G13. Dedicating Ourselves to God. [Make a Comment]
We are to dedicate ourselves to God through Messiah.
This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):
Key Scriptures
NAZIRITE DEDICATION
Numbers 6:1-3
(Maimonides RN202-204; Chinuch C368-370)
ADONAI said to Moshe, "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When either a
man or a woman makes a special kind of vow, the vow of a nazir, consecrating
himself to ADONAI; he is to abstain from wine and other intoxicating liquor,
he is not to drink vinegar from either source, he is not to drink grape
juice, and he is not to eat grapes or raisins.'"
Numbers 6:4
(Maimonides RN205-206; Chinuch C371-372)
As long as he remains a nazir he is to eat nothing derived from the
grapevine, not even the grape-skins or the seeds.
Numbers 6:5
(Maimonides RP92, RN209; Chinuch C373-374)
Throughout the period of his vow as a nazir, he is not to shave his head.
Until the end of the time for which he has consecrated himself to ADONAI he
is to be holy: he is to let the hair on his head grow long.
Numbers 6:6-8
(Maimonides RP93, RN207-208; Chinuch C375-376)
Throughout the period for which he has consecrated himself to ADONAI, he is
not to approach a corpse. He is not to make himself unclean for his father,
mother, brother or sister when they die, since his consecration to God is on
his head. Throughout the time of his being a nazir he is holy for ADONAI.
Numbers 6:9-15
(Maimonides RP93; Chinuch C377)
If someone next to him dies very suddenly, so that he defiles his
consecrated head, then he is to shave his head on the day of his
purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day. On the eighth day he is
to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the cohen at the entrance to the
tent of meeting. The cohen is to prepare one as a sin offering and the
other as a burnt offering and thus make atonement for him, inasmuch as he
sinned because of the dead person. That same day he is to re-consecrate his
head; he is to consecrate to ADONAI the full period of his being a nazir by
bringing a male lamb in its first year as a guilt offering. The previous
days will not be counted, because his consecration became defiled. This is
the law for the nazir when his period of consecration is over: he is to be
brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, where he will present his
offering to ADONAI - one male lamb in its first year without defect as a
burnt offering, one female lamb in its first year without defect as a sin
offering, one ram without defect as peace offerings, a basket of matzah,
loaves made of fine flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers spread
with olive oil, their grain offering and their drink offerings.
Numbers 6:16-18
(Chinuch C377)
The cohen is to bring them before ADONAI, offer his sin offering, his burnt
offering, and his ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to ADONAI, with the
basket of matzah. The cohen will also offer the grain offering and drink
offering that go with the peace offering. The nazir will shave his
consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair
removed from his consecrated head and put it on the fire under the sacrifice
of peace offerings.
Numbers 6:19-21
When the ram has been boiled, the cohen is to take its shoulder, one loaf of
matzah from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and place them in the hands
of the nazir, after he has shaved his consecrated head. The cohen is to
wave them as a wave offering before ADONAI; this is set aside for the cohen,
along with the breast for waving and the raised-up thigh. Following that,
the nazir may drink wine. This is the law for the nazir who makes a vow and
for his offering to ADONAI for his being a nazir - in addition to anything
more for which he has sufficient means. In keeping with whatever vow he
makes, he must do it according to the law for the nazir.
Numbers 8:5-7
(Maimonides RP93; Chinuch C3771)
ADONAI said to Moshe, "Take the L'vi'im from among the people of
Isra'el and cleanse them. Here is how you are to cleanse them:
sprinkle the purification water on them, have them shave their whole body
with a razor, and have them wash their clothes and cleanse themselves."
Acts 18:18
Sha'ul remained for some time, then said good-bye to the brothers and
sailed off to Syria, after having his hair cut short in Cenchrea, because he
had taken a vow; with him were Priscilla and Aquila.
NON-NAZIRITE & NEW COVENANT DEDICATION
Joshua 3:5
Y'hoshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, because tomorrow
ADONAI is going to work wonders among you."
Matthew 16:24
Then Yeshua told his talmidim, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him
say 'No' to himself, take up his execution-stake, and keep
following me.
(see also, Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)
2 Corinthians 6:17-18
Therefore ADONAI says, "'Go out from their midst; separate yourselves;
don't even touch what is unclean. Then I myself will receive you. In
fact, I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters.'
says ADONAI-Tzva'ot."
1 Peter 2:5
... you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house
to be cohanim set apart for God to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
him through Yeshua the Messiah.
1. The text does not mention anything connected to the Nazirite dedication but it is referred to by Maimonides in his RP93 mitzvah that requires the Nazirite to shave his head upon completion of his vow.
