Being a Nazarite means that we do not reject but are absolutely subject under the Lord’s headship as well as to all the deputy authorities appointed by God, as indicated by a Nazarite not shaving his head but letting his hair grow long.
The first thing related to a Nazarite was that he had to abstain from any earthly pleasure, and the second, that he had to be absolutely subject to God’s authority and to the deputy authority He has ordained.
God desires that we all as His people would be today’s Nazarites, those who are sanctified and separated absolutely and ultimately to God; He wants us to be for nothing other than God and His satisfaction, the testimony of Jesus.
And the first matter related to being a Nazarite is abstaining from all kinds of earthly enjoyment and pleasure; just as a Nazarite had to abstain from wine and anything related to its source, so we as today’s Nazarites need to abstain from all kinds of earthly enjoyment and pleasure.
We may not sin or commit iniquity, but we may simply indulge in enjoying the things of the world, which we think are not evil, pernicious, or sinful. We may like to watch TV, follow sports, do travelling, or be engaged in worldly activities which we enjoy and even consider as our habits.
However, being involved in earthly enjoyment and pleasure leads to lust, and this defiles us, disqualifying us from being a Nazarite.
We are not here on earth for pleasure and enjoyment for the self; we are not here to enjoy what Satan has designed in his “cosmos” – his world system. We are here on earth to pursue Christ, to enjoy Christ, and to be filled with Christ.
God hates the world so much that the Bible says that friendship with the world is enmity with God. We cannot love the world and God at the same time; we not only not have the capacity to do so, but whenever we love the world, love for God is not in use.
May we be those who pay the price to be altogether separated from anything of earthly pleasure.
This doesn’t mean that God wants us to be serious and sad all the time; this means that God wants us to enjoy Him as our pleasure and satisfaction, He wants us to be filled with Christ as the new wine, and He wants us to be for His satisfaction.
Actually, we are really and deeply satisfied only when we enjoy God, and we are truly satisfied when God is satisfied; when we drink Christ as our new wine day by day, we are poured out to God as a drink offering for His satisfaction, and this makes God and us happy.
A Nazarite doesn’t Reject but is Absolutely Subject to the Lord’s Headship and His Deputy Authority
The fact that a Nazarite was not allowed to shave his head but grow his hair long all throughout his Nazarite vow shows that a Nazarite does not reject but is absolutely subject to the headship of the Lord and His deputy authority.
Long hair is a covering before God; a woman needs to have long hair to cover her head, taking God and her husband as her covering.
In 1 Cor. 11 we see that a woman’s long hair is a covering before God, a sign that she is under the headship of God.
The Nazarite was to let his hair grow long (freely), that is, he was to remain in subjection to the Lord’s headship, wherein is the power (see Judg. 16:17). In typology, a Nazarite’s long hair shows that he is absolutely under God’s headship and under the headship of the deputy authority that God has ordained.
As today’s Nazarites we need to be subject to the headship of the Lord, and we need to be subject to the deputy authorities that are over us, that carry out God’s authority.
In this age of lawlessness, where the police has to enforce the law and the courts have to apply the law otherwise there’s chaos, we need to be those who take the lead to not reject but be absolutely subject to the Lord’s headship and to His deputy authority.
The laws in the country where we live protect the citizens of that country, and the constitution guarantees our human rights and lays out our responsibilities. By nature we are rebellious; by our fallen nature, if there were no policemen or law courts, we would be rebellious and wild, without any restraint.
It is a dangerous not to have any law or deputy authority set up by God, for the rebellious nature of Satan is in all of us; therefore, God established human government (Gen. 9:5-6) to represent God’s authority.
Paul told us in Rom. 13:1-2 that every person should be subject to those authorities over him, for there’s no authority except from God, and those which exist are ordained by God; so then he who resists the authority opposes God’s ordination.
God set up deputy authority over us everywhere; at home there are parents, husband and wife, and at school there are teachers, at work there are managers and CEOs, and in society there are many deputy authorities representing God.
We may not agree with or like the person in authority, but we respect the office and we submit to them because we are absolutely subject to the Lord’s headship.
In the church life the Lord has set up elders, which are His deputy authority, and Peter encourages the young men to be subject the elders, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5).
In submission to the Lord and to His deputy authority there’s power. May we not reject but be absolutely subject to the Lord’s headship within and in the church, and to His deputy authority over us.
