This is Monday evening, March 3, 1975, in Richmond, Virginia. The ministry is given through Brother Stephen Kong.
Will you please turn again to the Book of Numbers? Numbers, chapter 5. We will read verses 29 and 30.
Numbers 5:29-30
This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;
Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon a man, and he is jealous over his wife; then shall he set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.
Chapter 6, verse 13.
Numbers 6:13-21
And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tent of meeting:
And he shall offer his oblation unto the Lord, one he-lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe-lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,
And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings.
And the priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:
And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof.
And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings.
And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after he hath shaven the head of his separation:
And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord: this is holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.
This is the law of the Nazarite who voweth, and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation, besides that which he is able to get: according to his vow which he voweth, so he must do after the law of his separation.
Numbers 6:22-27
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel; ye shall say unto them,
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
We have been considering before the Lord together the preparation for the journey that the children of Israel were to take from Mount Sinai to the promised land. To prepare them for such a journey, first of all, God numbered the people, showing them that they belonged to God and that they were under the care of God Himself.
And I believe this is very necessary for the journey ahead. Unless we know that we belong to God, unless we are sure that we are under His care, there will be doubts, there will be fear, and we do not know how we can go ahead.
So, first of all, you find the children of Israel were numbered. But furthermore, in numbering these people, God united them. By numbering, He brought them into one people. Before that, they were just a mass of people, like a flock of sheep, all scattered together and yet not one.
But now, by numbering them, God brought them together into one organic unit. They became the people of God, the one people of God. And how important it is that this should be so.
How we need to know that we are not only saved by grace, but we are numbered. We are members one of another. We do not stand, each by himself or herself, but we stand in relation to one another as one people under Christ. And that is a necessary preparation for the journey ahead.
And number three: in numbering them, you find that they were numbered from twenty years old and upward, those who were ready to enter into military service. So this numbering not only brought them together into one people, but made them the army of the Lord. They were to fight the good fight.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not only one people, but we are the army of the Lord. As we go through this world, we carry with us the testimony of Jesus. And because the testimony of Jesus is entrusted to this people—that is, the church, the people of God—there is bound to be conflict.
The Lord said, “I will build My church upon this rock.” And how we desire the Lord to build His church upon the rock which is Himself. And yet, we do not want conflict. The Lord says, “And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
As the Lord is building His church upon Himself, then all the gates of Hades shall be opened. All the assaults and attacks of the enemy will come upon the church, trying to overwhelm it, trying to destroy it, that it may not be able to maintain the testimony of Jesus. But thank God, the Lord says, “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
So, this is the first thing that God did with His people in preparing them for the journey ahead.
Then this morning we went a little bit ahead. The next thing that God did with this people, before they undertook the journey, was to set them into order. Not only to number them, to make them one people, but to set them into order, both in their encamping and in their marching.
And you find the order was according to the tent of the testimony, the tabernacle. The tent of the testimony was to be located as the center of the encampment, and the twelve tribes of Israel would camp around this testimony, on the four sides, each according to God’s divine appointment.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we find that in Christ we are not only organically organized into one body, but we are being set in the body as members, each in his place, according to the Head.
If we hold fast the Head, who is Christ, then we will be fitly joined and rightly framed together. We will each be in our place where the Lord has put us. There is nothing for us to choose. There is no place for striving, for ambition, for jealousy.
You find that this order is a divine order according to the Head. It pleases the Head that we should be set in such a way. And how we need to thank the Lord for whatever place He may put us—in the east, in the south, in the west, or in the north. Every direction is centered upon the tent of the testimony.
And when they marched, they did the same thing. The testimony was in the midst of them, and they were to carry the testimony ahead through the wilderness.
So, brothers and sisters, thank God, we are not only one in Christ Jesus, but there is a divine order—not by human arrangement, but by divine appointment. And it is all according to the Head, who is Christ. We are related to one another because we are rightly related to the Head.
