Nazirites

The name has nothing to do with Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth. Rather, they were a specially dedicated group of people who took vows not to touch wine or any grape products, not to cut their hair (either head or beard), and not to touch a dead body.

Numbers 6 describes the Nazirite rules in detail. One could choose to be a Nazirite for a period of a month or a lifetime.

Whatever the time frame, the vows were taken with great seriousness. Although the Nazirites took vows that made them “separate . . . to the LORD,” they did not live apart from other Israelites.

Three Nazirites are significant: Samson, the strongman judge of Israel; Samuel, the judge who crowned Israel’s first two kings; and John the Baptist, the only Nazirite in the New Testament.

Samson’s long hair played a key role in the story of his capture by the Philistines.

See 499 (Samson).

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Healing Time

J. Stephen Lang

1868: On this date a political leader who grew up poor, had no formal education and was illiterate until his wife taught him to read and write, issued Proclamation 179 “granting full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States during the late Civil War.”

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

A Personal Promise

Charles Stanley

Jesus came to earth with the view of offering you salvation. He wanted you to have a restored relationship with the Father, a relationship that was so close, so intimate, that you would have your special place in the Father’s house (John 14:1–4).

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Unexpected Savior

John MacArthur

Scripture records that when John the Baptist began his ministry, “The people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not” (Luke 3:15).

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Reflections on the Incarnation and Freedom of God

Philip Yancey

Think of the condescension involved: the incarnation, which sliced history into two parts had more animal than human witnesses. Think, too, of the risk. In the incarnation, God spanned the vast chasm of fear that had distanced him from his human creation.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Blessing of the Presence of Jesus

Charles Spurgeon

He is as certainly with us now as He was with the disciples at the lake when they saw coals of fire, fish on the coals, and bread (John 21:9). Not physically, but still in real truth, Jesus is with us!