In
Numbers chapter 5, the Israelites are again reminded of the necessity
to keep the camp pure, and the reason given is, “So
they will not defile the camp where I dwell among them“.
What an important concept to remember for us too. If God is
concerned with the whole camp of the Israelites, how much more is He
concerned with our individual lives? It is so easy to allow sin to
creep into our lifestyles. The chapter causes us to consider who and
what we allow in our daily lives. The chapter begins by commanding,
“Send
away from the camp anyone that has an infectious skin disease, or a
discharge, or who is ceremonially unclean… male and female alike;
send them outside the camp“.
We are quick to make excuses for sin in our society in the name of
compassion. There is no lack of compassion here; God deals swiftly
to protect those that are not infected. As we read in previous
chapters that God provided a process for restoration, but His
standard is never lowered in the name of compassion. Next, God
commands the guilty to provide restitution, “When
a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the
Lord, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has
committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong“.
Interesting that he is called unfaithful
to the Lord
and the only way to be restored is by first confessing the sin. We
tend to try to avoid the confession part and just work to fix the
resulting problems. Spiritual healing ALWAYS begins with humbly
confessing to God our unfaithfulness to Him.
Next,
the chapter discusses what a husband is to do when he jealously
suspects his wife of being unfaithful to him. He is to bring his
wife to the priest, where she will “stand
before the Lord“.
The priest is to mix bitter water containing the words of
condemnation to the guilty. “He
shall have the women drink the bitter water… if she has defiled
herself and been unfaithful to her husband… her thigh will waste
away and her abdomen will swell and she will become accursed among
her people“.
It is interesting how our past sins can eat away at our joy now, and
perhaps even keep us feeling like bloated hypocrites. There is only
one way to be cleansed from our sins, and that is by faith, accepting
the fact that Jesus paid the price completely. We are not to keep
any of the penalty, our Lord endured the crucifixion so we can be
healed COMPLETELY! Notice, if the woman is cleared from her guilt,
“she
will be able to have children“,
meaning she not only understands mentally she is forgiven, she LIVES
OUT HER LIFE as if she is forgiven. When we accept the forgiveness
through Christ we are new creations, “Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have
passed away, behold, all things have become new”
(2 Corinthians 5:17).
1
Corinthians chapter 6 explains that sexual immorality is a unique
type of sin. The apostle Paul explains, “The
body is not made for sexual immorality, but for the Lord… Do you
not know your bodies are members of Christ Himself? Shall I take the
members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! All
other sins a man commits are outside the body, but he who sins
sexually sins against his own body. Do you know your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from
God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore
honor God with your body.”
It is interesting that Numbers speaks only to the guilty women, but
Jesus holds the Man accountable. Be careful to guard your camp
against “infectious” people!