The Nazarite Vows and the Eucharist

Samson was to be a better Adam. Like Adam, he will be tested—will he protect the sacred? Will he abstain for the sake of the people? Samson was to war against the same Adamic sins.

It is fascinating to see that John is identified as the greatest of all prophets, and indeed he was a great Nazarite called from birth to refrain from wine and strong drink (Lk. 1:15). Both priesthood and prophethood are invested in the Nazaritic vow (Numb. 6). The Nazarite has a calling to give his life (priestly) and to proclaim judgment (prophethood). John was ultimately murdered, and providentially, he was killed at a Herodian party where wine and strong drink were undoubtedly consumed.

In this essay, I will briefly explore the first and second vows of the Nazarites in the life of Samson and offer some eucharistic parallels. Like John, Samson is the Johanine Nazarite. He follows a two-fold trajectory of abstention.

Abstain from Wine

The first part of this Nazarite vow is to abstain from wine and strong drink; that is, alcohol from fermented grapes and any other intoxicating drink. Though we can’t be too precise on what this was, we can be precise in saying that the ancient world was already entirely developed in producing other intoxicating beverages. Wine was an eschatological drink. It was omega drink; the drink for those who from their labors rest. But a Nazarite was to stay away from it because his work was not finished; Sabbath rest had not yet come. The priest refrained so that the people could enjoy themselves. 

But another part of this Nazarite vow was abstaining from grapes. The grape symbolized the blessing of the land, a blessing that a Nazarite could not have.[1] Grapes were signs that the curses were being replaced with the blessing of the vine. Every time the Israelites saw grapes, they were renewed in their hope for future glory. There are ancient descriptions of grapes becoming so full of juice that they burst into the vineyards and roll down the mountains to the valley producing a crimson scene as if blood were avalanching downward. The grapes were pictures of God covering Israel from her transgressions.

The Nazarites could not drink any alcoholic drink; similarly, they could not drink the liquor of the grapes or the grapes themselves. But it is not just drinking that is forbidden; there is also the eating of anything unclean, according to Judges 13:7: 

Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.

Abstaining from Food

There is much rich theology in this Nazarite prohibition. What is essential to know is that death symbolizes the curse upon man.  The ground is cursed with death. In one way, the Nazarite vow is a vow to stay away from any form of death; to stay away from curses. Samson must not consume death.

The Nazarite is under particular vows to abstain from several elements considered blessings, namely food and drink. Samson’s role is symbolic of the hunger of God’s people in this phase of history. They did not want God’s word (Deut. 8). They were to hunger after God’s manna but they sought corrupt meals.

Main fountain of Petergof museum - Samson tearing the mouth of a lion

The purpose of the Nazarite vows is to build a case for restrictions. It would reach such an excruciating crescendo, leaving the Nazaritic life practically unlivable. The restrictions would build momentum to set the stage for the release from those vows, which would build unimaginable freedom. The greater the curse, the more remarkable the blessing. Jesus would be the greater Nazarite who will one day come, endure the curse, drink the cup of wrath, hunger in the wilderness, and bring us eschatological freedom.

These vows echo back to Genesis 3, when Adam came in contact with death. Adam made the ground unclean. He ate the fruit, and the juice of that fruit flowed into his forbidden bloodstream. Adam came near death, conversed with death and allowed death to consume him. He took the offer of Satan to eat from his table.

Samson was to be a better Adam. Like Adam, he will be tested—will he protect the sacred? Will he abstain for the sake of the people? Samson was to war against the same Adamic sins. He needed to refrain from the Tree of life (drink) and keep away from the food the land offered. He was to fast and fight the devil in the wilderness.

The Final Nazarite

Food and drink is always the ultimate scandal of history. The juicy, forbidden fruit of Eden was delivered by embodied death. The fruit trees were cursed, and the food/land was cursed. in Genesis 3.

When Jesus becomes the great Nazarite priest, he follows the trajectory of Samson. He is a greater Nazarite who fasted for 40 days and nights and drank the cup of wrath for our sakes. He did not eat and did not drink so his people could enter into his rest. When they entered his rest, they received a table filled with the finest wine, strong drink, and all human delicacies fit for kings and queens.

The Eucharist is a reminder that when we come to God’s presence, we come to a restored Eden where death has been trampled and all the fruits of the garden are given for our enjoyment and pleasure.

The wine is the reward for those who put their trust in the finished work of Jesus. The food is the gift of his body, which was broken for us, but does not corrupt the land, but rather cleanses it for our glory.

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[1] According to Numbers 6: “…neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.” This is also quite symbolic in the life of Israel. In Leviticus 25, during the Sabbath year, the year of Jubilee, Israel was not to plant, nor to harvest. God had promised them “a triple harvest the year before the Sabbath so that they would have food stored up.”

But there was one thing they were not allowed to eat: wild grapes. Leviticus 25:5 says that you are not to “gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.”  What is interesting is that the word “undressed or untrimmed” is the Hebrew word nazir. This is where we get the word “Nazarite.” “The grape vines growing everywhere during this year are like the hair on the head of a Nazarite. Both are “separated” from trimming. You are not to touch; it is set apart.