Supportive Scriptures - Non-Nazarite Dedication
Romans 6:19
(I am using popular language because your human nature is so weak.) For just
as you used to offer your various parts as slaves to impurity and
lawlessness, which led to more lawlessness; so now offer your various parts
as slaves to righteousness, which leads to being made holy, set apart for
God.
Romans 10:8
... that if you acknowledge publicly with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord and
trust in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
delivered.
Romans 12:1
I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer
yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please
him; it is the logical "Temple worship" for you.
Romans 13:14
Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Yeshua the Messiah; and don't
waste your time thinking about how to provide for the sinful desires of your
old nature.
2 Corinthians 8:5
Also, they didn't do this in the way we had expected, but first they
gave themselves to the Lord, which means, by God's will, to us.
Ephesians 5:18
Don't get drunk with wine, because it makes you lose control. Instead,
keep on being filled with the Spirit
Philippians 2:9-11
Therefore God raised him to the highest place and gave him the name above
every name; that in honor of the name given Yeshua, every knee will bow - in
heaven, on earth and under the earth - and every tongue will acknowledge
that Yeshua the Messiah is ADONAI - to the glory of God the Father.
Colossians 3:17
That is, everything you do or say, do in the name of the Lord Yeshua,
giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Supportive Scripture - Samson Dedicated to God as a Nazirite from Birth
Judges 13:1-25
Again the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's
perspective, and ADONAI handed them over to the P'lishtim for forty
years. There was a man from Tzor'ah from the family of Dan, whose name
was Manoach; his wife was barren, childless. The angel of ADONAI appeared
to the woman and said to her, "Listen! You are barren, you haven't had
a child, but you will conceive and bear a son. Now, therefore, be careful
not to drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don't eat
anything unclean. For indeed you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is
to touch his head, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb.
Moreover, he will begin to rescue Isra'el from the power of the
P'lishtim." The woman came and told her husband; she said, "A man of
God came to me; his face was fearsome, like that of the angel of God. I
didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name.
But he said to me, 'Listen! You will conceive and bear a son, so now
on't drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don't eat
anything unclean, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb
until the day he dies.'" Then Manoach prayed to ADONAI, "Please,
Adonai, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we
should do for the child who will be born.
(continue to verse 25)
Supportive Scripture - Samuel Dedicated to God as a Nazirite from Birth2
Samuel 1:10-28
In deep depression she [Hannah] prayed to ADONAI and cried. Then she took a
vow; she said, "ADONAI-Tzva'ot, if you will notice how humiliated your
servant is, if you will remember me and not forget your servant but will
give your servant a male child, then I will give him to ADONAI for as long
as he lives; and no razor will ever come on his head." She prayed for a
long time before ADONAI; and as she did so, 'Eli was watching her
mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart - her lips moved, but her voice
could not be heard - so 'Eli thought she was drunk. Eli said to her,
"How long are you going to stay drunk? Stop drinking your wine!" But Hannah
answered, "No, my lord, I am a very unhappy woman. I have not drunk either
wine or other strong liquor; rather, I've been pouring out my soul
before ADONAI. Don't think of your servant as a worthless woman;
because I have been speaking from the depth of my distress and anger." Then
'Eli replied, "Go in peace. May the God of Isra'el grant what you
have asked of him." She replied, "May your servant find favor in your
sight." So the woman went on her way, and she ate, and her face was no
longer sad. They got up early in the morning and worshipped before ADONAI,
then returned and came to their house in Ramah. Elkanah had sexual relations
with Hannah his wife, and ADONAI remembered her. She conceived; and in due
time she gave birth to a son, whom she named Sh'mu'el, "because I
asked ADONAI for him." The husband, Elkanah, went up with all his household
to offer the yearly sacrifice to ADONAI and fulfill his vow. But Hannah did
not go up, explaining to her husband, "Not till the child has been weaned.
Then I will bring him, so that he can appear before ADONAI and live there
forever." Her husband Elkanah answered her, "Do what seems good to you;
stay here until you have weaned him. Only may ADONAI bring about what he
said." So the woman stayed behind and nursed the child, until she weaned
him. After weaning him, she took him up with her, along with three young
bulls, a bushel of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of
ADONAI in Shiloh, even though he was just a child. After the bull had been
slaughtered, the child was brought to 'Eli; and she said, "My lord, as
sure as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying
to ADONAI. I prayed for this child, and ADONAI has granted the request I
asked of him. Therefore, I too have loaned him to ADONAI - as long as he
lives, he is on loan to ADONAI." And he prostrated himself there before
ADONAI.
