Something struck me here as I read the law concerning the Nazirites.
Nazirites were people who for a period in their lives set themselves apart for God.
There were several rules for the Nazirites, one of which was that they were to avoid dead things. They were not even to attend their own relatives’ funerals during that time.
There is a connection with us as Christians.
As people set apart for God, we are to separate ourselves from spiritually dead things, namely sin.
That is not to say we are not to separate ourselves from spiritually dead people (unless they are having undue influence on us), but we are to avoid their sin.
But what really strikes me is what happened if someone suddenly died in a Nazirite’s presence.
God said that in that case,
…do not count the initial period of consecration because it became defiled. (Numbers 7:12)
In short, for the Nazirite, one “defilement,” one contact with spiritually dead things, could wreck a whole period of being holy before God.
It’s the same for us as people standing before a holy God.
It was true for Adam and Eve. They were set apart for God as his people, but one sin ruined it all.
And it’s the same for us. Even if theoretically we could stay pure for the first 60 years of our lives, one sin would defile the entirety of our lives.
For the Nazirite, they had to start their consecration period all over again, and if it was completed perfectly, then it was accepted before God. That wasn’t necessarily difficult. It’s not every day that a person dies in your presence.
But for us, no matter how often we try to “do better,” we always fall into sin.
And that’s why we need a Savior, one who never did fall, and therefore could take the penalty for our sin, as the doves (or pigeons) did for the Nazirites.
One more thought I had as I thought about this passage. A person in ministry can have a long and fruitful ministry, but have it wiped out by one misstep.
One infidelity.
One bad choice.
We’ve seen it happen too many times. For all of us in ministry, that is something that we always need to remember.
So for us especially, the words of Paul ring true.
Whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 