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Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, You have set us apart by Your commandments and have commanded us to actively study Your Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May You open our eyes to see marvellous truths from Your Torah. Thank You for calling us who were once gentiles excluded from the citizenship of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no expectation and without Elohim- but now through the blood of Messiah we have gained access into the covenants and have obtained citizenship into the commonwealth of Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah - Amein
We are still busy with
Parashat 35“ Nasso” –to lift up or Make an Accounting– of what? A calling of a set apart priesthood. This week we are
dealing with the Nazarite vow. This was a voluntary act of service to YHVH.
There is mention made in Scripture of three who were Nazarites for life, Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist ( Judges 13:4-5; 1 Samuel 1:11 ; Luke 1:15 ). In its ordinary form, however, the Nazarite's vow lasted only thirty, and at most one hundred, days.
Why would YHVH
choose this extra ordinary Nazarite vow? The answer is simple. His love for all
of mankind. Like a marriage where a man and a wife enter into a covenant with
one another YHVH enters into a covenant with Israel. YHVH did not make this
covenant or any other covenant with the ‘’goyim’’. However, YHVH did not
exclude the goyim from entering into this same covenant with Himself. And so
YHVH raises up extra ordinary men and women who undertake this extra – ordinary
vow to make His Covenant contained in the Torah known to all nations -. Isa 56:6 “Also the sons of the foreigner who join
themselves to יהוה, to serve Him, and to love the Name of יהוה, to be His servants, all who
guard the Sabbath, and not profane it, and are holding onto My covenant Isa 56:7 them (gentiles) I shall bring to My set-apart mountain,
and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their ascending offerings and their
slaughterings are accepted on My slaughter-place, for My house is called a
house of prayer for all the peoples.” Isa 56:8 The Master יהוה, who gathers the outcasts of
Yisra’ěl, declares, “I gather still others to him besides those who
are gathered to him.”
YHVH primarily chose the Levites to guard and teach His Covenant/Torah
to His people. In addition the Nazarite vow was one of the extra ordinary ways
YHVH also chooses to make His love known to His people, but YHVH also chose
other extra ordinary ways to make His Covenant known to the nations:
Rechabites. -"One theory is the Rechabites belonged to the Kenites, (descendants of Cain) who accompanied the Israelites into the Holy Land and dwelt among them; the sources of information are few and unclear. Whoever he was, Jehonadab ben Rechab forbade his descendants to drink wine, to own land or vineyards, or to live in cities.[2] They were commanded to always lead a nomadic life.
The Rechabites adhered to the law laid down by Jonadab, and were noted for their fidelity to the old established custom of their family in the days of Jeremiah;[3] and this feature of their character is referred to by God for the purpose of giving point to his message to the King of Judah.[4][5] As a reward for their fidelity, God proclaims that there will always be a descendant of Jonadab in his service. – Wikipedia’’
Jer 35:18 And Yirmeyahu said to the house of the Rěḵaḇites, “Thus
said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ěl, ‘Because you have obeyed the
command of Yonaḏaḇ your father, and guarded all his commands and done according
to all that he commanded you, Jer 35:19 therefore thus said יהוה
of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ěl, “Of Yonaḏaḇ son of Rěḵaḇ there shall never
cease to be a man to stand before Me.”
The most important Torah portion in the Torah – ‘’mattan ha Torah’’ the
giving of the Torah is named after a gentile – a Kennite – called Yitro –
Judges 1:16
Eunuchs and Gentiles - Isa 56:3
“And let not the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to יהוה
speak, saying, ‘יהוה has certainly separated me from His people,’ nor let the eunuch
say, ‘Look I am a dry tree.’ ” Isa 56:4 For thus said יהוה,
“To the eunuchs who guard My Sabbaths, and have chosen what pleases Me, and are
holding onto My covenant: Isa 56:5 to them I shall give in My house
and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters –
I give them an everlasting name that is not cut off. Isa 56:6 “Also
the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to יהוה, to serve Him, and to love
the Name of יהוה, to be His servants, all who guard the Sabbath, and not profane
it, and are holding onto My covenant – Isa 56:7 them I shall bring
to My set-apart mountain, and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their
ascending offerings and their slaughterings are accepted on My slaughter-place,
for My house is called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” Isa 56:8
The Master יהוה, who gathers the outcasts of Yisra’ěl, declares, “I gather
still others to him besides those who are gathered to him.”
