AM Bible Study Group; March 31, 2010

Numbers 5:1-31

Theme: This chapter describes God’s requirement of ceremonial, moral and relational purity from His people as they prepare to march to the promised land.

Chapters 1-4 have dealt with the numbering of the people of Israel as they prepared to march to the holy land; and in chapters 5-9, we find the focus to be on the actual preparation of the people themselves. In Exodus 19:6, God let the people know that they would be to Him “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. And so, chapter five begins by telling us of how they were to be—indeed—a holy people before Him. The single emphasis that ties the elements of chapter five together is ‘purity before God’.

An important way to look at this chapter is to see it as a picture of the church today. Drawing from God’s words to Israel before mount Sinai, the apostle Peter wrote to his brothers and sisters in Christ and said, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul”; and urged them to have their conduct “honorable among the Gentiles” (1 Peter 2:11-12); because “you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people . . .” (vv. 9-10). So; even though we are not obligated to the same outward ceremonial requirements that the people of Israel were under in their march to the promised land, this chapter nevertheless teaches us about the moral purity before God that is required of us as we make our way to our eternal home in Christ.

In this chapter, we see that a holy God required His people to be pure before Him with respect to . . .

I.WORLDLY DEFILEMENTS (vv. 1-4).

A.The chapter begins with the command from God to Moses that the people put out of the camp “every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse”. In the book of Leviticus, it was already established that these things defiled the people (see Leviticus 13-14 with regard to leprosy; Leviticus 15 with regard to bodily discharges; and Leviticus 11:39-40 and 21:1-6 with regard to contact with dead animals or persons).

B.God was very specific that no exceptions be made—male or female; but that all be put outside the camp. This may seem cruel to our standards today; but it’s important to remember that it was God who commanded this; that these things were symbolic to God’s people of the defilements of a fallen world; and that the command served the purpose of illustrating the importance of keeping the whole body of God’s people from becoming defiled in His sight. It is, for us, a picture of the purification God requires of His church with respect to that which defiles the whole (1 Corinthians 5:6-8; 2 Corinthians 6:11-7:1).

II.RELATIONAL OFFENSES (vv. 5-10).

A.Not only were the people to be concerned with that which might defile them from the outside; but also with that which might defile them with respect to their own moral actions. Before the people could begin their march, they needed to make sure that there was no one among them who had left a sin undealt with in regard to his neighbor. The sin that a man may commit against his neighbor is, actually, a sin committed in unfaithfulness to the Lord (vv. 5-6). He must not simply feel bad about it; but must actually make restitution for it (v. 7; see also 2 Corinthians 7:9-11).

B.If a man was not able to make restitution to the one he harmed, he must make restitution to the offended person’s nearest relative. But if there is no near relative, he must make restitution directly to the Lord through the priest (v. 8). All that the priest thus receives—in addition to the ram for the offering—would belong to the priest (vv. 9-10). This is meant to be a picture to us of the fact that when our brother has something against us, we are not right with God until we make the matter right with our brother (Matthew 5:23-26; 6:14-15).

III.MARITAL JEALOUSY (vv. 11-31).

A.This seems like a very strange passage. It almost sounds like the “trial by ordeal” that was characteristic of medieval days. And yet, it must be remembered that what happens in this chapter is much more merciful than those “trials by ordeal” of old. It had to do with a man having a suspicion that his wife had not been faithful to him. It is a situation in which the suspicion is there; but the actual act was not discovered (see Deuteronomy 22:22; John 8:1-12).

B. Gordon Wenham, in his commentary on Numbers, gives an excellent summary of what was to happen:

1.The suspicious husband brings his wife and an appropriate offering to the priest (v. 15).

2.The priest takes the woman into the court of the tabernacle before the Lord (v. 16).

3.The priest then takes an earthenware vessel, puts water in it, and mixes it with some dust from the tabernacle floor (v. 17).

4.The priest then goes back to the woman, unbinds her hair, and puts the offering in her hand (v. 18).

5.Then, holding the water in his hands, the priest recites the curse to the woman, and she assents to what is recited (vv. 19-22).

6.The priest writes down the curses and then washes them off into the holy water (v. 23).

7.The priest takes the offering from the woman, and burns part of it on the altar (vv. 25-26).

8.The woman then drinks the water (v. 26).

9.The water affects the woman if she is guilty (27-28).

C.Note that there’s nothing ‘magical’ about the water. It is simply water. Nor is there anything magical about the dust. It is simply dust—though significant in that it is dust from the tabernacle floor. But in the performance of this act, obedience to God is fulfilled; and He brings about the result—depending on the woman’s innocence or guilt.

D.This underscores that the husband/wife relationship is very important to God. It is a picture of Jesus’ relationship with His church; and of how a holy God also demands holiness in His sight with respect to the husband/wife relationship (Ephesians 5:22-33; 2 Corinthians 11:2).