Numbers 5

From the outset of Numbers 5, we are reminded that God desired for His people to be a holy and pure nation. In this opening passage (vv. 1-4), God was essentially commanding that what He said in the book of Leviticus regarding those with leprosy, discharge, or contact with a corpse must now be put into practice. Recall, it was not because these ceremonially unclean people were sinners that they were to be put outside the camp (v. 4), but rather, it was to prevent their unclean state from spreading to others. Matthew Henry suggests the following spiritual application for the Church today: 

What the governors of the church ought to do: they must separate between the precious and the vile, and purge out scandalous persons, as old leaven (1 Co. 5:8, 13), lest others should be infected and defiled, Heb. 12:15. It is for the glory of Christ and the edification of his church that those who are openly and incorrigibly profane and vicious should be put out and kept from Christian communion till they repent. (2.) What God himself will do in the great day: he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather out of his kingdom all things that offend. As here the unclean were shut out of the camp, so into the new Jerusalem no unclean thing shall enter, Rev. 21:27.[i]

As we move into verses 5-10, we are also reminded that sin requires restitution—both to God and to the person who was wronged. Instead of leaving it up to the Israelites to arbitrarily determine the cost to make things right (and thus, have imbalanced scales of justice), God set the price for those at odds to be restored to one another. In addition, He determined the sacrifice that must be made by the person who violated His Law. For the atonement of our sin, God also established the payment that must be made, only this time, the offending party wouldn’t offer the recompense. No, God’s love, grace, and mercy prompted Him to make the restitution on our behalf through Jesus Christ’s blood, thereby reconciling to Him all who put their faith in the sacrificial, spotless Lamb of God for salvation. Read these words from the worship song, “The Blood”, before we move on to discuss our remaining verses from chapter 5: 

It’s never been about performance, perfection

Or striving for acceptance

Let me tell you, it’s only by the blood

It’s never been about deserving or earning

It’s a gift that’s freely given

Let me tell you, it’s only by the blood

Oh does anybody want to be holy and righteous

Purified and spotless

Let me tell you, it’s only by the blood

Does anybody want to be worthy, forgiven

Justified, really living

Let me tell you, it’s only by the blood[ii]

Our reading today closes with an interesting and perhaps difficult passage concerning a jealous man testing his wife to see if she had committed adultery. I suggest that it may be difficult because it appears that the woman is the one bearing all the shame, even if she did not actually engage in an act of sexual immorality. Verse 31 highlights this implication: “The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.” However, some believe that the Law of Moses was “not meant to anticipate every potential situation, but to give examples that set [a precedent] for other cases. Though not stated, [it] is likely that a similar ceremony would be practiced if a wife became suspicious of a husband’s adultery.”[iii]

Even if that wasn’t the case here, we must acknowledge God’s mercy for the woman in this passage. Matthew Poole notes, “This law was given partly to deter wives from adulterous practices, and partly to secure wives against the rage of their hard-hearted husbands, who otherwise might upon mere suspicions destroy them, or at least put them away.”[iv] Just like God set a limit to the restitution one was required to pay so that one person didn’t take advantage of another, He put a system in place to ensure a husband couldn’t rid himself of his wife on erroneous grounds simply because he grew tired of her (or for any other reason). God’s heart is for a marriage between man and woman to be kept pure, undefiled, united, and treasured above any other earthly relationship (Hebrews 13:4), and this passage affirms His passion for such. Ladies, I again will remind you that God loves you, esteems you, and values you just as much as men. Please don’t let the devil warp these verses to plant seeds of doubt in your mind that you are any less significant!   

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Journal responses to the following prompts:

·       As quoted earlier, one day God “will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather out of his kingdom all things that offend.” Is there anything in your life now that offends God? Why wait until that coming day to rid yourself of such vileness?  

God took the act of sexual immorality in marriage very seriously. Fo

[i] Henry, M. (2014). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible. (Vol. 1). Hendrickson Publishers. p. 454.

[ii] Johnson, J., & Wong, M. (2022). The Blood [Song]. Simple [Album]. Bethel Music. 

[iii] Study Guide for Numbers 5. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved April 29, 2026, from 

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/numbers/numbers-5.cfm

[iv] Poole, M. (1968). A commentary on the Holy Bible. (Vol. 1). Banner of Truth Trust.