Calling on the American Nazarites
This November election in the United States can bring about dramatic political and spiritual changes. In addition to the heated congressional races, local school board elections are hotly contested.
Like many other people, my husband and I got very involved in local politics after the endless restrictions from COVID, talks of oversexualized health education, and the dramatic decline of basic public education. In our district, the two school board incumbents we are trying to vote out have the support of our local union body, the Association of Placentia-Yorba Linda Educators [APLE]. APLE is under the Orange Service Center Council of the California teacher’s Association [CTA-OCC]. Their website reads in part, “The California Teachers Association (CTA), with nearly 300,000 members, is the largest organization representing educators within California ... National Education Association (NEA), representing nearly 3,000,000 educators throughout the United States, is the largest labor organization in the US. Educators who join their local chapter are members of all three organizations – local, CTA, and NEA. Coordination of policies and programs between the affiliates and the CTA/NEA is carried out with the assistance of primary contact, UniServ, and regional staff members.”
I explain the connection between the local and national labor unions because it is the same in every state in the nation. Local union endorsement means the candidate supports the policies and programs of the entire union network. As the largest labor organization in the country, NEA profoundly impacts what most of our children are learning. Recent news reports exposed some alarming claims about what the NEA promotes through its NEA-LGBTQ caucus. Teachers are encouraged to purchase and wear badges with the Title “I’m Here,” which had a QR code from which their students could access horribly explicit resources on sex education. Since the news broke, some of the most disturbing material links are hidden from the NEA-endorsed website but are still accessible here. The booklet entitled Queering Sex Ed described disgusting sexual acts geared at enticing teens to experiment. It claims, “We want to empower youth. To have better access to information than a standard that was set 20 years ago.” The material was so vulgar it was hard to stomach. As a sex crimes detective, my husband said he used to arrest people for far less. A rational person could only reach one conclusion: dark, demonic forces are clearly at work.
Every Bible-believing Christian should ask how we can help fight the evil and wickedness of our day. We know labor unions are notorious for having unscrupulous ways of dealing with detractors. Yet, we cannot shrink from the responsibility of speaking out against them when they engage in such vile actions. The battle against immorality and depravity is fierce. We know persecution is increasing when a pro-life activist gets arrested by the FBI in front of his seven children. However great the opposition, we must stay the course.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
I recently came across a relatively lesser-known biblical tradition called the Nazarite vow. The root word Nazir in the original Hebrew means “to separate oneself” and is described further in Numbers 6:1-6:
“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord … they must abstain from wine … no razor may be used on their head ... the Nazirite must not go near a dead body. Throughout the period of their dedication, they are consecrated to the Lord.”
Here God extends an invitation to any woman or man who desires to take a vow of intense consecration and separation to Himself. Though there were lifelong Nazarites like Samuel, Samson, and John the Baptist, most people took their vow for a specific length of time.
The Prophet Samuel, consecrated from birth, was a great prophet and anointed the first two kings of Israel: Saul and David. Samson was also set apart from birth and had great power to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. In the New Testament, the consecration of John the Baptist gave him the prophetic insight to lead the people of Israel to repentance. He was a forerunner spirit that prepared the way for the first coming of Jesus. There also is an indication the Apostle Paul took a Nazarite vow on two occasions. All these men accomplished great things for the Kingdom of God and willingly took on additional rules and restraints to draw near to God.
Clearly, this requires a level of dedication that is beyond just going to church once a week. Even though all believers are redeemed by the blood of the lamb and are members of the royal priesthood, not all choose to walk through the narrow door of self-denial and consecration to the Lord.
Modern-day Nazarites commit to following the commands of Jesus and hold themselves publicly accountable. It is evident from how they treat other people, how they fight sin, and the courage they display in standing for God’s truth, regardless of the consequences. Yet the modern Nazarite is not focused on outward devotions with a bankrupt heart like a Pharisee. They have a devotion created by the fire of intimacy with the Lord. The battle of the flesh is one we fight until our Lord returns, but being set apart in this capacity is a choice to be made daily.
Remember the warning from Paul to Corinth, which repeats God’s warnings to the Israelites who were continuously disobedient:
“…For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?... What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said,[…] ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you’” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 [in part])
Our nation is on the brink of losing God’s blessing due to moral decay and reckless disregard for His commandments. Now is a critical time to raise a remnant of American Nazarites. Let’s all pray the Lord brings about such a harvest.
Hedieh Mirahmadi was a devout Muslim for two decades working in the field of national security before she experienced the redemptive power of Jesus Christ and has a new passion for sharing the Gospel. She dedicates herself full-time to Resurrect Ministry, an online resource that harnesses the power of the Internet to make salvation through Christ available to people of all nations, and her daily podcast LivingFearlessDevotional.com.
