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God had some pretty strict standards. He was going to be dwelling with the Israelites while they were headed to Canaan, so He needed things to be right. After ordering the tribes and setting out the Levitical duties, God knew it was time to set some standards.  So thing one–no unclean folks in camp.  What made people unclean? Skin diseases, bloody discharges, dealing with dead bodies…So for a time after that, those people would have to live outside the camp.  While it seems harsh, it was the simple fact that God wanted to keep his people pure and healthy.  But, there was more.

In addition to the health of the people, God wanted Israel to understand the importance of purity.  They were in a land where people mixed everything–religions, tribes, marriages, food–what ever felt good was the mission of the day.  The total lack of discipline was a destructive force among the peoples; and the difference for why Israel would take the land and keep it.  God knew that discipline was a learned trait.  It needed to start with basic things and then infiltrate all areas of life. So God set rigorous standards for His people that would make them strong and united.

God calls us to be pure as well.  We do not have the same rigorous standards that God gave Israel, but, He does ask us to be holy; like He is holy.  The way we do life needs to be pure and honoring to God.  How we do business, how we treat others and how we worship; all give us the ability to become like the Lord, and have Him dwell in our lives.  As we examine our lives we need to ask–what is unclean, what is keeping us from God’s best.  Once we have made the determination, get separated from it. Help me, Lord, to live a life that is pure in Your sight.

God Bless You

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease[a] or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. 3 Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” 4 The Israelites did so; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.

The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way[b] and so is unfaithful to the Lord is guilty 7 and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. 8 But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer. 9 All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him.10 Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.’”