Numbers: Faith, Law, and History

The Law of the Nazarite

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Pentateuch

Lesson: The Law of the Nazarite

Genre:

Track: 09

Dictation Name: RR181E9

Location/Venue:

Year:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we thank thee that in ways that are beyond fathoming, thou hast guided us, protected us, delivered us, and blessed us, and we gather together to sing thy praises and to rejoice in thy so providential care. Make us ever mindful of how great thou art, and how small are all the burdens and trials, and troubles of this world, that in thy hands, all things work together for good to them that love thee, to them that are the called according to thy purpose. Give us grace, therefore, our Father, to hear thy word and to rejoice in it, knowing that it is the word of truth, to walk in faithfulness, and in all things to praise thee and thank thee. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Our scripture is Numbers 6:1-21. The Law of the Nazarite. Numbers 6:1-21. The Law of the Nazarite. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 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: 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. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. 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. All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. 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. All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. 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. 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: 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. 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.

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: 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, 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. And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: 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. 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. 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: 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. 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.”

We come now to the law of the Nazarites whom Gordon J. Wenham, an English scholar, has called the monks and nuns of ancient Israel. Laymen or women who consecrated themselves to the total service of God, usually for a specified period of time, thirty days perhaps, at least, more rarely for life. Samson and perhaps Samuel were lifelong Nazarites. In most instances, men were Nazarites for brief periods to fulfill a vow. The word “Nazarite” comes, not from Nazareth, as we would think, but from the Hebrew “Nazer,” meaning “set apart.” Nazer sometimes means prince. So, in Genesis 49:26 and Deuteronomy 33:16, and other verses, it means also an “undressed or unpruned vine.” Vines were left unpruned in the seventh, or sabbatical, year, in obedience to God’s law. The Nazarite was a separated man. The emphasis was not on deprivation, but on the privilege of service. He was a man who had separated himself from the usual tasks and routines of everyday life to give himself to a particular cause of purpose. He was not a priest, but his was apparently at least as great a holiness or a greater holiness in that, his separation was to a specific vow with a total dedication.

I recall hearing, when I was a boy, of a man who, years before in Armenia, had stepped aside from his normal vocation, which was within the economic sphere, to study the writings of an exceptionally profound monastic writer of centuries before. He traveled to a monastic library to do his research and had lived for the entire time that he was doing his research, like a monk. Well, this was the way the Nazarite vow and life were. It took very diverse forms. It depended on the person, what he vowed to do, but it was a total separation to a specific purpose, a godly purpose.

In verse 2, we are also told that a woman could become a Nazarite. In modern versions, the word Nazarite, the word is spelled differently than in the authorized version. It is spelled N-A-Z-I-R-I-T-E, which is closer to the Hebrew original. But at any rate, lifelong Nazarites were exceptional. Usually it was for a limited period of time.

There were, as we saw in the scripture, very strict rules governing the vow. The first rule was abstinence, not only from wine and strong drink but from everything connected with grapes, because the term Nazarite had reference to being an unpruned vine, totally dedicated to God, a sabbatical being observed, the person therefore, who took the vow was to separate himself from his normal life and from any produce of the vine. In effect, he was observing a long Sabbath, at least thirty days and perhaps much, much longer.

All men were required to observe every seventh year as a sabbatical year, but the Nazarite vow was an extra Sabbath of a specified duration, from a few weeks to a year or more. Because of the observance of the Sabbath and of the Sabbath years, and the requirement of no debt beyond six years, people lived relatively debt-free. They had no long-term debt. As a result, it was easier for people in such a culture to step aside for a time to fulfill a Nazarite vow. They were able to accumulate enough of life’s necessities in funds to enter into this special Sabbath. But this was a Sabbath with a difference. It was a rest from one’s normal vocation, and a dedication to another kind of work.

The second aspect of the Nazarite vow was to avoid shaving with men, and haircutting with both men and women. It is an interesting fact that, with some religions, most notable the Buddhists, both priests and those with temporary vows, keep themselves totally shaven, exactly the opposite of the Nazarite vow.