Mat 19:11 And He said to them, “Not all receive this word, but
only those to whom it has been given, Mat 19:12 for there are eunuchs
who were so born from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made
eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the
sake of the reign of the heavens. He who is able to receive it, let him receive
it.”
Another unique group are the 144 000 End time witnesses – Rev 7
and 14:
144 000 Torah teachers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vN5Yf1I8vM
We need to realize that in YHVH’s Kingdom – ‘’one size doesn’t fit
all’’ religion, seeks to control us by forcing us to accept ‘’stereotypes’’,
acceptable to certain religious beliefs and societal norms prescribed by men,
and not by YHVH.
Nazarites - This Torah portion gives an
account of the Nazarite vow. The
Nazarite vow is not a cure for our unfaithfulness but a prevention of it. This
portion followed the law of a jealous husband and was considered by some sages
to be the righteous response of an aggrieved or suspicious husband towards his
unfaithful wife (or possible unfaithful wife).
Difference between Netzer and Nazir: - “A nazirite (nazir) was a person consecrated to YHVH either from birth, such as Samson or Samuel; or for a limited time. A Nazarite (נְזִיר) was an Israelite who had taken special vows of dedication to YHVH whereby he abstained for a specified period from using alcohol and grape products, cutting his/her hair, and approaching corpses. At the end of the period, he/she was required to immerse themselves in water. Thus the immersion of Yahshua (Matthew 3:13-15) by John the Immerser could have been done "to fulfil all righteousness" at the ending of a nazirite vow. Following his immersion, the scriptures give no reason to suppose Yahshua took another nazirite vow until the last Pesach seder Yahshua shared with his talmidim/disciples-see Mark 14:25.”
A ’’nazir’’ in modern Hebrew is a ‘’monk’’ this is an
unfortunate translation because the ‘’nazrim’’ were not isolating themselves
from society, they were dedicating themselves to pray and service in their
communities.
Nazareth Heb. “Natsaret” the root verb “natsar” means to
guard. The same Hebrew letters “netser” means branch. The Jews called the
early followers of Yahshua “Notsrim” or Nazarenes. We can deduct from this
Hebrew word usage that the true believers in Yahshua, then and now were
destined to guard and protect the Truth and mysteries of the Torah. This was
the destiny of the “grafted in” branches – ‘’Notzrim’’ Branches of a tree that
have been sustained by an ancient Hebrew root system. See Rom 11:17-20.
“The second writings (New Testament) uses "Nazarene" six times, while "Nazorean" is used 13 times. In the Book of Acts, "Nazorean" is used to refer to a follower of Yahshua, i.e. a follower of Yahshua rather than an inhabitant of a town.”
Act 24:5
“For having found this man a plague, who stirs up dissension among all
the Yehuḏim throughout the world, and a ringleader of the
sect of the Natsarenes, (‘’notzrim’’ or preserving ones)
Jer 31:6
“For there shall be a day when the watchmen(Notzrim) cry on Mount
Ephrayim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Tsiyon, to יהוה our Elohim."
Our Torah reading begins:
כִּי יַפְלִא לִנְדֹּר
Num 6:1 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, saying,
Num 6:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say
to them, ‘When a man or woman does separate, by making a vow of a Nazirite, to
be separate to יהוה,
|
ב דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָמַרְתָּ
אֲלֵהֶם: אִישׁ אוֹ-אִשָּׁה, כִּי יַפְלִא לִנְדֹּר נֶדֶר
נָזִיר--לְהַזִּיר, לַיהוָה. |
2 Speak
unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When either man or woman
shall make an extraordinary vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to consecrate himself
unto the YHVH, |
H6381 pâlâ' BDB
Definition:1) to
be marvellous, be wonderful, be surpassing, be extraordinary, separate by
distinguishing action.
Note a man or a woman
could take a nazarite vow. The sages suggest that we should understand this in
the light of the law of ‘’sotah’’. Others suggest that woman were given far
greater roles of spiritual responsibility than what is commonly accepted.
We see for example in Shemot/Exodus 38:8 that certain woman was placed as
guards at the entrance of the tabernacle (did these women take a nazarite
vow?). I am certain their roles were not just symbolic – example – Anna the
prophetess, Luke 2:36-38 – see also 1 Sam 2:22 and Luke 8:3 – several women
accompanied and took care of Yahshua from their resources.
YHVH is far more
creative than what we can imagine when it comes to doing the extra ordinary
(yafila) to bring His people back to Him. Our enemies will not have the
final say over YHVH’S people – YHVH will.
