Numbers 6

celebrating the Passover (9:1–14), numbering the soldiers (chap. 1), organizing the tribes (chap. 2), and assigning the priestly duties (chaps. 3—4).

When Mohandas K. Gandhi was the spiritual leader of India, a missionary asked him what he thought was the biggest obstacle to Christian missions in India, and Gandhi replied, “Christians.”

We may not like his answer, but we do have to face the fact that too often God’s people get in the way of God’s work. This is no better illustrated than in the book of Numbers where we see Israel repeatedly disobeying God and suffering for it. This explains why the Lord laid down some plain and practical rules for daily life in the camp of Israel. Israel was God’s chosen people, separated from the other nations, and God wanted them to be different in the way they lived. What kind of people did the Lord want them to be?

Don’t confuse “Nazirite” with “Nazarene.” Jesus was called a “Nazarene” because He came from Nazareth, a city despised by the people of Judea (John 1:43–46). The word “Nazirite” comes from a Hebrew word that means “to set apart, to dedicate.” Jesus was not a Nazirite because He touched dead bodies and drank the fruit of the vine, both of which were forbidden to Nazirites.

Separation described (vv. 1–8). Nazirites were Jewish men or women who dedicated themselves wholly to the Lord to fulfill the Nazirite vow of total separation. (In the , the words “separate” and “separation” are used sixteen times in this chapter.) The Nazirite vow had both positive and negative aspects: positively, it means being devoted to God; negatively, it meant abstaining from things God did not allow. Each Nazirite had a different goal in mind, but all of them wanted to glorify the Lord and obey His Word. They didn’t isolate themselves from society but rather were witnesses to others of the importance of total devotion to the Lord. Their vow was for a specified period (Acts 21:23–27) and a specified purpose.

Three responsibilities were involved in the Nazirite vow. First, they were not to drink wine, grape juice, vinegar, or fermented drinks, nor were they allowed to eat grapes, raisins, or even the skins and seeds of grapes! Second, they had to let their hair grow as a sign they were devoted especially to God. Since female Nazirites would already have long hair, perhaps they left it loose and somewhat unkempt as a mark of their dedication. Third, they were never to touch a corpse, even that of a close relative.

Separation defiled (vv. 9–12). Nobody but God can control the circumstances of life, and a Nazirite might accidentally be defiled. If that happened, he had to wait a week and on the seventh day shave his head. Since the period of dedication was suddenly over, and the hair was the sign of that dedication, the defiled hair had to go. However, the shorn hair wasn’t made a part of the sacrifice as with the Nazirites who had completed their vows (v. 18).

On the eighth day, the former Nazirite met the priest at the brazen altar and offered the required sacrifices: a bird for a sin offering, a second bird for a burnt offering, and a lamb for a trespass offering. This enabled the person to rededicate himself or herself to the Lord and make a new beginning. It was another opportunity to fulfill the vow made to the Lord. Believers today need to realize that no failure need be permanent. Presbyterian pastor Alexander Whyte (1837–1921) said, “The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”

Separation fulfilled (vv. 13–21). Nazirites who successfully completed their period of dedication came with their sacrifices to the priest and he offered them to the Lord. First the priest sacrificed a year-old ewe lamb for a sin offering, for the Nazirites’ period of dedication didn’t make them sinless. Then the priest offered a year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, which symbolized total dedication to the Lord. Along with the basket of unleavened bread, he then offered a ram for the peace offering (fellowship offering), plus the meal offering and the drink offering. The bread and the peace offering would later become part of a fellowship meal at the tabernacle which the worshipper could share with others. According to the Levitical law, the priest got his share of the offerings, for this was how he was supported.

One of the most important parts of the ceremony was the shaving of the Nazirite’s head and the placing of the hair on the altar fire under the peace offering. It was a special offering to the Lord because the long hair symbolized the vow the Nazirite had made to the Lord and had successfully fulfilled. Once these instructions had been obeyed, the Nazirite was allowed to drink wine.

Nobody is saved by making and keeping a vow. Salvation is the gift of God to those who believe, not a reward to those who behave. However, there are some people who are led of the Lord to make special vows to God, not to get something from Him but to give something to Him, and as long as these vows don’t contradict Scripture, they can be blessed of God (Ps. 22:25; 50:14; 61:5, 8; 76:11; 116:14). People will make vows to God just so He’ll get them out of trouble (66:14; Jonah 2:9), and some of these people will forget their promises when they’re safe and comfortable again. But it’s a dangerous thing to make promises to God and not keep them (Eccl. 5:1–7).

The priests were given the privilege of serving at the altar and ministering in the sanctuary, but they were also allowed to bless God’s people in the name of the Lord. We use this blessing today, for it belongs to us as well as to Israel. The church has been blessed with “every spiritual blessing” through the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:3), and we can claim this benediction through Him.

If ever a nation was blessed, it was the nation of Israel. God called them in His grace, rescued them from bondage, gave them His holy Word, gave them the Promised Land, and dwelt with them in the sanctuary, and He gave these blessings to no other nation. Of course, the greatest blessing of all was the sending of His Son through the nation of Israel, for “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22; see Rom. 9:1–5).

The threefold use of the name of the Lord suggests that our God is a Trinity of persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Father is the Lord (Ps. 110:1), and so is the Son (Rom. 10:9), and so is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). You see the Trinity in Matthew 3:16–17; 28:19–20; John 3:34–35; and 2 Corinthians 13:14, as well as many other places in the Bible. Ephesians 1:3–14 is actually a hymn to the Trinity: Father (vv. 3–6), Son (vv. 7–12), and Spirit (vv. 13–14).

The pronouns in this benediction are singular, meaning that God’s blessings come to us personally, but there is a plural pronoun in Numbers 6:27, “I will bless them.” God blesses the nation by blessing individuals, and by blessing the nation, He blesses the world. God promised Abraham, “I will bless you … and you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12: niv). We bless the world by sharing God’s truth, often one person at a time.

We need the blessings that God lists here: to be cared for by the Lord who watches over us; to have the smile of His face upon us and the riches of His grace given to us; to have Him pay attention to us when we call; and, as the result of these things, to enjoy His peace in our hearts. Peace (shalom) is one of the great words in the Hebrew vocabulary, and it means much more than the absence of storm and trouble around us. It involves quietness of heart within us, spiritual health and spiritual prosperity, adequacy for the demands of life, and the kind of spiritual well-being that rises above circumstances. George Morrison defined “peace” as “the possession of adequate resources,” which is what Paul had in mind when he wrote Philippians 4:6–20.