Numbers 6 Summary: A Concise Overview in 5 Minutes

Numbers 6 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Numbers 1:1 tells us these events began on the 2nd month, in the 2nd year after Israel left Egypt, which would place the date at approximately 1490-1489 B.C.

• Numbers covers approximately 40 years of Israelite history.

CHARACTERS:

• Moses – Moses was selected by God to lead the Israelites to Canaan. God spoke directly to Moses and Moses communicated God’s words to the people.    

• Israelites (Hebrews) – The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God granted them freedom after several hundred years in slavery in Egypt. In the book of Numbers, they were travelling through the wilderness to the land of Canaan.

WHERE:

• According to the book of Leviticus and Numbers 3:1, the Israelites were camped in the wilderness of Sinai, near Mount Sinai.

OUTLINE:

• THE VOW OF THE NAZARITE (6:1-21):

  • In this chapter, God gives instructions to Israelites who wanted to make a special vow, a Nazarite vow, dedicating themselves to the Lord.

  • The Nazarite vow could be made by either a man or a woman.

  • Nazarites were to abstain from all forms of grapes, including fresh grapes, dried grapes, wine, and wine vinegar.

  • The Nazarite was not allowed to cut their hair for the duration of the vow.

  • A Nazarite was not allowed to go near a dead body, even the bodies of their father, mother, or siblings.

  • If a person died very suddenly near a Nazarite, the Nazarite had to bring an offering to the Tabernacle and restart the vow.

  • When the vow was completed and the number of days fulfilled, the Nazarite was to go to the Tabernacle with a male lamb, a ewe lamb, a ram, loaves of unleavened bread, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, a grain offering, and a drink offering.

  • The priests would offer the animals as a sin offering, burnt offering, peace offering, grain offering, and drink offering.

  • The Nazarite was to shave his/her head and burn the hair on the bronze altar.

  • Afterwards, the ram’s thigh, a loaf of bread, and a wafer of bread were offered to God as a wave offering.

  • When all these things were complete, the vow was finished, and the individual was allowed to drink wine again.

• AARON’S BLESSING OVER ISRAEL (6:22-27):

  • God told Aaron to bless the people of Israel with the following words:

  • “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”

APPLICATION:

• True love for God will lead you to do more than the bare minimum.

• The Nazarite vow was voluntary. The people who took the vow wanted to separate themselves in a special way to worship and serve God.

• Hopefully we, as Christians, don’t live our lives stuck in the mindset that we are going to do just enough to please God, the bare minimum of what is required of us.

• We want to be like the people who voluntarily became Nazarites, people who are actively searching for ways to deepen their relationship with God and people who are voluntarily looking for ways to contribute more of themselves to Him.

DIAGRAM OF THE CAMP OF ISRAEL:

DIAGRAM OF THE TABERNACLE: