Numbers 5

Everything in the camp is organized and arranged. What now must happen is cleansing the camp of evil, that God, in Whom only their power is, may be with them. It is God’s wisdom, the wisdom that is from above and which is first and foremost pure (Jam 3:17), to give His precepts for this. Defilement is to His dishonor and takes away the strength from the people for the journey. Eliphaz knows this, although he applies his statement in Job 22 to Job iniquitously (Job 22:23).

The importance of this chapter is that it shows that the presence of the LORD among His people can never be connected with evil. In Leviticus it is about the priests, they must be clean to be able to perform their service in the sanctuary in the presence of God. Here, in Numbers, it is about the people as the camp where the LORD dwells.

Anything connected with sin must be removed:
1. Sometimes the person therefore had to be sent away (verses 1-4).
2. Sometimes the evil is removed because there is confession and compensation (verses 5-10).
3. Sometimes there is only suspicion and first the guilt or innocence must be determined, after which it must be acted upon according to the precept of the LORD (verses 11-31).

The command to send away anyone who is unclean applies to the whole of Israel. The whole people are responsible to act with what does not suit God’s presence in their midst. For us, the different forms of defilement are not literal, but spiritual. It is about being influenced by the world, the flesh, sin, things with which God cannot have fellowship. He has judged these things in the Lord Jesus on the cross. That is why we must also judge them.

Three forms of evil are mentioned:
1. leprosy: this is a picture of sin that breaks out and is not judged;
2. a discharge: this is a picture of sin that comes from someone and flows to other people who are also defiled by it;
3. touching a dead person: here sin does not originate from anyone, but is the picture that someone is defiled by touching something that is not in connection with the living God.

The Israelites deal with these cases as the LORD has spoken and as it has been made known to them by Moses. Likewise, we must act on what God has made known to us in His Word about uncleanness.

The reason for all discipline is that God dwells in the midst of the church. Therefore, all evil must be removed. This can happen in self-judgment, that is, when we have sinned, we confess it before the Lord and judge the evil within ourselves (1Cor 11:28-29). If there is no self-judgment, the church has to judge the evil. Then the church must remove the person from among her midst who refuses to judge evil in his life and remove it from his life: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1Cor 5:13b).

The uncleanness of the previous verses indicates more a state of uncleanness, which can be applied to living in sin. One also becomes unclean by committing a sin once, which can be applied to falling into sin. This is the case “if anyone is caught in any trespass” (Gal 6:1). In that case, cleansing must take place. But not only that. Restitution must also be given to the wronged party. See the explanation of the guilt offering in Leviticus 5:14-6:7.

It is not enough for God to pay only the guilt. Something extra must be given to him who is wronged. The Lord Jesus did that perfectly. God is dishonored. The Lord Jesus not only removed the guilt, but glorified God above and beyond. Here we find the positive side in dealing with sin. Something emerges that is to the glory of God.

Here something is added to what has already been said about the guilt offering in Leviticus 5-6. A guilt cannot remain outstanding. An outstanding guilt disturbs the fellowship and the peace in the church. In order to prevent this from happening, the guilt must be restituted at all times. If the guilt can no longer be restituted, for example because the injured party has died, the guilty one must go to the family members of the person injured by him. If there are none, he must go to the priest with his confession and his restitution.

The priest is a picture of a spiritually-minded believer to whom a debtor can relieve the burden of his heart, when the one he has wronged is no longer there. This is not an easy task for the ‘priest’. Such a believer will therefore receive a special appreciation for this from the Lord and his fellow believers.

The direct meaning of the part of verses 11-31 puts the importance of the marriage in full light. The slightest suspicion of unfaithfulness is a violation of marriage at its root. The violation of marriage affects society in its foundations. Therefore, there must be clarity about the relationship in marriage when questions arise about faithfulness. Uncertainty must be disposed of. God indicates here the way in which this should be done.

In the unfaithful woman the picture of Israel can be seen as a testimony for God on earth. The same goes for the church that is now God’s testimony on earth. Israel has deviated from God by serving the idols. The church has deviated from God by connecting with the world. Both forms of unfaithfulness are spiritual fornication. Instead of fighting for and with God against the enemies, God’s people have made a covenant with those enemies.

There is also a personal application to be made regarding how everyone’s life is. The question must be asked whether our life is for the Lord or for something or someone else. This is about the assessment of our walk through the wilderness, while God walks with us through the wilderness.

It is based on the jealousy of the man. This should not be seen here as a negative characteristic. This jealousy or suspicion is a justified feeling that belongs to sincere love when the object of that love does not show any love in return. It is even possible that, instead of love in return, unfaithfulness is present, that the expected love goes to someone or something else. This case is presented here as an option.

There may be a suspicion that something is not right in the dedication of a believer or a local church. Those who care about the welfare of the believers will bring the matter to the priest. We can see the priest here as a type of the Lord Jesus. With all our suspicions we can go to Him.

