Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by a dead person
Numbers 5 opens with the camp arranged around the tabernacle. The first order given to that camp is to send three kinds of unclean people out of it. That raises two questions: why did God ask for it, and what does it mean for His people now?
The command ends with a reason. One writer builds all discipline among God's people on that reason.
In a few words we are shown the great foundation principle on which the discipline of the assembly rests. It is a principle of the very last importance, yet sadly few understand it or pay attention to it. It was the presence of God in the midst of His people Israel that demanded holiness on their part. "So that they do not defile their camps, in the midst of which I dwell." The place where the Holy One dwells must be holy.
God had not always lived among people. What changed was redemption.
God dwelt with them on the ground of redemption. He never dwelt with man until redemption was accomplished. But now the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. God had never dwelt with Abraham. Yet as soon as redemption was accomplished, He said, "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God."
The verse names three distinct defilements, and each carries its own moral picture.
Leprosy is a type of that "sin in the flesh" of which Romans 8:3 speaks. The discharge reminds us of the words of our Lord: "what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a person." Sin has corrupted man, so everything that comes out of him is defiled and defiling. And then, as the Apostle James tells us, "sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."
Notice what was not the test. The list has nothing to do with outsiders, ancestry, or nationality.
Were the children of Israel commanded to put out of the camp everyone who was not an Israelite? Everyone who was not circumcised? Everyone who could not trace his family line back to Abraham? Were these the grounds of exclusion? Not at all. Who then were to be put out? "Everyone who is leprous" — that is, everyone in whom sin is allowed to work. "Everyone who has a discharge" — that is, everyone from whom a defiling influence is coming out; and "whoever is unclean through contact with the dead." These were the people to be separated from the camp in the wilderness, and the ones they picture are to be separated from the assembly now.
Two phrases carry the weight here. One names the place; the other names the duty. Neither left room for pleading.
No relationship, however close, and no friendship, however strong, could excuse disobedience to this command. "Outside the camp" named the place God had appointed for such people. "You shall put them out" put the responsibility to act rightly on everyone. Someone might say, "How unnatural to act like this against members of one's own family," or, "A merciful God could never ask for such an act to be done in His name." The natural man might have agreed with such thoughts. But the one taught of God would see they were wrong.
Yet nothing was rushed.
The case had to be proved beyond mistake to be leprosy before discipline could take place. When this was made sure, then the children of Israel were to put out of the camp every leper.
Israel camped in separate tribal groups. Could a man just move to another section?
The individual leper would have defiled his own camp. That in turn would have defiled the whole nation where God dwelt. So it was not enough to put him out of his own camp. He had to go outside them all. A man put out of one section by the word of the LORD could not be welcomed, or even tolerated, in another. There were differences in the tribes, and each had its own place. But there was no difference in their relation to the holiness of God.
Exclusion was not meant to last. The same law also provided a way back.
If this holiness had been all that the LORD cared about, the leper would have stayed outside the camp for good, cut off from the tabernacle and from the company of God's people. But He cared for the leper. He provided for his return to all his privileges in the camp, if only he was first healed. Money, entreaties, promises, efforts — all would be of no use. The LORD Himself must heal the man, or he could never be cleansed. So grace had room to display itself, once the claims of divine holiness had been acknowledged.
- Presence. The command rests on one reason: God lives in the middle of the camp, and His dwelling place must be holy.
- Redemption. He was there because He had redeemed them. Before redemption He dwelt with no one — not even Abraham.
- Picture. The three cases picture sin at work inside, a defiling influence flowing out, and contact with death — what sin produces in the end.
- Everyone. The test was never nationality or ancestry. It was defilement. No family tie could win an exemption — though nothing moved until the case was proved.
- Return. Holiness put the man out. Grace healed him and brought him back, with every privilege restored.
both male and female shall ye put out; outside the camp shall ye put them, that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
God's command here is short and total: every unclean person goes outside the camp, male and female alike. The reason stands in the last clause — God Himself lives in the middle of that camp.
Commentators read the closing clause as the key to the whole command.
Here, in a few words, we have the great foundation principle on which the discipline of the assembly rests. It is a principle of the very last importance, though sadly so little understood or followed. It was the presence of God among His people Israel that required holiness from them. "That they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell." The place where the Holy One dwells must be holy. This is a plain and necessary truth.
What brought God into the camp and what kept Him there are two different things.
We have already noted that redemption was the basis of God's dwelling among His people. But we must remember that discipline was essential to His staying with them. He could not dwell where evil was deliberately and openly allowed. Blessed be His name, He can and does bear with weakness; but His eyes are too pure to see evil, and He cannot look at wrong. Evil cannot live with Him, and He can have no fellowship with it. It would mean denying His very nature; and He cannot deny Himself.
The rule covers both male and female. The objections it raises are easy to imagine.
No relationship was close enough, and no friendship strong enough, to justify disobeying this command. "Outside the camp" named the place God had appointed for such people. "You shall put out" laid the responsibility on everyone to act rightly. People might have said, "How unnatural to act like this against members of your own family!" "How unloving to put your dearest friend outside the camp!" "A merciful God could never ask for such a thing in His name." Thoughts like these might have crossed many a mind. The natural man would call them right, but anyone taught by God would see they were wrong. The Lord had spoken, and He must be obeyed.
The verse uses the plural, because Israel was arranged in distinct camps around the tabernacle. Yet the removal is out of all of them.
In one sense God regards the camp as one complete whole. According to Numbers 2 there were five camps: Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, Dan, and Levi in the middle, surrounding the tabernacle. The individual leper would have defiled his own camp. That camp in turn would have defiled the whole nation where God dwelt. So it was not enough to put him out of his own camp; he had to be put outside them all. If the word of the Lord put a man out of one section, no other section could welcome him or even tolerate him.
The command was severe, so the law around it was careful. Suspicion alone put no one outside.
Only a priest — Aaron or one of his sons — could tell clean from unclean in such cases and give a true judgment. When there was any appearance of leprosy, the man was brought to the priest. There had to be certain proof of leprosy before discipline could take place.
Being put outside was not the end of the story. God provided a way back.
Finally, Numbers 19 tells us how a person defiled by the dead could come back inside the camp in keeping with God's holiness. The ashes of a red heifer, killed and burnt, were stored for this purpose. Some of them were mixed with running water. The liquid made this way became a water of separation. Sprinkled on the defiled person, it met his defilement in God's own way and made it possible for him to return to communion and privilege.
Writers connect the camp with the church, treating the two commands as one rule applied twice.
Leprosy could not be tolerated in the camp in the midst of which the Lord dwelt... This is a picture of sin — sin showing itself in and through someone who belongs to the people of God. While here we have the divine command to put the unclean person out of the camp, we have a command just as truly from God in the New Testament: "Purge the evil person from among you" (1 Cor. 5:13). The principle is the same, whether in the camp of Israel or in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Presence — the command rests on the last clause of the verse: God dwells there, so the place must be holy — in Israel's camp then, in the church now.
- Permanence — redemption brought God in; judging evil keeps Him there.
- People — male or female, close relative or dearest friend: God's word allows no exception.
- Proof — the priest alone judged, and the case had to be certain before anyone went outside.
- Path back — the ashes of the red heifer in running water met the defilement God's own way and opened the road home to communion.