Everybody Counts!
Parashat Naso: Numbers 4:21–7:89; Haftarah: Judges 13:2–25
Rachel Wolf, Beth Messiah Congregation, Cincinnati
“Naso” means “Lift up!” It is the opening command of this portion: “Lift up the head of the sons of Gershon [a Levitical family].” Lift up the head is a Hebrew idiom that means to count. Everyone gets counted in Numbers. And everyone counts! Many people skip over this portion with long lists of names and details. But this detailed ancient history should fascinate us! Here, the world of our ancestors is miraculously preserved for us.
Tabernacle Transport—a Priestly Duty
In our last portion, Bemidbar, Moses and Aaron counted all the firstborn and the men of fighting age from every tribe, and then counted the Priests and Levites. Bemidbar (the book of Numbers) marks a significant turning-point in the history of the Israelites. For over a year they have been camped at Sinai, focusing on all of God’s instructions for building the Mishkan (tabernacle). It is now the time to pick up and go!
One of the most important parts of breaking camp and moving on toward the land of their inheritance is how to transport the holy Mishkan and all of its vessels. God explains to Moses and Aaron precisely how to do this. He divides the jobs between the three main Levitical families. They are to carefully carry the vessels and utensils of the sanctuary, wrapped in the skins and cloths itemized in 4:1–20. The travel responsibilities of the sons of Kohath are detailed in last week’s portion. In this week’s portion, starting in 4:21, the Lord explains how and what the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari are to pack and carry. This is a special calling from the Lord; an awesome responsibility!
For all three Levitical family groups, those who are to do this important work of transporting the Mishkan are mature men. They are counted from age thirty to age fifty. Compare that with the fighting men counted from age twenty, and the firstborn counted from age one month. Everyone is counted! Every Israelite is important to the whole people. Each has a particular place and calling.
After all the counting and organization for transporting the Mishkan, Numbers 6 details the laws of the Nazirite vow. The Nazirite vow is another type of special calling from the Lord. The Nazirite offering initiates a time of special dedication or separation to the Lord for the one bringing the offering. Generally this was a temporary commitment (sometimes voluntary, sometimes commanded) for a set time period. In certain rare cases, it was a lifelong calling, like the priestly calling.
Haftarah Reading: The Nazirite Vow in Action
Judges 13 tells of Samson’s calling to be a lifelong Nazirite. Samson was called to save his people from the Philistines. For this, he needed to be specially separated unto God. Two important characters in the Apostolic Writings also took Nazirite vows, Yohanan and Paul. There are quite a number of similarities between Samson and Yohanan (John) the cousin of Yeshua. Compare Judges 13 and Luke 1:
Their births were at a time of great turmoil for Israel. (Jud 13:1 / Luke 1:5, the days of Herod)
They are both miraculously born to barren older women. (Jud 13:3 / Luke 1:7)
Their miraculous births are announced (quite unexpectedly) by an angel of the Lord. (Jud 13:3 / Luke 1:11)
They are both called as Nazirites from birth. (Jud 13:5, 13 / Luke 1:15–17)
They are both raised up by the Sovereign God to deliver his covenant people from their enemies. (Jud 13:5 / Luke 1:17—Yohanan is to prepare the people for Yeshua.)
Though the Nazirite vow is usually temporary, both Yohanan and Samson were called to be lifelong Nazirites. (Jud 13:3–5 / Luke 1:15)
They are both filled with the Spirit of God in an unusual way. (Jud 13:25 / Luke 1:15b)
Their birth miracles are accompanied by an offering being accepted by heaven in an unusual way. (Jud 13:19–20 / Luke 1:8–11. The incense offering in Luke represents the prayer of the people for deliverance.)
The Barren Woman: instrument of God’s deliverance
But the special calling of these set-apart Nazirites did not start with them. It starts with their mothers! The Bible speaks a lot about men, but it also recognizes that women count too. Jewish tradition understands God as working within certain repeated themes in Israel’s history. One of these repeated themes is God’s honoring and blessing of a barren woman to conceive a miraculous son whose birth will be instrumental in bringing Israel into complete deliverance and redemption. Rather than not counting, as many today understand the Bible’s view of women, these women were highly honored.
We see this honor bestowed on Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Hannah, Manoah’s unnamed wife, Elizabeth, and Miriam (Yeshua’s mother). In each case these women are greatly honored by God. In the songs of both Hannah and Miriam (1Samuel 2 and Luke 1:46 ff.) we see that they understood their pregnancy and the life of their sons to be much more than personal. They each see, in powerful terms, their pregnancy as their active participation in God’s deliverance of Israel.
Long hair is not just for hippies
The other, lesser known apostolic Nazirite vow is the one apparently taken by Paul. This is not explicitly stated, so it is somewhat speculative. But it seems like the best explanation for a little-noticed event in Paul’s life:
So Paul still remained [in Corinth] a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow. (Acts 18:18)
Numbers 6 outlines the laws of the Nazirite (nazir). The Hebrew nazir means dedicated or consecrated. This word is also used of the grape vines given over and not harvested during the sabbatical year (Lev. 25:5). In addition to staying away from fermented drinks and from corpse contamination, there is one more prohibition for the nazir: “All the days of the vow of his separation, no razor shall come upon his head . . . he shall let the locks of the hair on his head grow” (Num 6:5). And then,
When the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and he shall present his offering to the Lord. . . . Then the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. (Num 6:13–14a, 18)
Cenchrea (Acts 18:18) was the easternmost port city of the large province of Corinth, located right on the Aegean Sea. Just before setting sail for Syria, it seems Paul completed his Nazirite vow. Most likely, he had his head shaved in a simple ceremony at the local synagogue at Cenchrea because he was not able to get to the Temple in Jerusalem to bring the required offerings. Perhaps we will one day find out the reason Paul apparently took a Nazirite vow.
Whether packing and carrying the sacred objects for the sanctuary, setting oneself apart for a devoted “sabbatical” time, or willingly carrying a child to be born for Israel’s salvation, responding to God’s call involves holy service with serious consequences. Even natural processes like childbirth can become the key to new chapters in God’s eternal redemptive purposes when we, like Sarah, Hannah, or Miriam, give ourselves over to the service of God. As Miriam proclaims:
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation. (Luke 1:49–50)
Everybody counts!
Scripture references are NKJV.