Samuel was a Nazarite, a man according to God’s heart, for God’s heart was duplicated in him; Samson, on the other hand, was a negative example of what being a Nazarite is.
God’s desire is that all His people would be Nazarites, those who see His heart’s desire and are joined to Him in His word to accomplish what is in His heart.
There’s a contrast in the Scriptures between these two Nazarites – Samuel and Samson. Samuel is a positive pattern of a faithful Nazarite, a man according to God’s heart, while Samson lived according to his lusts.
Both Samuel’s mother and Samson’s mother consecrated their son to the Lord even before they were born, and they were true Nazarites; however, it was up to each one of them how much they were one with the Lord according to His word.
God motivated Hannah to pray for a son, and the Lord’s need for a Nazarite was met by Hannah having a son; she not only obtained a son, but she gave this son to the Lord for His use in the temple.
God’s move with His answer to Hannah’s prayer was to produce a Nazarite who was absolute for the fulfilling of God’s desire. When Samuel started to serve the Lord, he was a little boy, but he had God’s speaking and revelation, and he volunteered to the Lord’s service and was a man according to God’s heart.
Samuel was one with God on earth, and when he ministered he was the acting God, the representative of the very God in heaven to rule over His people on earth.
He 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.
He ministered as a God-pleasing priest to replace the degraded and stale priesthood; he honored God by his service to God as a priest.
Samuel also ministered to God and His people as a prophet; he spoke the word of God when the word of Jehovah was rare, and visions were not widespread. Because he was a man according to God’s heart, he loved to spend time with God, and he had God’s speaking for His people.
Samuel also ministered as a judge in the reality of the kingship to replace the judging of the people by the old and stale priesthood.
Finally and above all, Samuel ministered as a man of prayer; he prayed for God’s elect to be kept in God’s way so that God’s desire and His will might be fulfilled.
Samuel was a pattern to us all; he was a pattern of being a faithful Nazarite, a man according to God’s heart, one who was fully one with God.
A Nazarite is a Man According to God’s Heart caring for His Interest and Kingdom on Earth
Samuel was a man according to God’s heart; God’s heart was duplicated in him, and he was pure and single.
He knew that within God there was a desire for a kingdom; God wanted His kingdom to be brought in, but it was not through Samuel but through David, so Samuel was one with God for this.
If it were us, we may have wanted to help God bring in the kingdom, but Samuel was pure and single, and he never sought to gain anything for himself.
Samuel had no heart for anything besides God and His elect; he realised that God loved Israel, and God’s heart of love for His people was duplicated in him.
This is the kind of person we should be; we should be a Nazarite who is according to God’s heart, having God’s heart duplicated in us, and having a pure and single heart before God (see Matt. 5:8; 6:22-23; 2 Tim. 2:22).
Samuel’s whole being and person – not just his doing, living, and work – were all according to God; his being and God’s heart were one, so he was the acting God on earth. We need to ask the Lord in all honesty,
Lord, make our heart a duplication of Your heart. Make us fully one with You in our whole being and person. May our doing, living, work, and being be according to God. May Your heart be duplicated in our heart, and may we be the acting God on this earth as a part of Your corporate army of Nazarites!
God’s mind was Samuel’s consideration; he had no other thought or consideration. Because Samuel was a man after God’s heart, he cared only for God’s interest and His people; he was altogether not self-seeking, and he never sought to gain anything for himself.
When God’s heart becomes our heart and we have no self-seeking but consider only God’s interest and His people, we will be pure in heart to seek only God’s interest and the benefit of His people (see Matt. 16:24; Luke 9:23;25).
Samuel had no heart for anything besides God’s heart and His elect; his heart was a reflection of God’s heart, and his living and working were for the carrying out of whatever was in God’s heart.
Because Samuel was such a one, a man according to God’s heart caring for His interest and kingdom on earth, he had no heart to build a kingdom for his descendants.
When his sons did not follow him in judging the people of Israel in righteousness, he was open for God to make another arrangements.
Because Samuel had a heart for God and His interest on earth, it was easy for God to bring in the kingdom through him; therefore, Samuel was one who turned the age. We need to tell the Lord,
Lord Jesus, make us those who are one with You to turn this age! May our heart be a reflection of Your heart in every way. Save us from any self-seeking; may our only seeking be after You, Your kingdom and Your people. Amen, Lord, gain us as the Nazarites of today who are according to God’s heart, caring for His interest and kingdom on earth!
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; through him God changed the age from the age of judges to the age of the kingdom, because Samuel was a Nazarite, a man according to God’s heart, and he cared for God’s interest and kingdom on earth.
According to the Old Testament, Samuel is ranked with Moses in being for God and for God’s interest (see Jer. 15:1).
