The law of the Nazarite applied to the Christian

Now I'd like you to turn with me to the book of Numbers and chapter 6. Numbers chapter 6, verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord. He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, nor vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

All the days of the vow of his separation, there shall no razor come upon his head, until the days be fulfilled in which he separated himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of his hair of his head grow. All the days that he separated himself unto the Lord, he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, or his brother, or for sister, when they die, because the consecration of his Lord is upon his head.

All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day shall he shave it.

And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or turtle doves, or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall offer of the one for a sin offering, of the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him for that sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head the same day. And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of a separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering.

But the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. And this is the law of the Nazarite. When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and he shall offer his offering unto the Lord.

One he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one new lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meal offering and their drink offerings. And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering, and he shall offer the ram the sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, and the basket of unleavened bread the priest shall offer also his meat offering or meal offering and his drink offering. And the Nazarite shall shave the head of a separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of a separation and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offering.

And the priest shall take the sudden shoulder of the ram and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite after the hair of a separation is shaven. And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. This is holy for the priest with the wave breast and the heave shoulder, and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.

This is the law of the Nazarite who had vowed and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation beside that his hand can get according to the vow which he vowed so he must do after the law of separation. Now we've read a lot I'm not going to go into every little detail but we're going to get the gist of it anyhow and I had this these thoughts before me for one specific reason and that is we'll just say briefly that the book of Numbers is a wilderness book. It's a book for the Levite really instructions for him and we're going through the wilderness.

Now God is a God of order you'll all agree with that and that order is seen right in the first chapters of the book of Numbers. God doesn't just bring his people haphazardly into the wilderness. He may have done that brought them into the wilderness but there was a lot of time spent to believe over a year when God was putting his people in order and he's telling in the order in which they should go through the wilderness.

Tribe of Judah had to be first and so on and I'm not going to go into that that's another subject but God is a God of order. Now I want to apply this to us today for these things were written for our admonition and for our learning. The Old Testament has some great illustrations examples of God's people today and I was thinking you know most places that we go and that you would go most assemblies you would go to you would find order even if you don't understand much of the language that they're speaking in certain countries still you can tell what the order is like and generally speaking it's the same order that we would practice today.

But is order really all that God wants? I think we've been our hearts have been touched at this conference to show that God wants more than order. Everything could be perfectly in order outwardly and what we see everybody behaving as we would expect them to behave but what about the heart? Do we really have the heart in it? That's the important thing. Now not just the order we won't say don't practice the order.

Practice the order but you know there must be heart. And God sets them in order and he tells the Levites here what they should do in the book here chapter 4 what part they had in the taking the wilderness taking the tabernacle through the wilderness. But then when we come to chapter 5 there's a different story altogether.

We have a story of an unfaithful wife. We're very glad for the ministry we had this morning about family relationships and a husband and wife. But here's a man that suspects his wife has been unfaithful to him and he's telling us this not just to tell us about this man but he's it's a condition that prevailed among his people in the nation of Israel.

There's things likely going on among God's people that we know nothing about. Once in a while they're unearthed and we're amazed at what is going on unknown to many of the Lord's people. So there's an offering of jealousy and again without going into details it can prove if this woman is guilty or we'll say if we are guilty or not.

And the only way we can know it's not what we think but it's what is in God's Word. We need to go according to the Word and I think the ceremony of jealousy here the offering and jealousy would bring that out as according to God's Word. Now what God is looking for is brethren and sisters that are devoted.

We want the order but we want devotion. We want consecration. We want to go into these things wholeheartedly just not a member of an assembly but really in the in the assembly.

I've told her a whole lot of times I shouldn't maybe tell again but my father asked a man one time coming home from the breaking of bread were you were you in the meeting this morning and he said sure you saw me sitting on my regular place. He said I didn't ask you if you were at the meeting I asked you if you were in the meeting. It's good to be in these things to really heart and soul the end of God's assembly.

Do we really love the Lord? If we love the Lord we'll love the place where he is and that's what we want to get into now as far as the sixth chapter is concerned. Here we have the the law of the Nazarite. Nazarite is linked with the word separation and it's a consecration of a person unto the Lord.

