What is the Nazirite Vow?

Until this reading, I have never heard the word "Nazirite". Have you?

We are introduced to the Nazirite vow in the sixth chapter of Numbers. This vow is a "special vow... of separation to the Lord". When taking this voluntary vow, an individual Israelite committed to set themselves apart for God for a specific period of time. During this time, they were to abstain from wine and other fermented drink. And just to make sure, they could not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins... nothing from the vine. Additional physical requirements of the vow were that the Israelite was not cut their hair or go near a dead body. This vow was usually for a relatively short period of time (30 -90 days) but could last for years or even a lifetime. We will learn about some Nazirite lifetimers in our future readings (think Samson and John the Baptist). Once a person made a Nazirite vow, it became law, known as the Nazirite Law. A vow taker was held accountable to fulfill the law until the time period was completed and he (or she) presented himself and, of course, offerings to the priests.

The following explanation of the Nazirite vow and the relativity to us today is documented in Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary:

"The Nazirite vow was a part of the old law and is not imposed on modern Christians. But because it was personal and voluntary, we do have much to learn from this Old Testament practice. God wants us to live a separated, holy life and to abstain from things of the world. Christians must be dedicated to God's service not just for 30 days or one year but a lifetime."

Does this sound familiar? It all ties back to being holy and set apart for God. We can clearly see this theme from Leviticus carry over to Numbers as God continues to demand purity for His people.

Backing up a bit to chapter 5, God reminds the Israelites about maintaining holy lives and about the restitution required for wronging others. God also provides instructions for how the Israelites should handle unfaithfulness of a wife. If a wife has been unfaithful OR the husband suspects she has been unfaithful, they are to go to the priest with offerings. I think the action required of the priest is very interesting. The priest puts the woman under oath and instructs her on the curse of the "bitter water" she is to drink. If the woman is innocent, the curse of the water does no harm. If she is guilty, she will lose her child (if she is pregnant) and will bear no more children. This was a huge disgrace and punishment for a woman as the value of a woman in those days was a direct reflection or her ability to bear children. The curse of the "bitter water" speaks to the ultimate judgement and action of God towards the woman. In some cases only God knew what actually happened (or did not happen) and He could affect the outcome of the "bitter water." God promised that a guilty wife would "bear the consequences of her sin."

I'm reminded of a verse in the New Testament that instructs us to "abstain from all appearances of evil" (I Thess 5:22 KJV). Other translations tell us to avoid all kinds of evil, but I like the KJV because it emphasizes that we should avoid situations or temptations that can be misconstrued by others or that are questionable. If others can possibly misinterpret our actions, we are very likely much closer to sin than we should be. When there is doubt or we find ourselves in a gray area, let's run, run, run away!