In Numbers, chapter six, verse two, God speaks to Moses about the law of a Nazarite. He wants His servant to tell the children of Israel that when a person decides to become one, they are to separate themselves from the others in terms of lifestyle. The word “Nazarite” means “set apart,” one who is dedicated wholly to the Lord. The dedication could be for a specific period of life or a lifetime. The implementation of Nazarites is by God Himself in order through their lifestyle might demonstrate the highest standard of holiness, sanctity, and commitment in the presence of the people.
The Nazarite vow was voluntary and designed to teach Israel that total devotion to God must come first from a person’s heart and then to an expression of self-denial, visible profession, and personal purity. The Nazarite’s complete devotion to God will serve as an example of what everyday Christian should seek to be. Another example of a Nazarite is in verses three to five of the same chapter. “He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All his days of separation shall he eat nothing made of the vine tree from the kernels even to the husk. All the days of the vow of His separation shall no razor come upon His head: until the days fulfilled in which he separated himself to the Lord, he shall be holy and let the locks of his head grow.
The Nazarite was to let his hair grow long as a visible symbol of his separation from the world to the Lord. According to the New Testament, in the First Corinthians, chapter eleven, verse fourteen, long hair was a dishonor to a man. However, some denominations practice this custom today from the Old Testament, where there are people who braid their hair and grow it long and treat it as a lifestyle.