We know there were some in the Bible we have Samuel was a Nazarite from his birth so was John the Baptist and Samson was another one who was a Nazarite. Now this is a little different here but the thought for us is we should be Nazarites from our birth. If we really appreciate the Lord and it takes us a little while maybe to for that to really happen in our lives we don't say we know very little and we need to learn as your brother has been telling us but here they can vow the vow of a Nazarite.

That's commitment to the Lord. I want to live a life to please him. Do you really want that? You want to please him or just to please a few of the brethren or somebody else but do we want to please him? Well there's certain stipulations here that we have.

He said if they're going to separate themselves to the vow of the Nazarite it says first of all they must separate from wine, from strong drink. You know of course wine in the Bible speaks of joy. It's a great thing to have joy.

I thought maybe what would illustrate these two principles would be the marriage at Canaan of Galilee and you have the water pots and remember they needed wine? He said fill them up. They were for the purification of God's people. Belonged to the law maybe and you could say well those water pots and the water in them could cleanse a person but just from the outside.

But you see wine is something that you drink and that the marriage you would drink the wine that speaks of joy. Joy didn't come from the outward part from the purification but it came from the inward part and for us of course who are saved by the grace of God it's joy in the Lord. They've kept a good wine some people say to the last but that's not what the Bible says.

Kept a good wine until now. There's no joy without Christ and there's no end of joy with him. So no wine.

Wine befuddles, strong drink makes us do things we don't really want to do but the thought is here where am I getting my pleasure today? Is it in the things of the world or in the things of the Lord? Do we really enjoy reading about him and even coming to a conference? We're reminded that way at the beginning today. What do we come for? We want to learn more of the Lord. We want to be more like him.

We want to enjoy these things. Something wrong if we don't enjoy the things concerning the one who suffered and bled and died to save us. So where's my joy coming from? He said beware of wine and even in a practical way it's good to cut that stuff out all the time.

We don't need that. I could give you examples where men have fallen because they started with social drinking and got a little more social and fell and wrecked their marriages. But here in a spiritual way he said keep away from anything that pertains to the vine because you might be tempted.

Don't be tempted at all and be looking to the Lord for your joy. What a wonderful thing that I'll have your joy in the Lord. The joy of the Lord is our strength and if we're really enjoying him and hopefully he enjoying us, be a wonderful thing.

Now the next thing is that we don't want the false courage or what there was corrupts the taste and that's an inward thing but there's something outward and what is that? Well they let the hair of their head grow. You see that's a strange a strange thing. We see that today in many places it's not as prevalent as it used to be men with very long hair.

I used to say some of them are getting more like their mother all the time but anyhow we don't go for a long hair on the brethren but of course on the sisters. But he said no razor upon his hair all the days of his separation. Let the locks of his hair grow.

It's against nature for a man to have long hair and it's against nature to be devoted to the Lord. That's not what the flesh wants. The flesh wants a little bit of each usually or maybe more than a little bit at times.

But you don't want the partial stuff do you? And if you know anything about drinking I hope you don't. You wouldn't want wine that was diluted. Most people that drink they want the real thing and I'll tell you I want the real thing when it comes to the joy in the Lord.

So it said you let the hair of the head grow. What does that mean? Well what does long hair speak of? Well you read first Corinthians 11 and you'll read about long hair as a mantle for the sisters. It's a covering and this is what is being taught here.

If I'm going to live for the Lord I need to be out of sight. I need to be covered. We're not living a Nazarite's life to be seen and everybody to say man how spiritual he is and so on.

Somebody asked me how I was getting along one time and I said what do you mean? They said well spiritually. Well I said you better ask somebody else. Don't ask me.

None of us can brag about our spirituality. But we don't want something that's half way. And we were always taught of a person practice what they call half truths.

It's not truth at all. It has to be complete in our lives day by day. So we want to be covered.

We want to enjoy the Lord and we want to enjoy him. Doesn't matter what others think. They would notice a Nazarite you know and we would notice a Nazarite in the spiritual way.

And we're going to read in a few minutes or look in a few minutes the fact that they bring great blessing to others. They're not doing it to be seen. Most of us like to be seen and like a little bit of credit for what we do.

