The Nazirite

I've always been intrigued by the vows of a Nazirite. I don't claim to be an Old Testament scholar, but everything I've read in these verses and elsewhere points to a completely voluntary choice on the part of the person to enter into these vows. To recap, these are some of the requirements as listed in Numbers 6:

1. Can be either a man or woman (I will use the term "his" hereafter for brevity)

2. Must abstain from wine, fermented drink, vinegar, grapes or raisins

3. No razor to his head

4. Not go near any dead bodies

A little Wikipedia research confirmed what I thought I knew, which is that notable Nazirites included Samson and Samuel, and it is hypothesized that actions that Paul took in Acts 18 were the conclusions of his Nazirite vows. Whoever or whatever, the part I find compelling is that these men and women, of their own choosing, elected to follow extremely strict rules for a period of time. I'm not clear what this service entailed, but I did enjoy the note in my NIV Study Bible about the end of the Nazirite vows, which states "The offerings of the Nazirite at the completion of the period of the vow were extensive, expensive and expressive..." Nothing like a little alliteration to make a point.

Today's reading also introduces us to two very familiar parts of our present-day worship. The first is the Aaronic blessing found in Numbers 6:24-25. I always enjoy when the choir sings this, because it is beautiful no matter how relayed, but when sung, we slow ourselves down and focus on the words more. I also have to give a shout-out to 6th Grade teacher Nick Utech, who knew where to find this in the Bible (book AND chapter) when we were playing trivia about a year-and-a-half ago--pretty impressive.

You might have skipped over the second thing I noticed, but as soon as I saw it, a thought entered my mind, I went online to verify it, and I was correct. Leviticus 5:16-22 gives some pretty interesting instructions for what to do if marital infidelity is suspected, but the part that jumped out at me was the very end of that section, and we see, for the very first time in the Bible, the word "Amen." I'll comment on this in greater depth this coming Sunday.

Scott