Friday, February 2, 2018

TCN's Biblical Journey Feb. 2nd

Numbers 6

The vow of the Nazarite (not the same a being from Nazareth) was a unique person vow. There doesn’t seem to have certain corresponding works or deeds other than not touching the dead, not touching anything from the grapevine, and not to cut the person’s hair. No one other than the person could tell someone they could or couldn’t be a Nazareite. The most interesting fact I notice is that a Nazarite could be a man or a woman.

The fact that a woman could be a Nazarite was startling in a male-dominated society. As in other places in the law God is giving women a status they would not have received anywhere else. Many point out the unfairness they see in the Old Testament toward women but fail to appreciate the protections God gave them in a society which devalued and typically ignored them. The Pulpit Commentary said it this way: “As the prophetic office might be exercised by women so the Nazirite vow might be taken by women. In either case, we find a tribute to and a recognition of the Divine liberty of the Holy Ghost, and an anticipation of the time when the spirit of self-devotion should be poured out without distinction upon men and women.[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/numbers/6-2.htm  Accessed 2-18-1]”

God never thought of women as second class. Society has twisted scripture to make it say what they wanted it to say, but it has never been designed that way by God.

No comments:

Post a Comment