If a man wanted to make a special vow and dedication of himself to the Lord for a designated purpose and set amount of time, he could take upon himself what was known as a Nazirite vow.
There were three requirements for those who became Nazirites:
1. They had to abstain completely from alcoholic drinks. So strict was the prohibition against wine that even drinking grape juice or eating grapes or raisins was forbidden.
2. They had to let their hair grow long. No razor was to touch their heads at all. This was a sign that they were under a Nazirite vow.
3. They had to keep themselves away from any corpse. As a sign of their holiness, they were to not be anywhere near a dead body, even a close family member. If it happened accidentally, they had to re-start the term of their vow.
It wasn't required that anyone would take this vow upon themselves, but it was available as an opportunity for those who wanted to express their passionate devotion to the Lord and seek a special blessing from Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment