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.

A Glimpse Into What a Loving Father is like.

Leviticus 26:40-46 The Promise of Restoration

Day 30 of self-isolation. Had my outing for the week – an essential trip to our pharmacist to pick up our prescriptions and a much-needed excursion to Costco for groceries. Two new things at the drugstore today – they don’t take any leftover tablets you don’t need any longer and they re-arranged their store so you can only go in at the very front, the rest is closed off. If you want something from their shelves, one of the staff have to get it for you. And did I mention that they haven’t accept anything but debit and credit cards for the last few weeks. Meanwhile over at Costco, long line-ups outside [but much more comfortable and less congested inside], and now you don’t touch your purchases at the check-out [they take them out of your cart and put them back in or scan them in your cart], and there’s no more check what you have in your cart at the exit – they just count you so they can let someone else in.  Interesting times. There’s talk of a “re-opening of the country” and the world soon – two to six weeks depending on progress. But that will come in three phases – churches still left shut.

We press on with our study of the Word. Thanks for joining us and feel free to comment.  Hang in there.

The Passage

⁴⁰ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— ⁴¹ I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, ⁴² then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. ⁴³ For the land will be abandoned by them and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their iniquity, ^[a]because they rejected My ordinances and their soul abhorred My statutes. ⁴⁴ Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.’”

⁴⁶ These are the statutes and ordinances and laws which the Lord established between Himself and the sons of Israel ^[b]through Moses at Mount Sinai.

Footnotes:

a.     Leviticus 26:43 Lit because and by the cause

b.     Leviticus 26:46 Lit by the hand of

Thoughts on the Passage

The last part of this passage is God’s promise that there is hope even if we have seriously disobeyed Him for a long time. There are still some conditions, but God so much wants to forgive His people. Verse 40 requires us to confess our sin and the sin of our fathers. We need to recognize that when we sinned (and still sin today), while we may think it is usually against people (the store owner from whom we stole, the business contact we cheated, the spouse we betrayed), it is indeed a sin committed against God. It is an act of hostility against Him.

I find verse 41 most interesting. This is God admitting that He was acting in a hostile way towards His people in response. Is this admission related to the last phrase of verse 40? Not sure.

But if we humble our hearts and make amends for our sin, God says [in verse 42] that He will remember His covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham to have His people multiply. And God says He will remember the land. [God loves the earth that He created for His people.]

In verse 43, God expects that while the land is being replenished, God’s sinful people will be making amends for their sin as they recognize that they rejected his laws and that their soul hated His commandments.

And still, even during this time, even though His people have not fully repented (verse 44), and while they are in the land of their enemies, God will not reject them or abhor them to the point where He would destroy them as a people forever.  For doing so, would be breaking His covenant with them. He can’t do that – because is the Lord their God.

Instead in verse 45 He says He will remember them (for the sake of the covenant He made with their forefathers), and because He brought them out of Egypt in broad daylight (in the sight of all people) so that He could be their God.

Matthew Henry says that this restoration has basically three steps to it:

-- First, confession is required. This is confession by which God’s people are to give glory to God and take shame to themselves.
-- Second, there must be remorse and godly sorrow for our sins (verse 41) whereby our “uncircumcised hearts must be humbled”.
-- Third, submission to the justice of God in all His dealings with them, even in light of their sins.

And in return, Henry says, they will not be abandoned by God, and they will be remembered by Him.  

Chuck Smith summarizes this passage as follows:

[In other words, God says,] "I will preserve them as an ethnic group," which God has done. He kept His promise. He kept His word. No other nation; no other nation has had that same fate. Every other nation who has been without a homeland has disappeared as an ethnic group. Not the Jew; he has remained a Jew to the present day. God kept His word.

That’s the incredible God that we have as our God. He rewards our obedience; he punishes our disobedience; but He never totally rejects His people. If that is not what a loving Father is all about, then I have no idea what a loving father is.

For the Christian going through this Covid-19 experience in 2020, these promises of God can be claimed without hesitation – God will not abandon us and He will not forget us, regardless of the earthly outcome we or our loved ones may face.

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

Who Defines Restoration In The Case of A Wrong?

Leviticus 6:1-7:

¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

² “When a person sins and acts unfaithfully against the Lord, and deceives his companion in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his companion, 

³ or has found what was lost and lied about it and sworn falsely, so that he sins in regard to any one of the things a man may do; 

⁴ then it shall be, when he sins and becomes guilty, that he shall restore what he took by robbery or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him or the lost thing which he found, ⁵ or anything about which he swore falsely; he shall make restitution for it in full and add to it one-fifth more. He shall give it to the one to whom it belongs on the day he presents his guilt offering. 

⁶ Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering, 

⁷ and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt.”

Thoughts on the Passage

The beginning of chapter six (first seven verses) offers us more instances where the guilt offering is required. (It could easily have been included in chapter five.) And then the rest of chapter six and all of chapter seven deal with instructions on administering the various offerings (The Burnt Offering – 6:8-13; the Meal Offering – 6:14-23; The Sin Offering – 6:24-30; The Guilt Offering – 7:1-10; and The Peace Offering – 7:11-36). The last few verses of chapter 7 (verses 37 and 38) give us a neat Summary of the Offerings.

But our current passage is still talking about other occasions when the Guilt Offering is to be made.

God, through Moses, turns His attention, to business inter-relationships between people.  There is to be no lying between seller and buyer; loaner and borrower; between the person effecting fraud and the victim; etc. The deception can be as a result of one self-admitting it or when on is caught-lying. Confession, restoration (full amount plus 20%), and then the guilt offering is required. Then the forgiveness is guaranteed.

However, I note in verse 7 that the phrase is “forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt”.  It is possible that if I have cheated someone, or stole several things from someone, etc. – that is, I committed several acts of this kind of sin referred to here – then I have to confess each one, make restoration plus 20% for each one, and offer a guilt offering for each one.  This seems to go along with earlier thoughts that God does not just want us to say “forgive me, I have sinned” but He wants us to be fully aware of our specific sins and to repent in each case.  People come to us, especially children, and say, “I’m sorry.”  What is our natural response?  “What exactly are you sorry for?”  And God, in whose image we are made, is like that too.

Matthew Henry points out that we need to observe that while these types of sins relate to our neighbor, they are rightly called sins “against the Lord”. The neighbor suffers the immediate consequence, but the offence is against your neighbor’s Maker – regardless of who your neighbor is what he thinks or does not think of God.

Henry also suggests the concept of the extra 20% to be paid back is to get across the idea that restoration is not restoration until the person receiving it feels his/her loss has been restored.

What is the lesson for us? Well, we know what restoration looks like when we have been wronged, but do we think about what restoration looks like when we wrong others?

Similarly, we as human beings cannot dictate to God what He accepts as ‘restoration’ for our sins agains Him. Only He can set the terms.  And in this case, we can’t meet them.  So, He provided another Way through His own Son.

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

It's Easy to say "I Am a Sinner." Much Harder to say, "This is How I have Sinned."

Telling the Truth and Keeping Promises

Leviticus 5:1-13:

¹ ‘Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt. 

² Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean beast or the carcass of unclean cattle or a carcass of unclean swarming things, though it is hidden from him and he is unclean, then he will be guilty.

³ Or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort his uncleanness may be with which he becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty. 

⁴ Or if a person swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, in whatever matter a man may speak thoughtlessly with an oath, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty in one of these. 

⁵ So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned. 

⁶ He shall also bring his guilt offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.

⁷ ‘But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord his guilt offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. 

⁸ He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first that which is for the sin offering and shall nip its head at the front of its neck, but he shall not sever it. 

⁹ He shall also sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar: it is a sin offering. 

¹⁰ The second he shall then prepare as a burnt offering according to the ordinance. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it will be forgiven him.

¹¹ ‘But if his means are insufficient for two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then for his offering for that which he has sinned, he shall bring the tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall not put oil on it or place incense on it, for it is a sin offering.

¹² He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar, ^[i^]with the offerings of the Lord by fire: it is a sin offering. 

¹³ So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has ^[j^]committed from one of these, and it will be forgiven him; then the rest shall become the priest’s, like the grain offering.’”

Thoughts on the Passage

It would be prudent for us to stop here for a moment and try to get a better orientation to where we are in the book of Leviticus, as things can start to get quite complex.

Let me give you a high level perspective of the book:

·      Part One (the first 17 chapters) describe the Laws of Acceptable APPROACH to God or Sacrifice

·      Part Two (the last 17 chapters) describe the Laws of Acceptable WALK with God or Sanctification

Now let us look closer at Part One.

·      Part One

o   In chapters 1 to 3, we have described for us the Laws of Approach to God when a person is IN FELLOWSHIP

§  The Burnt Offering – 1:1 –1:17

§  The Meal Offering – 2:1–2:16

§  The Peace Offering – 3:1–3:17,   and that is followed by

o   In chapters 4:1 – 6:7, a description for us of the Laws of Approach to God when a peson is OUT OF FELLOWSHIP

§  The Sin Offering – 4:1—5:13

§  The Guilt Offering – 5:14—6:7

o   And that is then followed by a section on the laws for Administering these Five Offerings (6:8—7:38)

Right now, we are studying the highlighted portion above – The Sin Offering for when out of fellowship with God.

