And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after he hath shaven [the hair of] his consecration.
The Nazirite's vow has run its course, and the last act is done to him, not by him. The priest fills his hands with the boiled shoulder of the ram, a loaf and a wafer — but why the shoulder, boiled, and not the breast?
Older translations call it the "sodden shoulder." One reference work defines the word:
The past tense of seethe, to boil. Genesis 25:29; Exodus 12:9; Numbers 6:19.
One writer ties the boiled shoulder to Christ's death and to feeding on the word:
Christ's strength was shown in the place where He was crucified in weakness. It was His strength that held Him up in the hour when He bore judgment for us and glorified God about our sins. Does not the boiled shoulder tell us that this divine strength, made known in Christ's death, is available to us through the word of God? It is as we feed on the word that we feed on the strength of Christ, shown and made available for us on the cross.
The Hebrew word behind "shoulder" carries that sense of strength elsewhere in the Bible:
The word for shoulder is also translated, depending on the context, as "arm" or "leg" (in the sense of foreleg). Used figuratively, it speaks of "strength." In Job 22:8 and Ezekiel 22:6 it is translated "power." It occurs for the first time in the blessing of Joseph (Genesis 49:24). There, and in other passages such as Exodus 6:6, "with an outstretched arm," it is used in connection with strength. So the Nazirite can remember that his Lord has borne all the responsibility and finished the work in His own strength.
Two pieces of unleavened bread go with the shoulder. One commentator reads the whole handful together:
The wave shoulder speaks of Christ as the One who has perfectly borne our responsibility on the cross and is glorified in heaven. The waving speaks of that glory... The unleavened cake and wafer remind us of Christ in His sinless perfection of Manhood. He will keep that perfection in wonderful grace through eternity.
The order of the verse matters. The sign of his own dedication comes off first; then the priest fills his hands.
With verse 19 we return to the actual peace-offering. The priest was to take the ram's shoulder. He was to lay it on the Nazirite's hands, together with the meal-offering — a cake and a wafer, both unleavened. All this came after the man had shaved off the hair of his consecration. The Nazirite now stands before God, not with the hair of his consecration, but with the peace-offering. This speaks of the believer who knows that his joy rests on Christ's sacrifice and not on the degree of his own dedication.
In ordinary peace-offerings the priest heaved the shoulder; here he waves it. One writer explains why:
In the ordinary peace-offerings the shoulder was heaved with the cakes; here it was waved. This offering did not spring from a thankful heart rejoicing in its blessings. It was not the gift of a heart wanting to present something of its own to the Lord in recognition of His goodness. It was the public declaration that the time of special separation to God had ended, so the right shoulder, with the cakes, was waved before the Lord. The man had been wholly separated to God by his vow; now he was to pass out of that state which he had voluntarily entered. So everything was waved, not heaved, and the shoulder, which pictures service, was the portion commanded to be offered in this way.
The priest does the waving, over food he is about to eat:
The offering priest had his portion, as well as his own part in the law of the Nazirite. He had to offer the sacrifices (vv. 16, 17) and to wave the wave offering before the Lord. Normally the breast was waved before the Lord. Here it is "the boiled shoulder" of the peace offering, with an unleavened cake and an unleavened wafer. What the priest is about to feed on is waved before God, for God finds pleasure in His priests feeding on the Christ who glorified Him in life and in death.
- Emptied — the hair of his consecration comes off first. Only then does the priest fill his hands, so nothing of his own vow is left in them.
- Filled — the priest lays the sacrifice there: a boiled shoulder and unleavened bread. The man did not earn it.
- Carried — the Hebrew word for shoulder also means arm and power. It says the Lord carried the whole responsibility and finished the work in His own strength.
- Fed — the boiled portion is ready to eat. The strength Christ showed at the cross reaches us as we feed on the word.
- Shared — the waving announces in public that the separation is over. The portion then feeds the priest, and God takes pleasure in that.
