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Numbers 19 Pitfalls to the Promised Land: Uncleanness
Statute numbers chapter 19 be reading in the entire chapter from verse 1. Here are the word of the Lord. Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying this is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded.
Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect in which there is no blemish. And on which a yoke has never come and you shall give it to Eliezer the priest and it shall be taken outside the camp.
And slaughtered before him and Eliezer the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times and The heifer shall be burned in his sight.
Its skin is flesh and its blood and his dung shall be burned and The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet yarn and throw them into the fire burning the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and afterward he may come into the camp but the priest shall be unclean until evening.
The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water and shall be unclean until evening. And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the Heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place and they shall be kept for the water.
It shall be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel. It is a sin offering. And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer Shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening and this shall be a perpetual statute for the people of Israel and for the stranger Who sojourns among them?
Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. He shall cleanse himself with the water for the on the third day and on the seventh day and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day He will not become clean.
Whoever touches a dead person the body of any of anyone who has died and Does not cleanse himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That and that person shall be cut off from Israel because the water for the impure water for impurity was not thrown in him He shall be unclean.
His uncleanness is still on him. This is the law when someone dies in a tent. Everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days and Every open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is unclean.
Whoever in the field touches someone who has killed but Who was killed with a sword or who has or who died? Naturally are touched as a human bone or a grave shall be unclean seven days. For the unclean they shall take some ashes of.
The burnt burnt sin offering and fresh water shall be added to it in a vessel. Then a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and Sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone.
Or the slain or the dead or the grave and the clean person shall be sprinkled Shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the seven on the third and on the seventh day thus on the seventh day He shall cleanse himself and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and at evening.
He shall be clean. If the man who is unclean does not cleanse himself That person shall be cut off from the midst of the congregate midst of the assembly. Since he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord because the water for impurity has not been thrown on him He is unclean and it shall be a statute forever for them.
The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be Unclean until evening and whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.
May the Lord add his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. Well, do you think you're clean? After all that maybe you took a shower this morning or washed up somehow you put on clean clothes I guess not old sweaty ones.
You've been wearing all week. So do you think you're clean? Wayne just looked at Ethan with that. I'm not sure what that means. Sweaty clothes comment. Anyway, clean compared to what an Operating room is clean, but it's sterile.
You know, it's dead. Really. There's no bacteria or virus is living in it or they're not supposed to be but it's very it's not very comfortable is it you can't come and go and relax there you can't live there and.
Because if you did you would make it unclean everybody in one's house. So they like to treat their living room like an operating room. Everything has to be so just it's kind of unnerving. It's uncomfortable, isn't it?
But that's why doctors and nurses, you know. That's why they wear their mask and their gowns and their nets over their hair trying if at all possible to keep the uncleanness. That is on them from getting out of them on to others.
Now. Is that kind of cleanness? Is that even desirable? Oh. It may be for operating rooms and you know surgery but but is but what about for just for life for for your living room? Would you want to live that way?
You know, I doubt it a small percentage of people develop a disorder called obsessive-compulsive disorder. Which often they take some precaution of cleanliness like washing their hands and just take it too far.
They can wash their hands so often in hot water with antibacterial soap that they get it inflammation of the skin. Somewhere deep in their minds. They've gotten the idea that there is still Some uncleanness that they need to get rid of.
They can't see it. Maybe they've already washed their hands, you know thoroughly dozens of times today. But they think that if they just do it just maybe one more time They'll finally get clean. That's what's driving them.
Like Lady Macbeth. You know in the Shakespeare's play washing her hands for a quarter of an hour in her sleep. Actually cursing what she calls the damn spot in Shakespeare's words. She is trying to get rid of that spot.
But she can't. Of course the spot comes from the fact that she murdered someone. The ironic truth is that people like that. Obsessed with cleanliness, you know, ironic truth is they're partly right, aren't they?
I. Of how dirty they were that they were carrying germs. Even doctors For long would just go from patient to patient without washing their hands carrying diseases one to another without even knowing it.
It wasn't until scientists found out about germs that they learned. That they can be really dirty even when they think they're clean in 1847 Ignaz Salem Weiss, I guess that's how you pronounce that. My guess is I guess.
It's probably as good as yours. I get but he's a doctor in Vienna, Austria. He noticed that the women who had delivering babies in the hospital with the help of doctors. That they were getting sick and dying at a much higher rate than those who gave birth at home.
With the help of midwives and he found that often the doctors would come from other patients. They have been with without washing their hands. When he then made them wash their hands in chlorinated water.
The fatality rate fell from 18 percent to 2 percent. It still took about a generation until after the work of Louis Pasteur for the medical world to accept that diseases were being caused by the doctors themselves by the fact that they would go from patient to patient and Spread they were somehow they were spreading it.
Something they couldn't see with a naked eye. They had I'm sure they thought they were clean. They didn't intentionally take something, you know some germs or some. Dirt from one patient to another they just couldn't see it.
They thought they were clean, but they didn't realize how dirty they were. People are often filthy with a filth. They can't see. Now does that mean then? Well, I guess the obsessive-compulsive are right after all.
We should all be constantly scrubbing our hands with hot water and the strongest soap we can get. Well, no because we were never really made to live in a sterile environment. Sure, if we're being opened up at surgery, we want it to be sterile but normally we're made to keep out, you know, this is our skin and Other parts of us do a pretty good job of keeping out the unhealthy germs.
There are around us and and dealing with other germs that we take in pretty well. We were made to live in a living environment. Some people have forgotten this now in our generation. And so we have a generation of kids who are raised on, you know.
Antiseptic soap and antiseptic wipes and disinfecting sprays and disinfecting everything. In the result something now is it all of that is causing something because it was not proven. But it's a theory that is causing a rise now that we have now in allergies immunity problems intestinal disorders.
Because you have kids are just raised without any exposure to the germs so they don't develop any Immunity toward it. We actually need some microorganisms probiotics we need some germs. The problem you see is that just as people used to not know how dirty they were.
Now people don't know what it means to be clean. Cleanliness is not sterility. Cleanliness is life. Being unclean definitely a pitfall. It's something people used to Fall into and still often do when they when they don't know they're unclean.
Often now though people have fallen into the other pitfall of of sterility. Because they don't know what true cleanliness is. Here we see in numbers chapter 19 everybody's favorite chapter. I'm sure how to how to be clean and So what it means?
What does it mean to be really clean? We see that in two major parts the regulations and the violations. The Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron to tell them the regulations for a new kind of sin offering now first God gives the regulations for the offering and Then the reasons for it.
That comes after the regulations are symbolic. The book of Hebrews will refer to some of them. We're used to hearing words preached, right? Lessons taught with with words but the priest in the Old Testament proclaimed the gospel through the Symbolism of their actions and here the Lord first gives them the regulations that shows us the gospel through three things.
They could see blood fire and water. Well first blood. The symbolism of blood is already suggested in the red heifer. The cow that they were to take and this is already unusual if you're if you're reading this red heifer.
What's going on with this? This is the only offering. Where the color of the animal is mentioned before it never talks about the color of the bull or the goat or the sheep or? Any of that. Red, of course is the color of blood.
The priest is to watch this blood colored cow be slaughtered and then sprinkle some of its blood just a representative fingertips worth. Toward the tabernacle, which would actually be some distance away but toward the tent of meeting here.
It's called a verse for blood is sprinkled a symbolic full whole thorough. Seven times you notice there's a lot of sevens a lot of threes and there's chapters symbolic numbers. Representing wholeness completion.
Blood must be between the sinner. It's us and God. For us to be seen as clean. Right. Remember this the symbol of God's presence was in that tabernacle. And so he takes the blood he sprinkles it toward the tabernacle.
Blood is between God and the sinner. So we can be clean. Then there's the fire now fire symbolic of a judgment. Fire consumed destroys that which is Just fleshly. It's merely human. It leaves only what is from God here.
The fire completely consumes this this cow notice verse 5 that the heifer is entirely burned with its skin. It's meat its innards even as blood. So this is unlike the the sacrifices that were offered in the temple.
None of its left to be eaten by the priest or anybody. The blood is not drained out the blood. Yeah, the blood is not drained out. It's not poured out before the Lord. It's burned up with all the rest.
So nothing is left. Except the ashes and it's those ashes that are used with water it says it says Fresh water, but literally the word there is living water in Hebrew. Is that what it's used with water for cleansing showing that cleansing comes through?
Fire the fire of God's Judgment, but fortunately here, you know, it's not the people not the sinners that have to be exposed to the fire like today. We don't have to do that. We don't have to be exposed to fire.
It's not that we're cleansed by fire, but that the offering for us Goes through the fire of God's judgment through the beatings at his trial through the crucifixion. They're looking up into heaven and crying out my god my god.
Why have you forsaken me? He went through that fire. So we wouldn't have to so we can be clean before God. Now on to that literal Fire the priest adds three things in verse 6 cedar wood Hyssop and in scarlet yarn all very representative.
The the same three things were used by the priest to cleanse someone who had been recovered from leprosy and Leviticus 14. I'm sure everybody knew that. I just had to mention that everyone's very familiar with Leviticus 14, right?
But those same three things are mentioned there cleansing from leprosy. They are symbolically cleansing because cedar adds to the fire and it makes a pleasing aroma what you know. Like those sacrifices they made pleasing aromas and that reminds us of the true sacrifice.
It makes a pleasing aroma to the Lord that pleases the Lord that appeases him. Hyssop was a plant plant. They often use like Paint brush here and you notice later. They use it to also to sprinkle water on the person.
They use it at the Passover to mark the doorways of their of the house with the blood of the Passover lamb. David prayed in Psalm 51 verse 7 purged me with hyssop and I will be clean. Scarlet yarn read again was likely another reminder of blood.
The life is in the blood all all the blood is burned up and the blood like yarn is added to the fire. Showing that the wrath of God is Satisfied with blood all of those go into the fire all burned up in the judgment.
That makes us clean. Finally, there's water now. Water is pretty obvious water is symbolic for cleansing because it's literally cleansing right here. There is a lot of water is a lot of washing. You notice how many times people have to wash themselves or their clothes.
The priest who presides over this offering must washes His clothes and himself the man who burns the heifer and the man who gathers of the ashes have to do the same thing and then in verse 17 fresh Water, the term is literally in Hebrew literally the phrase is living water fresh flowing clean.
Water is later combined with the ashes and sprinkled on the unclean person. To cleanse them the water symbolizes the spirit in John chapter 7 verse 39. Jesus said that anyone who believes in him would have Living water.
Same phrase is here from numbers 19 living water flow in him. Which which it says he says is the Holy Spirit is given to us. Paul in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 says that we were all baptized. That's it means immersed into one spirit given one spirit to drink like water.
Now here maybe here may be the original Source of our baptism you wonder where baptism comes from. It probably comes from this right here when Gentile you notice it's one place that says If I can get the end of versal 10, this is not not only for you in Israel.
It's for the foreigner who sojourns among you who lives among you and so when a Gentile Converted he wanted to join Judaism. I want to become actually a part not just to live among the Israelites. But actually to be one of them.
They were expected to be cleansed from all the unclean things that they had been in touch with before. Cleansed of their whole Gentile way of life. And so they would go through this including the washing their clothes and themselves.
They were baptized. Immersed. The word baptized means immersed means you can take a bath go get it go under you. You had to be washed you had to be baptized to join the people of God. It was baptism is the entryway into the people of God at least symbolically.