2. Whether Samuel was a Nazirite is controversial among scholars.
Supportive Scriptures - Abraham and His Descendents (Israel) Dedicated to God
Genesis 17:9-14
God said to Avraham, "As for you, you are to keep my covenant, you and your
descendants after you, generation after generation. Here is my covenant,
which you are to keep, between me and you, along with your descendants after
you: every male among you is to be circumcised. You are to be circumcised
in the flesh of your foreskin; this will be the sign of the covenant between
me and you. Generation after generation, every male among you who is eight
days old is to be circumcised, including slaves born within your household
and those bought from a foreigner not descended from you. The slave born in
your house and the person bought with your money must be circumcised; thus
my covenant will be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. Any
uncircumcised male who will not let himself be circumcised in the flesh of
his foreskin - that person will be cut off from his people, because he has
broken my covenant."
Exodus 13:1-2
ADONAI said to Moshe, "Set aside for me all the firstborn. Whatever is first
from the womb among the people of Isra'el, both of humans and of
animals, belongs to me."
Exodus 19:4-6
'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on
eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will pay careful
attention to what I say and keep my covenant, then you will be my own
treasure from among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you will
be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart.' These are the
words you are to speak to the people of Isra'el.
Exodus 28:1
You are to summon your brother Aharon and his sons to come from among the
people of Isra'el to you, so that they can serve me as cohanim - Aharon
and his sons Nadav, Avihu, El'azar and Itamar.
Numbers 3:9-13
Assign the L'vi'im to Aharon and his sons; their one
responsibility in regard to the people of Isra'el is to serve him. You
are to appoint Aharon and his sons to carry out the duties of cohanim;
anyone else who involves himself is to be put to death. ADONAI said to
Moshe, "I have taken the L'vi'im from among the people of
Isra'el in lieu of every firstborn male that is first from the womb
among the people of Isra'el; the L'vi'im are to be mine. All
the firstborn males belong to me, because on the day that I killed all the
firstborn males in the land of Egypt, I separated for myself all the
firstborn males in Isra'el, both human and animal. They are mine; I am
ADONAI."
Numbers 3:45
Take the L'vi'im in place of all the firstborn among the people of
Isra'el, and the cattle of the L'vi'im in place of their
cattle; the L'vi'im are to belong to me, ADONAI.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8
For you are a people set apart as holy for ADONAI your God. ADONAI your God
has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his own
unique treasure. ADONAI didn't set his heart on you or choose you
because you numbered more than any other people - on the contrary, you were
the fewest of all peoples. Rather, it was because ADONAI loved you, and
because he wanted to keep the oath which he had sworn to your ancestors,
that ADONAI brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from a life
of slavery under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Isaiah 61:6a
... but you will be called cohanim of ADONAI, spoken of as ministers to our
God.
Romans 3:1-2
Then what advantage has the Jew? What is the value of being circumcised?
Much in every way! In the first place, the Jews were entrusted with the very
words of God.
Supportive Scriptures - The Body of Believers in Yeshua Dedicated to God through Their Faith
Isaiah 66:16-23
"For ADONAI will judge all humanity with fire and with the sword, and those
slain by ADONAI will be many. Those who consecrate and purify themselves in
order to enter the gardens, then follow the one who was already there,
eating pig meat, reptiles and mice, will all be destroyed together," says
ADONAI. For I [know] their deeds and their thoughts. "[The time] is coming
when I will gather together all nations and languages. They will come and
see my glory, and I will give them a sign. I will send some of their
survivors to the nations of Tarshish, Pul, Lud (these are archers), Tuval,
Greece and more distant coasts, where they have neither heard of my fame nor
seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory in these nations; and they will
bring all your kinsmen out of all the nations as an offering to ADONAI - on
horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, on camels - to my holy mountain
Yerushalayim," says ADONAI, "just as the people of Isra'el themselves
bring their offerings in clean vessels to the house of ADONAI. I will also
take cohanim and L'vi'im from them," says ADONAI. "For just as
the new heavens and the new earth that I am making will continue in my
presence," says ADONAI, "so will your descendants and your name continue.
Every month on Rosh-Hodesh and every week on Shabbat, everyone living will
come to worship in my presence," says ADONAI.
1 Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen people, the King's cohanim, a holy nation, a
people for God to possess! Why? In order for you to declare the praises of
the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you
were not a people, but now you are God's people; before, you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Revelation 1:4-6
From: Yochanan To: The seven Messianic communities in the province of Asia:
Grace and shalom to you from the One who is, who was and who is coming; from
the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; and from Yeshua the Messiah, the
faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the
earth's kings. To him, the one who loves us, who has freed us from our
sins at the cost of his blood, who has caused us to be a kingdom, that is,
cohanim for God, his Father - to him be the glory and the rulership forever
and ever. Amen.
