PREPARING

A PEOPLE

Lesson 2 for the 10th of October, 2009

God wanted a
holy people, set
apart for Him,
which would be
an example to
other people.

Before they
departed to
Canaan, God
prepared them
to reach this
ideal.
 HOLINESS IN THE CAMP
“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has
an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is
ceremonially unclean because of a dead body” (Numbers, 5: 2)

PUBLIC HEALTH REASONS

The three kind of people mentioned here

could cause an epidemic in the camp.
Those people were set apart until his
health improved (as nowadays) or they
carried out the purification rites.
 HOLINESS IN THE CAMP
“Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so that
they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them” (Numbers, 5: 3)

RELIGIOUS REASONS

The three mentioned reasons

(leper, discharge and contact with
a dead body) were symbols of sin.
God is holy and He wants to live in
a holy people, a people set aside
from sin.
 HOLINESS IN THE SOCIETY
God knew that men would not follow the
ideal He proposed always (“love your
neighbour as yourself”), so He showed how
to act when a person sinned against another:

If it was not possible to restore the affront

to the offended one or to a close relative, it
had to be given to the Lord.
 HOLINESS IN THE SOCIETY
Each individual in the society belongs to God, by creation (Acts, 17: 24-28)
and by redemption (1 Corinthians, 6: 20)
“The God who made the world and “For you were bought at
everything in it is the Lord of heaven a price; therefore glorify
and earth… He himself gives all men God in your body and in
life and breath and everything else… your spirit, which are
for in Him we live and move and have God's”
(1 Corinthians, 6:20)
our being… We are his offspring”
(Acts, 17: 24-28)

Then, every insult to a person is an insult to God.

“When a man or woman
wrongs another in any way
and so is unfaithful to the
LORD, that person is
guilty”
(Numbers, 5: 6)
HOLINESS IN THE MARRIAGE
Marriage is one of the
two institutions God
created in Eden
before sin.

When He gave the laws

to Israel, He protected
especially this sacred
tie, punishing anyone
who would break it with
death.
 HOLINESS IN THE MARRIAGE
If there was any prove of adultery, the two involved must die.

But... what God protected

happened if
there were no women from
proves or it was unjustified
jealousy? jealousy. The
decision was
in divine hands
through “the
bitter water”.
 HOLINESS IN THE MARRIAGE
The bitter water process
1. The woman was taking before the priest, with an offering.
2. The priest prepared a clay pot filled with holy water and added some
dust from the tabernacle’s floor.
3. He uncovered the woman’s head and put the offering in her hands.
4. He read the curse and wrote it on a paper.
5. The woman said: “Amen, amen”, accepting the divine verdict.
6. The priest washed the ink of the paper in the water in the glass,
making it bitter.
7. The offering was burnt on the altar.
8. The woman drank the bitter water.
9. If she was innocent, she suffered no damage and
she could have children.
10. If she was guilty, her abdomen swollen and she
became sterile.
There was nothing that could cause physical damage to the woman in
this process. God was the one who judged and He only punished the
woman if she was guilty.
HOLINESS OF PEOPLE
Every Israelite could consecrate part
of his life to God, although he wasn’t a
priest or a Levite.

“All the days of

his separation he
shall be holy to the
Lord”

Numbers, 6: 8

We can consecrate part

of our life or part of our
time to God, too.
 HOLINESS OF PEOPLE
The process of separation

1. Refrain from drinking alcohol.

2. Refrain from any product from vine.
3. Don’t cut one self’s hair during the
separation time.
4. Don’t make contact with any death body.
5. If he makes contact with a death body, he
must cut his hair, offer a sacrifice and start
again with the separation process.
6. When the separation time is finished, he
must offer certain sacrifices and cut his
hair and burn it together with a peace
RRIIPP
offering.
 HALLOWED BY THE BLESSING

APPLY THIS
BLESSING FROM
GOD TO YOUR
PERSONAL NEEDS

THE LORD bless you

and keep you;
This was a blessing THE LORD make his face shine upon you
to all the people, so and be gracious to you;
every single person THE LORD turn his face towards you
could apply it to and give
N
you peace.
umbers
, 6: 24-2
himself. 6
 “The order of
providence in
relation to His people
is advancement, progression.
Continual advancement is
the way of holiness,
rising higher and higher
in the knowledge and love of God...
God is unchangeable
--the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
E.G.W. (The upward look, March 29)