Nazirite

Judges 13:4-5 – Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

Numbers 6:2-3 – “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.

Genesis 3:15 – I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Amos 2:11-12 – And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?” declares the Lord. “But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’

Application:

• ·         The Nazirite vow was not just a vow of personal self-discipline; it was an act of total devotion to the Lord.
• ·         The offspring of the woman would eventually crush the serpent’s head, a promise fulfilled in Christ’s victory over Satan—a victory in which all believers will share.
• ·         Prophets and Nazirites, who were outside the priesthood, were used by God through word and example to call His people to faithfulness.
• ·         The Israelites showed utter disdain for God’s faithful servants and thus betrayed their callous insensitivity to God’s working among them.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV