Samson, Elijah and John the Baptizer walk into a prophecy…. It’s no joke. These three were each witnesses, forerunners who prepared the way for someone greater who came after them. In Yokhanan’s case, he was preparing the hearts of the people to receive Heaven’s greatest gift, Yeshua (Jesus) the Mashiakh (Christ), the Son of God.
Numbers 4: Sometimes age does matter
Torah reading נָשֹׂא Nasso (“take up” or “carry,” Numbers 4:21–7:89) starts with another count of the tribe Levi, but this one is for a different purpose.
This census only counts the number of Levite men between the ages of 30-50 to determine how many Levite men there were to perform the tasks of taking down and setting up the Tabernacle as they moved through the wilderness.
The Levites did not actively work in the Tabernacle before 30 or after 50. What is wrong with someone the age of 28, 52 or 60 working in the Tabernacle? God has strictly specified when they will work in His home. We don’t know why. God set the rule and we should respect it.
Most churches had older, elderly people in charge of most of the jobs. Look at the Pope, for example. Most popes are over the age of 60. But that is not what God says here. Age does matter to God and not all jobs are meant to be performed by the old and elderly.
Other roles in Isarelite society did not have such strict age limits, including judges, kings, etc. The service of the Tabernacle was the exception.
I suspect the reason for this is at the resurrection that our resurrected bodies will be bodies as we looked in the prime of our lives, which would be between the age of 30-50 years old. That is just my theory, my opinion.
Numbers 5: When we wrong our neighbor, we wrong God too
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the LORD, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. ‘But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the LORD for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. ‘Also every contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the priest, shall be his. ‘So every man’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest, it becomes his.’”” (Numbers 5:5–10 NASB)
This is a very interesting section with a profound impact on what is right and wrong. There are many sins one can commit against one another. God tells us that when we betray our fellow man, we betray God, too.
When David laments his sin against Uriah, he says that he sinned against God. In a sense, David metaphorically killed God and stolen God’s wife. When God looks at our sins, God doesn’t say, “Look at what you did to Joe!” God says, “Look what you have done to Me.”
To God, our relationships with our fellow man is as important or more important than our relationship with Him. Like we read in the New Testament (Matthew 5:20–26), how can we love the God we can’t see if we can’t love the men and women made in His image who we do see?
Human beings don’t work the way we want them to, they don’t “obey” us. Well, God is self-existent and He doesn’t work the way we want Him to, either. We need to address our relationships with our fellow man before we address our relationship with God.
How God protects women from jealous husbands
In Numbers 5:11-29, we read about a remedy to a serious family drama. A husband suspects his wife of adultery but there are no witnesses to the act, yet he can’t get the idea out of his mind that his wife is not being faithful to him. Adultery is taken so seriously in the Torah that it is a death penalty offense. But there is also a high burden of proof as there must be two witnesses to establish it.
When the priest writes down this “curse” the woman has to agree to the curse and its consequences before drinking the cursed water. She doesn’t have to drink it, she can refuse if she wants to.
If she did commit adultery, she can confess her adultery rather than receive the curse. Even if she does so, she still can’t be executed since she is the only witness. Her husband can (and probably will) divorce her but she will not be executed.
If she did not commit adultery, she drinks the liquid and her reputation is vindicated.
The man has to have a valid reason for a divorce in Torah. He can’t use “irreconcilable differences” as an excuse to get rid of an undesirable wife.
If she drinks the bitter water and nothing happens to her, she is protected. Her husband can’t divorce her. Her life and her children are safe from eviction and financial ruin.
Numbers 6:1-21: Nazarite vow
What are the main marks of a nazir?
- No haircuts
- No alcohol of any kind
- No grapes or grape products
- No contact with the dead
These vows are similar to the requirements of High Priest or the priestly families that they take upon themselves from birth. If one is born into the Cohen cast (of Levi, of Aharon), there are stricter requirements than those placed on other Israelites.
While they are in priestly service, they cannot consume alcohol or have contact with the dead (except in very limited circumstances).
The Nazir as deliverer: Samson, John the Baptist and Elijah
The most well known nazarite is Samson the judge. He was born in the tribe of Dan and his conception and birth are recorded in Judges 13, the parallel passage for the nazarite discussion in Nasso.
Samson was a nazarite from the womb. A messenger from the Lord announced Samson’s birth and instructed his parents on how to raise him.
John the Baptist was also under a nazarite from birth. A angel also came to his father, Zacharias, and told him how to raise John. The only difference between John and Samson is that he doesn’t have the command regarding his hair as John is a Levite and a Cohen.
Samson and John did not live the same way but their jobs were identical. The way they lived their lives were totally different but their God given missions were the same.
What was Samson’s job?
“he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”” (Judges 13:5 NASB)
Both Samson and John died unnatural deaths. Samson was killed when he knocked the temple of Dagon on his head killing himself along with the kings and aristocracy of Philistine society.
Anything that contaminates a nazarite vow makes one started over. Every time Samson killed an animal or killed a person, he contaminated his nazarite vow and had to start his vow over from scratch.
The final consecration of his nazarite vow didn’t start until he had been blinded and thrown into prison. He finally accomplished his God-given task when he killed the Philistines. Samson paved the way for King David to finish liberating Israel from the Philistines.
What was John’s job?
“And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”” (Luke 1:16–17 NASB)
John the Baptist was beheaded by the king. He upset the king and the king threw him in jail and later the king had him killed.
John’s goal was to prepare the way for Messiah Yeshua the Son of David.
Both Samson and John prepared the way for someone greater than themselves: Samson for King David and John for Yeshua, the Messiah the son of David.
Both Samson and John were also similar to Elijah. How? The witnesses we should look for will not necessarily look like what we expect. The witnesses God calls in the future may look more like Samson than we are comfortable with.
Samson was a drunk womanizer yet at the end, he accomplished the task God called him to do which was to begin the liberation of Israel. God didn’t care about Samson’s past. When Samson was blinded and humiliated, he was ready to actually be used by God and he accomplished a great feat.
What matters in the end is not their lifestyle, but the end result. Their deaths were more important than their lives.
The Aaronic Benediction
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:
The LORD bless you, and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’
“So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”” (Numbers 6:22–27 NASB)