Numbers 5:29-6:729This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; 30Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. 31Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity. 1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak 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: 3He 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. 4All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. 5All 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. 6All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. 7He 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. (Numbers 5:29‑6:7)
We have been speaking of the trial of jealousy in Israel, and would like to apply this to the Church, as well as to the individual. Surely the professing church has been unfaithful to Christ, her Bridegroom, and has linked up with the world. Many of us have done this as individuals too, and all this is going to be manifested some day. The apostate church will of course be cut off, but Christ must deal with His own, governmentally, even now, for her unfaithfulness, for He cannot be identified with her in her links with the world. Then too there is the judgment seat of Christ where, as individuals, our lives will be manifested. There will be loss there according to the measure of unfaithfulness, while all that has been done for Christ will be rewarded. May the Lord stir up our hearts to more devotedness, both individually and collectively, for He has ever been true to His Church——His bride!
Then there was the vow of the Nazarite—a vow of complete separation to God. There was only One—the Lord Jesus—who fulfilled this type perfectly, though it ought to be true of the Church in her position now. There is also a special appplication of this in one who desires to devote himself entirely to God for some special service.
There were three particular things the Nazarite was to do. He was to abstain from wine and strong drink, he was not to allow himself to be diled for the dead, not even for his own family, and he was to let his hair grow. We learn from these things the main points of our separation to God, given to us in a typical way. First, abstaining from wine would show us that we are not to indulge in the pleasures of nature, even some that are right in their place being given up in devotedness to Christ. Secondly, in not touching the dead we learn that we are to keep separate from defilements in this scene of death. Then, last of all, we are to expect a despised position, for long hair was a shame to a man and also typified submission (for a woman), and so we are to walk in a path of submission to the will of God.
This vow of the Nazarite was only for a certain length of time, and theft when his vow ended, he could drink wine again. How good to look forward, when walking in separation here, to the coming day when we shall be able to relax and enjoy all that is around us, for there will be nothing to defile in heaven. What an encouragement this is as we follow our blessed Saviour, sharing His rejection here. There are joys that, are quite right in nature, but sometimes in the path of devotedness to Christ we are called upon to live above them—not as bondage, but, suffering with Christ—blessed privilege!
There are also the claims of nature, which we would naturally desire to enjoy, such as home life with all its pleasures, but the call of God sets us above this. It is not that we do not love and care for those near to us by nature. indeed it, would be wrong, to do otherwise in relationships formed of God, but to allow them to come before dotedness to Christ is another thing. If called of God we must not say, “Suffer me first to go and bury my father” (Luke 9:5959And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. (Luke 9:59)), though we should never neglect his needs at any time.
ML 07/22/1951