Introduction
In Numbers 6 the Lord gave Moses instructions on how to consecrate oneself to the Lord in special service. If we understand the meaning of the rituals and all the rules coming with the rituals we can understand more about how God wants his elects to be. In this paper I want to show what the meaning of all the rules for the Nazirites are.
What is a Nazirite
The meaning of the word Nazirite already gives us hints on what a Nazirite is. The hebrew word for Nazirite means actually “the consecrated, the set apart”. In Numbers 6 this of course means the ones consecrated for God. As a lay man one could not work in the temple. The only way to serve God as a priest was to get born into the tribe of the levites. However, this Nazirite law allowed common man to vow a special time of service to God. The most famous Nazirite was Samson, followed closely by Samuel and eventually by John the Baptist. One could consider Joseph the son of Jacob also as Nazirite, this however is questionable since only one verse describes him as set apart from his brethren. Certainly he had a special position before God and serves as role model for Jews and Christians a like. Some scholars will argue that the vow explained in Acts 18:18 needs to be understood as Nazirite vow. If this is the case certainly his vow does not belong to the other groups of Nazirite vows mentioned above.
No wine, nothing related to grapes
“3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.”
The first rule mentioned to bec...
... middle of paper ...
...om the world therefore serves as help to solemnly consecrate oneself onto God. The long hair to humble oneself and to show the outside world that one is consecrated to the Lord, which never should hiden. Not coming near dead souls means not to defenselessly present oneself to the bad influences of the pagan world, but rather the try to keep oneself holy unto the Lord. Even the acceptance and uncovering off oneselves egocentric nature can be seen through the offerings performed after the “holy” time of consecration. This time might have outwardly been holy but the through defilement in the human soul can not be seen by the outside world and needs to be acknowledged to understand the offerings at the end of the vow.
Works Cited
Kiuchi, Nobuyoshi. Leviticus. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2007.
Bibles, Crossway The Esv Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008.
Religion, according to Melford E. Spiro author of "Religion: Problems of Definition and Explanation" can be narrowly defined as an institution consisting of culturally postulated superhuman beings.(2) Religion, was a major part of the Aztec culture, which was polytheist. The main god that was worshiped was the sun god, Huitzilopochtli who was also the god of war. In the modern world, there are people that still worship Aztecan gods, through dance, and other rituals. Concheros is a group of people that follow traditions of Aztec worship with a more modern outlook.(3) Concheros is also a dance performed by many Ballet Folklorico groups, that reenacts the worship and rituals relating to Huitzilopochtli.
The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into
Oxtoby, Willard Gurdon. "Jewish Traditions." World religions: western traditions. 1996. Reprint. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2011. 127-157. Print.
The Roman writer and naturalist Pliny the Elder, in his treatise Naturalis Historia states “there is nothing more useful than wine for strengthening the body, while, at the same time, there is nothing more pernicious as a luxury, if we are not on our guard against excess.” Years before he wrote those words, wine had in fact come from humble origins outside Italy itself. Furthermore, the process of fermenting grapes goes back thousands of years, and its beginning can be traced to where the wild grown grape-vine, vitis vinifera, flourished and was actively utilized for this reason.
In carrying on with a life of holiness we must create propensities in our lives that are sacred.
Jewry law was, like German medieval law in general, of a disintegrated nature (Kisch 1935: 69). It also frequently overlapped and contradicted itself, thanks to the wide range of sources from which it derived (Cohen 1994:31). Medieval Jewry law has been described as a ‘law of privilege made up of occasional favours and restrictions of various kinds without re...
the deities and attempt to explain the psychological necessity of these rituals. An examination will be made of the typical forms of rituals, and cite their effects,
After reading Horace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema I cannot say that I would want to be part of the tribe. A huge reason would be that I could never go from my own Christian faith to the religious practices of the Nacirema. My second reason for not wanting to be part of the tribe is that I could never be subjected to the horrific medical practices and “magical potions” used on every citizen in the tribe.
1996. “Sacrifices and Offerings in Ancient Israel” in Community, Identity, and Ideology: Social Science approach to the Hebrew Bible., ed. Charles E. Carter.
The reading, “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, shows the strange and torturous culture traits of the Nacirema of North America. This people are extremely barbaric in their practices, and often torture themselves just to look good. In our modern society, it seems nearly impossible to us to understand, or even partake in these horrific actions. But there is something hidden within the Nacirema culture that would shock the modern American world.
I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity, and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).
Cultural relativism is powerful and unique, ascertaining and appreciating people cultural. Cultural relativism is unique but can be hard to understand, upsetting the views, morals, and outlines of culture from the standpoint of that civilization. When analyzing the hominid culture, it provides the luxury of understanding their philosophy from their viewpoint. Taking in another culture without being basis can be daunting. Anthropologist deliberated cultures by exploiting two methods, the emic perspective, and etic perspective. Crapo, R. H. 2013, Section 1.1 defines, the Etic perspective that is, an outsider's or observer's alleged "objective" account—creates a model of a culture by using cross-culturally valid categories, which anthropologists
Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. N.Y. 1999
Proverbs 22:6 states, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (King James Bible. 1973). When you train your children, you are passing doing rituals. Rituals that you learned from your parents and your parents learned from their parents. Some people think that they don’t have any family rituals. However, they do not realize that everyday task that you do with your family can be considered a ritual. Family rituals can consist of eating meals together, watching a favorite show each night, and all the birthdays and holidays that you celebrate with your family they can even help out with some behavior issues. In one particular video, the author talks about how family rituals can help build an