This is from an article in Charisma Magazine:
“Oldest son Jesse has declared himself a Nazirite and for The Call D.C. gave up baseball, television and computer games and fasted for 40 days. As the probable eighth-generation preacher of the family, Jesse often takes the microphone at gatherings and with an emotional plea that typifies his generation pours out the call to become a Nazirite.”Here's how it all started...
- www.charismamag.com
“Jesse is Lou Engle’s oldest son and has walked with his father praying and fasting for America since the age of 12. He is a young man desiring to see the First and Great commandment restored to First place in the heart of a generation through Nazirite consecration. At 13 years old he received a word from God in a dream that he was to “preach the message of Nazirite consecration” and since that time has given himself to be set apart to the Lord and to preach Nazirite consecration.”So it’s become more than just a consecration, it’s now an “Uprising.” Jesse's dad has a whole teaching on the Nazirite Uprising thing here:
-www.thecall.com
TheCall Las VegasAlright, it's great to see young men not addicted to stupid computer games, etc. and live for God. It really is. But...dreamers shifting the destiny of the nation? New breed? Did God actually tell Lou Engle that He is raising up American Nazirites?
The Nazirite Uprising
by Lou Engle
“America is receiving Her apostles, prophets, and evangelists, but She has not yet seen Her Nazirites!” This audible voice from the Lord reverberated through my whole being, jarring me out of a deep sleep into a wakened attentiveness to the Holy Spirit. I knew that the Lord had spoken to me.
In fact, God’s answer had come quickly to my heart’s searching the night before when my 13-year old son had asked permission with determined insistence to take the Nazirite vow of Numbers 6:1-21. In his persistence, he said to me, “Dad, I don’t want to cut my hair until TheCall DC” which was 8 months away at the time. He continued, “I don’t want to eat meats and sweets until TheCall and I want to go on a juice fast the 40 days before TheCall. And Dad, I don’t want to play baseball this year. I want to run with you and pray for revival in America.”
The voice of the Lord could not have been any clearer to me through that audible voice encounter. I could hear the Lord saying to me through that encounter: “Lou, do not hinder your son from being extreme for Me. Let the young man go for it. Let him go as far as he can go with his consecration before Me. I am the One raising up the Nazirites.” With fear and trembling, I knew what He was saying and I knew the holy admonition of Amos 2:11-12 where God thundered, “I raised up some of your sons as prophets, and some of your young men as Nazirites... But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’”
I believe that God is saying in this passage that He was and is the One who stirs up this counter-cultural youth movement of prophets and fasting and praying Nazirites who are the dreamers that shift the destiny of nations. I knew from the encounter that night that God is raising up a new breed in America that will not be known so much for its gifts and position, but for its passion. They would be known more for their fasting and hunger for God than their feasting and games."
-www.elijahlist.com
Uhhhh…okay…biblically, Nazirites were Jews. It was the priests, Nazirites, kings, and judges, who were rulers of Israel who were to be clear-minded at all times. Only 3 people are mentioned in the Bible who were Nazirites for life: Samuel, Samson and John the Baptist. Besides no alchohol or haircuts, there were other strict requirements…such as avoiding corpses and graves (including family members), and any structure containing bodies. And there was more...
“After following these requirements for a designated period of time (which would be specified in the individual's vow, and not to be less than 30 days), the person would immerse in a Mikvah and make three offerings, a lamb as a burnt offering"(olah), a ewe as a Sin-offering (hatat), and a ram as a peace offering (shelamim), in addition to a basket of unleavened bread, grain offerings and drink offerings, which accompanied the peace offering.
The nazirite is described as being "holy unto the LORD" (Numbers 6:8), yet at the same time must bring a sin offering.”
(wikipedia)
I wonder how many American so called Nazirites can keep all those requirements?
So then...isn’t it a bit much for a Gentile to call oneself a Nazirite or make the Nazirite vow? Doesn't God desire all who claim to love him to be consecrated to living Holy lives for Him? And since we are saved under the new covenant, our holiness depends on what He did, not on what we can promise to do. It’s only by His righteousness that we are seen holy at all.
~sigh...just another strange thing in the modern day extreme prophetic sphere~
By the way, you can watch Lou Engle on youtube. For additional reading, here is what some discernment minstries have written about Lou Engle:
Kingdom-Now "Prophets" Unite on 07/07/07
www.apostasyalert.org
What’s Lou’s Angle?
signofjonah.wordpress.com
More on the Lou Engle Schpeel
signofjonah.wordpress.com
The Call – All Streams Converging
www.intotruth.org
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UPDATE: JANUARY, 2009
In answer to some recent comments/questions regarding vows and oaths, since I am simply not smart or learned enough, I have dug up and added this excellent article for further reading and study...
Oaths, Vows, Pledges, and Sovereignty
http://www.thefaithfulword.org/oaths.html
Here's another, not nearly as detailed (a very condensed answer):
What does the Bible say about keeping your vows / oaths?
http://www.gotquestions.org/vows-God.html
Also, for further study on COVENANT, I recommend the Precepts courses. If you can't find a Precepts class being taught in your area, here is the link for on-line study on Covenant.
19 comments:
Hi, I just wondered if you thought that tithing was part of that "modern day extreme prophetic sphere" ??? It seems like our American, gentile church has practically made it the 11th commandment and forgotten that it was under the Old Covenant Levitcal law. If anything is said that indicates tithing is "old school" (and I believe in generous giving) it seems like the religious demons rage (or did the demons all disappear when the Bible was finished?). As for us American Nazirites, I wondered if you considered that we take the vow by faith that Jesus fulfilled the Levitical sacrificial system and we take the vow by faith that we have been grafted in to the Jewish tree and are now functioning under the Melchizedek priesthood (read Hebrews) with Jesus as our Great High Priest. Of course our holiness is based on what Jesus did, just like our faith without works is dead!
Tithing? I'm not really into that, but 10% can be a good amount to start with.
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. 9:7
As far a taking a Nazirite oath goes...
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment. James 5:12
As mentioned in the post, Nazirites were Jews, not Gentiles. But aside from that, we can never keep our promises and oaths, that's why Jesus (the Promised One) came and did it for us, because we fail miserably at keeping any of our promises. That's what the Old Covenant was for (The Law), to show us we can never meet God's standart of holiness. The New Covenant (and God seeing us as Holy through the robe of His spotless Son) depends on what Jesus has already done, not on what we can do or promise not to do. We are free to sin no more as we walk in His power.
Hi, I guess you must be too busy to respond to my last comment about your view of nazirites. I suppose it is hard to keep up with all of the crazy people out there!!! That's ok...
I checked out your link to Calvary Chapel and think most of their doctrinal statement sounds pretty good really. Well, I've been studying nazirites for the past ten years or so (long before I heard of Lou Engle) and I haven't found any real reason to stop believing it's ok for me to continue following what I see as scripturally justifiable. Just wanted you to know there are real people out here doing these things that aren't following in the path of those you say are hypnotized by all the modern extreme prophetic movement. I hope when all is said and done, you felt it was worth the while to tell people so much about how not to live and who not to follow. Seems like the Bible should work for that, but not all people search for the truth themselves. I pray that you would know the Truth more and more every day and that He would lead you in your journey of defending the true faith, hope, and love!
I thought I did take the time to respond. Oh well, if what you are doing is unto the Lord it shouldn't matter to you what a little brown blog that not many people read says.
May God bless you as you serve Him to the best of your abilities.
Thanks! I don't mean to be a bother, but just for the sake of completing my train of thought I wanted to fill in for the blog that got missed. It was about the idea of taking an "oath" or a "vow." I think there is just a lot of translating and cultural differences to work through in understanding this whole subject. Does a vow equal an oath? Should Christians not have wedding vows? Can a Christian legitimately take an oath of office in government?
When you look deeper into what James wrote and what Jesus said (Matt. 5:33-37)it seems to me that there is more to this issue (see Matt. 23:16-22). The verses are about not swearing by anything, like with an oath. The Nazirite consecration is a "vow" and a getting into semantics may matter (for me) in differentiating "vows" and "oaths." Here are some further scriptures to consider: Matt. 26:63&64, Acts 18:18, Acts 21:23, 2Cor. 1:23, Hebrews 6:13-20, and there may be more. My point is not to see who is right or wrong, but simply give an alternate perspective for those searching this subject out. We can all only see through this "mirror dimly," and do our best to live by grace and truth found in the Word of God.
Thanks for letting me express my opinion on your "little brown blog that not many people read." Somehow I found it!?!
Good point, I'll get back to you on that as I'm not fully awake yet. Later...
Okay, hi again Chris,
It just so happens that I have found a very good article on the very topic of oaths and vows and I will put it right into the post above, as it works better that way. So check it out.
But basically, the thing is that our holiness before God depends on His promise.
You bring up a good point about marriage, and I have thought about this before. Wedding vows, as we call them today in our Western culture, are actually a covenant, which is a promise (til death do us part). If you have ever studied in depth the term called "cutting a covenant" in the Old Testament, a whole new depth will be added to your understanding of this topic, especially in regards to Abraham and David/Jonathan. It was a life changing study for me (I did a Precepts course called Covenant).
Anyways, I will link that article into the post now. It's quite long, but I found it very helpful in understanding oaths and vows.
groan...a Nazarite Vow movement? I thought I already had enough new trends based on misapplied Scripture to deal with already...groan...
Good post!
Also, helpful article you linked to on oaths at the faithfulword.org site. Good find!
I was called upon by God to become a Hesychast (although I did not know it was called that until about 6 months ago) and have recently been called to take the nazarite vow, which I have pledged to do for 2 years. You take a literal interpretation of the nazarite vow but that is because you are not yet mature in your understanding but that will come with time and more study. As a lifelong Christian mystic, I receive my guidance from the Holy Spirit and there are many ways to interpret the Bible. There are many more paths to salvation than the lazy approach.
It's got nothing to do with laziness, but simply believing that Jesus has already done the work for us. We cannot earn our salvation. After we trust in His finished work on the cross, we obey and serve Him because He has saved us.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; Ephesians 2:8
Don't forget we are under the new covenant now, not the law.
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Colossians 2
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Keep studying God's Word, and He will reveal the truth to you.
Oh, by the way, it's not necessary to find an inner stillness within and ignore the physical senses to be in God's presence (mysticism). Jesus already brought us near by His blood, if we believe. It's in Ephesians. The mystery has been revealed. The mystery is the church, brought near by the blood. Jesus is concealed in the Old Testament, revealed in the New Testament.
Just throwing that in for good measure.
I think u got it all wrong. There is a movement happening and God has called upon the nazirtes, but not to make vows so that we can work are way to heaven. A generation has been called to have passion and to fast and to pray and to sacrifice that which we hold dear but distracts us from God. Prayer makes change and change will happen in America. There is no point in being skeptic about what is to happen. you have to believe it to be true because it's already started.
Okay, so there is a movement of prayer, fasting and repentance going on in America? That's good. America needs it.
Are you a Gentile? Where in the Bible are any Gentile Christians told to call themselves Nazirites to fast and pray? God sees the heart. Can we not all fast and pray and humble ourselves before God?
Ok so you keep commenting on how the nazarite vow is for jews only and I'm curious as to how you're coming upon that because the God I know uses anyone who wants to be used so if he is calling people who are not jews to be nazarites and it isn't stated bibically that the vow is for jewish poeple alone then who are you to say its wrong for God to move upon people in a way that hasn't really been seen before. You have to remember that He works in mysterious ways and can use anyone in any way that He desires to use them in order to show the world who is and so that people may come to know Him through the character of those who He uses
Carla,
As far as Gentiles taking the Nazarite Vow, are we all not adopted by grace? If we are all now Son's and Daughters of God, are we not adopted Jews then? We become a part of His chosen people. Just a thought, but perhaps the Nazarite Vow is more than just an idea. True it may be extreme to some, but you won't even tithe. If you are going to follow what the Bible says then follow it all. Tithing is not just a command by God in the OT but also the NT. Malachi 3 talks about bringin all the tithes into the storehouse. Tithes is mentioned several times in scripture from Genesis to Revelation. If you are not paying your tithes you are being disobedient. Disobedience is rebellion to what God has said. In Matthew 22:21 Jesus said to render unto Caesar what is his, and unto God what is His. Tithing is not an option. It is a mandate by God. If you are not paying your tithes you are walking in disobedience, and rebellion is as witchcraft. The Bible is specific that if you do not pay tithes, you rob God. Are you a theif?
Many times us Christians are our own worst enemies. We would rather judge and condemn someone elses convictions or question whether God spoke or not. WHO ARE YOU? What have you done for God lately? What are you willing to give up for Him? We already know that it isn't money. So then what? I think you need to read the scriptures again. If you're going to have an opinion, you are entitled to that. But do not take away from the Word of God. If you're going to speak truth, then speak TRUTH, and not your opinion. We as Christians preach opinion more than truth. Back up your views by scripture. Seek out Tithing, and judging others. Then after prayer, fasting, and hearing from the Lord, then try to teach others what you have learned.
When you talk about the Nazarite Vow, it is a way of life. Not just an "oath." I guess we better never put our hands on the Bible and swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth in a court of law. James 5 is speaking of not being a hypocrite and judging others.
Are we perfect, absolutely not. But don't judge someone because of their humolity and desire to have a deeper relationship with God. If the Nazarite Vow isn't for you, then fine. But don't dog someone because you don't understand it. This isn't a fad, or a pop-culture. This is a way of life for some. Instead of trying to spread an opinion, try to understand what it takes to make a decision like that for a 13 year old in the case of this guy from The Call. I respect it. Is it for me? Maybe not. However, I can't help but respect the fact that a young man as well as others are willing to sacrifice to follow Christ. Luke 9:23 - read it.
The whole point of that very grace we are adopted by makes it 100% unnecessary for us to try to keep impossible rules and vows. That was the whole point of Jesus fulfilling the law and being our substitute. We are adopted into his household, as heirs in the promise, through nothing we have done, but through Jesus's blood, and by what He has done. In Christ there is no Jew or Gentile (Ephesians 2 and 3 covers all that stuff). But the Jews and the land of Israel will ALWAYS be the chosen ones of God – as long as the sun and moon and stars shine and the waves roar (Jeremiah 31:35,36)!
Tithing is commanded in the New Testament? Back up your opinions by scripture, please.
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. 9:7
Who am I? I am absolutely nobody. What have I done for God lately? Are you kidding me? Does God need me to do anything for Him? Hardly. But I do love Him, and He even allows me to be part of His work every now and then. Amazing. What am I willing to give up for Him? Me. He wants us, to die to ourselves and live for Him, not our money or vows, He just wants our whole hearts.
If you or anyone wants to go try be a Nazarite, go for it. I’m not stopping you. And good luck with that.
It seems you have a very westernized view of Christianity. You can call what some one else feels led to do "false teaching" if it is in fact not false teaching. What is wrong is wrong and what is right is right. But there are things for you that are wrong that are not right for me, these things are irrelevant to the body of christ salvation as a whole but it is relevant to a personal level between a child of God and his Father. For example is it a sin to where shorts to church? NO, but it could convict me.. thus being sin for me. A modern Nazerite vow is simply away of showing ones dedication dn sacrifice to God. For me, I gave up television because all it does is pour filth into my life. The nazerite vow is highly founded on fasting which is a biblical principal that you never hear taught on. Its like its the "f-word" of westernized Christianity. It was necessary for me to cut off T.V. because through it birthed many sins with in me and it was a personal choice to conconcrate myself to God. Stop looking at the Word, power, and lead of God from an Americanized perspective. btw the scripture you used about not taking oaths, or swearing was specifically talking about when the world questioned us we are not to swear by any things but let our yes be yes. We should have to make rash words and swear on our mothers graves to make someone we are telling the truth about what Christ has done in our lives.
Then go for it.
Yeah, I don't watch TV either.
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