Numbers 6:9

The Bible says in Numbers 6:9-12, “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.[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:[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.[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.” These verses refer to the vow of the Nazarites and the fact that the Nazarites were not allowed to drink wine, cut their hair, or touch a dead body. The problem is that some people die suddenly. You might be sitting next to a family member or friend, and they could die suddenly from a stroke or a heart attack. If that happens and a Nazarite accidently touches the body of someone who just died, that Nazarite would be guilty of violating his vow. Sin is sin. There is never an excuse or a justifiable reason to sin. There are many excuses that people try to use such as: the devil made me do it; I am only human; it was an accident. No excuse is valid. Any failure to follow the law was sin. But thankfully, even in the Old Testament God made a way of atonement and forgiveness. Bringing the turtledove, and the doves, and the lamb was symbolic of the fact that humans need a substitute and a sacrifice to purchase our redemption from sin. Jesus is our sacrifice. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

There is another thing to say about the first phrase of verse nine: “And if any man die very suddenly...” Some people die suddenly without warning. One moment they are here beside us, and the next moment they are gone because of a stroke or heart attack. A death like than can be very hard to take. How can you be prepared for such an event should it happen to one of your loved ones? Make sure that you are close to the Lord Jesus, and that you are always thinking about the truth of life: life is short and it ends in death; anyone that you know and love could die today; as long as they know Jesus as savior, they will go immediately to heaven and will be much better off than we are who are still on the earth. Remember these great and comforting truths. You might need them some day.

The Bible says in Numbers 6:13-21, “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:[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,[15] And 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.[16] And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering:[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.[18] And 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.[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:[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.[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.” Evidently the vow of a Nazarite was meant to be only for a particular time; and once that time was up, the Nazarite would go back to living as he had been doing before he took the vow of a Nazarite. The vow of a Nazarite was meant to draw this person closer to the Lord, so that his life would be more dedicated to the Lord up to that point. But no matter how dedicated you become to the Lord Jesus, and no matter how close your walk is with Jesus, you will probably still sin. I say “probably” because you should not sin and there is no excuse for sinning. Because we are still in the flesh, the works of the flesh rise up easily within us. Remember this: there are two ways to always walk in fellowship with the Lord. Either always do right, or confess your sins whenever you do wrong. I have had to rely upon the latter of the two methods as it says in First John 2:1, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Always be quick to repent and confess your sins as it says in First John 1:9, and you will always walk in fellowship with Christ. You need daily confession and cleansing from Christ no matter how separated unto the Lord you have been. Even the Nazarites after the time of separation unto the Lord had to bring “a sin offering” as it says in verse fourteen. Jesus is our sin offering.

The Bible says in Numbers 6:22-27, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[23] Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,[24] The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:[25] The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:[26] The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.[27] And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.” Aaron and his sons were told to “bless” the children of Israel. To “bless” in this context means to pronounce verbally good things and good wishes for those to whom you are addressing. It may be because they know the Lord and because you know the Word of God, that you know exactly what good things are going to happen to these people. It also expresses what you hope will happen to them. You want good things to happen to others, and so that is what you are telling them. I cannot make good things happen to other people as much as I would like, but God can; and so that is why verse twenty-four says, “The LORD bless thee.” When God blesses us, He not only hopes that good things will happen to us, but He makes sure that good things will happen to us. It is nice to have people bless us with their good will towards us, but it is better to have God do so because of His great power to make things happen.

Verse twenty-four also says, the Lord “keep thee.” To keep means to preserve. How do we survive in a world where there is death, and danger, and evil people? If God preserves you, you will be preserved no matter what are the dangers. You will be preserved as long as the Lord has a use for your life. The Lord preserves what He creates. That is the spiritual principle behind the truth of eternal security. Once you accept Christ as Savior, your soul will be kept forever because you have received the blessing of salvation.

The first part of verse twenty-five says, “The LORD make his face shine upon thee.” This is a phrase that goes closely with the second phrase of this verse that expresses the hope that God will “be gracious unto thee.” When you look at someone, you can be stern or disapproving or unhappy with them, and those emotions will show in your face, and those emotions will affect how you treat them. And so if you wish the best for someone, you will want God to “make his face shine upon” them. You will want God to think well of them, and to do good things for them. We call this God’s grace. God’s grace involves Him giving freely and bountifully to us even though we do not deserve it. God’s grace is assured through faith in the Lord Jesus.

Verse twenty-six mentions one of the results of receiving God’s grace through faith in Christ: “peace.” It says in Romans 5:1, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” One of the main problems in the world is that too many people do not have peace in their hearts. They are at enmity and rebellion against God. Therefore, there is a barrier between them and God. That barrier gets broken down when we repent and turn to the Lord Jesus. And then we experience the grace of God that results in forgiveness of sin and peace in our hearts. Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

Verse twenty-seven of Numbers chapter six says, “And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.” All of these blessings from God are associated with His name. When we take His great name upon us, we are blessed. His name in the Old Testament was Jehovah that means “the ever-living One.” His name in the New Testament is Jesus that means “Savior.” Christian is a good name to take because it has the word “Christ” in it. Honor His name. God’s will is that we spread the name of Jesus and what He did and taught wherever we go. Gladly use His name “Jesus” with reverence and respect in public and private, and the blessings of God will be upon you.

The Bible says in Numbers 7:1-11, “And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them;[2] That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered:[3] And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle.[4] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[5] Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.[6] And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites.[7] Two wagons and four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service:[8] And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.[9] But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.[10] And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar.[11] And the LORD said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.” Moses made sure that the tabernacle was built according to the specifications and commandments that God had given to him. It says in verse one that “Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them.” But it still was not enough. Human effort in religious service is never enough. We ought to serve God the best that we can, but we are still sinners. We always rely upon what Jesus did for us in His sufferings on the cross. That is why even after Moses and the children of Israel did everything to set up and sanctify the tabernacle that God required offerings and sacrifices before it was acceptable to God. The twelve oxen and the six wagons given as offerings and sacrifices symbolize the fact that Jesus is our sacrifice. Yes, we want to do what is right. But we are acceptable to God, not because of our good works, but because of what Jesus has done for us. That is why God said in verse eleven, “They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.”

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