Numbers 6

Today’s Passage: Numbers 6

The LORD makes a way for any ordinary Israelite, a man or a woman, to draw near with a special vow. It is the vow of the Nazirite, a season of being set apart to the LORD. For that season the person keeps away from the vine, lets no razor touch the head, and stays away from the dead. When the days are done, offerings are brought, the long hair is shaved and given to the fire, and the vow is complete. Then the chapter turns, and God gives Aaron words to lay over the whole people. May the LORD bless you and keep you. It ends with the LORD putting His own name on His people.

As you read, hold this: God welcomes a whole life set apart to Him, and He speaks His own blessing over His people.

Numbers 6:1–8 (BSB)

¹ And the LORD said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, ³ he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴ All the days of his separation, he is not to eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. ⁵ For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let the hair of his head grow long. ⁶ Throughout the days of his separation to the LORD, he must not go near a dead body. ⁷ Even if his father or mother or brother or sister should die, he is not to defile himself, because the symbol of consecration to his God is upon his head. ⁸ Throughout the time of his separation, he is holy to the LORD.

The door is thrown wide from the first line. A man or woman. This nearness was open to anyone in the camp who longed for it, and God met that longing with a clear path. For the season of the vow the person steps back from the vine in every form, lets the hair grow as a plain sign upon the head, and keeps clear of death. The strictest word comes at the family. Even a mother or father who dies is not to be touched, because the consecration on the head belongs wholly to God for these days. The last line names the whole season for what it is. Throughout the time of his separation, he is holy to the LORD.

Numbers 6:9–12 (BSB)

⁹ If someone suddenly dies in his presence and defiles his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing—the seventh day. ¹⁰ On the eighth day he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹¹ And the priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for him, because he has sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. On that day he must consecrate his head again. ¹² He must rededicate his time of separation to the LORD and bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. But the preceding days shall not be counted, because his separation was defiled.

Life in a fallen world can break in on the best intention. Someone may fall dead beside the Nazirite (נָזִיר) nazir, pronounced nah-ZEER. Strong's H5139, one consecrated or set apart (Nazirite). The word comes from a root that means to set apart, to separate, to keep back for a special use. A nazir is not a person of a higher rank but a person marked off for the LORD for a time. The vow did not make anyone a priest. It gave any willing heart a way to say, for this season my life is set apart to God, and the uncut hair on the head said it to everyone who looked. through no plan of his own, and the vow is defiled all the same. The LORD does not leave him stranded. There is a path back: shave the head, wait, bring the birds, and let the priest make atonement. The days already kept do not carry over, and he begins the count again. What matters here is that God provides a way to be cleansed and to start over, so that a broken vow is not the end of nearness but the doorway to renewing it.

Numbers 6:13–21 (BSB)

¹³ Now this is the law of the Nazirite when his time of separation is complete: He must be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, ¹⁴ and he is to present an offering to the LORD of an unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, an unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, and an unblemished ram as a peace offering— ¹⁵ together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—and a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers coated with oil. ¹⁶ The priest is to present all these before the LORD and make the sin offering and the burnt offering. ¹⁷ He shall also offer the ram as a peace offering to the LORD, along with the basket of unleavened bread. And the priest is to offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering. ¹⁸ Then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head, take the hair, and put it on the fire under the peace offering. ¹⁹ And the priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands of the Nazirite who has just shaved the hair of his consecration. ²⁰ The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. This is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the wave offering and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine. ²¹ This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD for his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes, according to the law of his separation.”

The vow has a beginning, and it also has a finish. When the days are complete the person comes back to the door of the tent, and the ending is not a small thing. A burnt offering, a sin offering, a peace offering, grain and drink offerings, and a basket of unleavened bread all come before the LORD. The long hair, the visible sign carried through the whole season, is shaved and laid on the fire under the peace offering, given wholly to God. Then a portion is placed in the Nazirite’s own hands and waved before the LORD, and after that he may drink wine again and return to ordinary days. The set-apart season ends not in loss but in worship, and the one who kept it goes home blessed.

Numbers 6:22–27 (BSB)

²² Then the LORD said to Moses, ²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons: This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: ²⁴ ‘May the LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’ ²⁷ So they shall put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Having spoken of the whole-hearted few who set themselves apart, the LORD now speaks a blessing over all the people, and He does not leave the priests to find their own words. He gives them His. Three lines, and the LORD’s name stands at the head of each one. He blesses (בָּרַךְ) barak, pronounced bah-RAHK. Strong's H1288, to bless, to kneel. The word means to bless, to kneel, to speak good over another and to bring good to them. It is not a wish flung into the air. When the LORD blesses, He acts. The priests were to speak this word over the people, but verse 27 makes plain whose blessing it truly is: I will bless them. The mouth was Aaron’s; the blessing was God’s, and it still is. and keeps. He makes His face shine and is gracious. He lifts up His countenance and gives peace. To have God’s face shine on you is to have Him turn toward you in favor, not away in displeasure, and the gift at the end of it is shalom, wholeness and peace. Then the LORD tells why. So they shall put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them. The blessing does not depend on the priest who says it or the people who hear it. The LORD Himself lays His own name on His people, and the blessing is His to give.