Revelation 5:9-10
... and they sang a new song, "You are worthy to take the scroll and break
its seals; because you were slaughtered; at the cost of blood you ransomed
for God persons from every tribe, language, people and nation. You made
them into a kingdom for God to rule, cohanim to serve him; and they will
rule over the earth."
Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy is anyone who has a part in the first resurrection; over
him the second death has no power. On the contrary, they will be cohanim of
God and of the Messiah, and they will rule with him for the thousand
years.
Commentary
God has always required that mankind worship and obey Him, which is a form of dedication. Nevertheless, from very early times, God chose certain men to dedicate3 their lives to Him in a special way. Sometimes God imposed it on them and sometimes it was voluntary. Sometimes they were referred to as priests, but not always. Let's start with God's covenant with Abraham. The Scriptures show that there was a voluntary relationship between Abraham and God, but there came a time when God gave Abraham a covenant that was not voluntary on Abraham's part. The covenant had several components to it, but the bottom line was that Abraham and his descendants were to be dedicated to God for special service. We know this because, by the time of Moses, God was referring to the children of Israel (Israelites) as a "kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart" (Exodus 19:6). But God went further than that, and commanded that the firstborn of every Israelite and every animal within the camp of Israel must be dedicated to His service:
Exodus 13:1-2
ADONAI said to Moshe, "Set aside for me all the firstborn. Whatever is
first from the womb among the people of Isra'el, both of humans and of
animals, belongs to me.
Then God reversed Himself. He ordered that all the firstborn of the Israelites be redeemed from their service, and He dedicated Aaron and his sons (from the tribe of Levi) to be priests instead:
Numbers 3:10a
You are to appoint Aharon and his sons to carry out the duties of
cohanim
And He dedicated the rest of the Levites to serve Aaron and his sons in carrying out their priestly functions:
Numbers 3:9
Assign the L'vi'im to Aharon and his sons; their one
responsibility in regard to the people of Isra'el is to serve him.
Numbers 3:11-12
ADONAI said to Moshe, "I have taken the L'vi'im from among the
people of Isra'el in lieu of every firstborn male that is first from the
womb among the people of Isra'el; the L'vi'im are to be
mine."
All of the dedications referred to up to now were imposed dedications; they were not voluntary. But there came a time when God allowed a very special kind of dedication that could be either imposed or volunteered for, and those who were so dedicated were called "Nazirites". The voluntary Nazirite vow of dedication was normally for a specified season, after which the person who took the vow was released. The law of the Nazirite is partially as follows:
Numbers 6:2-8
Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When either a man or a woman makes
a special kind of vow, the vow of a nazir, consecrating himself to ADONAI; he
is to abstain from wine and other intoxicating liquor, he is not to drink
vinegar from either source, he is not to drink grape juice, and he is not to
eat grapes or raisins. As long as he remains a nazir he is to eat nothing
derived from the grapevine, not even the grape-skins or the seeds.
Throughout the period of his vow as a nazir, he is not to shave his head.
Until the end of the time for which he has consecrated himself to ADONAI he
is to be holy: he is to let the hair on his head grow long. Throughout the
period for which he has consecrated himself to ADONAI, he is not to approach
a corpse. He is not to make himself unclean for his father, mother, brother
or sister when they die, since his consecration to God is on his head.
Throughout the time of his being a nazir he is holy for ADONAI.
Because there are other requirements for the Nazirite that require the Temple and the Levitical priests, it is not possible to become a Nazirite today and, by the grace of God it is not needed any longer. The reason it is not needed is that today, our vow of dedication to Yeshua as Lord of our lives is the New Covenant equivalent of the Nazirite vow and more:
Romans 10:8 and 12:1
that if you acknowledge publicly with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord and
trust in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be delivered
... I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to
offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will
please him; it is the logical "Temple worship" for you.
In the New Covenant, this new way of dedicating ourselves to God is both available to everyone and required of everyone.
3. "Dedicate" and "Consecrate" are interchangeable.
Commentary by Daniel C. Juster
Notwithstanding the Nazirite vow's obsolescence, we do occasionally find people who believe that God is asking them to give themselves to Him for a period of special consecration, prayer or other purpose. Sometimes they believe that they are led, as part of that, to emulate the Nazirite vow by giving up wine and other foods such as meat, and to a time of partial liquid (e.g. water) fasting. If done with balance, there should be no objection to special seasons of dedication done in that way.
Classical Commentators
Maimonides and HaChinuch wrote several mitzvot pertaining to Nazirite vows but wrote none pertaining to any other kind of personal dedication to God. Meir did not address Nazirite vows or matters of dedication at all.
NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm