THE PURIFICATION OF SINNERS (expository)

Numbers 5:1-10

In a British newspaper article titled “The diseases of modern civilisation,” journalist David Newnham writes, “Surrounded, then, by a maelstrom of disease, and veined internally with the rot of poverty, Britain increasing resembles a population under siege.”

This melange of fervid metaphors is characteristic of current popular discussion of infectious disease. Experts warn that we are under fresh threat from drug-resistant bugs, old plagues and new viruses. One could make similar statements about the increasing incidence of home invasion, violent assault, and a range of minor and major crimes.

Turn the clock back 100 years, though, and little has changed except that there are far fewer people in the world, and they have yet to experience the astonishing advances in medical science that will occur in the 20th century, and much of the sophisticated technological crime of the 21st century is impossible without the technology to commit it.

EVERYTHING HAPPENS, NOTHING CHANGES

Turn the clock back 3000 years, and we have the same problems of disease and crime, the same imperative to protect people, and the same need for the administration of hygiene and justice.

It may sound distant and irrelevant at a first reading, but that is what Numbers 5:1-10 is all about! The book of Numbers is one of the least understood and appreciated books of the Bible, but it remains a reservoir of theological truth waiting to be tapped, and a treasury of practical guidance waiting to be discovered and unlocked and put to use.

Numbers tells the story of Israel’s journey from Mt Sinai to the plains of Moab on the eastern border of Canaan, the Promised Land. What was normally an eleven-day trip took 38 years and nine months. The reason for this lies in Numbers, where we discover a long pattern of human unfaithfulness, rebellion, apostasy and frustration on Israel’s part, set against the background of God’s faithfulness, presence, provision and forbearance.

But in Numbers 5 we are still at Sinai, where God is preparing his people for their arduous journey. He instructs Moses to establish regulations designed to safeguard the medical, military and spiritual integrity of the community. These arose not on pragmatic grounds, nor from community consensus, or contemporary convention, or legal or constitutional authority, or by the assertions of the crown or a military dictator. They were communicated and promulgated by divine authority, and deserved the most diligent obedience.

HOLY UNTO THE LORD

In ancient Israel people and objects could be classified in three ways. Those that were impure and abnormal for their class were called “unclean.” Those that were pure and normal for their class were called “clean.” Those that were sanctified and fitted for divine use in God’s presence were called “holy.”

Dirt, death, sins, and a range of bodily conditions could cause uncleanness in people. Here, in verses 1-4, Moses enumerates three kinds of uncleanness:

(a) those suffering “infectious skin diseases” – possibly psoriasis, acute acne or vitiligo (but not Hansen’s disease) (cf Lev 13-14).

(b) those experiencing “a discharge of any kind” – technically, abnormal genital discharges excluding menstruation (cf Lev 15).

(c) those who had come in contact with a dead body (cf Num 19).

Awareness of any such uncleanness prompted a uniform response: the offending party was quarantined outside the camp, presumably until healing or death occurred. The alternative was permanent excommunication from the community of faith (cf Lev 7:20).

Such regulations may sound unnecessarily harsh or barbaric to our ‘cultured’ and ‘sophisticated’ sensibilities – but I suggest they are no more scandalous or barbaric than common contemporary practices such as abortion or eyebrow piercing! Medically these regulations made sense as careful measures to avoid the spread of contagious disease, especially among large numbers of nomads and in view of the likelihood of future military campaigns.

TWO COMPLEMENTARY THEMES

However, Israel’s primary rationale was not medical but spiritual: they were the people of God, and they were to be characterised by holiness to the Lord. Unclean people were viewed as a threat to the whole community – not merely because of the danger of contagion, but because they defiled the tabernacle, the place where God’s presence rested among his people.

James Philip writes, “No possible source of defilement could be tolerated if (God’s) presence was to remain with them . . . The question at issue is not whether God has a care for the afflicted or not; it is that of keeping the people of God pure and undefiled.”

