Sanctification requires Separation as the Israelites were finding out.

Numbers Chapter 5: Sanctification of Israel through 3 Forms of Separation

Numbers 5:1-10 Separation of Unclean Persons and Separation in Restitution for Sin

Day 39 of self-isolation. Checked the Covid-19 worldwide stats today. Deaths to settled cases is at 19.5%; Recoveries to all cases is at 28.6%; and Deaths to all cases is at 6.9%. Still high in the first and third stat; and still low in the second stat. The good news is they seem to be going in the right direction, but that can change tomorrow. In the meantime, we press on, taking every opportunity to work on deciphering the book of Numbers for us non-theological types.  Thanks for joining me.

The Passage

In verses 1-4 God tells Moses to have the sons of Israel send away from the camp every leper and everyone having a discharge or is unclean because of a dead person. Males and females were treated alike. They weren’t allowed to defile the camp where God dwelled.

In verses 5-10 God tells Moses that when a man or woman commits any sin of mankind, against the Lord, the guilty person must confess their sin and make restitution in full, and add 20%, giving it to the person that was wronged, or if they are dead to one of their kin, or if there is no kin, to the Lord for the priest. And in there, the last two verses talk about every Israelite’s right to partake of the offerings that he has brought to the tabernacle (for whatever reason).

Thoughts on the Passage

This chapter is the first of six that deals with Israel’s sanctification. Sanctification is very well explained here by BibleStudyTools. It is worth looking up as some excellent background to what we are about to learn. The bottom line is that one is sanctified, by being used for what its creator intended it to be used for.  God had a purpose for Israel, and she needed to be set aside for that purpose. In order to do so, God had to make sure she was ‘sanctified’ and separated from certain things. Chapter 5 covers three of them. Here we discuss the first two leaving the third one for next time.

As tough as sending defiled people outside of the camp sounds, we need to keep in mind that God wanted a totally ‘clean’ camp for Him to dwell and for His people to live in. And also remember that God made provisions for how those put outside the camp because of their uncleanliness could possibly be restored. But the key idea here that needed to be understood by the Israelites then and by us today is that God wants a “clean house”.  [At the risk of being political, it reminds me a little of what America has been experiencing the last few years as those in charge are trying (not always succeeding) to clean the political “swamp”.]

Let us also remember that with respect to our passage, God is God and we need to understand that He has the right to do things or want things done His way. On the other hand, David Guzik quotes Clarke as suggesting that this action may have been the original idea giving rise to the concept of a hospital.

Matthew Henry suggests that this passage is a clear message to those who govern a church today. He writes: “They must separate between the precious and the vile, and purge out scandalous persons, as old leaven (1 Cor. 5:8,13), lest others should be infected and defiled, Heb. 12:15. It is for the glory of Christ and the edification of his church that those who are openly and incorrigibly profane and vicious should be put out and kept from Christian communion till they repent.”

Henry also says that this is indicative of what “God Himself will do in the great day: he will thoroughly purge His floor and gather out of his kingdom all things that offend. As here the unclean were shut out of the camp, so into the new Jerusalem no unclean thing shall enter, Rev. 21.:27.

I like the way Robert Jamieson puts it: “And this vigilant care to maintain external cleanliness in the people was typically designed to teach them the practice of moral purity, or cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.”

In the second portion of the chapter we see that sin requires confession and restitution.  Confession of one’s sin may be sufficient for a young child caught by his mother or father in stealing from the cookie jar. But that is not the way society works.  You can confess you cheated from you employer, but you also have to either return the money, lose your job, or go to prison – and often, any two or three of the options. In the is passage, God says if you sin, you have to confess and make whole the person you sinned against, and then add 20% more.  (You will remember this is based on the value of things as determined in earlier passages.)

Finally, in verses 9 and 10, we see that God intended that every Israelite have he right to partake of the offerings he brought to the priest, regardless of reason.  This is parallel to what we studied in Leviticus 3 regarding certain offerings. Guzik suggests that this is symbolic of an open door for fellowship with the Lord, once restitution has been made – neither the priest could take that away, nor a king tax it away.

I thought it strange that God should stick these two verses in the midst of a chapter on separation, but herein says Guzik, “God therefore reminds Israel of the purpose of this separation – fellowship with God. This, ultimately, is the reason to pursue purity: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). I would add, since we’re discussing separation in the context of sanctification that we cannot be used by God as He originally intended for us to be used unless we are in fellowship with Him.

So today we ask ourselves if we have removed all uncleanliness from our camp, our lives? And have we confessed to God all our sins and made restitution for them as appropriate. There’s more to come before our own sanctification is completed – but we can’t get too far without these two steps being in order.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.