Nazarite, Nazarene, and Christian

     In the West, those who worship Jesus are called “Christians.” In the Middle East, rather than Christians, they are called “Nazarenes” after “Jesus of Nazareth.” For instance, blind Bartimaeus called on Jesus, “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.” (Mark 10:47) and Jesus did!
     More directly, Jesus is referred to as a “Nazarene” twice in scripture:

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. (Mat 2:23)

For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. (Acts 24:5).

     In this day and age, Muslims mark the home of Christians with the Arabic “N” (ن “nun”– pronounced “noon”) to represent that it is the home of Nazarenes. Nun is to Christianity what the star of David is to Jewry; it is the sign of those persecuted and is another holocaust. Radical Muslims confront Nazarenes with a choice: they “must convert to Islam, pay a fine, or face ‘death by the sword” (Sisto, Christine; National Review; “Christian Genocide”; Jul 23, 2014). That is nothing new; it is from the Koran and has been their method of proselytizing since their beginning.  
     As can be seen, “Nazarene” means much in the Islamic world; they are the anti-Muslims which Muslims call “devils.” In the Christian religion, Islam, if not antichrists, are the religion of THE Antichrist. Jesus died because he is a Nazarene, and in the end, Christians will be beheaded in the fashion of Islam.
     John the Revelator wrote, “I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands” (Rev 20:4). Being a Nazarene is a blessing and a curse: Christ blesses and the Antichrist curses.  Beheading is the Islamic method of converting and has been since Mohammad’s time:

When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. (Quran 8:12).

     What that means has been spun to mean something else, but in practice, it has always been the last option for Nazarenes. Nazarenes have always been persecuted just as have the Jews. That persecution should reveal something: Christ is hated by the world and Nazarenes are “hated for His Name sake” (Mat 10:22), BUT, “He who endureth to the end will be saved.” What must be endured? In the end, beheading by the forces of the Antichrist.
     I have written in my blog that an Islamic Caliphate is the end of time government, Sharia its law, and the Islamic “Jesus” called “Isa” is the Antichrist.  However, this commentary is not about the apocalypse but the significance of being Nazarene.
     My church of choice in my younger days was the Church of the Nazarene. Obviously, they took their denomination’s name from Jesus the Nazarene and the early church. Their intent, much like the Churches of Christ, was to return to apostolic worship where the emphasis was on love and charity. Notwithstanding that, no denomination is scripturally pure, Nazarene doctrine is love practiced; the love of Jesus first, and the love of others with it. They loved me into their body of believers. They lived simply at that time, were modest, temperate, and sincere. That attitude won me over!
     Nazarenes had one precept which the others, primarily Calvinists, hated – the doctrine of sanctification, which is the setting apart from the world in dedication to Jesus. They took seriously, “be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Pet 1:16) and there are many passages that repeat that in different forms.
     Holiness, however, is not of oneself; Jesus bestows holiness, as is written: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13).  Holiness is not something Christians do, but welcome and practice. That is the Church of the Nazarene doctrine, and the goal is “entire sanctification,” not that it will ever be obtained but can be sought!
     Along with that doctrine was abstention from alcoholic beverages. Calvinists see holiness as salvation by works whereas Nazarenes see it as works of the regenerated. It is the outcome of the old creature becoming a new creation. (2 Cor 5:17). The transformation from the old creature to the new is much the same as being a Nazarite. Whereas Christians are to become Nazarites of sorts at regeneration as they are born again, one in particular was born a Nazarite. What, then, is a Nazarite?

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord:  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 the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.  All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.  All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body.  He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.  All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. (Num 6:2-8)

     As can be seen from Samson, doing those things are not saving, but they are things God wills for those “set apart” for service to Him.  The Nazarite is “sanctified” and that is the doctrine of the Church of the Nazarene and THE Nazarene. Why those three characteristics: (1) Abstention from alcohol, (2) not having the hair trimmed, and (3) contact with nothing unclean, primarily dead bodies?
     It may be that God wanted Samson to be sober and vigilant (1 Pet 2:8) to face his adversaries. His hair surely represented that he was endowed with the power of God as the story goes, and uncleanness was forbidden by Mosaic Law. In other words, God wanted Nazarites to be pure, holy, and set apart for “reasonable service” to Him (Rom 12:1). In other words, to be a Nazarene one should be a Nazarite. Perhaps uncut hair would be an obvious sign much as the star of David and nun would be for Jews and Christians, respectively.
     Nazarenes set themselves apart in my youth by modest living and dressed much like Mennonites do today. Granted, modesty does not achieve salvation but it is still God’s will!
     Samson was the first Nazarite. He was born a Nazarite (Jud 13:5) and his mother was to observe the same standards while Samson was in the womb. If it is not obvious to the reader, THE Angel of the Lord (pre-incarnate Jesus) told Manoah, Samson’s father, about Samson’s purpose and his wife’s responsibilities. Monoah is symbolic of Joseph, his wife as Mary, and Samson as Jesus. However, Samson was still imperfect in the world whereas Jesus was not!
     What one should get out of this story is that Nazarite separation is God’s intent. Jesus was not identified as a “Nazarite” but it should be obvious that he is. No place in scripture is it found that Jesus drank wine, nowhere in the Bible did Jesus touch the dead, but those near death were touched by Jesus or touched him. We find that touching was one of the most prominent ways Jesus used to heal. Virtue passed from him by touch (Mark 5:3), and it is assumed that when he died on the cross to heal all the sins of the world, the loss of virtue was tremendous!
     Cleanliness, then, is imperative to a Nazarite and to a Christian. In the Old Testament, Mosaic Law lists many ceremonial unclean things. The New Testament requires spiritual cleanliness, such as without lasciviousness. Nazarenes are to be spiritually clean; steering clear of the decadence of the world. In my youth, Nazarenes avoided television and movies by choice, but no longer practice that. That, indeed, we now see, was quite a good practice because of the decadence in entertainment!
     Did Jesus cut his hair or have it cut? Unlike Samson where scripture indicates that Delilah cut his, nowhere can it be found that anyone cut Jesus’s hair! The evidence is that Jesus was not only a Nazarite but a perfect Nazarene!
     There was one other obvious Nazarite; that was John the Baptist. You can do your own study there, but John, like Samson, was ordained from birth for a certain task – set apart to enunciate Jesus – and when his purpose was fulfilled, Herod had him beheaded just as Christians will be in the end of time.
     I admire the sincere Amish and Mennonites. They have explained to me that their modesty in life is not saving but to show a separation from the world. They can use some technology, for instance, but it never can be up to the standards of the world. Some type of setting apart is what all Christians are called to do.
     Personally, I find that abstention from alcohol is an easy thing to do for the Lord. I also find that not using the language of the world is another easy thing to do whether it be ill-mannerisms, the use of God’s Name with vanity, or even filthy words. None of those things will save me but Jesus’ blood has if I set myself apart as his and endure to the end. His goal for Christians is to be Nazarenes – those despicable people who once set themselves apart from the world!