Well we should just get through life quietly. Serving the Lord without looking for recognition. So we have a commitment to the Lord.

That's the first thing. And then we have the fact that contamination is possible. We want to be purely for him but we're living in a world that's characterized by death.

And when they were going through the wilderness that's one thing that was very obvious. There were a lot of dead bones all around the place. God had come in and taken many away in judgment.

So it was something that had to be very careful because death defiles. And maybe that's all I can say. I need to go a little faster.

But anyhow we need to be pure vessels if we're going to be vessels that God can use. And even relationships. It talks about family members that die but we're applying it.

Even relationships can hinder our devotion to God. Family. Maybe some of you have found families that parents aren't saved or one parent not saved or brothers or sisters and they want you to go places where you know you shouldn't go.

And what are you going to do? You don't want to offend family. It's not easy to live a good Christian life. If it is there's something wrong maybe with us if we're getting along too well with the world.

So the family functions and relationships can hinder. So concentration is necessary if we're going to walk and live for God. I have mentioned when I lived in over in Ireland we had little row houses I lived in and a little backyard with a with a wall across.

And some nights the cats decided to have a concert on the wall. So you know they're very clever people in Ireland. You understand that looking at me even.

And they decided we'll break some glass and get some cement and we'll put it in the wall so the cats can't walk across the wall. You think we stopped them? They walked circumspectly. That's what the book of Ephesians tells.

They took their steps through and that's the way we need to go through this world to walk circumspectly. Pick our paths. Just don't go along with the flow.

That's what the world says. And many Christians would say, a young couple told my wife and I years ago when I first saved, do what you like and if it's wrong the elders will tell you. Well I'll say I didn't want that brand of Christianity.

That's not the way to go through life. It's really to be devoted to pick one's steps. So concentration was necessary.

Continuation was needed as well because you could break the consecration and then what do you do? Well I'll tell you you start all over again. Don't give up. If you're on a diet, some of us have been on diets all our lives and you end up eating a dozen doughnuts or something.

I hope you don't do that. But if you did, well just don't keep on eating. Start again.

Devote yourself again to the Lord. You need a new beginning. It says verse 10, on the eighth day they'll bring two turtle doves or pigeons.

The turtle dove has a single eye. That's what we want to have, a single eye for the Lord. What about the pigeon? Well that's a homing pigeon and that again reminds us of the Lord.

He came from heaven and he said, John 13, he's going back to heaven again. So it's wonderful to look in at these little types and again, just as an aside, do you ever study the sacrifices, the Levitical offerings and so on? Oh you say they're so difficult. Well there's lots of helps, you know, and you can study them and think about them and it's wonderful to see what God, they use a little turtle dove, beautiful little dove, has a single eye for its mate.

And he said, have a single eye from the Lord. And then there's pigeons. He's a stranger here and that should remind us that we're strangers here too.

We didn't come from heaven but we're going back to heaven. So we're strangers going through this enemy's territory. We need to have a an appreciation of the Lord.

How do we get it? Not just in the New Testament but look into the offerings. There's a sin offering mentioned here, forgiveness. Why wouldn't we think of our sins being forgiven? When a person brought a sin offering, he put his hand on the head of the offering.

It's as though his sins were transferred to the offering. And we laid our hand on the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid the great price of redemption.

Think of the sufferings of Christ on the cross. Why would we not want to serve him? Why would we want to be devoted to the one that loved us unto death when we were unlovable? God commended his love toward us. And while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Do we appreciate that? That he died for us. None of these animals or birds ever suffered. The fire that consumed them or burned was a pain and the suffering.

But the Lord Jesus bore the wrath and the judgment of God. Why would we not want to live our lives to please him? And the same we have a burnt offering, of course, speaks of acceptance. And when I laid a hand on the head of the burnt offering, it's as though the acceptability of the offering was transferred to them.

Just imagine, we're accepted. Not because of what we are. Accepted in the beloved one.

And God taught that away at the beginning. He taught that through an able sacrifice. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted.

If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. Then you have a continuation needed, verse 12. You have a trespass offering.

There's a debt to pay. We're indebted to the Lord. We live for him.

