Numbers 6: 1 – 27
What’s the purpose?
6 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin. 5 ‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6 All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. 7 He shall not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the LORD. 9 ‘And if anyone dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting; 11 and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned in regard to the corpse; and he shall sanctify his head that same day. 12 He shall consecrate to the LORD the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb in its first year as a trespass offering; but the former days shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. 13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 14 And he shall present his offering to the LORD: one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish as a sin offering, one ram without blemish as a peace offering, 15 a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their drink offerings. 16 ‘Then the priest shall bring them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering; 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 Then the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19 ‘And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them upon the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair, 20 and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD; they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.’ 21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the LORD the offering for his separation, and besides that, whatever else his hand is able to provide; according to the vow which he takes, so he must do according to the law of his separation.” 22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: 24 “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” ’ 27 “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Do you feel lost or as if something is missing in your life? Maybe you want to make a bigger difference in the world than you feel you are, but you aren’t sure how. So many of us walk through life, feeling numb and desperate for a deeper connection, but aren’t sure how to get it.
The two greatest days of your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out what your purpose is, but if you don’t know what your purpose is than you don’t know why you are here, and it can be hard to keep going.
I know this feeling all too well. I used to suffer immense inner turmoil while trying hard to find my purpose. I was in a job I hated, working in a place that I hated to go to each day and I wasn’t too happy working with the people also.
I struggled daily to figure out my purpose, but it wasn’t until I took a step back and realized that my purpose isn’t “figure-out able” from my head that I found a way to get there. I thought to myself, “Maybe the problem isn’t that I don’t know what my purpose is; the problem is the way I am trying to find my purpose.”
We can’t think our way into our life’s passion and purpose; we have to do our way in. This means taking steps towards what you want, and removing those things in your life that you don’t want. I was a street kid since the age of 9. My abusive dad worked at the steel mill and on days off would get drunk and become violent. Therefore I found my safety better on the streets than hiding in fear waiting for the fists and belt to be given. I wanted to show the world that I was not going to be beaten down all my life. I set up to fight my way to victory. I did not know it at the time that there was Someone Who was observing my actions and He quietly directed my path. If you are looking for your purpose and passion, stop looking and start doing. These steps will help you.
So, how do you find your purpose and passion? It begins with understanding three principal facts:
1. God Is Real!
No one is outside His observation. The bible tells us that He takes special note of widows and orphans. Although officially I wasn’t an orphan, I was just a kid trying to survive in a harsh world. For all you kids who are trapped in a similar situation I believe that our Holy God can and will be for you. In truth you can’t think your way into finding your life purpose; you have to just do it. It would be nice if our Holy God spoke to us or gave us a note on what steps to take but He doesn’t. We need to pray and start to do things. If we are wrong then the doors we try to open will close. If we are in His will then things flow. The more we act, the more we get clear on things. So instead of over thinking it — Will this work out? Should I try that? What if I don’t like it? What if I don’t make money at it? Start taking steps toward your goals and start trying new things. This will help you get out of your own way. I struggled for years trying to find out what my purpose was. This cycle only created a deeper lack of clarity. It wasn’t until I started doing that things changed for me. I stumbled my way to what the Lord really wanted for me to do in my life.
The major gift I believe the Lord had for me was writing. I began writing and the enjoyment of being allowed by El Shaddai, The Lord Most High, to do even little things that I hoped honored Him was unlike anything I ever experienced. I felt satisfied more than ever before, love flooded into my heart and I knew that this was what I had to do with my life. You see though, I had to start writing to learn that my biggest passion was indeed writing. That only came with consistent action.
The experience is the reward; clarity comes through the process of exploring. Action is where you get results.
2. Drop from your head to your heart
Your heart is your best tool to access your true purpose and passion. Ask yourself what you love? Start taking steps to do what you love. When you are inspired and connected to your happy self, inspiration floods your heart and soul. When you lead from your heart, you are naturally more joyful and motivated to explore. By doing what you love, you will be inspired and gain insights into what brings you the most joy.
3. Break up with the “one”
Many of us struggle because we try to find that ‘one’ thing that we are meant to do; but trying to find only one thing is the reason why we feel like something is missing. The notion that we have only one thing we are meant for limits us from fulfilling our greatness. Take me for example; I have six different job titles. I’m a Pastor, Medical Doctor, Psychologist, Police clergy officer, Red Cross Counselor, and teacher. Each of these things I do brings me joy, but none of these are my purpose, they are my passions. So start getting in touch with your passions! When you lead a passionate life you are living your life on purpose.
Let go of thinking there is only one purpose for you and embrace the idea that our purpose in life is to love life fully by putting ourselves into our life! This means we jump in and try new things; we stop resisting the unknown and we fully engage in what is happening right here, where we are. To lead a purposeful life, follow your passions. When we live a passion-filled life we are living on purpose, and that is the purpose of life.