Lord Jesus, make us the Nazarites of today, those who do not reject but are absolutely subject to the Lord’s headship and to His deputy authority. Thank You Lord for setting up deputy authority in our family life, church life, at school, at work, and in society; be the submissive One in us, Lord, that we may submit to Your authority and to the deputy authorities You have set up. Amen, Lord, we want to be those who take the lead to be absolutely subject to Your headship, Your authority, and to the deputy authorities which represent You over us.
Holding Christ as the Head, being Filled with Christ and His Submission, and being under His Headship
In Col. 1:17-18 Paul says that all things cohere in Christ, for He is the Head of the Body, the church, and He must have the first place in all things.
What holds the physical universe together is Christ; the entire universe coheres in Him. Christ is the subsisting center of all things, and He is the center of the universe.
He must also be the center of our personal universe, for without taking Christ as our center, there’s chaos in our life and in our being.
This means that in our daily life we need to give the Lord the first place in all things, that is, have Him as our first love, which will result in us doing the first works, the works coming out of our enjoyment of Him as our first love (Rev. 2:4-5).
Christ is the Head of the Body, and as the members of His Body we need to hold Him as 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 (Col. 2:19).
For us to hold Christ as the Head we first need to acknowledge Him as the Head; we need to let Him head up our being, our living, our speaking, and all our doing with all that we are and have.
All our being and our daily affairs need to be brought under the Lord’s headship.
To hold the Head means that we stay intimately connected to the Head; we stay intimately connected to Christ as the Head of the Body, and we will grow with the growth of God, simply by holding the Head.
Holding Christ as the Head is to be absolutely subject to the Lord’s headship. How can we be subject to the Lord? Only Christ is the submissive One; He submitted to God fully, and He accepted God’s will to the end (Phil. 2:8-9).
For us to be filled with Christ is for us to be filled with submission and have a submissive spirit, standing, atmosphere, and intention.
The only way we can hold Christ as the Head and not reject but be absolutely subject the Lord’s headship is to be filled with Christ. We need to be filled in spirit, and we will have a submissive spirit, a submissive standing, a submissive atmosphere, and even our intention will be submissive (Eph. 5:18-21).
The result of being filled in spirit is that we are submissive to the Lord and to His deputy authority, and we will be greatly blessed.
On one hand we submit to one another by being filled in spirit, and on the other, submitting to one another issues in our being filled in spirit.
It is a great blessing to be under the Lord’s headship; it is a great blessing to be under someone, some thing, or some environment, and thus be subject to the Lord’s headship. It is a blessing for us to be severely limited; the more we go on with the Lord, the more limited we will be.
We need to remember and have the Lord’s light shine in us, realising that it is a great blessing to be severely limited.
Paul testified of this in Eph. 3:1 where he said he was a prisoner of Christ Jesus; in his view he was not a prisoner of the Roman Empire but a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
Then in Eph. 4:1 he said he was a prisoner in the Lord, that is, he took the Lord as his prison. The more limitation we have in the Lord, the more revelation we receive from the Lord.
In Eph. 6:20 he said he was an ambassador in a chain; we may not like the chain, but the Lord sets up limitations for us, so that we may represent Him boldly – but in the chain, speaking Christ to others.
Lord Jesus, head us up today. We take You as our Head; bring our whole being – with our spirit, our soul, and our body – under Your headship. Lord, bring our whole day with all its affairs under Your headship. We want to be absolutely subject to Your headship by taking You as our submission. Amen, Lord, fill us in spirit! Fill us with Yourself and with Your submission, for it is only when we’re filled with You that we can be absolutely subject to Your headship! Cause us to see that it is a great blessing for us to be under Your authority and to be severely limited. Lord, may with great limitation there be more revelation, so that we may be Your ambassadors in a chain wherever we are!
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 Numbers, msg. 8 (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:
# Submitted to God’s ruling, / All virtue thus will win; / Rebellion to His Headship / Is but the root of sin. / The evil aim of Satan- / God’s throne to overthrow; / Our aim and goal is ever / His rule to fully know. (Hymns #941)
# Take time to behold Him, / Speak oft with Thy Lord, / Abide in Him always, / And feed on His Word. / Wait thou in His presence, / Submissive and meek, / Forgetting in nothing / His blessing to seek. (Hymns #643)
# ’Tis by His heav’nly rule within / As heav’nly citizens we live; / ’Tis by submission to His rule / Expression of His reign we give. (Hymns #942)
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