Num 6:3 he separates himself from wine and
strong drink – he drinks neither vinegar of wine nor vinegar of strong drink,
neither does he drink any grape juice, nor eat grapes or raisins.
Num 6:4 ‘All the days of his separation he does not
eat whatever is made of the grapevine, from seed to skin.
Num 6:5 ‘All the days of the vow of his separation a
razor does not come upon his head. Until the days are completed for which he
does separate himself to יהוה, he is set-apart. He shall let the locks of the hair of his
head grow long.
Once again we need to
see and understand that YHVH goes to extra ordinary measures by calling extra
ordinary people. It is not normal to abstain from grape products and to refrain
from cutting your hair.
Num 6:6 ‘All the days of his separation to יהוה he does not go
near a dead body.
Num 6:7 ‘He does not make himself unclean for his
father, or for his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they die,
because his separation to Elohim is on his head. (requirements of high priest)
Num 6:8 ‘All the days of his separation he is
set-apart to יהוה.
Num 6:9 ‘And when anyone dies beside him in an
instant, suddenly, and he has defiled the head of his separation, then he shall
shave his head on the day of his cleansing – on the seventh day he shaves it.
Num 6:10 ‘And on the eighth day he brings two
turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of
Meeting,
Num 6:11 and the priest shall prepare one as a sin
offering and the other as a burnt offering, and shall make atonement for him,
because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall set apart his head
on that day,
Num 6:12 and shall separate to יהוה the days of
his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old, as a guilt offering.
But the former days are not counted, because his separation was defiled.
Num 6:13 ‘And this is the Torah of the Nazirite: When
the days of his separation are completed, he is brought to the door of the Tent
of Meeting,
Num 6:14 and he shall bring his offering to יהוה: one male lamb
a year old, a perfect one, as a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old, a
perfect one, as a sin offering, and one ram, a perfect one, as a peace
offering, (Ex 12:5 – Passover lamb)
Num 6:15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of
fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened thin cakes anointed with oil, and
their grain offering with their drink offerings.
Num 6:16 ‘And the priest shall bring them before יהוה and prepare
his sin offering and his burnt offering.
Num 6:17 ‘And he shall prepare the ram as a peace
offering to יהוה, together with
the basket of unleavened bread. And the priest shall prepare its grain offering
and its drink offering.
Num 6:18 ‘And the Nazirite shall shave the head of his
separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall take the hair from the
head of his separation and shall put it on the fire which is under the
slaughtering of the peace offering.
Num 6:19 ‘And the priest shall take the boiled
shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake from the basket, and one
unleavened thin cake, and put them upon the hands of the Nazirite after he has
shaved his hair of separation.
Num 6:20 ‘Then the priest shall wave them, a wave
offering before יהוה. It is set-apart for the priest, besides the breast of the wave
offering and besides the thigh of the contribution. And afterwards the Nazirite
shall drink wine.’
Num 6:21 “This is the Torah of the Nazirite who vows to יהוה the offering for his separation, and besides that, whatever else his hand is able to provide. According to the vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the Torah of his separation.”
The hair of the Nazarite both symbolically and literally represented the amount of time that the Nazarite spent under the vow. When the term of the Nazarite's vow was completed, he cut his hair and burned it at the Temple altar. Burning the hair was a gesture symbolizing that the Nazarite was offering up to YHVH the amount of time he had dedicated to YHVH as a Nazarite. If he had been a Nazarite for only a few months, it would only be a few months' growth. If he had been a Nazarite for several years, it would have been several feet of hair. But in order for the length of hair to accurately represent the term of the vow, the vow must be begun with a shaved head!
Act 18:18 And Sha’ul, having stayed several days more, having taken leave of the brothers, was sailing for Suria, and Priscilla and Aqulas were with him, having shaved his hair at Kenḥrea, for he had taken a vow
Regardless of which situation it is that Paul was in, the terms of the Nazarite vow necessitated that he return to Yerushalayim and the Temple to make the necessary offerings and to have his hair shaved in the Temple. Once he arrived in Yerushalayim in Acts 21, he joined with four more believers who had also taken Nazarite vows and they went to the Temple together for haircuts and sacrifices. We must remember that Paul did this to prove that he had not departed from the strict observance of the Torah. Acts 21:17-26
The Torah wants us to make a connection between the high priest and Nazarite. Both High Priest and Nazarite enjoy a status of separation called "nezer" which is theirs by virtue of a symbol on their heads. For the High Priest it is the anointing oil poured out on his head that grants him the nezer status. For the Nazarite it is the hair on his head that grants him the nezer status.
