The Nazirite Vow

1. Study of Numbers
Class 3
The Nazirite vow

2. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
1. The Nazirite vow
 Nazarene means ‘‘separate’’. A Nazirite is a person that
has voluntarily consecrated himself to God.
 The objective of the Nazirite vow was to suplement the
lack of priests. Only the descendents of Aaron could
exercise the priesthood, not even the Levites were
permitted to exercise this responsibility. It was
impossible for any Levite even if he were a descendent
of Aaron to serve God as a priest.

3. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 However through the Nazirite vow any person can serve
the Lord. The ministry of the Nazirite was not restricted
to any group of people, today everyone can serve God.
 Anticipating the problem of the priesthood, God gave
Moses means to combat the degradation of the
priesthood: the Nazirite vow.
 In the days of Eli the priesthood was completely
corrupted (1 Samuel 2:12-17). And in those days God
raised up a Nazirite, Samuel, in order to have a voice on
the earth.

4. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 According to Numbers 6, the Nazirite vow included
three parts:
 Abstinence of the fruit of the vine,
 Refrain from cutting the hair
 Avoid touching cadavers

5. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
a. The fruit of the vine - 6:3-4
 The Nazirite should abstain from wine and all types of
fruit of the vine. Wine symbolizes natural joy and
pleasure. All those who separate themselves for the
Lord’s service should abstain from the joy that the world
has to offer.
 Even grape juice which is completely harmless was
prohibited. There are many things that other Christians
may do, but those who consecrate themselves to the
Lord are prohibited from doing them.

6. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 Jesus operated the first miracle by transforming water
into wine in order to demonstrate that the principal
purpose of his ministry was to transform the natural life
of man as if it were water – tasteless and flat, into a full
and abundant life.
 The apostle Paul compared the filling of the Holy Spirit to
intoxication with wine (Ephesians 5.18). A Nazirite did
not drink wine in order to show that his greatest pleasure
and delight was the Lord.

7. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 Today our consecration loses its meaning if it is not
based on our love for the Lord in the pleasure of walking
in his presence. Without this motivation, our
consecration becomes merely a religious or legalistic
act.

8. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
b. No razor to the head - 6:5
 The hair was the most evident sign of consecration of a
Nazirite. According to 1 Corinthians 11, to allow the hair
to grow is a sign of submission to God (1 Corinthians
11:10,14).
 The Nazirite demonstrated his submission to God’s
authority, by allowing his hair to grow all throughout his
life.

9. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 However according to the New Testament to allow the
hair to grow is a dishonor for a man. 1 Corinthians 11:4
says that it is a shame for a man to have long hair.
 The Nazirit rejects his own glory, he doesn’t care if he
suffers dishonor for the Lord and his Word.

10. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 In Samson’s example we see that the hair was also
related to power. Long hair demonstrated that he was
one with God and received his strength from God. After
Samson’s hair was cut he lost his strength and began to
be subjected by the Philistines.

11. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
c. Denial of natural affection - 6:7
 The third aspect implies that a Nazirite must relegate his
own family to second place. The matter of natural
affection is seen in the fact that a Nazirite was not even
allowed to mourn the death of a son or daughter.
 Jesus said that if someone loved father and mother,
more than he, he could not be his disciple.

12. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not
worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more
than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:37
 If a priest was putting oil in the candlesticke and
someone informed him that a close relative had died, he
was not permitted to just drop what he was doing and
take care of the problem. In the same manner those who
serve the Lord must prioritize the things of God even
above their loved ones.

13. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
d. Reject death - 6:6
 The Nazirite was also to avoid cadavers, or in other
words everything related to death. Many things aren’t
necessarily sinful but they produce death, since they
have no origin in God.
 Those who consecrate themselves to the Lord should be
careful with what they hear, with what they see and with
what they read. We should not absorb anything that has
to do with the the world, so that our spiritual perception
does not become numbed.

14. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 To be consecrated to the Lord is more than merely
rejecting sin and the flesh. To be consecrated to the Lord
is to reject everything that is impregnated with death.
 In the spiritual world, we have three enemies, and each
one of them opposes a person of the Trinity.
 The devil opposes Christ (Matthew 4:1-10),
 The flesh wars against the spirit (Galatians 5:17)
 The world opposes the Father (1 John 2:15-17).

15. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 The world and everything in it, is death before God. The
worst enemy is death.
 If you are not able to discern death, just think about what
dwells within you after watching hours and hours of
television.

16. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 Many people are not filled with the Spirit because their
heart is not consecrated to God. Consecration is the
principal condition to be used by God.
 Therefore a Nazirite should abstain from the fruit of the
vine, from cutting his hair and coming into contact with
cadavers, even if they belong to his own family.

17. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
2. The example of Jesus
 Many people ask if Jesus was a Nazirite. He was not a
Nazirite from the natural point of view, but he was a true
Nazirite who fulfilled all of the spiritual requirements.
Jesus is the greatest example of a Nazirite in the Bible.
He lived as an authentic Nazirite.

18. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 The first aspect of a Nazirite is that he could not partake
of anything related to the fruit of the vine, meaning that
he should abstain from all worldly types of pleasure and
enjoyment. The Lord fulfilled this completely because
never had anyone lived so consecrated to God as he.
 The second sign is that an Nazarite could not cut his
hair. The hair is a symbol of glory and Jesus never
sought his own will or glory (John 5:30; 5:41 and 8:50).

19. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 The third sign was to overcome natural affections. When
they told Jesus that his mother and brothers wanted to
speak with him his answer was emphatic. “Whoever
does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother my
sister and mother” (Matthew 12:46-50).

20. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 The fourth requirement was to have no contact with
death. Jesus was life itself and his life was the light of
men (John 1:4). Wherever he went there was always
much light and life (Matthew 4:16).
 This Nazirite abides today in our spirit. If we live
according to Christ we will be true Nazirites consecrated
to the Lord and to his purposes.

21. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 O exemplo de Sansão
 Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the
Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years
Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the
Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and
had no children. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman
and said to her, " Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no
children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore,
please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat
anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son.
And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a
Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel
out of the hand of the Philistines.“ (Judges 13:1-5).

22. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 The enemy wants to destroy our consecration. The
source of our spiritual strength is the anointing of the
spirit that comes through consecration.
 The enemy knows that without anointing we have no
power; therefore, he seeks to seduce us, for the
purpose of destroying our spiritual consecration. This is
what happened to Samson.

23. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 Samson enjoyed walking among the vineyards (Judges
14:5). Even though he knew that as a Nazirite he was
not permitted to eat grapes, he always found a way to
walk through the Vineyard.
 We also, although we cannot eat the grapes of the
Vineyard of the world, we enjoy their smell. Eventually
whoever plays with fire will “get burned.”

24. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 One day Samson killed a lion (Judges 14:8-9). After a
few days as he passed by the same way, he perceived
that in the body of the lion was a honeycomb full of
honey. For a Nazirite it was prohibited to touch dead
bodies. So what did Satan do? He put honey in the
corpse. Satan didn’t touch the corpse of the lion, but he
got very close to doing so.

25. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 The initial attempt of the devil to seduce Samson
among the vineyards was unsuccessful. In the same
way, the attempt to trick him into touching the dead
body of the lion did not work. In the end, the enemy
used a woman to induce him into allowing his hair to be
cut.
 When Samson’s hair was cut he lost all of his strength
and was delivered to the Philistines. As they led him to
prison they put out his eyes and forced him to turn a
grinding stone (Judges 16:19-21).

26. Study of Numbers – Chapter 6
The Nazirite Vow
 The following is a list of immediate consequences of
breaking our consecration:
 We lose the power to overcome sin and subjugate the
enemy;
 We lose the freedom that Christ obtained for us.
Because of sin, many who were formally freed now live
in bondage to the enemy;
 We lose vision, discernment and spiritual sensitivity.

27. Study of Numbers – Chapters 7 and 8
The consecration of the Tabernacle
 Consecration, in the book of Numbers is shown in
three aspects. The first aspect is the Nazarite
consecration that we see in chapter 6 which is an
individual consecration.
 Next, we have the consecration of the tabernacle in
chapter 7. The tabernacle prefigures the church. To
consecrate the tabernacle means that everything in the
church is for God.

28. Study of Numbers – Chapters 7 and 8
The consecration of the Tabernacle
 The consecration of the Levites
 Next, we have the consecration of the Levites. Levites
served God in the place of the children of Israel; they
represented all the firstborn in Israel. Therefore the
consecration of the Levites was the consecration of the
whole nation.
 We must always remember that today we are priests and
Levites before God. In the New Testament God fulfills
his desire to have a nation of priests. God’s will is that
everyone serve him.

29. Study of Numbers – Chapters 7 and 8
The consecration of the Tabernacle
 The process of consecration
 First purifying water was sprinkled over them. This water
points to the action of God’s Word in us (John 15:3;
Ephesians 5:26). Besides the blood, we need the water
of the Word of God to purify us. The blood purifies us
from the filth of sin, but we need the Word to remove the
stain that it leaves on us.

30. Study of Numbers – Chapters 7 and 8
The consecration of the Tabernacle
 Second, all of the hairs of the body had to be shaven.
Body hair points to everything that has origin in
humanity, therefore those who serve God must free
themselves of all merely natural strength.
 The third step consists of washing ones garments.
Garments point to our behavior. Our garments must be
like fine linen, which symbolizes our acts of
righteousness (Revelation 19:8).

31. Study of Numbers – Chapters 7 and 8
The consecration of the Tabernacle
 The fourth step was the presentation of the burnt offering
as offering for sin. This then was the consecration of the
levites that represent the whole congregation.
 The whole congregaton of Israel had to lay hands on the
levites. The laying of hands is an act of identification, the
levites now represent all the people.

32. Study of Numbers – Chapters 7 and 8
The consecration of the Tabernacle
 Afterward the Levites laid their hands on the calf of the
burnt offering. Thus that animal represented the whole
nation. The consecration of the Levites was a
consecration of the whole nation of God.
 Comparing 4:2 with 8:24 we see that the Levite began
learning his duties at twenty-five years of age but only at
thirty could he serve in the Tabernacle.