THE PRACTICE OF DISCIPLINE (expository)

Numbers 6:1-21

J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and the Spielberg movie Hook, about “the boy who would not grow up” have entertained generations. Yet, as J.I. Packer observes in A Passion for Holiness,

“Peter is not a person with whom any wise child, or wise adult for that matter, will identify . Peter represents the fixation of a phase that a boy goes through and, if all is well, grows out of. . Though brave, clever and leaderlike, he is also a conceited show-off, self-absorbed, heartless, and unable either to love or to accept love from others .

“The Western world’s current drift from its Christian moorings into secular materialism has generated what can only be called a Peter Pan culture. Here all the facets of Peter’s childish egoism are encouraged to emerge and entrench themselves, and are treated as virtues when they do.

“In such a culture it is hard to become a responsible adult, especially in the realm of the emotions. It has been truly said that the greatest social problem of the modern world is extreme emotional immaturity masquerading as an adult lifestyle . Christians, no less than others, . get infected by this Peter Pan syndrome.”

I believe the greatest antidote to this “Peter Pan” illness is spiritual discipline. The Bible calls us, as followers of Jesus, to live disciplined lives: to live in such a way that we grow in spiritual maturity, and wisdom, and strength.

ANCIENT VOWS

God instructed the ancient people of Israel to practise many forms of spiritual and moral discipline. One of the most distinctive was the Nazirite vow.

The book of Numbers opens with Israel at Mt Sinai, one month after the completion of the Tent of Meeting, and 13 months after their escape from Egypt. Fittingly, on the weekend following our national census, we read of another census taken – of Israel (Num 1-4). Chapters 5-6 focus on eliminating various forms of contamination, in preparation for the journey into Canaan, and life in the Promised Land.

In ancient Israel, God planned a special relationship with the descendants of Abraham. He called them “my treasured possession,” “a kingdom of priests,” and “a holy nation” (Ex 19:5-6; cf 1 Pet 2:9-10; Rev 5:10). And out of Israel God selected priests and Levites to serve him in specific ways. But Numbers 6, in “the law of the Nazirite” (v 21), also provides for laypeople – both women and men – to set themselves apart voluntarily and temporarily to the Lord.

THREE ASPECTS

There were three aspects to this vow of separation. First, the Nazirite abstained from consuming all grape products: wine, vinegar, grape juice, grapes and raisins, including the skins and seeds (vv 3-4). In doing so, he or she ensured maximum mental clarity while serving God, and symbolised their separation from any sensual enjoyments that could impair personal holiness.

The Israelites were soon to discover that a significant element of Canaanite economic and cultural life was its viticulture, and flowing from that a sedentary, slothful and potentially stupefying lifestyle enhanced by the consumption of alcohol (cf Num 13:23, 26f). Thus it is possible that, in addition to maintaining intellectual astuteness, the alcohol abstinence symbolised a rejection of such a lifestyle. Perhaps the Lord was preparing his people for life in the Promised Land as a distinctive people.

Contemporary parallels might include temporary abstinence from eating chocolate, desserts or fast food, from watching television or listening to recorded music at home or in the car, from visiting shopping malls, or from drinking coffee and other caffeine-based drinks. It is worth noting that priests were forbidden to drink wine while serving in the Tent of Meeting (Lev 10:9), but were free to drink at other times, whereas Nazirites accepted an absolute prohibition but could not enter the Tent.

Second, the Nazirite abstained from cutting his or her hair for the period of the vow (v 5). Hair was apparently a symbol of vitality (cf 2 Sam 14:25-26), and may also have represented the life force of a person since hair keeps growing for a while even after death.

Certainly long uncut hair was a visible sign to all who saw it that its owner was a Nazirite, and keeping it uncut was an outward indication of an inward disposition or desire to honour God in a special way.

Third, the Nazirite abstained from contact with dead bodies (vv 6-12). This may appear strange until we remember that the Israelites were effectively nomads in the desert, and even the Promised Land lacked anything comparable to modern hospitals, mortuaries and crematoria.

According to biblical law, a corpse rendered those who came in contact with it ritually unclean, and therefore unacceptable in the holy community in the midst of which the Lord dwelt (cf 5:1-4).

This third prohibition is set forth in much more detail than the other two. The main difference is that consuming grape products and cutting one’s hair were regular activities. One did not become ritually unclean from accidental or occasional wine drinking or hair cuts. But entering a room that contained a dead body, or attending a family funeral with its elaborate mourning practices, or sitting with other Nazirites and having one die, rendered the Nazirite unclean.

Minor uncleanness in ancient Israel could be cleansed by washing with water and waiting (Lev 11:39f; 15:17f). More serious pollution required a seven-day wait and a minor sin offering (Lev 12; 15:1-15). Contact with the dead – a significant pollution – was usually cleansed by washing in a special mixture as described in Num 19:1-22. But for a Nazirite this was insufficient. Nazirites had to follow a series of steps to regain ritual purity, including the offering of two lambs and a ram (expensive offerings), and then restart their vow from day one (vv 9-12).

Verses 13-20 describe the process of bringing the Nazirite vow to a close at the expiry of its time. The requirements are the same as those Aaron, Israel’s High Priest, followed at his ordination – indicating deep seriousness and holiness.

After fulfilling all the requirements of the vow, the former Nazirite returned to ordinary life in Israel, including wine drinking (v 20b) – renewed in his or her relationship with the Lord, having a deeper perception of the spiritual nature of human existence, and possessing a stronger sense of mission as God’s servant in the world.

A POPULAR PRACTICE

The Nazirites were, we might say, the monks and nuns of ancient Israel. They were lay women and men who consecrated themselves to the total service of God in a voluntary and temporary manner.

Samson (Jg 13:5; cf 16:7), Samuel (1 Sam 1:22, 28) and contemporaries of Amos took the Nazirite vow. Josephus, the great Jewish historian, mentions that Nazirites were common in the first century AD.

The vows mentioned by Luke in Acts 18:18 and 21:23 may have been Nazirite. John the Baptist may have been a Nazirite. The Nazirite prefigured the holy ministry of Jesus – although this has nothing to do with his title as “Jesus the Nazarene” (Mt 2:23).

FIGHTING THE WAR WITHIN

I believe the principle and practice of personal vows of holiness and dedication to God, demonstrated by abstinence – along with fasting in general – are worth pursuing today. In fact, a conscientious, God-pleasing Christian will seek separation from anything that leads them away from being a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

Paul said, “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11); “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (Rom 12:2); note also Gal 5:19-21; Col 3:5. These New Testament commands are in absolute harmony with the intent of the Nazirite vow: the people of God set apart from distraction and defilement, and set apart to the Lord.

Jerome said, “The old enemy knows that the battle with impurity is a harder one than that with covetousness. It is easy to cast off what clings to us from without, but a war within our borders involves far greater peril.”

According to Dag Hammarskjöld, “In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action.” Numbers 6 is couched negatively, but we can also pursue holiness positively.

Think pure thoughts, speak the truth in love, and do good to all. Live as Jesus lived, with an unmatched desire for the pleasure of God, and the undeflected goal of the glory of God. In doing so you will experience abundant life – life lived to the full.

“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

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E114 Copyright (c) 2003 Rod Benson. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980). To talk with Rod about this message, email or write to P.O. Box 1790, MACQUARIE CENTRE 2113 AUSTRALIA. To subscribe, email with “subscribe” in the subject. To unsubscribe, type “unsubscribe” in the subject.