Then you find, as the third preparation, God set apart the Levites. The Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel. They were not numbered for military service. Why? Because God had set them apart for a special service, a Levitical service.
Now, we mentioned this morning that in the Book of Leviticus you find the priestly service, but in the Book of Numbers you find Levitical service. These two services are joined together. You cannot separate these two services, and yet they are distinctive.
The Levites served under the priests. The Levites helped the priests in their service. The Levitical service is the overflow, the outflow, of the priestly service.
Generally speaking, we may say that the priestly service is predominantly unto God, ministering unto the Lord; and the Levitical service is basically ministering unto the house. And the house, of course, is God’s people.
So here you find the Levitical services. And what are the Levitical services in the Book of Numbers? Their services were all related to the tabernacle. They were not like the priests, offering sacrifices on the altar, burning incense, and so on. They were not allowed to do these things.
And yet they were entrusted with the service of setting up the tabernacle and of carrying the tabernacle through the wilderness, so that the tabernacle and all the things in the tabernacle would be preserved intact, whether moving or whether encamped. Nothing would be lost, and everything would be maintained and set up in order for the priestly service.
And, brothers and sisters, we mentioned this morning that we are not only priests; we are also Levites. Every believer is a priest. Therefore, it is our privilege to minister unto the Lord with praise, with songs, with worship, with waiting upon Him, with seeking His will, and with communion with Him.
It is the privilege of every believer to draw near to God and to worship and to minister to Him through Christ Jesus. We are a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And that is the privilege of every believer.
Yet, on the other hand, we are all Levites. That is to say, we not only minister unto the Lord, but we also minister unto the house. We also minister unto one another, because the house of God today is God’s people.
And there you find God gives gifts to different members of the body of Christ, that we may minister with these gifts to one another for the building up of the body of Christ.
With the priestly function, you find there is no division of labor in a permanent sense. Before the priests came together to serve the Lord, according to the Old Testament custom, they cast lots. That means they would be guided by God as to who was to do what for that day.
For every day varied. You might be burning incense today, and you might be lighting the candlestick tomorrow, or you might be offering sacrifice on the brazen altar the next day. There was no fixed duty. It was all to be governed by the Holy Spirit, if you come to a New Testament term.
As priests, we are all to be guided and led by the Holy Spirit into all the priestly functions. You may be doing one function today as led by the Spirit, or you may be doing another function led by the Holy Spirit. There is no permanent division of labor.
But with the Levitical service, you find their services were definitely apportioned. There were three branches in the tribe of Levi.
To the sons of Kohath was given the care of the inside of the tabernacle. They were to carry the golden lampstand and all the utensils in the tabernacle—the inside of it. The sons of Gershon were to carry all the curtains, the coverings, the linen of the tabernacle. And the sons of Merari were responsible for all the structural things of the tabernacle: the boards, the bases, the pegs, the court, and all these things.
You find there was division among the Levites. Brothers and sisters, as Levites, we were given different gifts. And because the gifts were different, therefore our services are bound to be different.
But as priests, it is all according to grace, not according to gift. Therefore, you find there is no distinction; there is no difference. The grace of God is not partial to anyone. It does not say, “Now, you, brother, are privileged to receive more grace, and I am not so privileged.” No.
The grace of God knows no distinction. You find that according to the grace of God, we can all function as priests, whether in praise, whether in prayer, whether in songs, whether in worship, or whether in communion. We all, by grace, can function as priests unto God.
But as Levites unto one another, that is gifts. Some may be given the gift of speaking. Some may be given the gift of governing. Some may be given the gift of helping. Some may be given the gift of comforting, consolation. That is a gift.
You find all these gifts are different, as we are different members of the body of Christ. Therefore, our Levitical services are bound to be different, bound to be different.
And, dear brothers and sisters, how can we take the journey? How can we maintain the testimony of Jesus as we go through this world if we do not exhort one another, encourage one another, and bear one another in love? We cannot go on.
