Hello and welcome to Lechem Panim. In recently weeks we have been discussing Paul’s ministry in the city of Corinth. It was a city that was so lost to paganism and idolatry that Paul probably wondered if it was possible for God to do anything there at all. But then Paul receives a vision in which God gives Him a command and a promise. He commands Paul to speak boldly (so there’s that faith element, which almost always comes first) and then promises to protect him. And so Paul takes that step of faith and lo and beh...
Hello and welcome to Lechem Panim. In recently weeks we have been discussing Paul’s ministry in the city of Corinth. It was a city that was so lost to paganism and idolatry that Paul probably wondered if it was possible for God to do anything there at all. But then Paul receives a vision in which God gives Him a command and a promise. He commands Paul to speak boldly (so there’s that faith element, which almost always comes first) and then promises to protect him. And so Paul takes that step of faith and lo and behold God steps in; because though some of the unbelieving Jews sought to get the proconsul (Gallio) to prosecute Paul, Gallio does the complete opposite and sets a precedent that Rome was not going to get involved in Jewish affairs (which they saw Christianity as being, seeing it as just another sect of Judaism). And so God kept His promise. But not only did God protect Paul, but He also blessed his ministry, as it tells us that Paul was even able to establish a church there in Corinth; a church that bore tremendous fruit. And this is a reminder to us that when things seem darkest and we feel the most broken, it is then that God is often able to produce some of His greatest fruit. One of the greatest verses in scripture that you and I can ever lean on actually comes from one of his letters to this Corinthian Church. It says in…
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV)— 9 And He {(“the Lord”)} said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
God Always Comes Through— What a wonderful reminder that even we we might feel we have nothing left to give, God still promises to use us and come through for us. Now because of this reprieve, Paul was able to stay in Corinth and minister without any hindrance. It says in…
Acts 18:18a (NKJV)— 18 So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria,
Syria— Now Syria is where Palestine is. But remember that Paul’s all the way over in Greece. And that’s no small distance. And so what he had to do was he had to get on a boat and sail about 15 miles which, when you consider how slow boats were during this time, it was a fairly long trip. And it’s interesting that it tells us…
Acts 18:18b (NKJV)— and Priscilla and Aquila were with him.
Priscilla & Aquila Come— Now the only way Paul would have allowed this was if there were others who could take on the responsibility of pastoring the Corinthian Church. And so the fact that the church there no longer needed him and no longer needed Pricilla and Aquila tells us how Paul was building up that church. Did he preach and teach? Yes, we are told that in verse 11. But just as importantly we see that that included training church leaders. And that is so key, because the way you know your church is doing well or not is by answering a simple question: What would happen if my pastor (like Paul) left for a prolonged period of time? Would the church fall apart because he had absorbed all the focus and ministry? Or would the church carry on as usual (completely un-phased) because he had given proper attention to the discipleship and training of new leaders? That’s one of the strength of Paul’s ministry, which of course is a reflection of the ministry of Jesus. Invest in the few to reach the many. That is how the Church is built up. So we see that Paul leaves with Priscilla and Aquila. And Priscilla and Aquila don’t abandon their leather-working & tent-making business. They simply pick up and move it. And all three make their way to Cenchrea. And it says of Paul in…
Acts 18:18c (NKJV)— He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea,
“hair cut off”— Now this is kind of an unusual event to have recorded for us in scripture. We don’t typically think of haircuts as a big deal; unless of course men it’s your wife who has gotten her hair cut; and then it is a big deal and you better notice. But even so, why do we have THIS haircut recorded for us for all Christians to read about for the rest of time? We know that the Holy Spirit inspired and guided Luke to include only what He wanted; but it seems like such an odd thing to focus on. This is further seen when we note that at this time Cenchrea (and we know this from Romans 16) had a church. But the Holy Spirit skips any mention of that church and jumps right to the haircut, only using the location of Cenchrea to signify where it was that Paul’s haircut took place. But we begin to see the significance of this when it says of Paul in…
Acts 18:18d (NKJV)— for he had taken a vow.
The Nazirite Vow— And so we see that this haircut has to do with vow; a special kind of a vow that we find in the Old Testament (and which described in detail in Numbers 6:1-21) called the Nazirite Vow. It was a special kind of vow taken when a Jew wanted to thank God in a special way for some blessing that he had received from God. Now what had Paul received from God? Well, he had received a promise from God (in a vision) to protect him and bless his ministry. And so (like any good Jew whose heart is filled with gratitude towards God) Paul wants to express his thankfulness. And the Nazirite Vow was the best ways he could of think of to do that.
Origin of Nazirite Vow— But what is a Nazirite Vow and where did it come from? Well, no one knows exactly where the Nazirite practice first came from. The directives given in Numbers 6 didn’t actually establish the practice, but rather regulated it in order to bring it into harmony with the larger body of the Mosaic law. It was likely around for much longer.
