Devotion, Jan. 19, 2015: Num 6:1-21 The Nazirite Vow PROMISES TO POCKET Israel is a separate people to the Lord not because they chose to be separate but because God chose them to be separate unto Him. Beginning with a call to Abraham, God chose Him to be the seed for a nation that would soon be Israel. And it came to pass that Israel as a nation was born. A law was given to govern this nation, separate from the usual laws that governed other nations. They didnt have a king, separate from other nations which had kings. God was their King. Their laws were peculiar to themselves and that added to their sense of separation. Together with the laws of separation were the many promises of blessings when the Israelites obey the laws of God. Many times they did and were blessed. But many times, they disobeyed and their disobedience resulted to many miserable experiences as individuals and as a nation. In this passage, we have the situation reversed. This time, a person who is referred to as a Nazirite makes a vow to separate himself to the Lord (v. 2). This separation however is not intended to invite Gods favor to be saved or pardoned from ones sins. Unlike those who make vows with that intention, the Nazirite separates himself for the Lord as an act of thanksgiving, a personal response to Gods salvation and deliverance. The vow involves abstinence in food and drink (vs, 3-4) as well as things concerning hair (v. 5) and avoidance of the dead, whether animals or people regardless of their affinity or consanguinity to the dead (vs. 6-9). God prescribed the rules that a Nazirite would follow in this passage. This is an indication of Gods acceptance of such vows and whenever God deems something as acceptable, it means it has His approval and therefore blessings. POINTS TO PONDER In general, God approves of our separation as long as it is intended for purity and holiness. But there has to be a limit to this separation. Thats why, even a Nazirite had a fixed period of separation the end of which is marked by a prescribed ceremony to be done at the tent of meeting together with the priest (v. 13). In our day and age, we have fasting as our times of separation where we abstain from food, wine, intimate relationships, etc. Fasting was also practiced in the Old Testament. Although fasting is not a substitute for having a Nazirite vow which, by all indications in the life of Samson (Jdg 13), John the Baptist and perhaps Paul (Act 18:18), takes months or even years, it serves a similar purpose and even more because fasting is usually paired with prayer which is the primary reason for abstinence in the first place. But in this time of the New Testament, we are to separate ourselves only concerning the worldly things and acts of the unsaved. We cannot separate ourselves totally from them because they are what we are here for (1 Cor 5:9-10) and what our God intended for us to do to bring them to Him (Mat 28:18-20). PLANS TO PURSUE Whenever I am inclined or the Lord impresses upon me to separate myself in prayer and fasting for Him for a few days, I will not refuse nor delay the obedience to His prompting. I know that such divine plans for me is just a preparation for some special task or special blessing and I would profit greatly in not tarrying. For example, God called Samson to be a Nazirite because He intended for Him to be a Judge. He also called John the Baptist to be a Nazirite because He intended him to prepare the way of the Lord Jesus. But there are still some things that I should consciously watch out for if I have to be separated from the world without being out of it. It is too easy to be caught up with what the world is doing, especially the seemingly harmless ones that can easily spiral to some form of sticky habit or even addiction. I will be on the lookout for those and seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for deliverance from such. As I vowed myself into servitude to God, I may not have the ceremonial observances of a Nazirite but that does not make the task easier. And I wont treat it easier either. But I shouldnt beat myself up for sometimes tripping as a Nazirite would whose defilement required an equivalent sin offering and other ceremonial acts. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done all the atonement for me on the cross and for that I am ever grateful.
Posted on: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 23:39:49 +0000
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