Numbers 6 NIV

Suggested Praise Songs:

• Take My Life – Chris Tomlin
• Refiner’s Fire (35th Anniversary) | Official Lyric Video | Brian Doerksen feat. Mission House

Resources for Family Worship (with Children)

• Set Apart for Jesus Object Lesson – Lesson for Kids
• Whole Lotta Change | Roar VBS | Group Publishing – Song for Kids
• Million Reasons | Shipwrecked VBS | Group Publishing – Song for Kids
• We Are God’s People | Holyland Adventure: Egypt VBS | Group Publishing – Song for Kids
• Discussion Questions for Children & Youth are located in the section after Explanation, Meditation, and Prayer (at the end of this email/blog).

Explanation:

Chapter 6 contains the regulations for Nazirites (vv. 1–21) and the priestly blessing (vv. 22–27). The Hebrew root of the word Nazirite, nazar, means “to set apart.” These instructions were given to open a way for people who did not belong to the tribe of Levi, but who desired to devote themselves to God for a certain period of time or for life.

Looking at the regulations for Nazirites, we can see that the Lord granted Nazirites a higher level of authority than ordinary priests. Nazirites could not serve sacrifices in the tabernacle, but they were recognized as having a special status in holiness. Among the people mentioned in Scripture, Samson, Samuel, and Paul had made Nazirite vows.

The priesthood was permitted only to men, but the Nazirite vow was also open to women. A person who made this vow was not to eat anything that came from the grapevine during the appointed period (vv. 2–4), was not to shave their hair (v. 5), and was not to come into contact with a dead body (v. 6). Even if a parent or sibling died, they were not to go near the body (v. 7). If contact with a dead body did occur, the person had to self-isolate for one week, then shave their hair and carry out the prescribed purification ritual. In that case, the previous period of the vow became invalid (vv. 9–12).

When the period of the vow was completed, the person was to bring the prescribed offerings to the priest, and the priest was to offer them to God according to the proper procedure (vv. 13–17). The instructions regarding the offerings also show that the Nazirite vow was very important to God. Then the person was to shave their hair at the entrance of the tent of meeting and place the hair on the altar fire to be burned (v. 18). When the priest completed the rest of the ritual procedures, the period of the vow came to an end, and the person who had made the vow was released from all the prohibitions (vv. 19–20).

After this, God gives the priests the prayer of blessing to use when blessing the people (vv. 24–26). This is the prayer of blessing that the priest is to offer for the congregation when a sacrifice or worship service is concluded. The prayer of blessing is made up of three sentences, and each sentence begins with the words, “The Lord.” This is to make it clear that the one who gives the blessing is not the priest, but God.

Here the priest uses six verbs (“bless,” “keep,” “make His face shine,” “be gracious,” “look upon,” “give peace”). Each verb has a slightly different nuance in meaning, but they are the same in that they all express what God does for His people. When the priest blesses the congregation, God promises, “I myself will bless the Israelites” (v. 27).

Meditation:

God said to the people of Israel, “Be holy, because I am holy” (Lev. 11:44). Holiness is the most important task that those who believe in God must accomplish on this earth. In Hebrew, “holiness” means “being set apart” or “being consecrated.”

In this world, where people deny God and live according to their own desires and ideologies, believers are meant to appear distinct. That is because the way they think is different, what they desire is different, and what they pursue is different. The level of a person’s faith is determined by how differently that person lives in this world. When someone resolves to live according to God’s will and consecrates themselves to Him, that distinctiveness will become visible.

There were no conditions for becoming a Nazirite other than complete devotion to God. The priesthood was permitted only to the descendants of Aaron among the tribe of Levi. Even among Aaron’s descendants, women were not recognized as eligible. The Nazirite vow was open to people from every tribe, and women were also given the opportunity. If we look closely at the regulations concerning Nazirites, we can see that in terms of holiness, God treated Nazirites on the same level as the high priest.

Seen in this way, the Nazirite is a good metaphor for those who have been restored as God’s children through faith in Jesus Christ. Just as there was no condition for becoming a Nazirite other than complete devotion to God, there is no condition for becoming a child of God other than faith in Jesus Christ. To live as a child of God means to be one who is “in the world” but “not of the world” (John 17:16). That is why the apostle Peter called believers “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9).

The three prohibitions that those who vowed to be Nazirites had to keep (abstaining from anything from the grapevine, not cutting their hair, and not going near a dead body) were likely guidelines meant to separate them from the things people indulged in and enjoyed within the secular culture of Canaan, so that they might live as God’s people. In the same way, Christians should not simply go along with the flow of the world, saying, “If it feels good, it’s fine,” but should think, judge, and act as consecrated people, discerning the will of God. That is why the apostle Paul said, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).

Key Verse: Verse 21

“This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his separation as a Nazirite. If he vows anything more than what he is able to give, then he must do according to the vow he has made, in accordance with the law of his separation as a Nazirite.”

Prayer:

Please help us always remember and live with the awareness that we belong to the Lord as holy Nazirites. May we not become assimilated into the world and seek to prosper by blending in…

Discussion Questions for Children & Youth:

Key Point: God calls His people to belong to Him fully. Like the Nazirite was set apart for God, Christians are called to live differently in the world, not by copying everything around them, but by trusting Jesus and choosing what is holy, faithful, and pleasing to God.

For Preschool-Elementary:

• What does it mean to belong to God?
• What are some ways we can show at home or at school that we are different because we love Jesus?
• When everyone around you is doing something wrong, what can you do instead?
  Youth:

• In what ways does God call Christians to be “set apart” today?
• What pressures make it hard to live differently from the world in school, online, or with friends?
• What is one area of your life where you think God is asking for deeper commitment or holiness?