总题：民数记结晶读经（一）
Crystallization-Study of Numbers (1)
Message Five
God's Desire for All His People to Be Today's Nazarites
Scripture Reading: Num. 6:1-9; Rev. 1:2; 19:10
I. Among the human race, the unique Nazarite is the Lord Jesus; hence, a Nazarite is a type of Christ in His living absolutely for God in His humanity—John 5:30; Phil. 2:8; cf. Matt. 11:28-30; Eph. 4:20-21; John 6:57:
A. In His human living, the Lord Jesus ate butter (the richest grace) and honey (the sweetest love) all the days of His life; this richest grace and sweetest love of the Father enabled Him to choose the good things of the Father's will and refuse the evil—Isa. 7:14-15; Matt. 11:25-26; 14:22-23; 26:39; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16.
B. The reason anyone can choose the Father's will and give up something, deny himself, or choose the difficult thing is that behind him there is the great and reinforcing power of the enjoyment of Christ as the richest grace and the sweetest love—John 1:17; Rom. 5:17; 2 Tim. 2:1; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:37; 12:1-2.
II. God desires that all His people be Nazarites; to be a Nazarite is to be sanctified, separated, absolutely and ultimately to God, that is, to be for nothing other than God and for nothing other than His satisfaction—the testimony of Jesus—Num. 6:1-2; Psa. 73:25-26; Rev. 1:2, 9-13; 19:10; cf. Num. 2:2:
A. Abstaining from wine and anything related to its source signifies abstaining from all kinds of earthly enjoyment and pleasure—6:3-4; cf. Psa. 104:15; Eccl. 10:19:
1. A Nazarite is altogether separated from anything of earthly pleasures—Luke 2:46-49; 2 Cor. 6:14—7:1; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15.
2. We must enjoy Christ as our new wine (God's invigorating life and cheering love) day by day so that we can be poured out to God as a drink offering for His satisfaction—Matt. 9:17; S. S. 1:2; 4:10; Judg. 9:13; 2 Tim. 4:6; Phil. 2:17.
B. Not shaving the head signifies not rejecting but being absolutely subject to the headship of the Lord as well as to all deputy authorities appointed by God—Num. 6:5; Rom. 13:1-2a; Eph. 5:21, 23; 6:1; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 5:5:
1. "All things cohere in Him; and He is the Head of the Body, the church…that He Himself might have the first place in all things"—Col. 1:17-18.
2. "Holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God"—2:19.
3. To be filled with Christ is to be filled with submission, having a submissive spirit, standing, atmosphere, and intention; if you are such a person, there will be a great blessing for you and your future—Phil. 2:8-9; Eph. 5:18-21.
4. It is a great blessing to be under the Lord's headship—even to be under someone, some thing, or some environment—3:1; 4:1; 6:20.
5. In submission there is power—Judg. 16:17.
C. Not being defiled by the death of his blood relatives, but remaining in his separation to be holy to God, signifies that a Nazarite overcomes natural affection—Num. 6:7:
1. God does not want us to love with our natural love but with Him as our love—Matt. 12:48-50; Phil. 2:21; 1 Cor. 13:4-8, 13; 2 Tim. 1:7.
2. The problem between Paul and Barnabas was caused by the natural life with natural relationships—Lev. 2:11; Acts 15:35-39; Col. 4:10.
3. We need to separate ourselves from everything of our natural man with its natural enthusiasm, natural affection, natural strength, and natural ability so that we may live by the Spirit, walk by the Spirit, and serve by the Spirit, doing everything by the Spirit in our spirit for God's unique testimony—Lev. 10:1-11; Gal. 5:25; Phil. 3:3; Rom. 1:9; 8:4; Zech. 4:6.
D. Not coming near a dead person or not being defiled by the sudden death of one beside him signifies that a Nazarite is separated from death—Num. 6:6-9:
1. The most hateful thing in the eyes of God is death—Rev. 3:4; Lev. 11:31.
2. Different kinds of spiritual death may spread among God's people in the church life—wild death (the carcasses of beasts), mild death (the carcasses of cattle), or subtle death (the carcasses of creeping things)—5:2; cf. 1 John 5:16a.
3. In order to be saved from death, we must set our mind on the spirit, paying attention to our spirit, caring for our spirit, and using our spirit—Rom. 8:6.
4. In order to be saved from death, we must be filled with "anti-death, " filled with Christ as the life-giving Spirit by exercising our spirit to pray—v. 11; Eph. 6:18.