Then along comes John remember that so that's the background like from here in numbers 19 of This and which is used for by the Jews for including Gentiles who are converting. Now so in with that along comes John the Baptist who tells the Israelites.
He's preaching almost entirely to Jews and he says in effect to them. You know, you need to repent and be baptized. Because you're not you're not really a true Israelite at all. Until you're converted until you repent and that's shown by you being baptized.
And he told them God can make you're so confident in your ancestry. You think you're one of God's people because you're born in this nation. You know God can make sons of Abraham out of stones if he wants to.
Know your your ancestry doesn't make you one of his people. You need to be converted and washed. Just like those Gentiles needed to be so. They thought they were clean acceptable for God because of the nation they were born into because of their ethnicity.
They thought they were one of God's people because they were Israelites. They were just born into it. They believe we have some like that today. They're born into a Christian family they think they're Christians, but John the Baptist says you need to be converted to and.
Just like so just like the Gentiles being converted you need to be baptized. You need to be immersed in water. Repent of your sins. You need to be cleansed just like here in numbers 19. No one else and no one else can do that for you.
You think of that John saying that to the Israelites? Here's here in this chapter everyone who wants to be cleansed has to do this themselves. You can't Have someone else do it in your place or just you can't just blow it off.
I don't need to do that. You can't choose to have someone to baptize. Or you can't choose for someone else to be cleansed you must for yourself. Repent of your sins and you choose to be baptized choose to be cleansed symbolized by baptism.
So when the Lord Jesus gave us our Great Commission. You think of this right? He told us to baptize Who it's a great debate in the Christian Church, but it shouldn't be. It's clear in the past Matthew 28 go make disciples of all nations and baptize.
Who? He just said so didn't he just said it did he say baptize our babies who haven't made any decision yet? No, he said, you know baptize our little kids that we manipulated, you know. They get four or five six we manipulate him to say what we want him to say and then we baptize him.
No. He said exactly who are you supposed to baptize? Disciples go make disciples followers of Jesus from all nations and baptize them the disciples. Our mandate is only to baptize disciples. You know, we have no authority.
We have no call from the Lord. We have no right to baptize anyone other than a disciple and in light of Numbers 19 that makes sense. What sense would it be here to do this ritual for someone who might not want it?
In fact here clearly if someone doesn't want it, they have to bear the responsibility of that themselves. This is for someone here in numbers 19 who was unclean before God and who wants to become clean to be acceptable to him.
But they have to choose it themselves. It's not chosen for them. It's not just inherited in their family if they don't choose it. They are it says here in numbers 19. They are cut off. It can't be done for them without their choice.
They're cleansing can't be done for them. Cleansing has to be something you choose to do and. So the symbol for cleansing. Which for us is baptism. Should be something you choose to do too. So to be clean before God we need blood fire and water.
We need the blood of Christ our offering Christ himself going through the fire of God's judgment. We need the Holy Spirit flowing in us. Giving us life that living water and. Remember cleanliness is not sterility but life.
There's two other elements of this picture of the gospel here showing us how to make unclean sinners acceptable in God's sight two other things. First there's the distance. Do you notice that and the deposit?
Remember this offering as red heifer is taken. It says out of the camp and Again that's also unusual that's different from all the other sacrifices. Other sacrifices were offered at the temple back to you know, remember earlier just last week I'm getting confused but the the priest had the right to do all the other sacrifices that had to be done under he had to do it right there at the Tabernacle at the temple on that altar very specific but here there to go out of the camp.
There's no no altar. Not not only just out of the tabernacle itself. But out of the whole campground away from the people away from the tabernacle. That's in the middle of the people and instead it's be separate.
It's like it's saying That this is something that must be outside. It's like you put your trash. It's at a distance. It's just too unclean. To be in the tabernacle. It's too unclean even to be in the camp with the people it's something to be separated from.
Because of the uncleanness it represents Just some you put it at a distance like you put something away from you when you when it's dirty. So Hebrews chapter 13 verse 12 says so Jesus also suffered outside the gate.
In order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Because Jesus absorbed our unrighteousness our Dirtiness in God's sight because God made him to be sinned who knew no sin so that we could be right with God so that we Could be seen as clean because Jesus was seen by the Father as Dressed in our filthy rags.
He had to be taken outside the city. And he was. Well second is the deposit. Notice in verse 9 that the ashes of the offering are gathered up and they're deposited in a clean place. This is again Unusual there's nothing like this for any of the other sacrifices.
The implication is That this offering isn't made for every every time someone is unclean. Or else they had to be doing it constantly. They do it, you know day in and day out like they had to do the other sacrifices.
But the implication is the the ashes this heifer is burned up ashes then are deposited and then they're used. For probably just a little smidgen worth mixed with fresh water. They're just the use. For whoever needs cleansing in the future.
Could be who knows how many hundreds thousands of people until the ashes finally run out now the offering was limited. So I assume they'd have to make a new offering after finally the ashes ran out. But until then the deposited ashes would be used for Symbolically cleansing anyone who needed it for as many people as they could take now.
The offering of Jesus is not limited. It is enough for all the people who will ever need it. Jesus does not have to die again and again for every individual. Or again and again for us and the Lord's Supper every time we take it the cleansing power of his offering is Deposited in a clean place in heaven and has been credited to any filthy sinner who knows he needs it.
Well, those are the regulations a sin offering for cleansing. Here's the gospel in Numbers 19 of all places. Portrayed in images of a red heifer outside the camp blood and fire and water with ashes deposited for us.
Now, what are the violations? Who are the violators? Who needs it. In other words, well the rest of the chapter starting in verse 11 is about that. Who is unclean? Is it only for a few? Outrageously filthy people who have committed some vile lewd nasty acts.
They need it. No. Oddly enough is for anyone who touches a dead person in verse 11 or anyone who is an intent I suppose then for us a house. Where someone dies in verse 14 or for anyone who touches a grave in verse 16 and it goes on and on.
You know from there unclean person touches something that comes unclean and if you touch something he touched you become unclean. So it just spreads. Like a virus it's uncleanness. In other words anyone who comes in contact with death human death is unclean.
Anyone who was near death needs that red heifer with the blood and the fire and the water. Outside the camp killed for them. They they're gonna need that they need to use those ashes deposited for them since here.
Think of this context here in numbers 19 everyone. Now nearly everyone all the adults except for two are going to die in the next 40 years. Since 250 leading men have were just burned up near the tabernacle not long before this and 14 ,700 died in the plague.
It was also just before this and then immediately after this. The very beginning of chapter 20 you read this the next few verses Miriam dies. So that's the context of this. There's death everywhere around this chapter.
It's telling us everyone is to be unclean everyone needs the cleansing of this offering well for us. Everyone needs the cleansing offering because everyone comes from the realm of death. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 in Colossians chapter 2 verse 13 say that we were dead in our sins.
We come from death and To be right with God. We must first be cleansed as long as we are dead in our sins. There's there's nothing we can do to make ourselves clean. You're caked in mud. Everything you touch is going to be muddy.
That's what happens to us. We're unclean because of our death everything we touch becomes unclean and notice here how contagious the uncleanness is. It just said it's like a virus. We we catch the uncleanness.
But just by touching a dead body if we come into the tabernacle into the presence of the Lord. We defile it and we are rejected. We're cut off the uncleanness of death. It's spread through anything in a house with death and that and then in that last verse verse 22 It's spread to whatever the unclean person touches and then to you if you touch what the unclean person touches.
I think how unclean that makes us even if we think you know, like those doctors before they discover germs. It's kind of like the way we are with our sin and our death pure spiritual death. We think we're clean.
This is something we can't see. But we just we're wrong. We just can't see it. We don't know it. We live under the sentence of death now and before being born again, we are dead in sin. That's why religion without the gospel without the life of the Spirit is Deadly, it's why it's deadening.
It can't make us clean before God. Even if we strictly follow its morality, even if we do its rituals, we can keep the Ten Commandments. We can go to church. We can give lots of money. We can get baptized.
But if we're not born again if we don't have new life if the blood of Christ doesn't purify us from dead works. It's works that make us dead if we're not purified from that to serve the Living God. Then we're still defiled.
About all the morality the rituals. We're still unclean. Our environment of death means that we are then without that blood without the that Offering filthy before God. Now people may deny this they do deny this they think they they can clean themselves.
Maybe they think they can cover up the stench of death with enough perfume. You know fragrance some kind. The perfume of religion or morality that'll that'll Cover up the smell of death put enough virtues.
What mean what they think our virtues or put enough rituals enough religion over death and maybe we can ignore it. Or maybe we can make death appear clean. Just redefine what clean is make it appear acceptable.
If we can get rid of the reeking stink of death, or if we can't get rid of it I should say we can't get rid of it. Maybe we can Give in convince people that it really is after all a nice fragrance we can make it acceptable.
You know a new perfume odor OD death. I don't know what you call it a Sterility lifelessness is clean, right? And our culture is doing this also all kinds of different cultures are doing this. So we have Halloween celebrations that are really about celebrating all things dealing with death, you know the macabre Skeletons pumpkins carved to look like skulls ghosts graves the undead.
Anything that's gruesome and deadly. What's all about isn't it? They can peace with death the Mexicans. Oh, they've taken this to another level with their day of the dead, which is actually three days.
The people gather with the family to pray for the dead to give food to the dead. They visit and decorate the graves of the dead. They have a lavish parade in which people dress as if dead death is just fun.
In Chinese culture, they have a hungry ghost festival, which is coming in just a couple of weeks on September 5th. In case you want to celebrate they believe the spirits of the deceased ancestors make what may come to visit us the living.
And the round so the realm of the dead is opened up for us. Opened up actually for the dead to come visit us and said, you know, if you're gonna have guests, what do you do? Make sure you get you're gonna host them.
You're gonna have food for them. So you make extra food for the hungry ghosts that are coming. They're hungry. They've been traveling here. Food is provided for the visiting dead. Sometimes an empty seat left for them.
Welcome dead people into my house. It's as though we're trying to make peace with death that it's really not so bad. That we can welcome it into our home. We can celebrate it. We can have a fun time with it let the kids play with it.
That'll some level we're recognizing that we're we really are living in Death right now that we are already soiled with it and we can't get ourselves clean of it. And so we might as well just get used to it.
Maybe we can make the sterility of death. Maybe we can make that be the new clean but here God wants us cleansed of Death of anything that smacks of death. Any association we have with death is defiling makes us Unclean death was the wages of sin.
It was not God's intention for us. That's why Jesus wept at Lazarus's tomb. This death was not supposed to happen. It's not the way God Created the world. That's why we never really adjust to death. It's why people have a death in their family of someone they love because someone young is just you can be traumatizing.
It can maybe never recover from it. You know despite our twisted attempts to tame it to make it in something. That's cute like a Halloween party. It's still it's it's we still know deep down. Something wrong.
That's why we're still traumatized by it. It's the definition of something that's unclean. It's out of place. That's disorderly this filthy. But we're in a quandary aren't we? We're covered in this muck and this mire of death like we've been trudging through a swamp and come out caked in mud.
Everything we touch then even our religion our morality. Bears our muddy fingerprints yet. We must be accepted by the God who demands that we be clean of even the taint of death. What are we to do? Well, he's already told us what that's the good news of the offering.
He's provided cleansing himself. He's revealed to us the offering the red heifer for our uncleanness the blood the fire the water offered outside the camp. Giving us a deposit that we can call on that we can draw from for our uncleanness to become clean.