And that is the reason why another preparation was necessary. The Levitical service was called into being, and thank God, we are all Levites. Now, we will not go into details; we did that in the morning. So I just want to bring you to the point for tonight.
In order to undertake this wilderness journey, God had further preparation for these people. Now, the preparations that we have already mentioned, in a sense, were more outward preparations: the numbering, the Levitical services. They were more or less things that you could see outwardly.
But what would outward things be worth if there is not inward preparation? So here you find, before they undertook that journey, God began to prepare them also inwardly.
And this inward preparation is seen in two laws that God gave to them. God gave to them the law of jealousies and the law of the Nazarite. Now, these two laws govern the inward heart.
Man looks at appearance, but God looks into the heart. God is never satisfied with just our good appearance. You may be correct outwardly in appearance, but it may be a very different story within your heart.
And how easily we are deceived. But we cannot deceive God. Why? Because God does not judge by outward appearance. He always looks into the heart, and He is the One who knows our heart.
You remember the prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things.” Our heart is very deceitful. It is deceitful above all things. Can you think of anything more deceptive than our hearts?
Our heart is more deceiving than anything else in this world. It even deceives us. And yet God tries the reins and proves the heart. So God always looks into the heart.
If the heart is not right, no matter how proper the outward arrangement may be, it has no value whatsoever before God. And sooner or later it will be found to be wanting.
So here you find God gave them two laws. And by these two laws, God proved their hearts. God, as it were, looked into their hearts. Number one is the law of jealousy, and number two is the law of the Nazarite.
The law of jealousy is negative. The law of the Nazarite is positive. The law of jealousy is the law of purity. The law of the Nazarite is the law of devotion. The law of jealousy is God’s demand; the law of the Nazarite is man’s response. So here you find you cannot separate these two laws.
Of course, with the children of Israel, it seemed to be a very strange law. Why, you find that before they started the journey, God gave them a law of jealousies. That is to say, if a woman is not faithful to her husband, but there is no proof, and yet the husband is suspicious of it, then he can do something to that woman to bring out the true situation.
Or, if that wife had not done anything unfaithful, but the spirit of jealousy came upon the husband—there was no ground, and yet the husband was jealous—because of that, God said he could do certain things.
If the husband gets jealous, he can bring his wife to the priest. And he will offer one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal as a jealousy offering, with no oil and no frankincense.
Then the priest will use an earthen vessel and put living water in it. He will take some of the dust from the floor of the tabernacle and put it in that water.
Then the woman will stand before the priest, and the priest will read the words of the curse and write them in a book, and then wash them into that water. And after that, the woman is to drink that water.
And if she is unfaithful, the curse will come upon her. Her belly will swell, her thigh will fall away, and she will be accursed among the children of Israel. But if the wife is faithful, if it is just groundless suspicion, then the woman will receive blessing: she will conceive seed.
Now, that is the law of jealousy. Now, is that not a strange thing? That before they started the journey, God should give them such a law, as if God said, “Well, I do not want any suspicion among you. I want everything to be sure. Then you can go. If there is anything suspicious, then how can you go?”
God had to settle every question in the family before they could go ahead. But, dear brothers and sisters, you know there is a spiritual application behind it, and the spiritual application is of tremendous significance.
In a sense, God was like a husband to the children of Israel. You remember the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 54, “Thy Maker is thy husband.” Thy Maker is thy husband. And this word is spoken to the children of Israel.
And in Jeremiah 31:32, you find the prophet Jeremiah saying the same thing. God said, “One day I will make a new covenant with you, not like what I did with you when I took your hand to lead you out of Egypt, when I was as a husband to you, but you were not faithful to Me.”
In other words, you find that God was like a husband to the children of Israel. And because He loves His people so much, He became very jealous.
Is that not true? The Bible says, “Our God is a jealous God.” When God gave the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel in Exodus 20, He said, “For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God.” Jealous is His name.