The offering that is brought along also represents the Lord Jesus: a grain offering of barley meal. This offering is the lowest kind of grain offering. It shows the Lord Jesus in His deepest humiliation on earth, in which He was completely faithful to His God. This has become perfectly visible on the cross, where He is made sin. Because this offering is a reminder of iniquity, no oil nor frankincense may be added. God can’t have any pleasure (frankincense) in injustice and the Holy Spirit (oil) is completely alien to it. The Lord has become the sacrifice for our unfaithfulness.

The priest then presents the ‘suspect’ before the LORD. Any question of our dedication can only be decided in His presence and not by any ecclesiastical commission.

Then the priest takes holy water, a picture of the Word of God (Eph 5:26). He does that water in an earthenware vessel. The earthenware vessel is a picture of what man is by nature (2Cor 4:7). He also takes dust from the floor of the tabernacle. This represents the power of death in the presence of God. The Lord Jesus was laid by God “in the dust of death” (Psa 22:15b). The dust is what man is and what he becomes when he dies (Gen 3:19). Water and dust represent that God cleanses (water) through judgment (dust).

Then the hair of the woman’s head is let go loose. The woman’s long hair is the symbol of dedication. God expects the woman to wear this symbol (1Cor 11:15). It is not a matter of time or culture. It is let go loose because her dedication is at stake (cf. Lev 13:45). She also receives the grain offering of jealousy on her hands, which here is called “grain offering of memorial”. The believer of whom dedication is questioned must be reminded, Who the Lord Jesus is as the One Who was perfectly dedicated to God, Who was faithful to death.

Finally, we see that the priest holds in his hand the water made bitter by the dust. The Word of God must be presented to that believer as a Word that judges (Heb 4:12). Then the priest will speak to the woman.

The priest has to make the woman swear under oath. The water, a picture of the Word of God, will bring to light the truth concerning her unfaithfulness or faithfulness. If she is unfaithful, the LORD will make her thigh waste away and her abdomen swell when she has drunk of that bitter water.

The Word of God will, in case of a secret unfaithfulness of a believer, reveal the features of that unfaithfulness through His Word. Such secretly unfaithful believers serve not Christ, but their own appetite or stomach, which is their god (Rom 16:18; Phil 3:19). Also, the application of the Word in judgment to their walk will make it clear that there is no spiritual power present, of which the wasting away of the thigh is a picture. Such unfaithful believers are spiritually limp, they are unbalanced in their religious life.

In saying “amen, amen” by the woman we see her cooperation in the examination (cf. Deu 27:26). She declares that she is aware that she has been placed in the light of God. Those who would like to live a dedicated life will be willing to undergo this examination.

As a sign that the water of judgment cleanses, the priest writes the curses on a scroll and washes them off into the water of bitterness. Then he gives the woman the water of bitterness to drink. The Word is bitter when it has to examine us for possible deviations. This is not a work that gives joy. The Word gives joy when we are allowed to occupy ourselves with the Lord Jesus, not when we have to occupy ourselves with ourselves and with the judgment of our flesh (cf. Rev 10:9; Pro 5:4).

The application of the Word cannot happen separately from the Lord Jesus, presented here in the grain offering of jealousy. The Lord Jesus cannot be seen apart from His full dedication to God. God always wants to be reminded of this. We see this in the picture of the priest who offers up a memorial offering as a special form of the grain offering in smoke on the altar.

After drinking the bitter water, the truth about faithfulness or unfaithfulness will become clear. The Word is like the rain that is drunk by the ground, after which what the ground produces will show what kind of soil we are dealing with. The Word always makes it clear whether there is fruit for God or whether it is reprehensible fruit: “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned” (Heb 6:7-8).

If the examination shows that she is innocent, this has consequences for her fertility. Life will come forth from her. So it is with every child of God that lives dedicated. The fruit of life will become visible.

Israel and the church have both become unfaithful. With regard to the church in Corinth, Paul writes that he is jealous for them with the jealousy of God (2Cor 11:2). He speaks to them about being led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. They are no longer fully focused on Him; they are no longer fully dedicated to Him. The serpent, that is satan, is always out to cool the feelings of love and dedication of the believers for Christ (2Cor 11:3). In cunning he spoils the thoughts, so that they no longer have Christ as an object, but other things or persons.

The church is connected to Christ as a pure virgin (2Cor 11:2). But the church as a whole has not remained faithful. She is presented as a great harlot in Revelation 17 (Rev 17:1-5). As far as the final fulfilment is concerned, the time has not yet come, but the traces of the church’s unfaithfulness are deep. But every true believer, as well as every local church, will gladly participate in the examination to detect any deviation that may prevent them from serving Christ completely dedicated out of love. The sincere praying of the prayer at the end of Psalm 139 is in this context important: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psa 139:23-24).