Numbers 5 ORDER THAT MAINTAINS PURITY
Purity among God's people and in God's house is never to be taken carelessly or treated with indifference. Chapter five of Numbers deals with areas of the life of those have been called to be a holy people because we belong to a holy God. There is corporate judgment that affects all of the people. Individual judgment is expected by every person as they live in the world and among sanctified people. God Himself acts in judgment when it comes to those areas of our life that have to do with motivation and inner desires.
There is a principle of discipline, the purpose of which is to deal with defilement among the corporate body of God's people. In Israel during the wilderness journey, there was the demand of separation from the children of Israel by anyone who had infectious disease or who had contact with a body that had already begun to decompose. Transmittable diseases historically have decimated whole societies because those who were infected were not quarantined. Redemption was the basis of God being willing to dwell in the midst of His people. Discipline is the basis of God continuing to remain with them. The sin of one man, Achan, is an example to us of how one undisciplined act can stop the advance of all the people of God as they seek to further the work of God. We should never underestimate the impact of the sin of one person on a whole congregation of people.
Sending a disease-infected person outside the camp of Israel to a safe but isolated place preserved all of God's people from having the same problem. One who is in the fellowship of an assembly of God's people should judge themselves first as the Holy Spirit within them guides. However, they may not be willing to do this. In the corporate body of an assembly, judgment must be given time to act, and must be allowed to produce the benefits of changed behavior without bias or prejudice. Discipline by the people of God does not only affect the one who has done the wrong, but affects all who are linked with that person by personal or corporate association. Lust brings sin, and sin left not judged brings a contaminating negative effect upon all. The charge to be holy is not just to individuals but to all the people of God.
The universal, or dispensational, Body of Christ cannot be judged by men because it extends through the centuries of this Church age and is unseen in all parts of the world. The local assemblies of God's people are responsible to judge doctrine and the morals of all who claim entrance into that fellowship. An assembly is not a haphazard gathering of people who come together on occasion, but is a unified body of saints who share one faith, one hope, one baptism and testify to that publicly in the place they live. We are not called upon to judge the motives of those within that fellowship, but we do have the biblical responsibility to judge their ways.
The unity of the Body of Christ is not touched when discipline in the house of God is maintained. We do not judge those without, but only those within the assembly. Our faith and ethics should be consistent. Ethical teaching and living by faith should be the same. If they are not, then there is guilt that is real. Whether judgment is corporate or individual, there is no real easy forgiveness for the sinning believer. Sin has to be faced and dealt with.
Freedom from guilt requires a legal pardon. A legal pardon comes at the high cost of a life forfeited for sin. The trespass offerings of the Old Testament foreshadowed the cost paid by Christ for our freedom when He gave His life. Restitution on the part of one who has acted unjustly and created a problem, a division or a loss of some kind on another person, does not mean revenge is the solution. The individual who did wrong was required to repay in full the consequences of His action and add to it the payment of twenty percent of its value to the person he wronged. Only if there was no one alive of the wronged family to which the one who sinned could pay that fine, was the fine paid to the priest as the representative of the government of God. There is the expectation that a person would judge himself and with a tender conscience, make full restitution plus the one fifth part added. A tender conscience on the part of a Christian is morally attractive to those who have been wronged or who observe a dispute between people. If we treat holy things, and even moral things, lightly when there has been a wrong committed, that leads to a shallow attitude in everything.
Sometimes there are individuals who are very self-centered and don't realize there are consequences to the words they say when gossip and accusations are made. Suspicion on the part of a husband as to his wife's behavior, or what are his expectations of her, are not treated lightly by God. He arranged a law by which jealousy would be fairly dealt with. Unbecoming behavior towards men and flirting with men, would raise the suspicion of a husband that there was some immoral activity on the part of his wife. If he had reason to believe his seed was adulterated, he was certainly justified in seeing that the sin problem was dealt with in a just manner. If there was suspicious behavior or harassment of his wife by another man, perhaps he would have reason to consider whether there was some reciprocal activity on her part. But if he, for some spiteful reason, acted with jealousy against his wife, the law of jealousy would hopefully make him to stop and consider the effect of his jealousy against his wife and the testimony of God's people.
God does not permit the on-going suspicion of evil, let alone the act. If there has been unfaithfulness to the vows taken, there are consequences to that action. At the time Israel was in the wilderness, consenting adultery was dealt with by death. If there was suspected infidelity that was not admitted to, the jealous husband could take his wife to be judged by the priest. If she was innocent, she had nothing at all to fear, even though she might be terrified by the act of her husband and the authority of the law. There would no doubt be natural worry because of having to stand before the priest when one is charged with a capital crime. The jealousy offering was similar to the sin offering. The actions taken by a jealous, suspicious husband was then taken to the highest possible court - the court of divine judgment. Not only now is the sin of adultery to be searched out, but also the sin of suspicion and jealousy had to be examined. Neither person can escape the consequences. There is no escape for a guilty person. The same process that would declare the guilt of the guilty one, would declare the faithfulness of the innocent one.
When that offering was made, God was involved in the matter. He would settle the matter visibly and without question. The "dust" of death, and the "water" of the Word mixed with the writing material would be there to settle the charges. There was a statement of the charges made. Then the woman was presented to the priest who would carry out the process of judging. She would be made to swear an oath and then drink the mixture as prescribed by God. The outcome would be unmistakable to everyone - the husband, the priest, the woman and any who were involved in the event. Ultimately the whole camp would know if she was found guilty of the charge. Moral integrity was in view in this legislation.
Adultery would defile the holiness needed to maintain a tribe's purity. The nation's uniqueness and separation depended on that purity. The oath made would work to her benefit if she was innocent. Her husband, and every other jealous husband would not act in haste on his suspicions if she was innocent. He would be exposed as a petty, jealous man who would not thereafter be easily trusted. It was the Lord who would bring about the physical changes if the wife's guilt was exposed. How careful we must be to avoid any moral defilement that would lead us astray and bring us under the judging hand of God. And how careful we must be before laying any unsubstantiated charges against another person. Suspicion and gossip, defiles any person who engages in it, and any person who listens to it. We need to bring our hearts and minds into control to obey God and guard ourselves against anything that hinders other. There is nothing that is hidden from the Lord.