In The Word
Read: Numbers 5:1-6:21
On Defilement
5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they send away from the camp everyone with leprosy, everyone having a discharge, and everyone who is unclean because of contact with a dead person.3 You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they do not defile their camp where I dwell in their midst.” 4 And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as the Lord had spoken to Moses, that is what the sons of Israel did.
5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the sons of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, and that person is guilty, 7 then he shall confess his sin which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it a fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. 8 But if the person has no redeemer to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. 9 Also every contribution pertaining to all the holy giftsof the sons of Israel, which they offer to the priest, shall be his. 10 So every person’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever anyone gives to the priest, it becomes his.’”
The Adultery Test
11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 and a man has sexual relations with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she remains undiscovered, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act, 14 if an attitude of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if an attitude of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself, 15 the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring asan offering for her a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of reminder, a reminder of wrongdoing.
16 ‘Then the priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord,17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware container; and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.18 The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord and let down the hair of the woman’s head, and place the grain offering of reminder in her hands, that is, the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 And the priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has had sexual relations with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, as you are under the authority ofyour husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; 20 if, however, you have gone astray, though under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had sexual intercourse with you” 21 (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “may the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people by the Lord’s making your thigh shriveled and your belly swollen; 22 and this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, to make your belly swell up and your thigh shrivel.” And the woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.”
23 ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar; 26 and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its reminder offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then it will come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness, and her belly will swell up and her thigh will shrivel, and the woman will become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be immune and conceive children.
29 ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, who is under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when an attitude of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest shall apply all of this law to her. 31 The man, moreover, will be free of guilt, but that woman shall bear the consequences of her guilt.’”
Law of the Nazirites
6 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a special vow, namely, the vow of a Nazirite, to live as a Nazirite for the Lord, 3 he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall consume no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. 4 All the days of his consecration he shall not eat anything that is produced from the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.
5 ‘All the days of his vow of consecration no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled which he lives as a Nazirite for the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long.
6 ‘All the days of his life as a Nazirite for the Lord he shall not come up to a dead person. 7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his consecration to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his consecration he is holy to the Lord.
9 ‘But if someone dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head of hair, then he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; he shall shave it on the seventh day. 10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young doves to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 11 And the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make atonement for him regarding his sin because of the deadperson. And on that same day he shall consecrate his head, 12 and shall live his days of consecration as a Nazirite for the Lord, and shall bring a male lamb a year old as a guilt offering; but the preceding days will not count, because his consecration was defiled.
13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his consecration are fulfilled: he shall bring his offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 14 And he shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as a peace offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offering. 16 Then the priest shall present them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17 He shall also offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer its grain offering and its drink offering.18 The Nazirite shall then shave his consecrated head of hair at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and take the consecrated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19 And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened loaf from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated hair. 20 Then the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered as a wave offering, and the thigh offered as a contribution; and afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’
21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord according to his consecration, in addition to what else he can afford; corresponding to his vow which he makes, so he shall do according to the law of his consecration.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Having numbered the people, God spoke to how they should conduct themselves. They must go in a holier way, a way that would require more of them. No longer was uncleanliness to stay within the camp. Lepers and those with discharges had to live outside the camp. Those who dealt dishonestly had to be accountable for their sins. The hidden sins would be exposed. Truth would be rewarded.
God called those who would live according to His holy way to separate themselves, from even the common things of life, Nazirites. They were to be set apart as a testimony. God was calling His people to put away anything that would pollute holiness.
Too often we overlook the everyday things that God sees as unholy. Sin has become so common in our world that we can easily be desensitized from it, but God calls us to a holier way. We should not compare ourselves to those around us, but as unto God Himself. Sin cannot live in our “camp”; uncleanliness cannot pollute our standards no matter how common. We are called to separate ourselves from the darkness around us. We are called to be living testimonies of holiness, to be those that others can look to for God’s standard and not the world’s. God is calling you to a holier way. Everything matters. Will you walk the way the world is calling or the way God is calling? Choose God’s way, the narrow way, and the holy way.