Concerning Yakov HaTzaddik (Hebrew) the Hebrew equivalent of Jacob/James the righteous, the Brother of Yahshua: Eusebius quotes Hegesippus in his Ecclesiastical History regarding the martyrdom of James (Yakov). He writes, "James drank no wine or intoxicating liquor and ate no animal food; no razor came near his head; he did not smear himself with oil, and took no baths. He alone was permitted to enter the Set apart Place, for his garments were not of wool but of linen. He used to enter the Set apart place alone, and was often found on his knees beseeching forgiveness for the people..." This text raises an intriguing problem. We find here a very strong and early tradition about James that places him inside the Temple Sanctuary. The Sanctuary (set apart Place) is forbidden to all except for the priesthood. How is it that James, a man descended from the House of David and the tribe of Judah has access to the Sanctuary where only priests are allowed? How is it that we find James clothed in linen garments? that is, priestly garments? praying inside the Temple proper? Is it because James was a Nazarite, and as a Nazarite, he obtained some kind of quasi-priestly status? We must either accept it as so or reject the tradition of Hegesippus all- together”.
The astute reader of the Apostolic scriptures will notice an unavoidable parallel between this midrash and the words of the Master when he says to his disciples, "I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father's kingdom" (Matthew 26:27.)
The Master states the term of his vow at the
outset. He will not drink of the fruit of the vine again "until that day
when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."
Thus according to ‘’halachah’’; traditional Jewish law concerning specific application of the commandments, Yahshua binds himself to a Natzarite vow at his last seder(Hebrew) literally, "order"; an ordered event, especially the meal eaten on Passover. (Even if it was not a full Seder, it had elements of the Pesach Seder because Yahshua had His meal a night before the time, knowing that the next day He would become THE LAMB OF ELOHIM).
The good news accounts tell us that during the execution, Yahshua was twice offered vinegar (literally sour wine). The first time he refuses it. However, at the point of death and ultimate ritual defilement through uncleanness, he accepted it. How is it possible that he would break his vow to not drink of the fruit of the vine? If the vow was a Nazarite vow this can be explained. His vow would be defunct at the point of death because it would be temporarily terminated by his contact with death. Hence he refuses the vinegar earlier, but receives it at the very moment of death. The vinegar and the death are significantly linked. Both sever the vow. Thus, the vinegar is symbolic of death and corpse contamination. When the Master accepts the vinegar, it symbolizes his accepting of death. A vow severed by corpse contact must be re-entered only after purification. The Master's resurrection is his purification from death. Now our Master ever lives to make intercession for us, while he is seated at the right hand of YHVH, His and our Father and Elohim (Heb 7:25).
"So, what does this mean to us who are called to lead worship in the assembly of set apart ones? Well, it was the Levites who were tasked with the role of functioning as the singers, musicians and the leaders of the singing in the Tabernacle of David. And, according to Acts 15:16, that revelation of divine order of worship that YHVH gave to King David, is our pattern. So, in the context of YHVH’s historical dealings with them, we can see what the tribe of Levi has been called to and destined to, from Mosheh to David to the present. It is a high and noble calling to be a helps-minister to the priest. And to be successful in our calling and in our destiny, we must understand our role and how it relates to the rest of the body of Messiah. End quote.
Sadly, like we mentioned already, the word “nazir” in modern Hebrew means monk. This too has given a wrong idea of what it really means to be set apart. YHVH is not calling us out of this world but He is calling us to be the fragrance of His Messiah in this world. (2Cor 2:15)
Psa 110:3 Your people volunteer in the day of Your might, In the splendours of set-apartness! From the womb, from the morning, You have the dew of Your youth!
Isa 40:29 He gives power to the faint,
and to those who have no might He increases strength.
Isa 40:30 Even youths shall faint and
be weary, and young men stumble and fall,
Isa 40:31 but those who wait on יהוה
renew their strength, they raise up the wing like eagles, they run and are not
weary, they walk and do not faint.
יח גַּל-עֵינַי
וְאַבִּיטָה-- נִפְלָאוֹת, מִתּוֹרָתֶךָ. Ps 119:18 Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out
of Thy Torah -
Blessed are you YHVH, our
Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have
planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the
Torah – Amein.