Tag Archives: Numbers 5-6

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2024 Bible Study — The Nazirite Vow

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 5-6.

Today’s passage covers the vow of the Nazirite.  Every time I have read it in the past I felt like I was missing something.  The passage tells us that if anyone wants to make a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite they needed to follow the rules laid out here, but it does not tell us any more about what it means to take such a vow.  However, as I read it today I realized that the purpose of taking the Nazirite vow was to publicly declare that you were dedicating yourself to God.  So, you would dedicate yourself to spend a period of time to work on some task in service to God.  For the length of time you had chosen to work on that task you would follow the rules of the Nazirite. Then when the time was over you would follow the rules given for ending your vow.  Other reasons for taking the vow might be as a form of penance for some action which you regret, or as a show of changing your life.  I think the modern Christian Church would do well to have a better understanding of Nazirite vows.  The Apostle Paul took a Nazirite vow twice after his conversion.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2023 Bible Study — Embracing God’s Blessing And Placing It On Those Around Us

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 5-6.

I want to write about the blessing which priests were to say over the Israelites.  We should especially place this blessing upon our brothers and sisters in Christ.  However, if we understand it correctly, also upon everyone we encounter.  The first aspect of this blessing, “The Lord bless you and keep you;” means that we ask God to bring good things into the life of the recipient.  And what could be a better thing than for an unbeliever to become a Believer?  We are also calling on God to care for them and protect them.  Next we ask, “the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;”.  When I try to think about what this means, I think about a cat lying in a beam of sunshine, feeling its warmth and basking in the light.  When God’s face shines upon someone it dispels the darkness of any evil which might be around them.  The root word of “gracious” is grace, so asking God to be gracious to someone is once again asking Him to give them His grace and draw them into a relationship with Him and His Son.  Finally, we have, “the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’  Asking God to turn His face toward someone is asking Him to watch them so that He can come to their aid when they stumble or when enemies attack them.  With God watching, He can, and will, discourage enemies from approaching them and can give them the peace not to worry about what may go wrong.

So,I will leave you with the blessing

“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2022 Bible Study — Do You Believe In Miracles?

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 5-6.

The procedure laid out in today’s passage to be followed if a man believes that his wife has been unfaithful, but has no evidence supporting that belief, may be problematic.  However, whether or not it is problematic depends on what one believes about God’s power to miraculously intervene in this world.  If you do not believe that God can, or will, intervene to alter natural processes, this procedure will be deeply troubling, because, in that case, some innocent women will surely suffer terribly just because their husband is an insecure jerk.  On the other hand, if you do believe that God can, and will, intervene to alter natural processes when it suits Him, this procedure is of little concern.  If you believe that, you know that the innocent women will suffer no harm, and the husbands who unjustifiably are jealous will be revealed to be the jerks that they truly are.   There is a further thing to be realized about the culture this practice was introduced into.  Without this procedure, a husband could bring harm to his wife and claim he was justified because “she was cheating on him”.  His inability to provide any evidence to that effect would not conclusively prove that she was not.  However, with this procedure established, he would have no excuse for not seeking this remedy for her unfaithfulness, the failure of this procedure to bring any harm to her would be proof that she was innocent of his suspicions.  The mere existence of this procedure would take away a husband’s excuse to bring harm to his wife for unfaithfulness since it provided a way for him to prove his suspicions.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2021 Bible Study Taking A Vow To Serve God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 5-6.

Every time I read the regulations for the vow of the Nazirite I feel like there is something left out.  That something is why you would take the vow.  Having read the regulations every year for 8 years now, plus seeing how it was applied on occasion throughout the Old Testament, I have realized that someone would take this vow as a sign of dedication to God.  Usually, they would be dedicating some act, or period of time, in their life to God.  For example, the men the Apostle Paul accompanied to the Temple to fulfill their vow when he was arrested had almost certainly taken a vow of the Nazirite.  And the men who vowed to kill kill him had also probably taken the vow of the Nazirite.  I feel that we have lost something as a society that we no longer dedicate ourselves to God, either for certain periods of time or for an entire lifetime.  There are still those who do so, but they are less common, and even those, for the most part, seem to have less of an understanding of the solemnity of it than those of the past.  I am sure that there exist some who take such vows with the appropriate solemnity, but as a society we have lost the fear of God which normally brings it about.

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2020 Bible Study — The Vow of The Nazirite

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 5-6.

I find the vow of the Nazirite interesting and slightly mysterious.  The description seems to imply that the reader will already know what the vow is about so only the ritual of the vow need be described.  This leads me to wonder if the vow of the Nazirite was just a vow of dedication to God for some set period of time, similar to some of the vows of asceticism taken by many during the Middle Ages.  On the other hand, I read hints that it was a type of vow some took about a course of action they would follow.  Ultimately, I think that someone vowed to follow the rituals of the Nazirite for some length of time as an effort to get closer to God, even though every time I read this it feels as if there is some thing the writer is referring to but never wrote down.

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2019 Bible Study — Hockey Players and the Vow of a Nazirite

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 5-6.

It is at this point where I start looking forward to getting to the end of the Pentateuch.  I really dislike the procedure described for determining if a man’s jealousy about his wife is justified or not.  However, if one truly believes that God will divinely intervene in human affairs, then one can believe that He will intervene to protect an innocent woman unjustly accused by her husband.  Interpreted in light of the later instructions concerning divorce it puts a different light on those instructions: “No, you cannot divorce your wife just because you are convinced she has been unfaithful.  You must have proof.  If you have been unable to catch her being unfaithful, you can follow this procedure.  No, it’s not free.  You need to make an offering along with the request.”  I really don’t think much of a man who puts his wife through such an ordeal.

I have never fully understood the vow of a Nazirite.  What is its purpose?  Moses here describes what one needs to do in order to fulfill such a vow, but makes no mention as to why one would do so.  It appears that Samson’s mother vowed that he would be a lifelong Nazirite before his birth.  The men whom Paul accompanied to the Temple when he was arrested appear to have been completing a vow of a Nazirite.  So, I did a little research and found that most people took the vow of a Nazirite in response to being healed of some great affliction, or in response to receiving something greatly desired (such as the birth of a child).  The example of Samson suggests that some people took the vow of a Nazirite as part of a commitment to God, and a request for His aid, to work towards some godly goal.  As a hockey fan it reminds me of the playoff beards that most (maybe all) hockey players grow.  For those of you who do not follow hockey: NHL players typically stop shaving when their team enters the playoffs and do not shave (and usually do not even trim their beards) until their team has been eliminated.  They do so as a sign of their dedication to winning.  Modern Christians would be well served to have similar traditions to signify our dedication to serving God, or to signify our gratefulness for what He has done for us.

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2018 Bible Study — Rituals and Vows

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 5-6.

    There are two interesting rituals in today’s passage. The first discusses what a husband should do if he thinks his wife is unfaithful, but has no proof. This ritual bothers me because it places a burden on a wife to prove her faithfulness to a jealous husband but no similar burden is placed upon a husband of a jealous wife. However, that is a result of a culture that was very different from ours today. While I am about to make a partial defense of this ritual that does not mean that I think we should practice it today. This ritual eliminates a husband being able to excuse his abuse of his wife on the basis of claiming it was because she cheated on him. If he thinks his wife has cheated on him this passage gives him the only course of action open to him; take his wife to the priest and make an offering for God to pass judgment. The other aspect of this is that I firmly believe that God has the power and will to make it so that a woman who was guilty of no sin would suffer no consequence from undergoing this ritual.

    The second interesting ritual in today’s passage is the vow of a Nazirite. The passage does not make it clear why someone would take a vow of a Nazirite. Part of the reason would be to declare oneself dedicated to service to God. However, every time I read this passage it seems to me that there is more to such a vow than that. It seems to me that one would take a vow of a Nazirite as a way to emphasize the seriousness to which one held some ministry or activity that one was going to do in service to the Lord. As an example of what I mean by this: one might take a vow to read through the Bible in a certain amount of time (say a year). To add a bit more dedication and focus to that vow, one might make it as a vow of a Nazirite and follow the rules laid out in this passage. The vow of a Nazirite contains a private and a public element. On the private side, one would avoid wine and all of the products of the grape vine. The discipline of doing this would help the individual to focus on God. On the private side, one would not cut one’s hair for the duration of the vow. This would signal to those around them that they were dedicating themselves to serving God.

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2017 Bible Study — The Vow of the Nazirite

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 5-6.

    Every time I read about the vow of the Nazirite I wonder why one would take such a vow. It is not that it is such a hard vow to keep, or even all that demanding. I just struggle to see what goals would be furthered by taking it. Having said that I started thinking about the types of things for which it might be helpful. It would be a helpful reminder for pledges to accomplish a task that requires a minimal amount of effort sporadically applied, such as setting aside a certain amount of money over time, or paying a certain number of visits to shut-ins. It would also be useful as a reminder to oneself about a vow to take advantage of a certain type of opportunity the next time one occurred. Basically, the vow of the Nazirite serves as a discipline to remind one to practice some other discipline, or intermittent activity. There is one other purpose for the vow of the Nazirite, one that can be both good and bad, it reminds those around you that you have made a promise to do something in the service of God. The good part is that it may inspire those around you to encourage you in what you have promised. The bad side is that some people would use it to show others how much “holier” they are than most. The latter is a form of self-righteousness which is the opposite of holy.

Daily Bible Study

February 14, 2016 Bible Study –Taking a Vow of Dedication to God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 5-6.

    The description of the trial a woman must go through if her husband believed her to be unfaithful bothers me. However, there are two things it is important to remember here. Many of the surrounding cultures (and even many cultures in the world today) would have found it perfectly acceptable for the husband to torture or kill his wife out of his jealousy, with no more evidence than his suspicion. Second, those who condemn this as barbaric and arbitrary are dismissing the power of God. It is well within God’s power to cause only those women who had been unfaithful to suffer the possible negative effects of this drink. That being said, I am happy that we do not practice this.

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    I find the description of the ritual to be taken by anyone taking the vow of the Nazirite fascinating. It occurred to me that this vow was something which predated this ritual and this ritual was a formalization of what the vow was. I am unsure what the vow of the Nazirite is. From the context, I am going to attempt to figure out as much about it as I can. One taking the vow of the Nazirite was dedicating themselves to carry out some task which they felt furthered God’s will in this world. I believe that one could also take the vow to request God’s assistance to carry out some task which one was then dedicating to increase the glory of God. There are several stories later in the Bible of God instructing a woman to commit her son to a Nazirite vow from the time of his conception (Sampson and Samuel come to mind). One of the key factors in the vow of the Nazirite is dedicating oneself to maintaining both the appearance and truth of holiness.