The third aspect of the Nazarite separation was the avoidance of dead persons. This separation held true even if the dead were family members. His separation meant that he was giving himself totally to life. Therefore, contact with the dead was defiling. Even an accidental violation of this rule voided his vow and meant that the vow had to be made again with a new shaving and a dedication. His hair this time had to be burned, according to Hebrew practice. A sacrifice had to be made to renew the vow; two doves or pigeons. A guilt offering, a lamb, had to be brought also. One dove was a sin offering, the other, a whole offering. The sin offering was to restore communion with God because of the unintentional violation of the vow, and the whole offering set forth total dedication to the Lord. The guilt offering paid to God was for the loss of what was His due. The Nazarite vow then could be remade, and a fresh start undertaken. This was very important. Men tend to believe that the routines of life take priority over other things. These requirements make clear that a man’s dedication to God takes priority, and any interference with that exacts a price.

On the completion of the vow, there was again a ceremony. First, the Nazarite offered sacrifices, at the tabernacle or sanctuary. All the regular offerings were made, a burnt offering, a peace offering, thank offering, drink offering, and so on. Second, the Nazarite was again shaved to indicate the end of his vow and normal activities were resumed.

Now, it is interesting to note that the old Hebrew rule forbad the Nazarite to fast. His calling during the days of his vow was a particular task, and it was not to self-affliction. He was not called to ascetic practices, but to a specific duty.

Proverbs 20:25 warns against taking a vow rashly. The minimum period of a Nazarite vow was a month, or thirty days. Nazaritism had a very important place in biblical faith. It set forth the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Remember that I pointed out that the Nazarite, in terms of moral authority and holiness, was equal to a high priest. All persons are given the option, not only of serving God in their daily calling, but of giving themselves to a special task for a specific period of time. The vow they take is in terms of their particular aptitudes and vocation.

Now, Nazaritism is more common than we realize. It has a long history in the church. Both in the spheres of foreign missions and national missions, the modern Nazarite has been active for many years in many ways. I recall that is used to be quite common before the 1960’s for a Christian farmer either to take a year off from his farming, or on retirement, and to spend a year at a mission station somewhere teaching converts sound farming practices. Doctors, on their vacations or sabbaticals, would serve at mission hospitals. In fact, our family doctor spent a year in Africa, and on his retirement returned to spend a longer time. Dentists have similarly gone abroad to provide dental care for specified periods. In fact, in Southern California, a group of Christian doctors regularly take two weeks to a month off every year to go across the border into Mexico into areas where there are no dentists, to treat them. Now, this is Nazaritism. Nurses have done the same thing, as have teachers. Builders have volunteered their services to assist in construction work, and of course, some of you know a man up the hill who does this, now that he is retired, routinely, in a number of places. We could go on and one and list examples of modern Nazaritism. At one time, the modern Nazarite was consecrated and commissioned at his home church. Now, ceremonies like this are gone. At one time also, such persons carried a distinguishing mark of some sort, but all identifying Christian symbols have, in recent years, disappeared because of the hostility of an anti-Christian culture.

Nazaritism needs more attention. It needs more notice. Its existence is already an important factor. In one community after another, given a crisis or need, there are men and women who dedicate themselves to providing organization and leadership in times of need. For example, to fire victims, for refugees, for emergency cases of various kinds and so on and on. All this is an aspect of Nazaritism which set s forth the priesthood of all believers.

I pointed out that Wenham said that the holiness of the Nazarite was regarded as equal to that of the high priest. Their functions and their status differed. The Nazarite was important because of his vow and his work. He represented faith in action.

A number of variations of the Nazarite vow developed very early in the church. One was the pilgrimage journey of the early church and later. The first known Christian pilgrim was Melito Sardis, about 190 AD, about a hundred years or so after the time of the gospels. He travelled to Palestine and to Mt. Sinai because he was a scholar, and he wanted to verify and study further some of the data. Eusebius, in his ecclesiastical history, said that “Melito was a scholar bishop who sought an accurate statement of the background of biblical history.” However, later on, about the sixth century, pilgrimages were often imposed on people as a public penance. Melito’s pilgrimage was to do something, to accomplish something. Later pilgrimages had devotions or penance in mind, a very different thing. Biblical Nazaritism was more concerned with dedication. The vow had a positive content and was voluntary. It could be a form of service or a form of scholarship. It all depended on the individual. It was this voluntary dedication which set it apart as an example of the priesthood of all believers.

God commands every believer to be holy. Nazaritism gives us instances of separation to holy tasks which are different from our daily duties, our daily requirement to be holy. Separation, however, is a constant duty in every area of our lives, as persons, as families, as congregations, and as nations.

St. Paul sums up a series of Old Testament laws in 2 Corinthians 6:14, where he forbids unequal yoking. His source is Exodus 23:31-33, Exodus 34:12-16, and Deuteronomy 7:1-4. There are many, many statements of this also in the prophets. In these laws, God forbids all military alliances in war or in peace with uncovenanted and unbelieving peoples. God’s curse is pronounced emphatically, 1 Corinthians 7:4 on all who enter into marriages and alliances with the ungodly. Now it is possible, without knowing it, to enter into a marriage with someone who pretends to be a Christian, but to mistake an ungodly nation for a Christian one is very difficult. George Washington, in his Farewell Address, warned, in terms of biblical law, against all entangling alliances, but today’s Christians happily disregard God’s word, expecting to be raptured for their apostasy, or holding patriotism to be more important than obedience to Almighty God. This is an open defiance of the Lord.

We went to war this past week, and already I find I’m flooded with material from people who expect that this is going to lead to the rapture, or who insist that the state must be obeyed, and it’s the Christian’s duty to do so, but we are now in the kind of alliance that the scriptures forbid, with Muslim states, with unbelieving states, with Israel more or less, and of course, with the godless United Nations. But of course, we are rapidly becoming anti-Christian in this country, and our leadership is hardly godly, and Washington is increasingly described as a moral cesspool. President George Bush’s two sons are charged with financial misconduct and the Secretary of Interior, his son yesterday, age 28, Robert Jeffrey Lujan{?}, was convicted of rape, sodomy, and burglary by an Alexandria, Virginia Circuit Court jury.

How can we a moral force in the world with these things? We assist the Soviet Union, an indication of our moral bankruptcy. Nazaritism tells us that every person who has already an obligation to be holy day by day, is called upon from time to time by God to dedicate himself totally and without reservation to some purpose, and that we as a people are to be a holy people, as congregations, as families, and we are not to be unequally yoked with the ungodly. We are a priesthood. That’s what Nazaritism means. It sets forth the priesthood of all believers, and what business have the priests of God allying themselves with the enemies of God? God says He will bring judgment and that very quickly. Let us pray.

O Lord, our God, thy word is truth. Make men to know thy word and to fear thee and obey thee. Take away from us the fear of me, the fear of events, and teach us the fear of thee, which is a clean thing according to thy word. Deliver us, as a people, from ourselves and our sins, and from our ungodly leaders, and from ungodly associations and alliances, and make us again a righteous nation, a beacon light of grace in this world. Grant us this, we beseech thee. In Christ’s name. Amen. Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Audience] R.E. McMaster tells me that he’s being contacted with people who think {?} forget.

[Rushdoony] Yes. I am hearing a lot of that, too. As though somehow we are engaged in a holy crusade and are on the Lord’s side. How can they read the Bible and come to such a conclusion? Are there any other questions or comments? Well, if not, let us bow our heads in prayer.

O Lord, our God, we thank thee that thou art a God of judgment, and it is thy judgment, not that of Washington nor the United Nations that prevails, and thy judgments prepare the way for redemption. Teach us to wait on thee. Teach us to study thy word, to obey thy word, to rejoice in thy word, and make us an effectual people. And now go in peace. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you this day and always. Amen.

End of tape