Today we will continue our study from the Book of Numbers. Our reading has progressed through to Chapter five.
Chapter five is all about being clean and holy and sanctified.
This is required if you want to live in a godly environment. God cannot exist in unclean places, and/or people and/or groups of people who deliberately chose to remain unclean.
The camp of God must stay holy.
No exceptions; only He will provide a way to make it all possible.
LIVING OUTSIDE THE CAMP
Therefore; it was necessary for God to instruct Moses that if anyone in the camp was considered unclean that God would not be able to dwell with them.
Such people must be put “outside the camp.”
As God came down and began to dwell in the midst of the wilderness tabernacle He instructed Moses that the unclean and the unholy were to be sent outside the camp. God specifically named things that were unclean and unholy. Some of them seemed harsh and prejudiced and very severe according to our typical human standards; but there were to be no exceptions.
We are speaking of God’s standards; not the standards of mankind. Knowing the difference is a very important part of the path for a Christian life.
In order to keep the rest of the people clean and acceptable; those who were not clean and acceptable had to live separated.
WHERE IS THE MERCY OF GOD?
At first this seemed harsh and unmerciful and so very unkind.
Why would a loving God do such a thing as this?
However; those strange sounding words “outside the camp” have a whole new meaning in my heart now. It has a lot to do with the way I spent one summer. I can recall attending a summer camp long ago called “Camp Further Out.” That was where this mystery began to unravel for me.
There we learned what it meant to be cast out; to suffer and to be separated from everything familiar and everything common. We learned what it meant to die to oneself and begin again with a different perspective; that perspective that contains the pure vision of life with our Savior and nothing at all about our own way.
This was something we would never have realized in the comfort of being warm and cozy “inside the camp.”
HOW LIVING OUTSIDE THE CAMP LED TO HEALING
At first it seemed that Camp Further Out was going to be very lonely and very isolated. Others were there; but they were only strangers. They were lost, same as me, looking for a way to regain entrance to the familiar and safety of what we already knew.
Then we learned that Jesus too had come and suffered “outside the camp.”
He voluntarily came to earth and suffered death outside the gates on Calvary’s hill so that we could be made clean and sanctified and acceptable unto God.
Because Christ suffered willingly; we can now be allowed back inside the camp; only now our vision has changed forever for the better.
THE REQUIREMENT OF CONFESSION
Once confessed to Christ, our sins are covered in His Holy Blood and that is all God requires to make us holy and clean before Him.
By learning all that happened outside the gates we discover how Christ died to sanctify the people.
He made it possible for us to stand before God and live.
Jesus came to produce the kind of people who are willing to think of their whole lives as an act of worship that is moving along side of Him, even willing for suffering outside the camp, to bear reproach and gain compassion.
THE QUESTION OF WHY
But why?
Jesus was teaching us by example to live for others and their needs and not our own comfort. He lived out this perfect example of just what pleases the Father.
God was leading these Israelites into a Promised Land; a land flowing with milk and honey. Outside their camp we come to a temporary place; a place to learn more of God’s ways and His will for His Kingdom. It isn’t easy there. Life is hard. Life is learning how to survive and thrive with nothing at all but knowing with God we have everything that we need.
At camp that year we got the full picture; the painting that showed us that our life on this earth is just a time in which we are temporarily passing through.
One day we will arrive in God’s Holy Kingdom; just as the Israelites were giving us that shadow of a people who were walking toward a place that had been promised; but not yet received. That is us too; on our way to The Kingdom of God. Before we get there; we must be sanctified and made fit to stand within the presence of God.
REQUIREMENTS OF SANCTIFICATION
What is the first requirement on the road to sanctification?
It is that of the confession of sins.
When you are outside the camp or outside the gates you have lots of time to think and contemplate all of what you have done in this life. You can look back and see how unclean and how unholy you have lived. When you were inside the camp you took every blessing for granted. God is showing you how wrong that was. In life outside the camp we quickly begin to understand that the wages of sin is death.
Jesus came to take all of that away; to make it possible for us not to have to suffer death eternally.
He died so that we could live.
Christ came so that we could come closer to the Father and know Him with our whole hearts.
That is what living is all about!
CONFESSION LEADS TO SALVATION
He took on all of our ugly sins there while He suffered outside the gates.
This is what happens when we confess. Christ takes on our sin and removes them from the books and records forever; never to appear again. The accuser can accuse us all day; but the records will now reveal nothing!
The writing in the records dissolves and washes away in the living water of life that Jesus provides for us. He blots out all of the wrongs with the permanent and precious blood that He shed for us. Remember this as we come to next weeks study. You will see a new and different example from the Old Testament that reveals the truth of The New Testament.
Why is it always a surprise?
As we live in the covering of His blood that brings us salvation; we learn how to be sanctified and holy.
It is a process.
This thing called sanctification does not happen instantaneously like salvation does.
Very similar to a birth process of a human being, before sanctification happens we are like little spiritual embryos of babies growing in the womb of God’s Church. We are developing more and more each day that we trust Jesus to lead us.
All of this is possible because of the free gift called salvation.
Confession; then Salvation; make Sanctification become a wonderful possibility for every follower of Jesus Christ.
He is the way.
CONFESSION REQUIRES TURNING AND RESTITUTION
All we have to do is believe and repent and we are then covered in this holy blood with the beautiful new cloak of salvation.
There is one other thing that He wants from us though. Many do not realize this next step of the whole process.
He wants us to do restitution. We read about it in Numbers Chapter five. God is advising Moses to instruct the people on the importance of restitution.
He wants us to turn from that sin and sin no more. He whats us to restore what we have wrecked and make every human effort to right our past wrongs.
We are always forgiven when we ask – no matter what; but this act of restitution takes us on a further path from salvation toward sanctification.
A whole new and exciting journey begins!
Sanctification continues on as you suffer with Christ for the sake of others; when you die to your own desires and take on the more holy love of God. This love is about needs; it has nothing to do with comfort.
The question is always; What does God want here?
What will bring His Kingdom to earth today?
EXPLORING SANCTIFICATION
If you think the process of sanctification involves an official announcement to the world that you are now a Saint; you are in for a huge disappointment. You might have mistaken sanctification for arrogance. That isn’t it at all!
Moses kept guiding God’s people toward the promised city that was to come. This involved constantly teaching them God’s ways. They had so much to learn before they arrived. He did the hard stuff whenever he knew it was necessary. Those people outside the camp would find another way; a better way if they trusted God to guide them.
This process was necessary for them to be able to come closer to God.
They had to give up their familiar worldly things and trust God for what they really needed to be able to fulfill His destiny for their lives. Every process of sanctification has a purpose. God does not waste time or energy. Life “outside the camp” was no longer about their own desires; but about God’s desires.
They had to come out of the thoughts of luxury and comfort and be willing to die to themselves and begin to think only of God and others. This must have been especially hard after being in slavery for so long. Some people never get it; they prefer to remain in a life of slavery to other gods and pagan ways and keep their comfort and luxury. The needs of God and the needs of others are of no concern to them. This isn’t the way to reach The Kingdom of God.
FOLLOW THE LIGHT OF CHRIST TO PASS THROUGH THE TESTING TO THE DOOR OF SANCTIFICATION
Jesus stands in heaven like a light tower – guiding us to see God’s way so that we may obtain a better way through Kingdom living and the role of being a living, breathing sacrifice for God.
He will lead us today just as Moses led the Children of Israel way back then.
A time of testing is coming! Let us go outside the camp and follow Christ without reproach. John Piper has an amazing share on this subject and if you want to continue to ponder it more; here is the link: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/let-us-go-with-jesus-bearing-reproach
The above link will take you even deeper into today’s subject. It is a good reinforcement to anchor what we will be moving on toward next week too.
Another very important time in the journey is about to unravel its mysteries and astound us with wonder at the amazing God we serve.
God was painting the story out as usual with the beginnings of the nation of Israel. He was showing us something new and very important.
We will speak of it next week when we take up the rest of this chapter.