God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Oh, thank God.
You know, to our depraved mind, the word jealous has a very bad connotation. We think we should not be jealous at all. Jealousy is always bad. But so far as the word jealous or jealousy is concerned, it is not a bad word. Jealousy is just an emotional reaction.
There is nothing moral or immoral in jealousy. If you are jealous in the right way, it is a good thing. If you are jealous in the wrong way, then of course it is bad.
If you do not love, you do not care, and you will never be jealous. But if you do love, and you care so much, how can you help but be jealous? Jealousy is a good thing. It is an expression of love.
God so loved the children of Israel that He could not help but be jealous over them. But, of course, if jealousy is in the wrong way, then the result is hatred. That is completely wrong.
Our God is a jealous God. He loves us so much that He is just jealous over us. In other words, He is looking for purity among His people. He cannot stand unfaithfulness to Him. He cannot bear it.
You remember Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 tells us, “I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy.” Why? “For I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear lest by any means you should be led away from the simplicity and purity that is toward Christ.”
Brothers and sisters, oh, how we thank the Lord that He is jealous. If He is not jealous over us, then He does not care. Then He does not love us. We know He loves us because He is jealous.
Oh, how we desire that we may be pure virgins unto Him, that we may not be led away from the simplicity of Christ, that our heart may be always simple and single toward Him. And that is what God is looking for.
Of course, God knows the heart. He does not need to go through the whole process of a jealousy offering before He knows exactly what our heart condition is. He does not need it, but we need it. Why? Because the heart is so deceitful, we do not know ourselves.
Therefore, you find from time to time how we need to go through this law of jealousy. We need to be brought before the priest. In other words, here is a priestly function.
How can we know our heart, whether our heart is pure toward God or impure? You cannot analyze your heart. That will not give you the right answer. The only way to know our heart is to present yourself before the Lord in priestly exercise.
So that is the reason why the woman was brought to the priest, because it was a matter of priestly exercise. We need to be exercised as priests before God, just like the psalmist in Psalm 139 said:
Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts;
And see if there be any way of wickedness in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
How we need to pray that prayer. Oh, I remember many years ago in China, when I was in the assembly there in Shanghai, meeting with all the brothers and sisters. We had over two thousand believers together.
I often heard one brother pray that prayer: “Oh, Lord, examine me, and see if there is anything evil in my heart. Lead me in the way everlasting.” And I got tired of that. I said, “That brother, when he opens his mouth, you almost know what will be coming. He just asks the Lord to examine his heart.”
I did not appreciate that. I thought that was too much. But, dear brothers and sisters, after all these years, I begin to appreciate more and more: we do not know our heart.
And the only way to know our heart is to present ourselves before the Lord and ask Him to search it. Never try to analyze yourself. But just present yourself before the Lord in priestly exercise. Exercise your spirit before the Lord. Wait upon Him, and ask Him to show you if there is anything evil.
“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Sometimes we cannot see God. Why? Because our heart is not pure.
When the woman was presented before the priest, then you find the man would bring a jealousy offering, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal. Now, you know that in all the meal offerings—that is, the oblation—it is wheat, not barley. You bring fine flour of wheat as an oblation unto God.
Why? Because the wheat represents Christ, the life of Christ. He is the finest of wheat. You find the life of Christ is so pure, so white, so fine. His life is so perfect. And because His life is so perfect, His life can be presented to God and be acceptable to God, pleasing to God.
So God said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And the oblation is always mingled with oil and frankincense and salt. The life of our Lord Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit. The life of our Lord Jesus has a fragrance and is full of savor.
But here you find it is barley, not wheat. Why? Because barley in the Scripture is the food of the poor. Barley is coarse, not as fine as wheat. So here you find it speaks of Christ bearing in His body our iniquity.
No oil, no frankincense, because He is a jealousy offering for us. Our lives before God are not fine or pure. There is a lack of oil and frankincense. There is a lack of salt. And for that reason, you find Christ offered Himself as our jealousy offering. He even took death upon Himself.