That feeling that something is missing goes away when you lead a passion-filled life. The need to seek our purpose comes from a lack of passion. When you don’t feel connected to your life, you lack purpose and passion. To fix this emptiness simply add more passion. To boil it down, remember this simple equation:
Passion + Daily Action = Life that has a purpose
Consider that the real purpose of anyone’s life is to be fully involved in living. Try to be present for the journey and fully embrace it. Do not settle for just existing. Soon you will be oozing with passion, and you will feel so purposeful and fulfilled you will wonder how you lived life without it. Enjoy the journey into your own awesome life.
But anyway, today we are going to look to people who want to find more purpose in their relationship with our Great and Wonderful Holy God Yahweh. The purpose is to give the seeker a way to give him or herself to God like the holy objects in the Temple were given to be used for His Honor and Glory -Those things that were set apart for special use for God. Just as the Holy items were dedicated to Him and can't be defiled by being used for mundane purposes, so also the Nazirite wants to be thought by God to be like. So the Nazirite is a living holy object, and is described in two ways: what the object is, and what the object does. And, the hallmarks of things that are of God that are specially highlighted in the vow are two:
1. What it is: First, the living holy object has the hallmarks of cleanliness, purity, clarity, and health. This desire communicates the idea of a state where "nothing is missing, and nothing is broken." I think a vivid idiom might be "bright-eyed," don't you think? This is symbolized in the vow by the command to abstain from fermented drink. Alcohol, being a poison, makes you slower, sedated, and clumsy. The "red eyes of wine" are a total opposite of the bright eyes of vitality.
2. What it does: Second, the living holy object has the hallmarks of being alive. Living things create, multiply, grow, feed, and organize. This idea is symbolized in the command to avoid dead bodies. Death is contagious and repulsive to that which lives. You get the point. So put these two together and what do you get? You get a holy thing that serves God.
In a nutshell the Nazarite ritual gave all the people ll in Israel, of whatever tribe, the opportunity to share something similar to the holiness of the priests and Levites.
Having been cleansed from uncleanness, trespass, and secret adultery, there was now a call to the people to partake in holiness positively, either temporarily or permanently and thus contribute to the overall holiness of the camp. If people became ‘jealous’ in a godly way of the priests and Levites a way was made open for them to join in their lifestyle. If they had a burning desire to please Yahweh, again a way was made open for them to become especially ‘holy’. So, full holiness before Yahweh was available to all, not just the Levites and priests. All could become a Nazirite. The word seems to indicate ‘one separated’. The Nazirite man or woman epitomized all that Israel was meant to be.
While the requirements given are physical; abstaining from the fruit of the vine, letting the hair grow long, and avoiding contact with the dead, we must not be deceived by this. These restrictions were with a purpose. They were to ensure that there was nothing lacking in their dedication. Wine could interfere in their service for God (Leviticus 10.9-10); cutting their hair would be a reducing of the fullness of their dedication (part of what they had dedicated was being removed), thus leaving it uncut stressed that there must be no diminishing of their dedication in any way; contact with the dead would mean that they were unable to approach Yahweh, that they had wandered from the way of life and wholeness. The point was that their period of separation to God had to be involved totally in worshipping and serving Him. It was the way of ‘life’. Nothing was to be held back or defiled.
6 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.
When any man or woman sought to become holy to Yahweh they could take a special vow, a Nazirite vow. While it would not make them priests it would give them the same standing before Yahweh as a priest, or in many ways as the High Priest. Thus like them they would have to abstain from wine and strong drink (Leviticus 10.9-10) and avoid all contact with the dead (Leviticus 21.1-4, 11-12). The priests were also forbidden to shave their heads (Leviticus 21.5), but the Nazirites went further than the priest because their action was voluntary.
The Nazirite continued to live normally within the camp, he would be expected to be an example to all, but he was living in order to please Yahweh as one ‘separated to Yahweh’, because of his love for Him. And Yahweh would treat him as having an especial ‘holiness’. It is clear that these provisions were given in order that they might be carried out. Israel was being called on to recognize the need for periods when they individually fully separated themselves to Him so that they could fully seek His face without the distraction of other things. They were being called on to increase the holiness of the camp.
‘He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the kernels even to the husk.’ While the priests were only forbidden wine and strong drink when serving in the Sanctuary on their sacred duties (Leviticus 10.9-10), the Nazirites were to avoid totally all the produce of the vine. They were on sacred duty all the time. At all times wine must not be allowed to interfere with their dedication. This may well have had in mind the failure of the ‘perfect’ man Noah (Genesis 6.9; 9.20-27) where after being so pleasing to God Noah had failed Him utterly because of the fruit of the vine. ‘Grape-cakes’ are also mentioned in Hosea 3.1 as an indication of sensual living. The fruit of the vine epitomized all the desires of the flesh. The total ban (like the ban on work on the Sabbath) would prevent any attempt to seek loopholes, something men have always been good at. Their joy was to be in Yahweh and not in the fruit of the vine. Their hearts were to be made glad by Him, and not to look anywhere else.
5 ‘All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
The second requirement of the Nazirites was that they were not to cut their hair. Among some peoples the hair was seen as giving strength and fuller life. The idea here is probably rather that the Nazirite must not reduce himself/herself in any way when in the direct service of Yahweh. His/her concentration must be on total service. Cutting his hair would in some way diminish his setting apart to God, his or her ‘holiness’. It would be removing a part of what he had dedicated to God. Thus not cutting his hair is specifically connected with his period of holiness, and stressed the need for continual full dedication. It was evidence of his dedication, his separation (‘nezer’). The same word ‘nezer’ is used of the High Priest’s crown (Leviticus 8.9) and of the oil of consecration (Leviticus 21.12) as ‘the holy separator’ which separates him/her off from all others as ‘holiness to Yahweh’.
6 All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. 7 He shall not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head.
Clearly the Nazirite’s holiness was on a par with that of the High Priest. Any contact with the dead would interfere with his dedication for it would render him unclean, and during any period of uncleanness his dedication would necessarily have to lapse. So it must be avoided, for he was to be available to Yahweh at all times.
8 All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the LORD.
His position is here confirmed. All the days of his separation, that is for the period that he is under his vow, he is ‘holy to Yahweh’, set apart totally for His glory. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with that. The presence of such a holy person in the camp would have been seen as contributing greatly to the holiness of the camp, made all the greater by the fact that it was wholly voluntary.
We should personally take note that this kind of separation is one that we should all at times follow, a period when we set all else aside in order to please God (1 Corinthians 7.5). It is also indicative of what the general attitude of the Christian should be towards life and its demands.
9 ‘And if anyone dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.
It may, however, be that by accident he comes in contact with the dead because of the sudden and unexpected death of someone next to him. This would defile the head of his separation, the very hair that declared him holy. In that case his hair must be cut off. It had been defiled. It was no longer the sign of his separation, which had ceased. It was unavoidable. Anyone who touched the dead body of a man was unclean for seven days (19.11).
On the third day he was to purify himself by having the ‘water of uncleanness’ sprinkled on him, and as a result on the seventh day he would be clean (19.12). This was ‘the day of his cleansing’. Thus having carried through this procedure like any other Israelite must, the defiled Nazirite would be clean on the seventh day. That was the point at which he must cut off his hair so as to begin again. Without that he would not, in his case, be clean. The hair was defiled. It would have to be replaced by new hair. It was then too that he would wash his clothes and bathes himself in water and wait until the evening when he would be clean (19.19), and ready to renew his vow.
10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting; 11 and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned in regard to the corpse; and he shall sanctify his head that same day.
Because he had broken his Nazirite vow atonement had to be made. So on the eighth day he was to bring two turtle-doves or two young pigeons to the priest, to ‘the door of the Tent of Meeting’ (that is within the courtyard where the altar was), and the priest would offer one for a purification for sin offering and one for a whole burnt offering. By this atonement would be made because he had ‘sinned’ by touching the dead and breaking his vow.
12 He shall consecrate to the LORD the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb in its first year as a trespass offering; but the former days shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.
He must then once again separate himself to Yahweh for the same period as previously, separating off those days as the days of his vow, and bring a one year old lamb as a guilt offering. This sacrifice always demonstrated that Yahweh’s rights had been breached. But the days that he had already served would not count, for what had happened had defiled that period of separation.
One important lesson from this is that what we have promised to God we must perform. If something interferes we must begin again. We must under no circumstances just assume that as something has happened which has prevented us we are free from our obligation. Vows to God are voluntary. But once made they are binding. It is also an assurance that we need not despair. We may find that we have failed in our consecration. We meant it so genuinely, and yet we have let God down. We have here the assurance that we can begin again.
13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 14 And he shall present his offering to the LORD: one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish as a sin offering, one ram without blemish as a peace offering, 15 a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their grain offering with their drink offerings.
From this point on there is a complete reversal of the situation, brought about by the fulfillment of the days of his separation, the arrival of the last day in his period of total and complete dedication, after which he would return to normal life, yet never to be the same again.
