Chapter 6

The bulk of chapter 6 is given over to the Nazirite vow. This is an interesting vow, and it’s worth knowing about because it turns up elsewhere in Scripture. The most noteworthy Nazirite is, of course, Samson, but there are others.

The thing about the Nazirite vow is that most of us understand it very poorly. When we read about Samson, a lot of it goes over our head. If we understand the vow at all, mostly the vow would go something like this:

• Don’t cut your hair.
• Get super strength from God.

In fact, the super strength bit is unique to Samson, and it’s worth noting that he pretty much flubbed the rest of the vow. Let’s take a look at what it really entailed.

Becoming a Nazirite was a special way of declaring that you belonged to God. Although Samson’s vow was life-long from birth, it was more usual to have a Nazirite vow that began and ended at a particular time.

During the time of the vow, the person (who may be male or female – noteworthy in an ancient world that rarely allowed women the same rights as men!) had the following restrictions on them:

• They may not drink wine or beer (and in pre-distillation days, that is as good as saying “no booze.”). They are not even to eat grapes or grape skins (vs1-4).
• They may not cut their hair (v5). So that part of Samson’s vow is right.
• They may not be in the presence of a dead body(vs 6-7). If someone suddenly dies in their presence, there is a procedure, but that procedure basically amounts to restarting the vow(vs 9-12).
• At the end of the vow they are to present a series of offerings and sacrifices (vs 13-21).
  

The Nazirite vow is an interesting one because it is so alien to us today. In our world your religious behaviour is something that you do in private, perhaps even something you hide from others. Something so overt as to declare yourself a Nazirite is almost shocking to us, especially when the symbol of your vow is to shave your head, then to grow your hair long for the duration of your consecration. Why would you do it?

It is interesting to compare and contrast this vow with other equivalents. Most religions (including Christianity) have a monastic tradition, where people who wish for a deeper experience of their faith would separate themselves from the rest of their community and live a life dedicated to their religious observances (which may vary broadly).

Here, though, the entire people of Israel are essentially one big monastic movement. So leaving the assembly is not warranted. Hence this order of Nazirites, who remain a part of society, yet are in very visible ways separated from the rest of the people.

So where does this leave us?

Well, to begin with, we have evidence from Acts chapter 21 that the Nazirite vow was still linked with jews. Paul demonstrated his continuing identification with Jews (even as a Christian) by joining with a group of temporary Nazirites and paying for their sacrifices at the end of the vow. There is no evidence that I can find in scripture of this vow continuing on to non-Jewish Christians; so in its direct form I do not believe that it applies to us today.

The covenant or agreement between God and the Jews is a covenant of law – Do these things and I will be your God, you will be my people. But the covenant between us and Christ is a covenant of Grace – You are granted freedom from your sin unconditionally! So in some ways it is appropriate that we do not have a mandated way of declaring an individual devotion to God.

This makes it harder, because it is then difficult to know what you should do. On the other hand it is also easier – we have total freedom in Christ. How you express your holiness is up to you to a point (in that it must STILL be in accordance with God’s revealed will; for example, there’s no point in stealing money to glorify Him!).

More than that, the Jewish covenant is about what you DO. Our covenant is about what God has already DONE. To an extent, vows such as the Nazirite vow are obsolete for the Christian. It is still useful to develop spiritual disciplines – reading God’s word, praying, fasting and others – but it needs to be recognized that these ARE disciplines, entered into as training in righteousness, and not something that gains you extra favour with God.

Ultimately, God does not see the Nazirite – or the Christian who fasts – as a better person than the one who is not/does not. So whilst there is much to be gained in disciplining yourself in such a way (and let’s not forget, the reason you’re reading this right now is that I decided that the creation of this commentary was a discipline I would accept for the year!), it’s important to recognize that we are accepted in Christ before we even start.