[Numbers 6] Are You Called to Be a Nazarite? In this chapter, God instructs the people about the vow of a Nazarite. Are you called to be “single for Jesus”? What does the bible say about such vows? Is the vow of celibacy scriptural, or is it a curse that must be broken over your life by the God who said, “it is not good to be alone”? Nazarites were required to abstain from wine, not cut their hair and not come near the dead. We will see these things were very much in Jesus’ mind as many of His teachings make the spiritual application for you and me as to what it means to be a consecrated person before God.
[Num 6:1-27 KJV] 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate [themselves] to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate [themselves] unto 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. 4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. 5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth [himself] unto the LORD, he shall be holy, [and] shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6 All the days that he separateth [himself] unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. 7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God [is] upon his head. 8 All the days of his separation he [is] holy unto the LORD. 9 And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. 10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. 12 And he shall consecrate unto 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. 13 And this [is] the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 14 And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he 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 mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. 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 unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his 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. 19 And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put [them] upon the hands of the Nazarite, after [the hair of] his separation is shaven: 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. 21 This [is] the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, [and of] his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside [that] that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation. 22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: 25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
There were times in ancient Israel that a man would take a vow of separation for a time. Today such vows are common, and the most common of this type of vow is a permanent, monastic vow taken by various religious orders in the Catholic church and other churches. Is this acceptable to the Father? For the sake of this study, let us define “Monasticism”, which describes those who are monks and live in monasteries.
From Wikipedia: “Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of individuals who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship. It began to develop early in the Christian Church’s history, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures. It has come to be regulated by religious rules (e.g., the Rule of St Basil, the Rule of St Benedict, the Rule of Saint Augustine). In modern times, the Canon law of the respective Christian denominations that have forms of monastic living. Those living the monastic life are known by the generic terms monks (men) and nuns (women). In modern English, they are also known by the gender-neutral term “monastics.” The word monk originated from the Greek “monachos,” itself from the word monos meaning “alone”. Monks did not live in monasteries initially; instead, they began by living alone, as the word monos might suggest. As more people took on the lives of monks, living alone in the wilderness, they started to come together and model themselves after the original monks nearby. Quickly the monks formed communities to further their ability to observe an ascetic life.[3] Monastics generally dwell in a monastery, whether they live there in community (cenobites), or seclusion (hermits).”
Notice that the word “Monk” means to “be alone.” In the very beginning, God establishes this as an aberration among men:
[Gen 2:18 KJV] 18 And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
We see in the New Testament women below a certain age were COMMANDED to get married (1 Tim. 5:9). In 1 Tim. 4:1-3 Paul spoke of the seducing spirits of the last days that would “forbid to marry.” This goes deeper than a vow not to get married. The reasoning behind it is that somehow God’s work cannot be done or is somehow inhibited if we live in companionship. This arose in the middle ages, along with the curse of a vow of poverty. Those who wanted to serve God truly were expected to take a vow of celibacy – in other words, to be alone. This, according to Ge. 2:18 is a curse. Rather than enhancing one’s service to God, it can actually impede it. In 1 Tim. 5:11 Paul warned that an ill-advised determination to live without companionship would cause one to “wax wanton against Christ…”
I remember a lady in the second church I pastored who thought she was “married to Jesus…” She was 32 years of age, and flatly stated that her role in the church was to be the “spiritual pastor’s wife…” I sat down with her for a talk. I pointed out that Paul forbade women under the age of 60 to live a celibate life (1 Tim. 5:9). I further pointed out that by seeing herself as “married to Jesus” and because Jesus was upheld as Lord of the church we pastored, that she made herself, in effect, the “bosses’ wife”! Needless to say, because I refused to acknowledge her as the self-appointed authority because she vowed to be single, it was just a matter of months before she succumbed to a Jezebel scheme and engineered a split in the church.
Is it always wrong to choose a celibate life? In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus did discuss the issue of eunuchs for the kingdom:
[Mat 19:12 KJV] 12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from [their] mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive [it], let him receive [it].
The word eunuch there is a compound word meaning to “withhold from the bed” either because of natural incapacitation and impotence of a voluntary choice. It has nothing to do with homosexuality or lesbianism as some claim that their same-sex attraction is what Jesus is sanctioning here. That is a false doctrine. There are times that physiology or accident renders someone impotent, but the case of a person “making themselves eunuchs for the kingdom,” the word there literally says “they castrate themselves.” I submit to you there are very few that can “receive such a saying.”
Now Nazarites in Hebrew tradition were ascetics (those who abstain) as consecrated persons. Interestingly, a vine that was left unpruned and unharvested every seven years was called a Nazarite vine. Jesus said that He was the vine, and we are the branches:
[Jhn 15:1 KJV] 1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Nazarites were required to:
1.) Abstain from wine and intoxicants
2.) Refrain from cutting their hair
3.) Not come near anything dead or a dead body.
Abstaining from wine and intoxicants: Remember that the scripture teaches that these things are a shadow of which the church is the substance:
[Col 2:17 KJV] 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
While there may be a discussion to be had here about wine and imbibing alcohol, remember that in this case, as an Old Testament metaphor, the wine REPRESENTS SOMETHING. When a Nazarite abstains from wine, Jesus identifies this in the gospel of Luke:
[Luk 21:34 KJV] 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares.
Some believers would never allow themselves to drink alcohol, but they regularly imbibe in fear and worry. Jesus said these are intoxicants just as deadly and damaging addictions as alcoholism or drugs. You don’t know what fear does to you, but you are to abstain from fear as a consecrated person. Rev. 21:8 says that fear is a sin. It is something we can do something about.
Refraining from Cutting Hair:
Hair is a covering. A Nazarite (or Nazarene) is not to cut their hair. Samson was a Nazarite, and his uncut hair was the secret of his strength. What does this speak to you? Does it mean that a woman is never to cut her hair. Not necessarily. 1 Cor. 11:15 tells us that in the New Testament, hair is connected with and is a metaphor for God’s glory. God is saying in the vow of the Nazarite that you are not to put your hand to the manifestation of God’s glory in your life. The example of this would be 1 Ch. 13:9-10:
[1Ch 13:9-10 KJV] 9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.
The glory of God is an unpredictable thing. The glory of God in your life will bring about unexpected things, and if you want to live a simple life without complication, you may be tempted to try to manage the unmanageable glory of God. Not cutting your hair is not literal; it is God’s way of saying do not try to manipulate the glory of God. When you don’t cut your hair, it gets in your eyes and occludes your vision. When you don’t cut your hair, it is hot and inconvenient. The glory of God will impede your perspective. Things you thought you had all figured out will become fluid again. The glory of God will be hot and, many times, uncomfortable.
Nazarites were not to come near Dead things:
Jesus is our life. In John 15, Jesus says He is the vine. He is the Nazarite vine that cannot be pruned by the hand of man. Vines are unpredictable. God is the God who never planted anything in a row. The life is in the vine. The life of God, the life of blessing, is not in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You can be RIGHT and be DEAD RIGHT. You have to choose – either the life in the vine or dead religious principles. Your consecration to God requires fidelity to the life that is in the vine, which is Christ.