Chuck Smith boils guilt down to being aware or being made aware of you doing something that is wrong in God’s eyes.  And when that happens, we need to confess such sin. And a sacrifice without confession is not sufficient. God can’t deal with sin in our life as long as we do not confess it, or even if we still want to hold on to parts of it or make excuses for it.  Our confessed sin allows God to be faithful and forgive us and cleanse us from it.

Verses one to five talk about the need for confession of the sin. Then the sin offering can be offered, and it requires either a female lamb, or a kid goat. And if neither of those are affordable, then two turtle doves, or two young pigeons.

David Guzik focuses on the need for the Israelites to be truthful witnesses to what they see, with respect to others committing sin or crime. With all the FakeNews going around these days, people have lost the sense of what truth is and why it is important.

For Guzik, the text seems to indicate that it isn’t enough to merely not tell lies. God also requires His people to make the truth known. Several thoughts come to my mind when I read this.  First, while we can claim much of the Torah’s Laws are not applicable to us today, there are many principles on which those laws are based that do apply to us today. This is just one example.

Secondly, what does this principle say to us about ‘speaking up’ when we know wrong has been done?  I believe there is a role for Christians in this today – be it in the injustices that take place globally, or nationally, or locally, or in our churches, or in our families. But we do it with love.

Matthew Henry says that we need to tell the truth in such cases, even though we may fear offending a friend or possibly an enemy who may harm us. Not doing so, he says, makes us a partner with the sinner.

And thirdly, we need to be aware that the world has abandoned the idea of “telling the truth” being an absolute value. You see people lying all the time – even in court or elsewhere under oath and then getting caught and asking for forgiveness, really regretting only that they got caught.

And the text says, if we don’t tell the truth that is hidden, we ourselves bear the guilt. One commentator (Harris) says, “In Israel all the people were to be involved in seeing that justice was done. Not to witness was a sin.”  What a difference it would make to the church as a whole, and thus to the world, if we all believed that today.  So many Christians would “rather just not be involved”.  If so, there is no way of getting around it – they bear the guilt, the Bible says. And Guzik applies that to our giving witness of our own relationship with Jesus Christ.  Don’t share Him when the opportunity arises, and you risk bearing the guilt associated with that.

The cleansing associated with the sin offering was also necessary when someone in the camp became ceremoniously unclean by touching anything that was unclean (either a carcass of an unclean animal or any human uncleanness). This was particularly important before someone was to come near or to enter the court of the Tabernacle.

Verse 4 addresses something that I think should be read over and over.  Guzik says it implies that “A careless promise was still a promise before the Lord and had to be observed. If the promise was not kept it had to be atoned for by a sin offering. . .. When we are aware of our broken vows we must repent of them.” Examples include saying we will pursue more time in prayer; more prayer for others; more time in the word; more unashamed witnessing; more faithful giving; more patience with our children; more love to our spouse; and more purity in mind, word, and deed.  Time to confess.

While this may seem like it refers to promises we make to God and then break (which are done often by all of us, especially when we are going through difficult times), I believe it also applies to when we break the promises we make to others – for I do not believe God would have us treat our fellow Christians and others differently.  And surprisingly, and sadly, I have found in my long career and association with both business people and clergy, that it is the clergy that often fail miserably in this regard.  They fail to keep their promises and are many times too proud to even admit it.

Vows and promises are good and sometimes a sign that the Holy Spirit is working in us. But if not kept, they become a sin in need of confession and repentance.  Henry says this also applies to “rash swearing” or rash promises – especially a promise that would cause the promiser to break a law or to otherwise sin. By not doing so, he is discharged from the sin he would have committed, but he still needs to atone for the broken promise that he made.

Verse 5 indicates that the confession needs to happen at the time the person realizes his guilt. That’s when he confesses, meaning he agrees with God that the action taken was a sin or thus wrong.

Guzik also raises the question many of us may not have thought of before. He says, “When we see how strongly the principle of atonement by sacrifice is emphasized in the Old Testament, many people wonder why the Jewish people today no longer make sacrifice. The answer is that they believe their good works will substitute for animal sacrifice.”  Harris backs him up by saying, “Indeed, when the second temple fell, the rabbis, denied an altar in Jerusalem, came to the conclusion that gifts and prayers were as acceptable as animal sacrifice.” While that is a possibility, I would rather hear from a Jew on this issue. So, I turned to http://www.jewfaq.org/qorbanot.htm this site and found out that Guzik is on the right track. The only exception being that Orthodox Jews would like to see this practice return.

Matthew Henry adds more insights to this passage.  First that based on verses 5 and 6, the offering could not occur until the confession was made. Second, that the confession must be specific (see the end of verse 5). That is backed up in the case of Achan described later in Joshua 7:20 who said, “I have sinned against the Lord…and this is what I did.”

It is easy for someone to say, “I am a sinner.” It is much harder to say, “This is how I have sinned.”  And yet that’s what God requires of us all.

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