5. If we are defiled by some unexpected deadness, we need to have a new start with a new consecration by re-separating ourselves to the Lord—Num. 6:9-14a; cf. 1 Sam. 1:11; 2:11.
III. There is a contrast in the Scriptures of two Nazarites—Samuel and Samson:
A. Samuel is a positive pattern of a faithful Nazarite—1 Sam. 1:11, 28; 2:28, 35; 3:20; 7:15:
1. Hannah's prayer was an echo, a speaking out, of the heart's desire of God; it was a human cooperation with the divine move for the carrying out of God's eternal economy:
a. God could motivate Hannah as a person who was one with Him on the line of life; as long as God can gain such a person, He has a way on earth.
b. Hannah's prayer indicates that God's move with His answer to Hannah's prayer (1:10-17) was to produce a Nazarite who was absolute for the fulfilling of God's desire; a Nazarite is one who is consecrated to God absolutely, one who takes God as the Head, considering God his Husband, and one who has no interest in the enjoyment of worldly pleasures.
2. Samuel was one with God on earth; he began to minister as the acting God, the representative of the very God in heaven to rule over His people on earth—7:3.
3. In God's ordination Samuel was a new priest and a prophet, whose speaking changed the age, not through revolution but through divine revelation, to bring in the kingship:
a. Samuel ministered as a Nazarite consecrated to God absolutely for God's fulfillment of His economy, a volunteer to replace any official and formal serving ones of God—1:11, 28a.
b. Samuel ministered as a God-honoring, God-pleasing priest to replace the stale and degraded priesthood—2:30, 35; cf. Judg. 9:9, 13; Deut. 34:7.
c. Samuel ministered as a prophet to speak the word of God when the word of Jehovah was rare and visions were not widespread—1 Sam. 3:1-10, 19-21.
d. Samuel ministered as a judge in the reality of the kingship to replace the judging of the people by the old and stale priesthood—7:15-17.
e. Samuel ministered as a man of prayer, praying for God's elect to be kept in the way of God that God's desire of His will in them might be fulfilled—8:6; 12:20-25; 15:11.
4. Samuel was a man according to God's heart—God's heart was duplicated in him, and he was pure and single—cf. Matt. 5:8; 6:22-23; 2 Tim. 2:22.
5. Samuel's whole being and person, not just his doing, living, and work were according to God; his being and God's heart were one; he was the acting God on the earth.
6. God's mind was Samuel's consideration; he had no other thought or consideration.
7. He was altogether not self-seeking; he never sought to gain anything for himself—cf. Matt. 16:24; Luke 9:23-25.
8. He had no heart for anything besides God's heart and God's elect; his heart was a reflection of God's heart (cf. 2 Cor. 3:16-18), and his living and working were for the carrying out of whatever was in God's heart.
9. Because Samuel had no heart to build up a kingdom for his descendants, it was easy for God to bring in the kingdom; thus, Samuel was one who turned the age.
10. Although it was not easy for Samuel to stand for God in his particular environment, he cared for God's interest and turned the age; according to the Old Testament, Samuel is ranked with Moses in being for God and for God's interest—Jer. 15:1.
B. Samson is a negative example of a Nazarite—Judg. 13:3-5; 1 Cor. 10:6:
1. His origin was a miracle initiated by the appearing of the Angel of Jehovah—Judg. 13:3.
2. Samson was sanctified in his mother's womb to be a Nazarite—vv. 3, 5.
3. He grew up and was clean and pure according to God's ordination—vv. 4-5.
4. Samson was empowered by the Spirit of God as the holy, economical Spirit—v. 25; 14:5-6, 19.
5. Samson is an illustration of one who moved in the Spirit of power but not in the Spirit of life; he was very powerful, yet with him we cannot see anything of life.
6. Samson failed in not contacting God and in indulging in fleshly lusts—v. 1:
a. He was not genuine in seeking for a spouse; rather, his contacting of women was to indulge his lusts—vv. 1-3, 10-17; 16:1-20a.
b. Although he had been empowered by God, he was damaged to the uttermost because of his indulgence in lust.
c. Ultimately, Jehovah left him, and he came to a miserable ending because he did not know how to restrain the lust of his flesh—cf. 2 Tim. 2:22.
7. A Nazarite does not need the Spirit of God rushing upon him (Judg. 14:6, 19); rather, a Nazarite needs a heart that is a reflection of God's heart.