Separation, atonement, jealousy, discerning adultery, the Nazarite vow and the Lord’s blessing are all part of today’s reading.
Numbers 5: Unclean People
1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead.
3 You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell."
4 And the people of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the LORD said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.
Confession and Restitution
5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
6 "Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt,
7 he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.
8 But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.
9 And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his.
10 Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his."
A Test for Adultery
11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
12 "Speak to the people of Israel, If any man's wife goes astray and breaks faith with him,
13 if a man lies with her sexually, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act,
14 and if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself,
15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 "And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the LORD.
17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.
18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD and unbind the hair of the woman's head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.
19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, 'If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while you were under your husband's authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse.
20 But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you,
21 then' (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) 'the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell.
22 May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.' And the woman shall say, 'Amen, Amen.'
23 "Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness.
24 And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain.
25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand and 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 memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.
27 And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.
29 "This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself,
30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. Then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall carry out for her all this law.
31 The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity."
Numbers 6: The Nazirite Vow
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.
4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5 "All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.
6 "All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body.
7 Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head.
8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.
9 "And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.
10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting,
11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day
12 and separate himself to the LORD for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13 "And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting,
14 and he shall bring his gift to the LORD, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering,
15 and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings.
16 And the priest shall bring them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering,
17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering.
18 And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.
19 And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration,
20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 "This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the LORD above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite."
Aaron's Blessing
22 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
23 "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24 The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
27 "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."
Things to think about…
1. Numbers 5:1-4 seems a bit harsh. Why would anyone who has no control over whether they get leprosy, or a discharge be ungraciously put outside the camp? Remember these laws are practical as well as spiritual. During the pandemic we saw real practical wisdom in some isolation (although many with good reason say it was overregulated) in what the ancient Israelite law imposed on those who had very contagious diseases. The question might be asked, why didn’t the Lord just heal them, and they not have any separation at all? The reality is that our gracious and loving God uses sickness and suffering to draw us near to Himself. The writer of Psalm 119 wisely said “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes”. This is true. Anyone who has spent time lying in bed with a virus can attest to the fact that their prayers have a very pointed focus, and the heart is inevitably drawn into the Lord’s presence through necessity.
2. Praise the Lord for restitution, Num 5:5-10. These verses while pointing to restitution with each other, are also confirming people being restored back to the Lord through the priest, Num 5:8-10. Atonement simply means being made right again. It’s wonderful to see the Lord’s wisdom grace on clear display in passages like this in the Mosaic Law. Jesus our great High Priest heals us and restores us back to Himself.
3. What do you make of the test for adultery in Num 5:11-31. The woman is tested and seen whether she is guilty or not. Even if she is not guilty this would no doubt still be quite a harrowing affair. But notice the blessing. If she was guiltless, look at the promise, “she shall be free and shall conceive children.”, Num 5:28. A silver lining indeed. One would hope that the husband’s heart had a transformation as well. But assuming she had committed adultery. We know of her punishment would be, but what of the man that she committed adultery with, does he get away Scot free? In Leviticus it says that if he is the known adulterer he is to be stoned, Lev 20:10. Why is it so hard on the woman here? The issue is that she is married and the Lord values this relationship higher than any other human institution – God has joined them together and adultery is an act of rejecting the God of marriage. Israel was married to the Lord. Christ is married to the church. Our marriage relationship should reflect God’s relationship with us. Unfortunately, this is not always given the opportunity to be on display as we would desire.
4. Look at Num 6:1-21 and the Nazarite vow. No grape products were allowed, Num 6: 3,4. A woman could also take the Nazarite vow, vs 2. This is not well known. We know Samson was a Nazarite from birth who broke his vow not only by having his hair cut but also by drinking wine and committing adultery. He also went near dead bodies (he made a few in his day) and took honey from a dead, unclean animal - a lion which he had killed weeks earlier, Jdgs 13-16. The Nazarites were to be a witness and sign to Israel that Israel was to be separated for the Lord. After the period of the vow was completed, the Nazarite was shaved bald, his hair burned which was also a witness to Israel to be viewed at the tent of meeting. The Nazarite was then allowed to drink wine, vs 20. All of this points to the work and ministry of Jesus, the Nazarene. Notice at the last supper Jesus offers Himself up as a sacrifice declaring the bread to be his body, Luke 22:19, 20; cf. Num 5:19. Jesus drinks wine with the disciples as is allowed for the Nazarite, who is free to do after his period of consecration is completed, Num 5:20. But Jesus says “For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes”, Luke 22:18. This is also a fulfilment of the Nazarite in Num 5:3, 4 after his consecration is complete. We will all drink this cup together with Him (the 4th cup) when He returns in victory.
5. I love these final verses of blessing in Num 6:23-27. I will often pray these verses when I am praying for people. Our Lord wants us to know His blessing and grace. Note that the blessings only come when holiness is desired by the person/people that are being prayed for. The reason being vs 27 – the Lord’s name is upon them and we represent Him. At CBC we sing the worship song “The Blessing” which uses verses. They speak truth over our families. Our faith acknowledges that the Lord desires our familial line to honour Him and be blessed by Him. Let’s act, pray and believe accordingly.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon:-“Are you a good tenant” – Mark 12:1-12
a. Discuss Sunday’s sermon and your understanding of what the parable of the tenants meant for the leaders of Israel. Why were they angry?
b. We are all accountable for what talents the Lord has blessed us with. What are your talents and how are you using them?
c. As members in the body of Christ, we all have different gifts, 1Cor 12-14. How do we promote the use of these gifts under the banner of Christ’s love 1Cor 13.
d. Pray for our witness with our friends, workmates, family and neighbours who are outside of Christ.
Prayer Points
1. That those who are new to the church are encouraged and settle in well into the church.
2. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you saved..
3. Pray for Kids@church and our Youth group.
4. Pray for Chuwar Youth and Jarrod’s ministry. Pray as he meets with youth at Westside, this week as well as the growing young adults ministry.
5. How you can serve in ministry this year.
6. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. More visitors on Sunday – Pray this continues and they get involved in the life of the church.
2. Young adults ministry is growing – keep praying as Jarrod develops this ministry.
3. Kids@Church and Youth ministries are a great blessing. Pray for Rosie and Jarrod as they start out for term 2.
4. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Mother’s Day High Tea. Sat 10am Church. Speaker and pampering, 13th May RSVP Suzanne 1/5/2023. Ph:- 0418 889 683.
2. Church information session 28th May after the morning service.
3. Remember to check your duty rosters for term 2.
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
5. Tune in again this week on our youtube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for May...
Q. 8. Who are they? A. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Bible References – Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2; Jude 20-21.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” Jer 33:3
