| “For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb” (Judges 13:5). |
| “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? (1 Corinthians 11:14). |
| Our first verse today was spoken by an angel to Samson’s mother, when he told her that she would have a son. Up to that time she had no children. However, the angel also told her that her son would be a Nazarite, and that his hair was never to be cut. But in the New Testament, we read in our second verse that it is a shame for a man to have long hair. Why would the Lord tell Samson’s mother not to cut his hair, if it would be a shame for him always to have long hair? |
| God gave the instructions for a Nazarite back in the law of Moses, in Numbers 6. There were three things he was to do, and one of them was not to cut his hair. See if you can find the other two things he was not to do. A man could choose to be a Nazarite for a period of time, but in the case of Samson, he was always to be one. |
| For a man not to cut his hair is a picture of someone who gives up his dignity and rights as a man. When a Nazarite did this, it was a picture of a man who was totally devoted to the Lord, and who gave up his own rights, in order to follow the Lord. Samson was to do this, but as we read about his life, we find that he did not do a very good job of being a Nazarite. All too often he wanted his own way, instead of the Lord’s way. |
| There were other people in the Bible who were Nazarites, such as John the Baptist, but the true Nazarite was the Lord Jesus Himself. The Bible does not say that he never cut his hair, nor did He avoid the other things a Nazarite was not to do. But He was the only true Nazarite in His heart, for He could say, “I do always those things that please Him (God the Father)” (John 8:29). |
| You and I are to be Nazarites too. Our outward appearance as Christians is important, but we are Nazarites mainly by being totally devoted to the Lord in our hearts. |
