the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Nazarite
Morrish Bible Dictionary
or This term implies 'separation'; it was applied to either man or woman that vowed to separate themselves unto the Lord. Three things especially were enjoined upon the Nazarite.
1. He must not touch strong drink or anything that came of the vine: typical of turning away from sources of earthly energy and joy.
2. No razor must come upon his head: suggestive of the renunciation of self, and the giving up of natural rights and proprieties as man: cf. 1 Corinthians 11:7,14 .
3. He must not touch any dead body: typical of avoiding contact with moral defilement, the sphere of death and alienation from God brought about through sin. The point of the Nazarite was to live to God.
If any one died suddenly near to a Nazarite, he was defiled: he had to shave his head, offer sacrifices, and commence all again. When the period of his separation was fulfilled, he was to offer a burnt offering, a sin offering, a peace offering, a meat offering, and a drink offering, with the addition of the offerings made at the consecration of the priests. He was to shave his head and burn the hair in the fire which was under the peace offering: type of the full communion, which is the result of the sacrifice of Christ. Numbers 6:1-21 .
The Nazarite was specially raised up of God as the vessel of His power on behalf of the people when the pressure under which they were suffering was from enemies within their own border (as the Philistines), and when owing to the moral condition of the people it was not possible for God to interfere in ordinary ways of deliverance. The Nazarite was marked on the one hand by a special energy of the Spirit of God, but on the other by rigid separation from the natural sources of excitement, the proprieties and the moral corruption which were connected with the life of the people. We see this in John the Baptist.
Samson was a Nazarite from his birth. Before he was born it was declared that no razor must come on his head. His mission was to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines. Samson betrayed his secret, but sealed his mission by his own death. Judges 13:1-5 .
Christ was morally the true Nazarite; He was the holy one, and instead of having earthly joy He was emphatically 'the man of sorrows' when here, but also He has died to sin and lives to God. He answered to all the sacrifices, but the day is approaching when He will drink wine anew in the kingdom, as He said in Matthew 26:29; and be able to say to others, "Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." Christians also are Nazarites to God, not because of any vow, but as sanctified in Christ Jesus. He said, "For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." John 17:19; 1 Corinthians 1:2 .
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Morrish, George. Entry for 'Nazarite'. Morrish Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/mbd/n/nazarite.html. 1897.