May we be such ones. May we be honest with the Lord and tell Him,
Lord, even though it is not easy for us to stand for You in our environment, yet we care for Your interest and we want to be men according to God’s heart, those who turn the age. We give ourselves to You, Lord, to be Your volunteers today, those who are one with You for the carrying out of Your purpose and Your economy on the earth!
Being Aware of the Enemy’s Wearing out Tactics and Fleeing Youthful Lusts to Pursue Christ with the Saints
Another Nazarite in the Old Testament is Samson; he was consecrated to God from his mother’s womb, and he possessed great power, but he is a negative example of a Nazarite (Judg. 13:3-5; 1 Cor. 10:6).
Samson didn’t treasure his Nazarite vow; he didn’t regard it. We need to treasure our Nazarite vow and regard it, uplift it, and we should keep this vow before our eyes all the days of our life.
Our Nazarite vow is not something merely for temporary excitement. Samson’s origin was a miracle initiated by the appearing of the Angel of Jehovah to his mother (Judg. 13:3), and he was sanctified in his mother’s womb to be a Nazarite (vv. 3, 5).
As he grew up, Samson was clean and pure according to God’s ordination, and when he started his ministry, he was empowered by the Spirit of God as the holy, economical Spirit (v. 25; 14:5-6, 19).
He moved in the Spirit of power, but he did not have the Spirit of life; he was powerful, yet with him we cannot see anything of life.
He had the Spirit of God rush upon him to empower him to defeat the enemy, but we don’t see that he contacted God or remained in His word. Rather, Samson failed in not contacting God, and especially he failed in indulging in fleshly lusts (Judg. 14:1).
He wasn’t genuine in seeking for a spouse; rather, his contacting of women was to indulge his lusts (vv. 1-3, 10-17; 16:1-20). Because he indulged in his lusts when he contacted women, the enemy used this weakness to take away his Nazarite vow.
In Judges 16 we see that, when he was with Delilah, she kept pressing him daily until she wore him out.
Satan doesn’t take our Nazarite vow all at once, with one strong blow; rather, he gradually wants to wear us out, wearing out our consecration and our love for the Lord (see Dan. 7:25).
Delilah wore him out so much with her request to know the source of his strength that his soul became tired to death, and he told her his secret.
Gradually, Satan wants to wear us out, wearing out our consecration, until we no longer remember our Nazarite vow.
Although Samson was empowered by God, he was damaged to the uttermost because of his indulgence in lust. Ultimately, Jehovah left him, and he came to a miserable ending because he didn’t know how to restrain the lust of his flesh. Oh Lord Jesus!
May we be aware of the enemy’s wearing out tactics and may we be a man after God’s heart, those who seek Him and pursue Him! And when the fleshly lusts come, we shouldn’t battle with them – rather, we should flee the lusts of the flesh and pursue Christ together with those who call on His name out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22).
We need to realise that, no matter how much we love the Lord, we still need to flee the youthful lusts and pursue Him with companions in the church life.
From Samson’s story we need to realise that a Nazarite doesn’t need the Spirit of God rushing upon him (as it happened with Samson, Judg. 14:6, 19) but we need to be a man according to God’s heart, that is, we need to have a heart that is a reflection of God’s heart.
We shouldn’t let the enemy wear out our Nazarite consecration to the Lord. If we sense this happening, we need to go to the Lord and re-separate ourselves unto Him, telling Him,
Lord Jesus, we want to have a fresh consecration to You right now and every day! We separate ourselves unto You to be a man according to God’s heart, a man whose heart is a reflection of God’s heart! Amen, Lord, we want to flee youthful lusts and pursue You as righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart! Yes, Lord, keep our consecration fresh and new every day, and keep us pursuing You both personally and corporately with our companions in the church life!
Read this article in Romanian – puteți citi acest articol în limba română aici – Un nazireu este un om conform inimii lui Dumnezeu și unul care fuge de pofte ca să Îl urmărească pe Cristos.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 7 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 5, God’s Desire for All His People to Be Today’s Nazarites.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Samuel ministered to be a God-pleasing priest, / He was absolute for Him; / Samuel gave himself to be a Nazarite, / Saved from death, the world, and sin. / Would you choose to be a living overcomer, / Be a person not ashamed to be a Jesus lover, / One who eats the tree of life, / And drinks the living water? (Song on, Choose to Be an Overcomer)
# In this godless age / Lord, You need some Samuels / Burdened with a vision clear of Your economy / Where’s Your ark today? / And the ones who’d care for You, / E’en to put themselves aside to gain Your heart’s desire? / Raise up some to meet Your need, some Nazarites, / Prophets, priests, and judges, and men of prayer, / Speaking forth Your word, with Your authority, / A photo of Your heart for Your move. (Song on, In this godless age)
# But flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, / Faith, love, peace with those who / Call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (Scripture song on, 2 Tim. 2:21-22)
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