Hebrews chapter 9 says speaking of that that red heifer slaughtered outside the camp. Then about Christ's sacrifice how much more? If that red heifer made clean from kind of ceremonial defilement, then how much more there's the true offering.
The one the red heifer number night numbers 19 represents. How much more does he cleanse us? And now here he tells us that we all need it. We're all violators. We're all unclean as Isaiah realized seeing the three times.
Holy God. He realized I'm a man of unclean lips among the people of Unclean lips he realized how filthy he was. We see here in numbers 19 that the separation between people. Two kinds of people the separation is not between not really between the clean and the unclean but between the cleansed and the uncleansed.
Between those who were unclean and then availed themselves of God's cleansing offering on the one hand and on the other the unclean. Who would not use that? Cleansing offering in Numbers up here in numbers 19 verse 13 the unclean person and that's all of us.
The unclean person who does not cleanse himself and that's some of us. He defiles he contaminates dirties pollutes sullies. Here the tabernacle the symbol for God's presence on earth the church. It says that person shall be cut off either excommunicated expelled or Executed.
He has no place before God. The unclean person has no place. He's unacceptable among God's people. He cannot enter God's presence. Heaven the kingdom of God. He's like the guest at the King's wedding feast and Jesus's parable in Matthew 22 there Jesus said the kingdom of heaven Is is like a king who gave a great wedding feast for his son.
The guest he invited first. They just blew him off. They made excuses. They wouldn't come and so the the King sent out his servants out to the roads to just to gather in invite anybody out there who Invite them all to become guests to come to the reception and So the wedding hall was filled With such people such guests and then the King comes in to see this lavish party.
He's put in for his son's wedding and they saw one man there Who had no wedding garment? Who thought he could come? Acceptably. Just as he was. That he was clean on his own terms. He didn't need new clothes and so the King told his servants to bind him and cast him into outer darkness one of Jesus's terms for hell.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus said he wouldn't be this guest wouldn't be Cleansed like in Numbers 19. He wouldn't be dressed in the wedding garments in Jesus's parable.
And so he is unacceptable. He's expelled. There's no other way of being accepted by God Other than the cleansing he has provided other than the robes washed in the blood of the Lamb that he gives. Well back here in Numbers 19 from verse 20 if someone who was unclean as we all are Does not cleanse himself.
He doesn't seek the Lord. To make him clean doesn't seek the cleansing that the Lord has made available in that deposit of ashes in the clean place. Maybe he thinks that he can cleanse himself another way.
Why do I need to do what the Lord provided. I can do. I can think of my own way. By being a moral family member that'll do it. God will accept that instead of his way. God will accept my morality my family.
I'm a good man. I provide for my I do my thing. Or maybe by going to church. That'll do it instead of what the Lord provided. I can do that by getting baptized. That'll do it by giving enough money. Or maybe he thinks he can just define.
What makes for cleanliness himself that he really isn't tainted with death. He's not really I'm not really dead in sin. What's that? So he doesn't need cleansing he or she thinks He or she is like those doctors.
Remember them who thought they were clean who thought they were helping their patients when they were actually killing them going going from patient to Patient spreading diseases with their contamination all because they were unaware of how filthy they were.
If anyone who is unclean and that's everyone Doesn't get cleansed if he doesn't use that cleansing agents the cleansing agents the way of cleansing that's kept outside the camp then. Says here in numbers 19 that person shall be cut off in the midst of the assembly.
The person who won't be cleansed is cleaned out of God's people. There's no place for him or her. Among God's people the assembly the church in heaven and the kingdom of God. He or she is thrown out into that place where Jesus said there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
He gets hell because at the end of verse 20 you know not not not just because he he stayed defiled but because he stayed defiled and thought He could still have a place among God's people. He was okay as he was he could cleanse himself how he want and so it says here yet He defiled the sanctuary of the Lord God's Holy Presence in 2nd Kings chapter 5.
