Numbers 6:8-20
The Lord Jesus was the true Nazarite who would not allow His mother to occupy Him with natural ties (Mark 3:32-34), but in her time of need He would commend her to the care of John. (John 19:26, 27.) Surely He was perfect in all things and a blessed Example for us, but how many a young man has hindered his usefulness to the Lord by allowing himself to become occupied with natural joys and relationships—quite right in their place—but which have tied him to earth so that he could not be a Nazarite. Still others have started out in the path but did not continue, lacking in that spiritual energy to go on. It is only with the eye upon Christ that we can continue.
The long hair of the Nazarite, as we have mentioned, is typical of the despised place we are to occupy now, for the long hair was a shame to a man. Our blessed Lord was the despised One when here, and if we are to follow Him devotedly we shall find the world will not want us either. Very often our troubles come because of our unlovely ways, but since the long hair typifies submission, we would learn in it that we should be careful that we “suffer according to the will of God”—in the path of obedience to Him. (1 Peter 4:19.) To suffer persecution in any other way is only our own folly, and not suffering for Christ at all.
Nor was the Nazarite to be defiled for the dead. Even if someone unexpectedly died beside him and he became defiled, his Nazariteship was broken. We are in a world of evil, and oh how watchful we have to be. There is even a danger, because of our desire to be devoted to God in the midst of evil, that we become defiled by it. For example, we are to carry the message of God’s grace to the vilest, but unless it is in the power of complete separation to God, we might be defiled. It is most needful in serving the Lord that the inner devotedness to Christ and walk with Him is maintained, or we may be carried away with the very evil in which such service places us. In a word, let any of us who seek to serve the Lord be watchful that our service does not go beyond our communion, for if it does, we are in great danger at once. This was the case with Samson, whose very strength and energy for the Lord put him among the Philistines and then, alas, he married one of them, put his head in her lap, and gave up his Nazariteship.
We notice in our chapter that when this Nazarite separation was broken whether intentionally or otherwise, the Nazarite had to shave off all his hair and offer a sacrifice. He was not to pretend to be what he was not, and if he left his hair long it would appear that he was still a Nazarite when he was not. Let us watch against pretentions of spirituality which are not true of us. God looks on the heart.
When the vow of the Nazarite was ended he was to offer a burnt offering, a sin offering, and a peace offering, as well as meat offerings. How beautifully this typifies the time when our separation will he over, when we will come into the full fruit of redemption’s work, and drink that wine of joy with Christ, without hindrance above. There will be no evil to be separate from in heaven. Of course we can have this joy in measure now by the Spirit as we walk in separation to Christ, but then we shall know and enjoy in fullness what is now only known in part.
ML 07/29/1951