Skip to main content

Numbers 6:1 The few, the proud, the Nazirites.

Good afternoon friends,

Not everything in Numbers is related to numbers.  Spent some time this afternoon pondering this somewhat obtuse passage.  Not sure I have any great insight, but confident that the practices God appoints in His word are to be respected.

Blessings,

Jeff

These verses give the  process for a man or woman to separate themselves to the Lord for some period of time.  Only Samuel and Samson are specifically identified as being Nazirite but this was initiated by their mothers before they were born.  Both of them have a birth narrative similar to John Baptist and Jesus with angelic appearance and direction.  

Since the priests were already consecrated and separated, this process applies to non-Levites who choose to make a similar commitment but for a limited time.  

Unlike priesthood, women could take this vow.

Calvin believed that God was the initiator of this vow.  People didn't' take it upon themselves, but were called by God to take the vow.  Similar to the craftsman who were called by name to construct the furniture of the tabernacle.  But this makes me wonder if the 12 disciples would be considered Nazirites.  They were certainly set apart.  And then Paul, Barnabus, and Silas were set apart by the Spirit for the missionary journeys.  Yet none of these took this vow.  

The bottom line is that God establishes the methods for people to set themselves apart.  Various commentators note the man-made distinctions that religious orders use to mark their dedication to God.  The test of willingness to be separated is in submission to God's method.  We don't know how many people were called, but we know that all who were called did it the way God appointed in his Word.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" bec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Malachi 2:10-12 Here we go again!! Day 363

Good afternoon friends, As we draw to the end of the Old Testament, we see that Judah has rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem, but they are following in the footsteps of faithless fathers and not in the footsteps of Abraham and ultimately God.  The exile was a low point, but now a new low is about to happen.  The prophetic voice has once again become warning and not encouraging. Faithful reading and preaching of the word is all that keeps us from losing our way.  May we be faithful in our generation. Blessings, Jeff I am sure I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.  The section summary, chapter and verse are not in the original language.  They are all rather modern inventions to help us.  For example, the section title here is "Judah profaned the Covenant".  That is OK as far as it goes, but which Covenant?  So let's take a look. Observations Starts with 3 questions but who is asking the questions and to whom are they addre...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 35:23-26 Lament for the last good king - Day 364

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, One more day of devotions.  We are indeed exiles and pilgrims in this world as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  The 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks can serve as a reminder that this world is not our home. Blessings, Jeff The lamentations for Josiah written by Jeremiah.  However, the book of Lamentations does not include any reference to Josiah as they are focused on the fall of Jerusalem.  While these lost lamentations were "made the rule" there are only 4 more kings and none of them were good like Josiah and none died in Jerusalem.  The phrase "to this day" generally refers to the time of the author (post exile).  Taken together, it may be that these laments were for the last good king and during the exile the people were longing for the next good king. Zerubbabel in a way was the next good king as temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt. But Jesus truly was the next king and He...
Post a Comment
Read more