And because He was offered as a jealousy offering, why was that offering offered? That iniquity might be remembered. But after it was remembered, it was forgotten—remembered no more.
So here you find our sin must be brought out. The impurity of our heart must be brought out before God to be remembered and then to be forgotten.
That earthen vessel represents us. We are but earthen vessels. The living water represents the living Word of God, or the living Spirit of God. The dust from the floor of the tabernacle represents the death of Christ—the death of Christ.
And, of course, the word of curse represents God’s Word of judgment. So you find these things work together. As we present ourselves before the Lord in priestly exercise, then you find the Spirit of God with the living Word will begin to work in us, that the death of Christ will put to death everything that does not meet His eye.
He will cleanse us of all our impurities, and He will bring us into blessing, into fruitfulness. So here you find the spiritual application of the law of jealousy.
So, dear brothers and sisters, in order to journey with the testimony of Jesus, how our hearts need to be examined frequently, that we might be kept pure. And with such exercise, things will be judged, and we will be brought into blessing. That is the law of jealousy.
But this is still negative. And here, immediately after that, you find we are introduced into another law, the law of the Nazarite. And that is positive in every way.
You know, because of the failure of the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, when Moses went up to the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments, the children of Israel on the plain worshiped the golden calf. And because of that failure, the children of Israel were disqualified from serving God as priests.
From that day onward, God set apart the tribe of Levi to serve Him, the family of Aaron to be priests. But the rest of the children of Israel were barred from the service, from serving God as priests.
But that was not God’s original design. God’s original purpose was for all His people to come and serve Him as priests and as Levites. But they disqualified themselves.
And yet God, out of His love for His people, opened a side door, as it were, outside of the regular way. God opened a side door for whoever, of whatever tribe, man or woman, anyone whose heart is prompted by love.
They could offer themselves to take the vow of a Nazarite. And the vow of the Nazarite is the vow of consecration.
In other words, anyone among the children of Israel, man or woman, of any tribe, if you want to offer yourself freely, voluntarily, out of love—if you want to offer yourself to the service of God—there is a way for you to do it. Not a regular way, but a special way.
You can take the vow of the Nazarite. And the vow of the Nazarite is the vow of separation. In other words, you can separate yourself for God.
And when you take the vow of a Nazarite, there are three things from which you must abstain yourself.
Number one: during the days of the vow of the Nazarite, you are not to eat anything that comes out of the vine. No wine, no vinegar made of grapes, no grapes, no raisins. From the skin to the seed, you cannot eat anything that comes out of the vine.
Number two: you should not allow any razor upon your head. You have to let your hair grow. During the days of the Nazarite, the head should be covered; it can never be shaved.
Number three: you cannot get near to any dead body. If you touch or get near to any dead body, you defile the head of the Nazarite, and you have to shave your head and start all over again.
These are the outward signs of a Nazarite. Now, what does a Nazarite do when he takes that vow? The Scripture is silent. The Scripture does not tell us, when you take a Nazarite vow, then you do certain things. It does not say anything.
You may vow a vow to do certain things, and yet the vow of the Nazarite is more than just doing certain service. It is to live a certain way.
Brothers and sisters, God always emphasizes more on the being than on the doing. We think that if we love God, then we will do something for Him. Yes, you will. You will. But before you can do something for Him, God says, “What about you yourself?”
To take the vow of a Nazarite is more than volunteering yourself to do certain service to God. It may be involved. To vow the vow of the Nazarite is to volunteer yourself to live a certain way for God. In other words, you live for God.
Of course, if you live for God, there will be some doings for God that come alongside. So the vow of a Nazarite actually is to vow oneself to live for God.
Now, brothers and sisters, what is it to us today? On the one hand, in Romans, so far as God’s redemption is concerned, we have all been redeemed out of the bondage of sin that we may serve God in righteousness.
