Psalms 145 - 150 (with 2 topics)

1. Jesus a Nazarite (a Nazirite?) We saw, in Psalms 137 - 138 Psalm 137 2. Early childhood of Jesus Per Matt (end), the statement that Jesus was a fulfillment-of-prophesy, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. This likely refers to the fact that He was born in the town of Nazareth (Mark 1:24; et al.); it does not mean that He would be a Nazirite (note the spelling difference). There was only 1 ref. to Nazirites in the O.T. prophetic books-- God said through Amos, regarding what Israel had done (Amo 2:10-12): I brought you up out of Egypt, & I led you 40 years in the desert to give you the land of the Amorites. I also raised up prophets from among your sons & Nazirites from among your young men. But you made the Nazirites drink wine & commanded the prophets not to prophesy. He indeed raised up both a Nazirite & Nazarene from a young man (toddler); as we shall shortly see, He seemingly had long hair-- but then read on how God changed things in Ezekiel's time; s.a. below, 2. The 3 alabaster women (3rd pt., 5th subpt.).

  Having said that, note the matter of the wine, that they (the leaders of the Jews of that time) made the Nazirites drink wine. There was a law of/for the Nazarite (1st instituted by GOD) described in Num 6:1-21. Following is Num 6:1-8,21a: The LORD said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites & say to them: 'If a man or a woman wants to make a special temporary vow, a vow of Separation to the LORD as a Nazirite, He/She must abstain from wine & other fermented drink & must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink. He/She must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. As long as He/She is a Nazirite, He/She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. Also during the entire period of His/Her vow of separation no razor may be used on His/Her head. He/She must be holy until the period of His/Her Separation to the LORD is is over; He/She must let the hair of His/Her head grow long-- indicating it was likely for an extended period of time. And farther, throughout the period of His/Her Separation to the LORD He/She must not go near a dead person. Even if His/Her own father or mother or brother or sister dies, He/She must not make himself ceremonially unclean-- as in participating in a funeral, because the symbol of His/Her Separation to GOD is on His/Her head. Throughout the period of His/Her separation He/She is consecrated to the LORD. This is the law of the Nazarite who vows in addition to whatever else He/She can afford.

  Now was Jesus a lifelong Nazirite (in particular, is the common picture of His having super-long hair reasonable)?  Well, about the length of His hair, let us look at how things were changed in the days of Ezekiel. Eze 44:1-3,10-11a,13a,15a,16a,20-21 says, Then the man brought me back to the outer gate facing east. The LORD said to me, This gate is to remain shut; no 1 is to enter through it because the LORD, the GOD of Israel has entered. The Prince himself is the only 1 who may sit inside. He is to enter by the portico of the gate. The Levites who went far from ME when Israel went astray must bear the consequences of their sin. They may indeed serve in MY Sanctuary; they are not to come near to serve ME. But the priests, who are Levites & descendants of Zadok & who faithfully carried out the duties of MY Sanctuary-- They alone are to enter MY Sanctuary; They alone are to come near MY Table. They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but They are to keep the hairs of their heads trimmed. No priest is to drink wine when He enters the inner court.

  I.e., there is some indication that Jesus had made a lifelong vow before even descending-- John the Baptist described Him thusly, He is never to take wine or fermented drink (Luke 1:15b). And likely He had trimmed hair. Also, some construe: this is why Jesus called the dead man from a distance, Lazarus, come forth (John 11:43); this is why Jesus refused wine on the cross (Matt 27:34; Mark 15:23). However, it is not very important to consider whether Jesus had made a life-long vow; it is more instrumental to consider that Jesus was a living priest that came after the Law (Hebr 7:28)-- after which He died. The written code of the Law was nailed to the tree (Colo 2:14); the spirit of the Law was yet to be fulfilled (Matt 5:18; Luke 16:17; 21:32-33), & arose, so that we might be a kingdom of priests (Rev 1:6; 5:10) with/without trimmed/entirely shaved heads. Don't miss the "why (significance)" of the 3rd alabaster woman below.

2. The 3 alabaster women-- the women that anointed Jesus' feet/head with perfume

• Woman #1
  • Who- ?;
  • When- near the beginning of Jesus Min.;
  • What- an alabaster jar of perfume (?);
  • Where- in a Pharisee's house (Simon's?-- see v. 3);
  • Why (significance)- Jesus' feet anointed (for His ministry);
  • Website coverage- Psalms 99 - 102 Psalm 101 1. Woman #3 used-of-God;
  • Scripture location- Luke 7:36-50;
• Woman #2
• Who- ?;
• When- close to the end of Jesus Min. (2 days before the Passover);
• What- an alabaster jar of perfume (nard);
• Where- in Simon the Leper's home (Bethany);
• Why (significance)- Jesus' head anointed (for His crucifixion);
• Website coverage- Psalms 133 - 134 Psalm 133 3. Woman #6 used-of-God;
• Scripture locations- Matt 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9;
• Woman #3
• Who- Mary;
• When- near the end of Jesus Min. (6 days before the Passover);
• What- a pint of perfume (pure nard);
• Where- in Lazarus' home (Bethany);
• Why (significance)- 1. Jesus' feet anointed (for His ascension-- & for us, as now HE walks with us via the Holy Spirit), 2. Jesus' feet were much more important than the length of His hair-- see above, Jesus a Nazarite (a Nazirite?);
• Website coverage- Psalms 135 - 136 Psalm 135 3. Woman #7 used-of-God
• Scripture location- John 12:1-10.

BTW, take note that at the end of the 1st anointing topic is the account (Luke 8:1-3) of those 3+many women who were helping to support Them out of Their means.