Numbers 6:1-8 – The call to be God’s consecrated people

What is a Nazirite? Numbers 6:1-21 provides the best answer to this question. The term Nazirite is derived from a Hebrew word that means “to consecrate” or “to devote.” Thus, a Nazirite is defined as a person who had set apart a season in his or her life by making a vow of separation and taking a self-imposed discipline. During that period he or she would devote himself or herself to the Lord. 

The Nazirite vow consists of three components. During the period of the vow, a Nazarite, firstly, would not consume strong drinks. He or she would not partake of any grape juice, wine, vinegar, and even grapes and raisins. Secondly, he or she would not shave his or her hair for that season but to let the hair grow long. And thirdly, a Nazirite would avoid contact with anything unclean, especially a dead body. 

A Nazirite is different from a hermit. In making a Nazirite vow, a person was only committing himself or herself for a season. But a hermit would make a lifelong commitment to live a whole life of asceticism. Unlike a hermit, apart from the three requirements, a Nazirite could still engage in the ordinary activities of life such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and working. Whereas a hermit would abstain from even the normal activities of life.  

What was the purpose for making a Nazirite vow? Since wine and strong drink are symbols of a life of indulgence, deliberately abstaining from them was a commitment to live a life of non-indulgence. And in not shaving one’s hair, a Nazirite was signaling that he or she was giving full control of his or her life to God. The requirement of not touching anything unclean indicates their call to live a life of purity. The life of a Nazirite was essentially to remind the people of Israel concerning their unique relationship with God. The presence of Nazirites would help them to recall their unique relationship with God and hence to conduct their lives so that others could recognize them as God’s chosen people.   

The best way to see how the life of a Nazirite is relevant to us is to see ourselves as being called to be stewards of God’s grace.  Hence, we heed the call of 1 Peter 4:2 to “…live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” And we must also take heed to 1 Peter 4:7 that calls us “…to be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.”