You bring a lamb. And of course, the lamb speaks of submission. And then we have a celebration when the vow is fulfilled.

We come down to verse number 13. What does he bring there? Well, he offers offering unto the Lord. One he lamb.

Thought of the male lamb speaks of strength. And then a ewe lamb speaks of submission. And these are brought and these two are offered as a burnt and a sin offering.

Then there's a peace offering. And that's the offering of consecration. And without going down that, I'll just mention then, you have a drink offering.

Well, you know what a drink offering speaks of? Wine. That speaks of joy. You know, Paul, he said, I'm just a drink offering.

The Philippian saints are the priests. And what they have sent to me to support me is their offering. When he said, I'm just a just a little drink offering.

You know, that's what that's where he got his joy. From serving others, serving the Lord and serving others. And that's where we get real joy in our hearts.

So he goes on, and I'm just going to close by the half hour at least, I would think. But you have the hair mentioned. Verse 18.

At the end of the vow, the Nazarite shall shave his head, the head of a separation, at the door of the tabernacle of a congregation. And he'll take the hair of his head, and he'll put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. It's going to ascend to God.

The sacrifice. When I read that, my mind always goes to Revelation chapter 3. And the address to the church at Philadelphia. And remember one thing that said that links in with this, I believe.

It says, let no man take thy crown. Let no one take their crown. That's the crown of devotion.

Don't let anyone rob you of your devotion. Satan will want to take that away. Because you know, and I link it without going into details, you can ask me after, no time now.

They cast their crowns at his feet. Will you have something to cast at his feet in that day? Describe unto him glory and honor and power. Cast their crowns at the feet.

Let no man or no one take thy crown. You keep your consecration for the Lord. Everything might be in perfect order.

But remember, the Lord is looking for heart work. Our heart taken up with Christ. And all these offerings, if you study them and get into them, you should appreciate more and more of the work of Christ on the cross.

What is involved in it. And the benefits we reap from it today. And then after that, the priest would take Sodom's shoulder off the peace offering, and the shoulder of the ram, and so on and so on.

I won't go into it all. And the hair of his separation is shaven. Verse 20, the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.

Holy for the priest. What does a Nazarite get out of all this? Well, first of all, I'll tell you, the priestly family gets something out of it. And if you and I are really Nazarites for the Lord, others will benefit.

Wonder how much they'll benefit from me? Well, I'd rather you didn't answer that right now. But they should benefit from our devotion to the Lord and our separation from the world and our separation unto him. This is the law and so on.

Well, it says, and the priest, after the priest, verse 20, shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. This is holy for the priest with the wave breast and the heave shoulder. So the benefit comes to God's people from our Nazarite ship.

What does he do? Well, there's a wave offering and a heave offering. The heave offering would be vertical. It's a shoulder.

It speaks of strength. And when that would be heaved up, it'd be heaved up, I believe, toward the God of heaven. You think of the greatness of God, the God of creation.

Then the wave breast, the breast speaks of affection and love. And it doesn't tell us where it was waved, but I, in my own thoughts, it was waved toward the altar. God of redemption.

You appreciate the greatness of the Lord? We appreciate his humility. Coming down into this world to go to the altar. I tell you, it wouldn't, if we really appreciate these things, if we really enter into them, it wouldn't be very difficult for you and I to be a Nazarite.

To live our lives as a Nazarite, separated unto the Lord, to please him. And you know what will come in at the end? After that, the Nazarites shall drink wine. What does he get? He gets the joy.

The Lord's people get a lot of benefit from it, but he gets the joy of serving the Lord. And I tell you, when we get home, we'll never regret how much we served him. We'll be hung our heads, as our brother has reminded us.

To think how little progress we've made. How little we enter into these things. But you know, we're not dead yet.

Some of us are closer maybe than others. Maybe not the older ones either, but there's still time left. So why don't we go in for these things now? There might be a real Nazarite unto the Lord.

The Lord was a Nazarite too, but not in this way. In a spiritual way. And we should be spiritual Nazarites, devoted to him.

And remember, it's not just enough to have everything right, as far as outward looks are concerned, but God looks in the heart. Wonder what he gets from me. Wonder what he gets from you.

May the Lord exercise our hearts to look further into these things.