In other words, so far as the right of God’s redemption is concerned, we are all priests and Levites. We all belong to God. That is according to the right of redemption.
And in Romans 12 we are told:
Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your spiritual service.
In other words, in Romans 6 you find it is the right of redemption. By the right of redemption, you are no longer your own. You belong to Him. You must serve God. You must live for God. And you must serve God whether you like it or not. You are redeemed. You are bought. You are not your own. You belong to Him. You must live for Him. You must serve Him.
For God does not want us to remain on the level of right. God does not want to deal with people on the level of right. That is too low for God. God would rather deal with us on the level of love.
God says, “Yes, by right you belong to Me. But I let you go. But when I let you go, will you go?”
You remember the story of a Hebrew slave. If a man is poor and he sells himself to his brother to be a slave, he will serve his brother-master for six years, and on the seventh year he shall go out free.
But if that brother who has sold himself to his brother loves his master, and he has a family, and he does not want to go out free, he would rather remain with his master, then what shall he do? He will offer himself to his master. He says, “I do not want to go free. I love you. I want to serve you for life.”
Then the master will take him to the door and pierce his ear to the doorpost. And from that day onward, he becomes a love slave forever. The pierced ear is a sign.
Brothers and sisters, this is God’s way with His people. By right, we belong to Him, but He sets us free. But the question is, do you want to go free?
Oh, no. “By the compassions of God, I beseech you to present your bodies a living sacrifice.” You tell the Lord, “Lord, I do not want to go free. I am bound by love. I offer myself as a Nazarite. I want to live for You.”
There is no other way of living that is worthwhile. I want to live for You. Your love has captured me. I do not want to go free. Brothers and sisters, that is the vow of the Nazarite: living for the Lord because of love.
But how do you live? Three things. For the children of Israel, they are all outward, material, physical things. But to us today, they are all spiritual.
Number one: the wine, anything that comes out of the vine. Why? Because if you read the Scripture, you find in Hosea it is said, “Wine takes away the heart.” Wine gladdens the heart.
When some people are not too happy, and they are under some kind of pressure, people try to ease themselves and go to drink wine in order to gladden their heart, to forget their problem. And for a time they seem to, but afterwards the bitterness increases. Wine steals away the heart.
I wonder why the Lord Jesus, in John 15, said, “I am the true vine.” I wonder why He says that. He says, “I am the true vine.” There must be a false vine. There must be a counterfeit. There must be something that smells, or maybe tastes, or maybe produces some effect almost like what the true vine will produce, but not the same. It is a counterfeit.
The world is the false vine. The world has something to offer. That is true. Do not say the world has nothing to offer; the world does. The world has wine to offer you. The world has raisins to offer you, raisins to strengthen you, wine to gladden your heart.
The world has something to offer you to satisfy and to please your flesh, to satisfy your lust. But, of course, it increases it at the same time and brings bitterness to it.
And yet, brothers and sisters, to a Nazarite, he abstains himself from all these things—not because he does not like them, but because he has tasted the true wine.
Oh, brothers and sisters, one who lives for the Lord is so satisfied with the Lord. He draws all his satisfaction, his strength, his comfort, in the Lord Himself, that he has no need to go to the world to seek pleasure and satisfaction.
That is a life living for God. And if we still go into the world trying to draw from the world satisfaction, as if the Lord is not sufficient, something is wrong.
Oh, how the Lord satisfies us. Oh, He is our strength. He is our every resource. We can come to Him, and we only come to Him.
Just like Boaz said to Ruth, “Stay in the field and glean.” And you remember Naomi told Ruth not to be found in any other field. Oh, we need to glean in the field of Christ. Even the gleanings are more than sufficient for our daily needs. How satisfying is Christ. That is a life of Nazarite.
Number two: no razor upon the hair. Why do you apply a razor upon your hair? Well, to beautify yourself. In other words, there is a certain pride of life there.
