Numbers 6
Chapter 6 deals mainly the Nasserite vow. The name Nasserite simple means to separate and that is exactly what these people would do. Either a man or women could take this vow and they would separate themselves to God. There were two different version of this vow. First their was the Nasserite vow that was for life that was determined by the parents that their child would be a Nasserite for all the days of his life. We have three examples of this.
Sampson
Judges 13:5 "For behold, you shall conceive and bear
a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite
to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver
Samuel
1 Samuel 1:11 Then
she made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the
affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your
maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him
to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head."
John the Baptist
Luke
These are the only 3 examples that I could find of those who were Nasserites for life. The second type of vow that was taken was only done for certain period of time and was decided by the man or the women themselves and this chapter mainly deals with this temporary vow. Some people have thought the Jesus was a Nasserite because he called a Nazarene in Mat. 2:23. However, this just means that he lived in this place and was not a Nasserite. Besides that we know that Jesus both drank wine and touched dead bodies which a Nasserite was not allowed to do. All though we don’t find a great deal of information about Nasserites in the Bible we do know that that were respected.
Lets now take a look at the first 8 verses and learn about the 3 restrictions of a Nasserite.
Numbers 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.
Notice the 3 basic things they were to stay away from. First they were not to allow their hair to be cut with a razor. They were to let the hair and beards grow long. The second restriction was they could not drink any wine, vinegar or anything that came from the vine. The third thing they could not do was to touch or go near a dead body. There were no exceptions to this because even if their own flesh and blood died they could not go near their bodies or they would become unclean. The whole purpose of the vow is found verse 8. This vow was separation from the world and complete dedication to the Lord. When I thought about this concept the first thing that came to my mind was Christianity. Think about when we become Christians are not it a sense taking a vow or making a commitment that we will separate ourselves from the world and dedicate ourselves to Lord? Well, at least that it we are suppose to do as we try to put God first in our lives in every situation. Similar to a Nasserite as Christians we need to strive to keep ourselves separate from the world and work hard trying not to defile ourselves with sin.
This Chapter answer the question what if they do touch a dead body accidentally?
Numbers 6: 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.
Everything this person was trying to accomplish has been lost during this day since they were defiled by the dead body. Notice they have to shave their head and they had offer up 3 different animals all because they touched a dead body accidentally.
In verse 13 to 21 we learn what happens when a Nasserite completes their vow. It pretty elaborate all the different things they must do. As we read this I will list all these different things they must do on the screen.
Numbers
I always find it interesting all these specific things these people had to do.
Chapter 7 is one the longest chapters in the Bible and is
the longest chapter in the first 5 book of the Bible. This chapter starts out
with Moses finishing setting up the tabernacle and he consecrates it. The
leader of the tribes of
Numbers 7:6 So
Moses took the carts and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. 7 Two carts and four oxen he gave
to the sons of Gershon, according to their service; 8 and four carts and eight oxen he
gave to the sons of Merari, (mer-ar-ree) according to their service, under the
authority of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9 But to the sons of Kohath he
gave none, because theirs was the service of the holy things, which they
carried on their shoulders.
So we learn that not all
the Levites received these offerings as Kohath and his son did receive anything
because of their service.
Numbers
So this means that their
offerings would go on for 12 days. Verses 12 – 83 gives us all the details on what
was given each day by each tribe. For the sake of time lets take a look at the
first day and offerings given.
12
And the one who offered his offering on the first day was Nahshon the
son of Amminadab, from the tribe of
The chapter continues in
this same manner giving the details of the remaining 11 days. All of these
things are summed up starting in verse
84.
Numbers 7:84 This was
the dedication offering for the altar from the leaders of Israel,
when it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, and twelve
gold pans. 85 Each silver
platter weighed one hundred and thirty shekels and each bowl
seventy shekels. All the silver of the vessels weighed two
thousand four hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the
sanctuary. 86 The twelve gold
pans full of incense weighed ten shekels apiece, according to the
shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the pans weighed one hundred
and twenty shekels. 87
All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve young bulls, the rams
twelve, the male lambs in their first year twelve, with their grain offering,
and the kids of the goats as a sin offering twelve. 88 And all the oxen for the
sacrifice of peace offerings were twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male
goats sixty, and the lambs in their first year sixty. This was the
dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.