Naaman the general with the Syrian army. He's highly respected by his king. Because you know, he's a must have been a very skilled general military leader, but he has leprosy. Which is the disease that in Israel they were people who had it were supposed to yell unclean.
Unclean as they walked around so people could get away. When he hears that there's a great name and when he hears that there's a great prophet in Israel Elisha. He gathers great gifts enormous amounts of gifts is silver and gold lots of money to take to the prophet to cure him of leprosy.
That he was willing to give so much so we could be Cleansed shows us how desperate he was how serious he was. But when he arrived at Elisha's house Elisha wouldn't even bother to come out and see him just relayed the message.
You know go to the Jordan River and dip yourself seven times. Name is kind of miffed, you know that he's respected by his own king. But here the prophet won't even come out and talk to him and then he thought what's so special about the Jordan River.
We have rivers better than that in Syria. And so we turned away and left in a rage. His pride offended but outrage, you know. Why should he have to go to the one specific place that the Lord provided?
Why? He was probably expecting some magical you know mystical right the life. Elisha would come out and wave his hands and chant or whatever or maybe he thought the prophet would Would require him to do some great feat.
Climb a high mountain and fast for 40 days something arduous and religious. But you know, there's none of that dip yourself in this one River here here why. He thought he was angry storms away. And finally one of his servants says to him, you know.
Name it if the prophet had asked you to do a great thing when you have done it. All he asked is wash in his place and be clean. So Naaman went. He sought the means for cleansing the Lord provided. And he was cleansed.
The Lord has given us one means for cleansing. We have to use it and no other. Notice uncleanness is not only contagious. It also it doesn't expire. You know the contamination of sin. Doesn't just wear off after a while if you ignore it.
He says there if he doesn't seek the cleansing. The uncleanness stays on him it just stays and stays. It's not something let's go away. After a while like radioactivity slowly dissipates over time or like maybe the mud on your car.
Why wash it? You know eventually wear off the rain will wash it off. Sin doesn't just go away if you ignore it. You must be intentionally cleansed of it. The one who doesn't do that Here doesn't have the water for impurity.
Sprinkle in him or her Is still unclean no matter how long. Ago, the sin was this is in verse 21. The Lord says a statute forever. It's a principle that is always true still today the person who has not been cleansed of his sin is still unclean and Will not be accepted by God.
Now many around us. No, they think they're clean. Even if they had even if they've been touched, okay, they'll admit they've been touched a little bit by by death or by sin now and then. But they seem as clean they think to themselves is the next person.
Even if they've gotten a touch of dirt now and then it'll wear off without them having to do anything about it. Okay, if they must. Maybe they'll make a resolution. You know. Do something different maybe give some money maybe do a good deed maybe go through a ritual like baptism.
That'll do the trick that'll get the stain out. They think they're not so perturbed By their uncleanness not like Lady Macbeth. They're confident That they're clean enough. But no one. No one is clean enough you are either cleansed or still unclean.
If you've not sought the cleansing provided by the Lord you can't be accepted to serve the Living God. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 13 says that the blood of Christ Purifies like hyssop our conscience from dead works.
Christ offered himself like that heifer. He was without blemish and he offered himself to God to cleanse us so that now we can serve The Living God so we can be accepted by God. But if we've not been cleansed of Of our own Deserved wrath.
If we if if we've not had Christ himself Cleanse us like that heifer did of Of their dead works. If we've not been cleansed of our own deserved judgment by having Christ Suffer the fiery judgment for us.
If we've not had him give us the Holy Spirit who wells up in us like a spring of fresh flowing living water. Then we're still Polluted by dead works. Our attempts to cleanse ourself Will at best produce lifeless sterility.
Deadness. What we need is what he has already provided. There is there is one deposited Means of Cleanness that he's made for us. The ashes of an offering made once for all to make us clean. All we have to do is Use it seek what's been provided for us.
Admit that we have been filthy that we have been violators and believe in What the Lord has done to make us clean. You are either unclean or cleansed. Which are you.