In the first 10 chapters of Numbers, God is preparing the people as an army to conquer the land He has been promising them since Genesis 12. In preparation for the march to the Holy Land, the camp of Israel must be purged of all uncleanness, and this is the topic of Numbers 5-6. Far from being just an Old Testament thing, the principle that only the purified can belong to the kingdom of heaven is reaffirmed in Ephesians 5:5 and Revelation 21:27; 22:14–15.The concept of uncleanness (i.e., that which disgusts and angers God) is very important in Scripture, and in the Old Testament it is explained most fully in Leviticus 11–16. Uncleanness ranges in seriousness from mild uncleanness caused by sex (in marriage) (Lev. 15:18), to moderate uncleanness caused by skin disease (Leviticus 13), to severe uncleanness triggered by sins such as idolatry, adultery, and murder. Severe uncleanness led to the Canaanites losing the land, and the same thing could happen to Israel (Lev. 20:22–23). People who were unclean weren’t allowed to worship, and their uncleanness could somehow infect the tabernacle, which would make it impossible for God to dwell there. The Day of Atonement was designed to cleanse the tabernacle once a year (Leviticus 16) in order to ensure God’s continuing presence with his people. These regulations in Numbers 5–6 are preventative: the purpose of these laws is to eliminate uncleanness from Israel so that the tabernacle will remain pure and God will stay with his people as they journey to Canaan. Of course, the thing about all this ritual purification is that it never lasts. The only way that we are permanently cleansed from our sin is by the blood of Jesus:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)
Numbers 6 ends with a famous blessing that you have probably heard spoken before:
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:22-27)
God wants to give you the same “shalom” (peace) that He is blessing Israel with here. Again, in its ultimate form, this peace is found in Christ:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)
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