You Are Holy (Numbers 5:1-31)

 

Introduction

Laws are not about restrictions, but about redemption—freedom from self-centered living to God-centered living. In and through obedience, every law is holiness in action. Holiness is not just a relation—a union between God and man—it is also a responsibility—a life of obedience.

As He is, God wants His people to be likewise holy in life. Such is the whole purpose of the laws of God. In this passage, we are given three commands to keep the people holy.

 Keep Your Camp Holy (5:1-4)

The presence of God is not limited to the Tent of Meeting; it is extended to the camp of Israel. The camp includes not only the place but also the people that dwell in the camp—Israel. To us Christians, the camp is the church. As a church, we are holy. God is with us. We do have the responsibility to keep the body of Christ holy as the Head is.

 God demands that His camp be holy. The Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send them away male and female alike; send them out the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” God’s holiness is perfection. There is no impurity or uncleanness in Him. He is absolutely perfect. Anyone who comes near him must be holy. The holiness of the Israelites is a gift, but it is also a responsibility. They must keep themselves holy. They must send away unholy people among them.

 In the same way, we Christians must keep ourselves holy. Our fellowship must be holy. We must get rid of unholy people in our fellowship. We must discipline those who violate either their holiness or the holiness of our fellowship.  

 If we don’t send away unholy people, God’s presence will sure leave our fellowship—a costly consequence indeed.

Keep You Community Holy (5:5-10)

Holiness is not only personal, but also communal. The community is likewise holy. You are holy also in relation to the community. And we also have the responsibility to keep the community holy.

 In community, there will always be conflict. God is not naïve to ignore the possibility or more likely the reality of conflict in community. As humans, we always have that natural tendency unless controlled by the Spirit, to wrong people—to injure even those that are closed to us. God provides a legal solution to the perceived problem or threat to the holiness of the community. The law demands restitution.

 Social wrongs must be restituted. The people who wrong their neighbors or anyone must seeks restitution. Failure to do so has consequences. Such is an expression of ‘apodictic’ and ‘casuistic’ law—if you do this, that happens; if you don’t do this, that happens too.

The law is intended to keep the community whole. Holiness is wholeness. The church is a community. It is an important part of our lives as Christians. We must learn to live right with one another. Jesus commanded us to love one another.

 Keep You Covenant Holy (5:11-31)

The remaining verses talk about the holiness of marriage covenant. Marriage is a covenant; it is sacred. It is holy and must be kept holy. Husband and wife have the responsibility of keeping the holiness or sanctity of their marriage. There is a serious consequence to the breaking of vows.

The case here does not suggest that women must be dealt with more severely than men. The Bible treats men and women as equally responsible. The offenders—they be the husbands or the wives, will suffer the consequence of their infidelity if found guilty.

 The case given is about jealousy. The husband can bring his wife before the priest for a ceremonial test. But the test is done not for the unfaithfulness of the wife, but for the jealousy of the husband.

 Jealousy is a serious case. If the wife is guilty as suspected, God shall punish her. But if not, then she keeps her status as holy. There is a strong provision for women to confess their holiness before the priest by saying “amen” to the curse pronounced for unfaithful women. Jealousy cannot just be the reason for the judgment, there must be a committal of the accusation against the wife.

 Conclusion

We are holy. Holiness is a responsibility. We must indeed keep our holiness pure. We must be willing to protect ourselves from uncleanness, our community from being contaminated, and our covenant relationship from being violated. Our holiness keeps God’s presence among us.