Sunday, October 27, 2013

SAMPSON, THE NAZARITE AS A TYPE FOR JESUS OF NAZARETH

I mentioned the long hair connection between Sampson and Jesus in a previous post.  Truly, there was something to it as they were sent to provide a form of salvation from those who oppressed Israel (and who currently are oppressing Israel).  In the latter sense, when Christ comes as a strong man to redeem Israel from the Palestinians (modern Phillistia) and associated ilk, there will be strong imagery at that event.

Here are some interesting thoughts on the matter:

2. To fulfill a type...

The type I am referring to, here, was Samson.
Please, read Judges, chapters thirteen to sixteen.
Samson was a type of Christ.
He ate honey out of the dead carcass of a Lion.  Judges fourteen (Revelation 5:5, Psalm 119:103)
He told riddles.  Judges fourteen (Like Jesus told parables—Ezekiel 17:2, Matthew thirteen)
He had a Nazarite vow…
“For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:  But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.”  Judges 13:5-7
Like Samson, Jesus never drank wine or grape juice.  He was accused of drinking it (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34), and gave it to his Disciples.  (Matthew 26:27-29)  But, He never drank, Himself.  It was offered to him on the cross, “…but he received it not.”  (Mark 15:23)

[By the way, Jesus never came near a dead body that He didn't raise.  (See Numbers 6:9)]

 Since the only way someone knew that a man had a Nazarite vow was the length of their hair, the only difference between Samson and Jesus, at this point, concerning a  vow, is that the Scripture never says anything about Jesus' hair.

3.  To fulfill prophecy...

Although Psalm 44 has a direct reference to Israel, verse 15 refers to an individual…
“My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me….”
Psalm 69 is the great prophetical chapter on the coming of Christ.  Please take time to read it.  You will be glad you did.  Here are two verses that deal with this subject.
“Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.”  (Verse 7)
“Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.”  (Verse 19)
Here, read Isaiah 50:6 and Isaiah 53.
What shame and reproach did Jesus bear?  Was it only on Calvary?  Wasn't that reproach prophesied before he died—calling him “lowly” (Zechariah 9:9), and “meek” (Matthew 21:5) and of “no reputation”?  (Philippians 2:7
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."  (Philippians 2:5-8)
How did Jesus humble himself?  Wasn’t it from and through the incarnation?  Wasn’t He humble all His life--learning obedience through the things He suffered?  (Hebrews 5:8)  The question comes in, here, when did He start bearing shame?  Didn’t He constantly please the Father, by always submitting to the dictates of Scripture?  Didn’t He say, “I do always those things that please him…”?  (John 8:29)
 Why was it necessary for Jesus to have long hair?   So, He could fulfill the types and prophecies about it.  How was that accomplished?  By fulfilling the law of God (found in Numbers six), concerning a Nazarite vow.
You might have an objection, here, saying that “It doesn’t say anywhere in Scripture that Jesus had a vow.  If He had a Nazarite vow, like the Apostle Paul took one, in Acts 21, we would know it.  So, that seals it, for me.”  You may be right, but Scripture doesn’t always say something, just because we want to know.  A lot of things that we don’t understand today, we will, later, in Glory.
Someone suggested, that if Jesus had a vow, when Judas turned him in to the authorities, instead of saying “…Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he…” (Matthew 26:48), Judas would have said “the man you are looking for is the man with the long hair.”
That may be true, but it was not uncommon, back then, for Jews to take a Nazarite vow (remember Paul).  And, don’t forget, it was after supper had ended, early in April.  (Matthew 26:30)  Maybe He slipped on his poncho because it was cool, in the evening, in the Mount of Olives, and decided to cover His head.
Though Jesus was a rugged carpenter, Scripture never indicates that His hair was ever untidy or unkempt.
Last, and most important, let’s say, for argument sake, that Jesus, like Sampson, had a Nazarite vow on him, from the womb.  When would that vow have ended?  According to Numbers chapter six, the priest offered “…a sin-offering, and…a burnt offering to make an atonement for him…” (verse 12), after the vow was done.  Should the spotless Lamb of God have a lamb offered for Him, for a “trespass-offering”?  May I remind you that Jesus was not a sinner; He was the Saviour.  "All the days of His Separation, he is holy unto the Lord."  (Numbers 6:8)  Jesus was holy all His life, and never was defiled.  Therefore, he never needed to cut His hair.  That is why I conclude that His vow would have lasted His entire life; until He made the atonement for our sin(s).  Truly, it’s a shame for a man to have long hair.  (I Corinthians 11:14)
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  (Hebrews 12:2)
When did that shame begin?  At His Birth (Judges 13:7, Luke 1:31--please compare these two verses)?  Or, at His crucifiction? 

Numbers Six...

6:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 6:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: 6:3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. 6:4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. 6:5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separatethhimself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6:6 All the days that he separateth himselfunto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. 6:7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. 6:8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.6:9 And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. 6:10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 6:11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. 6:12 And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.
6:13 And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 6:14 And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, 6:15And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. 6:16 And the priest shall bringthem before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: 6:17 And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering. 6:18And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. 6:19 And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven: 6:20 And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine. 6:21 This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation.
6:22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 6:23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, 6:24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:6:25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 6:26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 6:27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

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