The words of Gabriel concerning John the Baptist — “He shall be great in the sight of the Lord,” do not express all that should characterize him, for he adds, “And he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.” This is Nazariteship, at least the first mark of it. John could be great in the sight of the Lord only by being a Nazarite.
Separation to God
From Numbers 6 we see that to be a Nazarite was “to separate themselves unto the Lord.” There were three distinct signs –
First, the Nazarite abstained from wine and strong drink;
Second, he allowed the hair of his head to grow;
Third, he “came at no dead body.”
He deprived himself of wine, sign of joy to the heart of the natural man in the company of his equals. His long hair proclaimed that he abandoned the dignity and rights of man for subjection to the will of God, whose claims on him he acknowledged. Lastly, he avoided all that could bring him into contact with sin, whose wages is death. Such was the ordering and the secret of a Nazarite.
Separation to God could subsist only at the expense of these three things, and they were carried out in the life of John the Baptist. But in this passage he is presented to us as especially set apart from all that constitutes the joy of a social man. The world, on seeing him, would no doubt have said, “He is a sad and dismal loner.” What a mistake! This natural joy, the only one known to the world, was replaced in the prophet’s heart by a joy which communion with the Savior gives. These two joys are opposed to each other and cannot subsist together; it is only in proportion as we deny ourselves the former that we can enjoy the latter. Throughout his career divine joy was one of the characteristic features of this most austere man. As a miraculous babe in his mother’s womb, his first movement of joy is when the salutation of the mother of his Lord reaches Elizabeth’s ears (Luke 1:4444For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. (Luke 1:44)); and at the end of his course he says again, “This my joy therefore is fulfilled” (John 3:2929He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. (John 3:29)).
Christian Friend, Vol. 14