These two complementary themes – God dwelling among his people, and the imperative for his people to be holy – echo throughout Scripture.

In general, when they were holy and dedicated to God’s purposes, Israel prospered (cf the fall of Jericho, Jos 2:8-11; 6:1-27). When uncleanness entered the community, Israel foundered (cf Achan’s sin, Jos 7:1-26). Similarly, in the New Testament, when the growth of the early church was threatened through the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, the sin was swiftly and severely dealt with (Ac 5:1-11).

Following Achan’s death, Israel defeated Ai; following the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, “the apostles were highly regarded by the people (and) more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number” (Ac 5:13f). The godly exercise of discipline among God’s people leads to holy living and spiritual power, and a real sense of God’s presence and blessing among his people.

Let me explain the value of personal holiness. Take a bar of steel: its purchase price just as it is may be $5.00. If you fashioned it into horseshoes its value may increase to $10.00. Manufacture needles, and the value becomes $300.00. Use it to create tiny, delicate springs for expensive watches and it will yield perhaps $250,000.00.

The level of our commitment to holiness determines whether we become Christians of minimal, moderate or significant spiritual influence for God. In Revelation 21:3f, 27, the same complementary themes are echoed again.

JUSTICE BEFORE HOLINESS

Verses 5-10 address a different issue, providing case law regarding appropriate action in situations where loss or injury occurs to another person. When a deliberate offence is committed, guilt is imputed to the perpetrator, and the act is also said to constitute unfaithfulness to the Lord (v 6). The guilty party must accept responsibility for the sin and confess, putting things right with God (v 7a). Then full restitution must be made, adding 20 per cent over and above the cost of compensation, and the whole amount is given to the victim (v 7b).

If the original victim has died between the crime and the reparation, restitution is payable to the nearest relative. If no kinsman can be found, “restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram with which atonement is made for him” (v 8; cf Lev 5:14-6:7).

Whereas confession involves putting things right with God, restitution involves putting things right with one’s fellow. Both were essential elements to reconciliation; without them, the perpetrator alienated both God and the one who was wronged.

“Justice in the community and right worship of God cannot be separated” (Katherine Doob Sakenfeld). Confession and restitution resulted in peace with God, peace among neighbours, and a positive example to others, including non-Israelites. The New Testament emphasis is the same: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Mt 5:23f).

CLEANING UP MY LIFE

As a community of faith, we claim to know and follow the God of the Old and New Testaments. As a Christian community, we claim the presence of Christ among us as we meet.

In these respects, as well as in our proclivity for defilement and our propensity to commit injustices, we are little different from the people of ancient Israel. We need to match our attitudes and behaviour with the holy status God gives us through faith in Christ. We need to confess our sins to God, and make restitution to those we wrong. It costs little to say sorry, and to effect reconciliation – but the blessing and benefits are incalculable, both to the human heart and to human society.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8b).

What has defiled me this week? Is there something in my life that robs me, or my church, of spiritual power? Are there specific sins I need to confess to God? Is there restitution for wrong I need to make? Are there people to whom I need to be reconciled before I next participate in holy communion?

Irish monk and missionary to Europe Columbanus observed in the sixth century that “Nothing is sweeter than a good conscience, nothing more secure than purity of soul; but no one can bestow these on himself, because they are properly the gift of another.” That Other is Jesus Christ.

Ah! Give me, Lord, the tender heart

That trembles at the approach of sin;

A godly fear of sin impart,

Implant, and root it deep within,

That I may dread the gracious power,

And never dare offend thee more.

– Charles Wesley

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E113 Copyright (c) 2003 Rod Benson. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980). To talk with Rod about this message, email or write to P.O. Box 1790, MACQUARIE CENTRE 2113 AUSTRALIA. To subscribe, email with “subscribe” in the subject. To unsubscribe, type “unsubscribe” in the subject.