…Notice that God explains the Nazirite vow immediately after the chapters on addressing sin and guilt within the covenant community. So the Nazirite is the example, the exemplar, the prototype for covenant living in Israel. He wasn’t an oddball. People weren’t supposed to see the Nazirite and say “well, that’s nice and all, but that’s not really for me.” No, it was for you.
Much like any Christian who has been wholly devoted to the Lord. Name an apostle. Name devoted believer. Name Jesus. Paul calls people to his example, because he believes he is living up to the example he has in Christ. He wasn’t an oddball. Now, the particular details of their lives are not the example. Our example is not to walk on water. Our example is not to go into the synagogues on every Sabbath to preach Christ. Jesus walked on water. Paul started evangelizing a city in the synagogues. But our example is their “speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity,” as Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:12.
But we fail. Samson is the ultimate example of this failure. He was a Nazirite from birth, for life. But he violated every Nazirite vow and never renewed that vow before the Lord. And that would be our predicament as well. The Nazirite vow, and men like Samson are not meant for us to grow hopeless and say such devotion can’t be done, or such devotion is not for us. It’s a testimony for us to look to the one who can fulfill the Nazirite vow.
Because Jesus is the ultimate Nazirite, which is not the same meaning as Nazarene. He is the ultimate one devoted to God. But the relationship that he opened up for us with God, is to follow his example, because we have God’s cleansing. We have God’s life. We have God’s Holy Spirit.
If we have died to self, the realm of the dead, and we are alive in Christ to God, what is that life for? Not to grow our hair long and then cut it off and throw it in a fire with a bunch of animals and grains and fruits and drinks. But to give ourselves as a “living sacrifice.” Wholly devoted to God in every way. It’s not just for the Nazirites. It’s just for Jesus. It’s not just for the apostles. It’s not just for the pastors, or super-Christians. It’s for all in Christ…