Once the period of his separation was successfully completed the Nazirite would be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting ( be brought into the courtyard where sacrifices were made) and there he was to offer a whole burnt offering, an act of dedication and atonement which would be a pleasing odor to God; a purification for sin offering, which would remove his sin and again make atonement for him; a ram ‘for peace or wellbeing offerings’ which would put him at peace with Yahweh and again make atonement and be a pleasing odor to God; and a grain offering which would also be a pleasing odor to God, dedicating his life and activity to God; and drink offerings which regularly accompanied a whole burnt offering (Numbers 15). The cakes and wafers were regularly offered with peace/wellbeing offerings (Leviticus 7.12-13).
Comparison with Leviticus 8 will bring out how close all this was to the offerings for the consecration of the priests, slightly reduced because only one person was involved. This might suggest that the Nazirite was being returned to being one of the people and yet was still to be seen as someone specially consecrated. He/she could no longer be the same again. Note also the requirement for the purification for sin offering. Like all men, what he was, and what he had done, was not perfect before God. Sin always reveals its ugly presence in even the best of men and interferes in the most holy of activities.
16 Then the priest shall bring them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering; 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering.
We see here the whole range of offerings, with all their significance. They were to be duly offered by the priest in accordance with the requirements of Leviticus 1-4. The result would be purification, and forgiveness, renewed dedication, the offering of tribute and thanksgiving, and renewed reconciliation and peace with God. While his vow was over his dedication to Yahweh was to continue permanently.
18 Then the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.
The reversal continues. In contrast with allowing his hair to grow long the Nazirite will shave it. The Nazirite will then shave ‘the head of his separation’ there in the courtyard ‘at the door of the Tent of Meeting’, as close to Yahweh’s physical presence as he was permitted, and take his hair and place it on the fire under the peace offerings on the altar, in order that it might be burned up. For the one and only time an ‘ordinary’ Israelite could approach the altar.
19 ‘And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them upon the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair,
One unleavened cake and one unleavened wafer would have been retained from what was in the basket (the remainder having been offered). Once the Nazirite had shaved off the indication of his separation, the priest was to take these, along with the boiled shoulder of the ram, and place them on the Nazirite’s hands. This indicated that he was identifying the Nazirite with them.
20 and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD; they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.’
The priest would then ‘wave’ or present them before Yahweh, an indication that they were an offering to Him, after which he would retain them for his own use as the servant of Yahweh. This was in addition to the wave-breast and the heave-thigh which normally went to the priests. The ram’s shoulder was an addition to the priest’s portion in this case. It may well be seen as confirming that the Nazirite was still leaving something of himself in the hands of Yahweh. No one who had been a Nazirite could go back totally to ‘normal’ life. But after that, in contrast with ceasing from wine he could once again drink wine. He would then partake of the remainder of the peace/wellbeing offering, and probably drink again of the wine from which he had previously refrained.
21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows to the LORD the offering for his separation, and besides that, whatever else his hand is able to provide; according to the vow which he takes, so he must do according to the law of his separation.”
The instruction is now summarized. In it has been described the Nazirite’s oblation to Yahweh for his separation as evidenced in the offerings described. ‘Besides that which he is able to get’ may suggest that this was the minimum and that a Nazirite usually offered much more. But what was most important was that he had performed his vow once he had entered under the ‘law of separation’.
The dedication of men and women as Nazirites was a picture of what it would mean for Israel to be a ‘kingdom of priests’ (Exodus 19.6). The intention was probably that all should at one stage or another voluntarily take such vows. While they would not perform priestly functions they would for the period of their vows become as holy as priests. It was a foretaste of what being in the kingdom of priests meant, and as we have suggested, once having experienced such a dedication the person would be expected to still continue to be bound by the principles of the higher life, even though the outward trappings had gone. They could not fully return to their old ways. It was a call to live such a higher life.
It is important to us because it reminds us that God seeks from us all a higher dedication, and especially times when we lay all else aside so as to seek Him (1 Corinthians 7.5), a dedication that is then to continue on in our daily lives. Once we have wholly committed ourselves to Him we can never return to what we were. We are to put off the old man, and put on the new (Ephesians 4.22-24).
22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: 24 “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” ’
God demonstrated what His good pleasure was for His people by providing the words of the blessing. The priests were to bless them in this way. Conformity to this was probably seen as being as important as conformity to other correct ritual.
27 “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
By this divinely given blessing the priests would be putting Yahweh’s name on the children of Israel. By this He would be stamping them as His (Revelation 3.12). But the name indicated more than identification. To know His name was to see Him powerfully at work (Exodus 6.3). To have His name put on them was to be in a position whereby they were sealed as a holy people demonstrating that they were in enjoyment of the benefit of His activity and His blessings. Yahweh would set His name in the Sanctuary, thus dwelling among them (Deuteronomy 12.5) so would He set it on His people and walk with them and be their God. That is why He would bless them.
