UNROLL
First light in the camp at Sinai: between the guy ropes of two black goat-hair tents, a swept, empty lane of sand runs toward the white linen court at the camp's center, with a soft column of cloud resting low over the tent inside it.

The Book of

Numbers 5

God lives in the middle of this camp. So what doesn’t belong there?

31 verses≈ 6 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–10Ready at SinaiCounted and orderedChapter 5
  2. 11–14GrumblingTo Kadesh and refusal
  3. 15–21Forty yearsRebellion and mercy
  4. 22–25BalaamA curse turned to blessing
  5. 26–36A new generationReady for the land

Cleansing the Camps

Evening at the edge of the camp: a man and a woman, seen from behind, each carrying a rolled mat and a clay water jar, walk out past the last black tents toward three small tents pitched apart on the open plain.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body. You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”

So the Israelites did this, sending such people outside the camp. They did just as the LORD had instructed Moses.

0:26

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Confession and Restitution

God

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that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed.

Numbers 5:6–7

The law

When no one is left to repay

  1. With a ram

    No relative: paid to the LORD

    But if the man has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest along with the ram of atonement, by which the atonement is made for him.

  2. The priest’s share

    Sacred gifts belong to the priest

    Every sacred contribution the Israelites bring to the priest shall belong to him.

  3. What he gives the priest is the priest’s

    Each man’s sacred gifts are his own, but whatever he gives to the priest will belong to the priest.”

One camp, one holy God

God dwellsamong themin the middle of thecamp (5:3)The uncleanoutsidesent out of the camp(1–4)Wrongs maderightconfess and repay(5–10)Marriage keptfaithfulbrought before theLORD (11–31)

Whiteboard

Three laws, one reason: the holy God lives in the middle of the camp. He told Moses to keep the camp clean “where I dwell among them.” So the unclean went outside, wrongs between neighbors were confessed and repaid, and hidden unfaithfulness in a marriage was brought before Him. Nearness to God shaped everything.

Question

Quick question

A man in the camp has wronged his neighbor and now owns up to it.

What did he add when he paid back what he owed?

The Adultery Test

On a plain clay plate on a woven mat, a small heap of coarse, dull barley flour, dry, with no oil and no incense, a small clay measure beside it, in flat gray morning light.

The law

When a husband suspects

  1. If a wife was secretly unfaithful

    Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him by sleeping with another man, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act),

  2. Or if he suspects her, and she was not

    and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she has not defiled herself—

  3. He brings her to the priest

    then he is to bring his wife to the priest.

  4. Barley flour, no oil or incense

    He must also bring for her an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of memorial as a reminder of iniquity.

The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD. Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.

After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse. And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse. But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’— and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell. May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and may cause her bitter suffering. The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar. Then the priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar; after that he is to have the woman drink the water.

When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people. But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be unaffected and able to conceive children.

The law

The law of jealousy

  1. When a wife goes astray

    This is the law of jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,

  2. When a husband suspects

    or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife.

  3. She stands before the LORD

    He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest is to apply to her this entire law.

  4. Husband free; she bears her iniquity

    The husband will be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”

Reflect

Nothing hidden

In this law, what was “concealed” from a husband was never hidden from God. The matter was not settled by suspicion or by anger, but brought to stand “before the LORD.” Is there something you have kept hidden: a wrong you have not owned, or a suspicion you have nursed instead of bringing it to God? Write it down, and give it to Him. Then pray: Search me, God, and know my heart; show me what I need to bring into the light.

You’ve experienced

Numbers 5

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A verse to carry with you

Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed.

Numbers 5:6–7

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