Meaning of “Nazirite”— But we are well-equipped to tell what it means; because the term “Nazirite” [comes from the verb nāzar, to “separate,”]. And so the Nazirite is someone who has separated themselves from certain things so that they might be more fully devoted to God (cf. Gen. 49:26; Deut. 33:16). And those things the Nazirite was to abstain from were the eating of meat, partaking of the grapes of the vine (which included abstaining from drinking wine), and coming into any contact with a dead body (even the body of a close relative). And the key physical trait that distinguished the Nazirite was that the Nazirite would allow his hair to grow for the full length of whatever was the period of his vow. The typical period for a Nazirite Vow was 30 days, though some went for 60 days, some for 100 days, and some were for life. We have only three examples of Nazirites who were Nazirites for life: Samson (Judg. 13:5, 12-14), Samuel (1 Sam. 1:11), and John the Baptist (Luke 1:15). Now we don’t know how long Paul had been under this Nazirite Vow; perhaps he began when he started making preparations to leave Corinth. But whatever the span of time, he was abstaining from meat, the fruit of the vine, and anything dead. And he’s allowing his hair to grow long.
Why The Hair?— Now why was the hair (of all things) chosen as the outward symbol for the Nazirite? Well the word nēzer in Hebrew (which contains the original idea of nāzar) means a “diadem”. What is a diadem? A crown. Where does a crown go? On the head. And so the hair was seen as the crown, the ornament of the head (6:5; cf. 2 Sam. 14:25-26). And so [the Nazirite is {seen to be} a “crowned one,” because “his separation to God is on his head” (Num. 6:7). Now long uncut hair (though ordinarily not thought appropriate for a Jewish man to have) was nevertheless a symbol of strength and abundant vitality (see 2 Sam. 14:25-26). But for the Nazirite there was also a spiritual side to it, because it was an outward reminder that he was dedicated to God; that he belonged to God in a special way. It was a diadem not just because having long hair was luxurious (as every hair product commercial will tell you) but because he had become crowned with God Himself. And so Paul is, in a posture of thanksgiving, living under a symbol of gratitude, sanctification, and awareness of the presence of God in His life. Now you and I may never take a Nazirite Vow, partially because we are not Jews. But nevertheless, shouldn’t there also be in our lives symbols of thanksgiving and consecration? What can I do to demonstrate (to consummate with my actions) the love and devotion I say I have for God? That is something worth taking the time to answer.
Closure of the Vow— Now at the time of the end of the vow, what would happen (and this is no doubt what Paul did) was he would bring an offering to the temple and would then [cut off his “dedicated head of hair” (i.e., the hair that had grown during the period of his consecration) at the door of the Tabernacle {(though we see Paul cut his off earlier)} and…put it into the fire under the sacrifice on the altar.….When all the service was concluded the late Nazirite was again at liberty to drink wine (Num. 6:20).]
A Priestly Life— Now all this may seem kind of strange to us, but when we understand the purpose of this practice (being consecrated to God in a special way) and how the Nazirite was considered to be “holy to the Lord” (as Numbers 6:8 says), we see that there is a lot of significance in this for us as well. It is interesting that two Jewish philosophers (Philo and Maimonides) describe the Nazirite as being similar in their standing with God as the priests themselves. The only difference was that Nazirites had no official service at the sanctuary and their time of dedication was temporary and voluntary. But the Nazirites were to live a priestly life during the period of their vows, being free of anything connected with death or the sinful pattern of this world. They were to live during the period of their vow lives of self-surrender to God. Now this is incredible, because you will remember that on Sinai, God gave Moses a vision of what He wanted Israel to become. It says…
Exodus 19:3-6 (NKJV)— 3 And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I [a]bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
A Picture of Sanctification— And so we see that God’s goal, of which the Nazirite’s sanctification was a picture, was that all people might become His priests; that they might be consecrated to Him and live lives holy/set apart to Him, free from anything that might defile. And that cleansing was to be not temporary (like the Nazirite Vow) but permanent. In fact, listen to Paul talk about this when he writes to the Corinthian church in…
2 Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV)— 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”
Us Set Apart— You see, Paul saw it necessary that every Christian live lives set apart to God. Now although this was simply a vow (a work) that the Nazirite gave, we have to recognize that [it was also a work of the Spirit of God which dwelt in the congregation of Israel]. Because the prophet Amos describes [the raising up of Nazirites along with prophets as a special manifestation of divine grace”]. And anywhere in Israel’s history where they were doing really well spiritually, there was an abundance of Nazirites. When Israel was the sickest spiritually was also when there were the fewest Nazirites. There was usually a strong strong correlation between the two.
Few Set Apart— And the same thing is true in our nation. Our nation is more spiritually weak now than it has ever been. And that is not because of a lack of Christians. It is because many of the Christians we have are not yet fully given over to Jesus Christ. We are looking forward to future crowns in heaven, but are not wearing in this world the diadems of lives sanctified and set apart to God. We are not living as sojourners in this world. We are living as permanent residents. But Paul definitely saw himself differently; and he certainly was not a permanent resident of this world or really any place in this world. He was constantly moving from place to place, his eyes set on the Kingdom and doing what he could to grow that Kingdom.
Be Set Apart— And you know, that is how you and I need to live; not necessarily as Nazirites, but as people set apart, recognizing that we have been called out from the world to be holy unto God. Let us commit to allow God to make us holy unto Him, in every way. Amen.
