have heard that scripture from the words of Jesus; where he says: “I am the vine; you are the branches.”
Remember how we studied the Year of Jubilee and the Sabbatical Year that happened every year for the people of God in Israel?
Here is a link that might refresh your memory if you have forgotten: SHEMITAH – THE SABBATH YEAR – COME AS A CHILD – LESSON – 231.
THE SETTING APART
Every 7th year the land was consecrated and dedicated to God.
During that time the crops of the fields were not to be touched.
Everyone was forbidden to reap the harvest.
The land was to lie fallow and unpicked until the planting of the next year’s crops.
Even the grapes on the vine were to be left in the sun, and no pruning was to take place that year.
Everything was set apart and set aside as holy unto the LORD.
The Nazarite was and is much like the Sabbatical fields of Israel.
They are set aside for one reason; to be declared holy unto the LORD.
Becoming a Nazarite is all about becoming holy.
HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD
So the Nazarite comes to the altar to be consecrated during the period of his vow; just as the land of Israel comes before God to be consecrated during the time of the Sabbatical year.
The grapes were not to be touched in the land for a period of set-aside time; and the grapes were not to be touched by the Nazarite for the period of the time of his/her vow to God.
Are you seeing more of this picture now?
Do you see the Master of The Harvest doing some of his best work behind the scenes?
UNTRIMMED VINES IN HOLY REST
The word “nazir” in Hebrew actually means “untrimmed vines.”
This time of consecration, the sabbatical time that the Nazarite who made the vow takes; helps him to remain in Christ. It is a holy rest in God.
Jesus said “I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John Chapter 15)
During the Sabbatical Year, none of the grapes are harvested; so none of the by-products that come from the grapes and the grape-vines are available for use. It would be improper before God. You can’t have one without the other. You can’t eat grapes or make grape-products without harvesting them first.
During the Sabbatical year the people did without the flavorful grapes and raisins they loved. There was no grape juice or wine to drink. They didn’t use those grape-vines to make the lovely baskets that were so helpful to them in gathering and decorating their tables.
This wasn’t because they shouldn’t use or need such things; it was so that they would cease their labor and stop their work for a long enough period of time to become solely focused on God instead of their own needs.
A MUCH NEEDED SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT
Their nourishment during this time would be purely spiritual; but all of the physical nourishment on earth would not be profitable without any spiritual meaning.
The set-aside time for the Nazarite isn’t at all about furnishing them the physical things they want and need; instead it is ALL about helping them to focus ONLY on the spiritual things of God.
As a matter of fact; this time isn’t about the Nazarites at all.
It is solely about God and someone sincerely, humbly and without interruption or distractions, coming before God in worship.
A FINAL HARVEST IS COMING
A time is coming when the whole earth will be harvested. Then a sabbatical time is coming for the earth, a time when the land will lay fallow and untouched.
It will be a time for healing and a time for the hidden things to be nourished and to become ready for rebirth.
During this time in the end of time as we know it – God’s true people (his spiritual Nazarites – or those who have made a vow to stay true to God) will be “set apart.”
They will be in a place of consecration and rest and continuous worship.
THE END OF THE VOW AND THE BLESSING CUP
The whole earth will patiently rest and wait until the day that they will return and once again every man will sit under his own vine in his own household and all of the earth together will drink of the joyful cup of everlasting life with God.
The special wine in that day will be a completely new wine, the wine of the rested and nourished land.
God’s people will all drink anew with Christ, for the waiting of the fulfillment of the vow will be over and the blessing of the vow will begin.
It all starts with a vow to be set aside as one made holy for God.
Can you drink this cup?