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My commentary particularly noted that this chapter distinguishes
between natural and unnatural flows of liquids from the
human body, and unnatural included
anything from diarrhea to discharges from venereal diseases. “The main thrust seems to be that of
enforcing personal sanctity. Not everyone is a leper, but all of us have
occasional discharges that defile us
and could defile others.” I saw in that
a nugget of wisdom.
“Moses is dealing here with ceremonial uncleanness, not moral
uncleanness,” my commentary said, and that’s what seemed worth exploring. These people were in the middle of the
Exodus, and they were witnessing the very presence of God in a real and
tangible way on a daily basis, with the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by
night. God was inhabiting the mercy seat
on the top of the Ark, and dwelling within the tabernacle. That’s
something I don’t think any human
being would want to be excluded
from. Because of God’s holiness, and His role as Creator, He has the right to determine
under what conditions we may approach Him, whether they involve sin or not, and
whether they involve sex or not. These
rules excluded people from His
presence – something that should be a very desirable thing they would be
missing – and therefore this motivated them to purify themselves so they could resume that fellowship with Him.
Think of what church would be like today if we were so
concerned about our own conditions
that defilement would cause us to be
unable to worship! That the hunger for God would cause us to be
doubly sure that we didn’t intentionally or unintentionally cut ourselves off from Him! How much more energized our worship would be,
I think!
Father, help me to so desire worshipping You that I will be
constantly on guard to avoid anything or anyone who might cause me to be
separated from You, even for a moment!
Make my relationship with You that
important in my life on a daily basis!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
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