And the priest shall wave them as wave-offering before Jehovah; it is holy for the priest, with the breast of the wave-offering and with the shoulder of the heave-offering; and afterwards the Nazarite may drink wine.
The Nazarite's time of separation ends here, with the priest waving the offering before the Lord and taking his portion. Then comes the clause that reverses the vow: the man who touched nothing from the vine may drink wine again.
The priest waves the boiled shoulder and the cakes. In other peace offerings he lifted, or heaved, that shoulder instead, and one writer explains why.
In the ordinary peace offerings the shoulder was heaved with the cakes; here it was waved. The reason is this. This offering did not come from a thankful heart rejoicing in its blessings. It was not a gift of something of one's own, brought to the Lord in recognition of His goodness. It was the public declaration that the time of special separation to God had ended. His vow had set the man wholly apart for God; now he was to leave the state he had chosen to enter. So all was waved, not heaved, and the shoulder, which stands for service, was the portion God commanded to be offered.
The waved portion does not go back to the Nazarite. The verse calls it holy for the priest, and one writer hears God's own delight in what His priests eat.
The priest had his portion, and also his own part in the law of the Nazarite. Usually the priest waved the breast before the Lord. Here he waves the boiled shoulder of the peace offering, with an unleavened cake and an unleavened wafer. He waves before God the very food he is about to eat. God finds pleasure in His priests feeding on the Christ who glorified Him in life and in death.
The verse also names the breast that is waved. Another writer reads it as a picture of what moved Christ to give Himself:
The breast of the wave offering reminds us of "the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge" that led Him to bring this sacrifice. Whatever the Nazarite was able to do in his life was only possible through the love of Christ.
By this point the Nazarite has shaved off his hair, the visible sign of his vow. The priest puts the sacrifice in his hands instead.
The Nazarite now stands before God, not with the hair of his consecration, but with the peace offering. This speaks of the believer who knows that his joy rests on Christ's sacrifice and not on the degree of his own dedication.
The last clause sets a limit on the whole arrangement.
Nazariteship is never meant to be permanent. It is something for the wilderness. It comes in along the way on earth, and it is found only in Numbers.
Applied to the believer, that limit is the length of a life:
For us as believers the time of consecration covers our whole life. When we are with the Lord, watchfulness will no longer be necessary. Then there will be neither the inclination to defilement nor the occasion for it. When everything is ordered for God's honour, and the flesh is no longer in us, then even the Nazarite will "drink wine."
One writer hears Christ's own words at the last supper behind this closing line.
This marvellous law leads us on to something future. Then the full result of Christ's perfect work will appear. Then He, as the Messiah of Israel, will taste true joy in His beloved people and in this earth, at the close of His Nazarite separation. The time will then have come for the Nazarite to drink wine. He is apart from the nation and apart from this world, in the power of true Nazariteship. On that memorable night He said to His disciples: "I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
Another writer says what changes when the vow ends, and who tastes the joy first.
Right now the power of the Holy Spirit is spent, in great measure, in checking the desires of the flesh. One day it will be wholly a power of joy in God, and of fellowship with all that will surround us. Then the work of Christ will bring out its result. All the varied power of His sacrifice will be acknowledged. His people will enter into the fellowship of His joy. Wine will be taken with joy. Jesus Himself awaits that time. I believe this applies especially to His people here below, to the Jewish remnant in the last days. Something similar, however, awaits us, but in a still better way.
- Sacrifice first. The vow ends with an offering waved before the Lord. That is the public sign that a season of separation is over.
- Then the priest's share. The waved shoulder stands for service. It is holy for the priest, and God takes pleasure in His priests feeding on Christ.
- Then empty hands filled. The Nazarite's hair is gone. What he holds is the peace offering. His joy rests on Christ's sacrifice, not on how well he kept his vow.
- Then a time limit. Nazariteship belongs to the wilderness. For the believer it lasts as long as this life, where watchfulness is still needed.
- Then the wine. Christ Himself waits to drink it new in His Father's kingdom, and His people enter that joy with Him.