As you can see there was
a huge amount of stuff giving for this dedication to the Lord.
In chapter 8: 1-4 talks
about the proper position for the lamp stand. Now the rest of the chapter talks about the cleansing and dedication of
the Levites. God wants the Levites to become ceremonially clean. They had to be
sprinkled with water of purifications and had to shave their entire bodies and
clean their clothes. They had to make a couple different offerings and he be
brought before the tabernacle. Then the whole congregation was to be called
together and they were to lay their hands on the Levites.
Then Aaron was to offer
the children of
Numbers 8:20 Thus
Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the
Levites; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites,
so the children of Israel did to them. 21
And the Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron
presented them, like a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made
atonement for them to cleanse them. 22
After that the Levites went in to do their work in the tabernacle of meeting
before Aaron and his sons; as the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites,
so they did to them. 23 Then
the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24
"This is what pertains to the Levites: From twenty-five
years old and above one may enter to perform service in the work of the
tabernacle of meeting; 25
"and at the age of fifty years they must cease performing this work, and
shall work no more. 26
"They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting, to
attend to needs, but they themselves shall do no work. Thus you shall do
to the Levites regarding their duties."
I thing its very interesting that the Levites we to
serve from age 25 to 50. After you turned 50 were not to do the work.
You could still be there and help in some aspects but not actually be the one
doing the specific work. So, far in Old
Testament study we have learned
that you had to be as least 20 to be solider. You had to 30years old to
be priest and remember not all Levites were priest so that leaves us with the
rest them being able to carry out the duties of the tabernacle from age 25 –
50. One thing I do want to point is that these men that were still were doing
things for Lord. No one today under the NT should think that once they reach a
certain age that they don’t have do anything for the service of God. Certainly
there will be certain works that older people cannot do physically but every
person no matter how old they get can still glorify God is one way or another.
We simply cannot retire from Christianity.
In chapter 9 God reminds Moses that he want the children of
Numbers 9: Then
the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10
"Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If anyone of you or your
posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey,
he may still keep the LORD's Passover. 11
'On the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it. They
shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 'They shall leave none of it
until morning, nor break one of its bones. According to all the ordinances of
the Passover they shall keep it. 13
'But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and ceases to keep
the Passover, that same person shall be cut off from among his people, because
he did not bring the offering of the LORD at its appointed time; that man shall
bear his sin. 14 'And if a
stranger dwells among you, and would keep the LORD's Passover, he must do so
according to the rite of the Passover and according to its ceremony; you shall
have one ordinance, both for the stranger and the native of the land.' "
Those who could not take
part in the Passover had a second chance to observe it in the second month.
But, notice if a person was able to observe the Passover and they did not they
were to be cut off from the people. Whenever I thought about this I starting
applying this concept to the church and the Lords day. I just wonder how many
Christians would be cut of from the
In verse 15-23 we learn
that once the tabernacle was set up a cloud remained above during the day and a
night the cloud had an appearance of a fire. The purpose of this cloud was to
let the children of
Numbers 9:22 Whether
it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the
tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but
when it was taken up, they would journey.
In Chapter 10: 1-10 There were
2 silver trumpets and they were to be used in directing the movement of
the children of
In verse 11-28 the
Children of Israel begin their first 3 day journey to the Wilderness of Paran. Now
lets look at another interesting section of scripture.
Numbers 10:29 Now
Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law,
"We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, 'I will give it
to you.' Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the LORD has promised
good things to
Here we learn that Moses
tries to talk his father-in-law to go with him. The question is did he go? The
answer to this question is found in.
Judges 1:16 Now the
children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms
with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in
the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
From this verse I would
say that Moses did convince his father-in-law to go with them. I want to finish
the lesson by reading the rest of chapter 10.
Numbers 10: 33
So they departed from the mountain of the LORD on a journey of three days; and
the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them for the three days'
journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of the LORD was
above them by day when they went out from the camp. 35 So it was, whenever the ark set
out, that Moses said: "Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, And
let those who hate You flee before You."
36 And when it rested, he said: "Return, O LORD, To the
many thousands of