Giving Birth To A Nazirite

GIVING BIRTH TO A NAZIRITE

Judges 13:5 "For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines."

INTRODUCTION:

Let me also point the Nazirite vow that is clearly explained in the book of Numbers:

“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself to the Lord, he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. ‘All the days of his separation he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

‘All the days of his separation to the Lord he shall not go near to a dead person. ‘He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. ‘All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.” Numbers 6:2-8 NASB

From the above scriptures, let me highlight three important points for Nazirite vow:

• strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes.

• All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head.

• All the days of his separation to the Lord he shall not go near to a dead person.

The key of this Nazirite vow is this: verse 8'All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.’ Awesome! Awesome!

Having said that, I would like to first talk about the incident which led me to go dipper with the above verse. Manoah's wife is an unnamed figure in the Book of Judges, the wife of Manoah is introduced in Judges 13:2 as a barren woman, the Angel of Lord appeared to her and said:

• You shall conceive and give birth to a son

• No razor shall come upon his head

• Because the boy shall be a NAZIRITE to God

• From the womb

• The Boy shall deliver Israel from the hands of Philistines

When I read the above ‘demands’ from God, I understood there was something BIG coming therefore God had to do THIS MUCH preparation. I am excited! The special boy ‘Samson’ was getting processed to deliver the Israelites from the hands of the Philistines.

Because of the wickedness of the people of Israel, they were given into the hands of Philistines for 40 years – oh, quite a long period!!!

Anything BIG needs preparation: God sometimes picks people, keeps a great burden and responsibility on their shoulders but at the same time, God plans elaborately on the execution of the job. God would be involved in your life and arrange everything to a T. (perfectly). Samson had to be a Nazirite because he was going to deal with Philistines who are known for the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially beer, they were heavy partying and drinking people and also his mother had to refrain from them. God was giving no room for the enemy to destroy the work of God!

God works behind the scaffold of our life: The birth of Samson was no small incident but he was prepared to deliver the Israelites who were in the hands of the Philistines for 40 years, let me repeat 40 years, phew! The longer you stay in bondage, chances are there that you get accustomed to that life style: Idols, alcohol, weapons, adultery, lust, obscenities becomes norm. I had to stand upside down to bring a girl out of an adulterous relationship with a married man with two children, and this young girl also had a son out of this relationship. It took me two years of counseling and the final separation took place after brutal attacks on the girl, police station and lot more, but God helped her come out. Hallelujah!

SACRIFICE: Whenever we are called and assigned to give ‘birth’ to something extraordinary and exceptional then there is a sacrifice involved in that, are you listening? God had kept Manoah’s wife barren and desperate so that she would have a crucified heart to obey God when He showed up. The trials, barrenness and emptiness that we go through in our life is not to destroy us but God has got something prepared beyond that. I am excited…