But here you find that to let the hair grow—in the Bible, long hair represents covering. So here you find the sisters have long hair as a natural covering.
In other words, one who lives for God, who lives for the Lord, does not seek to exalt himself as the head, but he always has his head covered, under the authority of Christ, in obedience.
That is a life of a Nazarite. One who gives himself to the Lord lives a life of obedience, a life under the authority of Christ, a life that only seeks the glory of God and does not seek his own glory.
And number three: he does not get near to any dead body, nor touch any dead body. A dead body in the Scripture always speaks of the flesh.
The flesh may not be outrageous or outright things, but it is the flesh. The flesh defiles, whether it is the flesh within you or whether it is the flesh around you.
A person who lives to God has nothing to do with the flesh. He puts his flesh to death. He lives by the Spirit. And that is the life of a Nazarite.
And, dear brothers and sisters, you know when he vows the vow of a Nazarite, he may vow to do something for God, and that is included too. But basically, it is a life set apart for God.
What is the law of the Nazarite? Now, according to the children of Israel, of course, you may vow a Nazarite vow for thirty days, or for sixty days, or for a year.
In the Bible, you find a few who were lifelong Nazarites. For instance, Samuel was a lifelong Nazarite. Samson was a lifelong Nazarite, but unfortunately his hair was shaved. John the Baptist—what a Nazarite, even in his mother’s womb.
But usually the vow of Nazarite had a certain duration. So after the days expired—you remember even Paul himself, he vowed the vow of a Nazarite, so he shaved his hair one day. That was the vow of the Nazarite; he took it.
Spiritually speaking, of course, there is no thirty-day or sixty-day duration. It is a lifelong thing.
And in the law of the Nazarite, you find when the days of the Nazarite are fulfilled, then the Nazarite will do something, and that is beautiful.
You find a Nazarite, after his days are fulfilled, will come and bring with him all kinds of offerings. Think of that. He will bring a burnt offering, he will bring a meal offering, he will bring a peace offering, he will bring a drink offering. You find he will bring all kinds of offerings to God, all kinds of offerings.
And not only all these offerings, from whatever he can lay his hand on, and all that he has vowed. And in addition to that, when he brings all these things to God, he shaves his hair.
And the most marvelous thing is this: nothing can be offered on the altar but that which speaks of Christ. But here, the hair of a Nazarite that was shaved was burned on the altar. Think of that. What a privilege that is.
That is the only thing outside of Christ that can be offered on the altar: the hair of a Nazarite.
In other words, when the person really sets himself apart through love to live for God, is it a loss? It is a gain. You find that by living such a life, he has so much to offer to God, so much to offer. There is no limit, as it were, to his offerings.
And his very hair of consecration is an offering unto the Lord. Brothers and sisters, what a privilege that is.
And when God has His Nazarites, then you find the threefold blessing from God comes to the children of Israel. Why? Because the vow of the Nazarite is, as it were, the consummation of man’s response to God’s love.
So when God found Nazarites among His people, immediately you find God, through Moses, blessed the people.
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
The blessing of the Father, the blessing of the Son, the blessing of the Holy Spirit. And God said, “I will put My name upon them, and I will bless them.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, how we need to be prepared before God inwardly. How we need to be brought into the purity that God is looking for in our hearts. And how we need to be brought into the love-devotion that is the response to God’s love.
And when these conditions are fulfilled, we are a people ready to bear the testimony of Jesus.
Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, we do thank Thee for Thy word. We thank Thee that Thou lovest us so much that Thou art jealous over us.
Oh Lord, we want Thee to be jealous. We do not want Thee to give us up. But, Lord, be jealous. Purify us by Thy jealousy, that we may respond to Thy love by love, in offering ourselves as love slaves unto Thyself.
And Lord, we do pray that Thou wilt raise up many of Thy people as Nazarites, that Thy heart may be satisfied and Thy blessing may come upon the church.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.