No Joy as a Disciple?

Descipleship

29He who has the bride is the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.

– John 3:29

6

1Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a special vow, namely, the vow of a Nazirite, to live as a Nazirite for the Lord, 3he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall consume no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. 4All the days of his consecration he shall not eat anything that is produced from the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

5‘All the days of his vow of consecration no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled which he lives as a Nazirite for the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.

6‘All the days of his life as a Nazirite for the Lord he shall not come up to a dead person. 7He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his consecration to God is on his head. 8All the days of his consecration he is holy to the Lord.

9‘But if someone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head of hair, then he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; he shall shave it on the seventh day. 10Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young doves to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 11And the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him regarding his sin because of the dead person. And on that same day he shall consecrate his head, 12and shall live his days of consecration as a Nazirite for the Lord, and shall bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the preceding days will not count, because his consecration was defiled.

13‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his consecration are fulfilled: he shall bring his offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 14And he shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as a peace offering, 15and a basket of unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offering. 16Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17He shall also offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18The Nazirite shall then shave his consecrated head of hair at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and take the consecrated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened loaf from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair. 20Then the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered as a wave offering, and the thigh offered as a contribution; and afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’

21“This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his consecration, in addition to what else he can afford; corresponding to his vow which he makes, so he shall do according to the law of his consecration.”

– Numbers 6:1-21
(NASB® © 2020)

The Law of Moses regulated Nazirites for the Israelites: Women and men could consecrate themselves to God. But they had to give up some things. Could Nazirites still be happy? – Can renunciation of something and joy go together?

In Numbers 6, we find the regulations concerning the Nazirites. The term Nazirite is derived from the Hebrew “nasir,” which means “set apart, consecrated.” It, therefore, refers to people who have consecrated themselves to God. Part of the consecration was that a Nazirite could not enjoy anything that came from the vine (Numbers 6:4). In the Bible, wine is an image of earthly joy (see Psalm 104:15). A Nazirite should consciously renounce this joy in his devotion.

We Christians should consecrate ourselves to the Lord Jesus. Not for a limited time, as was usually the case with a Nazirite, but for our entire lives. As we dedicate ourselves to Him, we will be willing to give up earthly pleasures. Especially when we realize that they are an obstacle on the path of devotion to Christ. We can think of fun, sports, games, and other pleasures that are permissible in themselves but in which we, as “Nazirites,” do not want to lose ourselves. For, as Bible commentator William Kelly once said: “All earthly things have one fault: Christ is not in them.”

Does this mean that we are condemned to joylessness and have to go through life with our shoulders slumped if we want to live apart and be devoted to God? A thousand times, no!

For even a Nazirite has joy. This is well illustrated by the life of John the Baptist, who was consecrated to God from his mother’s womb (cf. Lk 1:15). Even before his birth, he leaped for joy in his mother’s womb during an “encounter” with the Lord Jesus (Lk 1:44).

At the end of his ministry, he said:

“He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled” (Jn 3:29).

We notice that the joy of a Nazirite is closely linked to the Lord Jesus. Those who know Him and live in fellowship with Him experience “joy inexpressible” (1 Peter 1:8). And you certainly don’t want to be without that joy, do you?

 

 

 

 

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