Numbers 5-7; Psalm 41

Numbers 5-7

In today’s chapters we see some of the stuff covered in Leviticus brough into Numbers, looking at practically how this worked in the camp. So those that were leprous had to leave the camp.

What happens when I sin against someone, and the law says I have to pay them money in return, but they die before I can do that? Well in that case, you pay money to the priest instead.

Now I have to be honest. I really struggle with the next passage, and I think it’s important to be real when we find different passages difficult. We see a rule given out that if a man suspects his wife of cheating, he can take her to the priest, the priest will write a curse on a price of paper, wash that curse off into some water, add some tabernacle dust from the floor, and force the woman to drink it.

If she’s not guilty, then great nothing happens. If she is guilty, her body will swell, and her womb will waste away making her barren. I understand this high sense of wanting to maintain purity and holiness in the camp. We want to dissuade people from having affairs.

But for me I struggle with how embarrassing and hurtful this would be for a woman who was innocent. She would feel hurt and betrayed by her husband, and no restoration is made there.

The important thing to remember when you are struggling with a passage in the Bible, is that the Bible is still true and still holy. The problem is either a) this is a different culture and time and so it seems completely foreign to us and we just can’t understand it at the moment, or b) we have a heart problem.

And this is something I wrestle with every time I read this passage, “God show me where I’m misunderstanding something or where my heart needs to change”. I thought I’d share that with you, so you know if there are bits in the Bible that you also struggle with, you can know you’re not alone.

We then get a chapter on the Nazirite vow. This was a vow someone could make if they wanted to dedicate a period of time to God. They would live to a much higher standard of holiness before God. These people would then be on a similar level to the priests in terms of holiness and purity.

There are a couple of key Nazirites in Israel’s history as we go forward. One is the judge Samson, and the other is the prophet Samuel. One follows these rules and one breaks them, so it might be worth bookmarking this chapter, and rereading it when we get to their stories so you can see where they went right or wrong.

And finally, sticking true to the book’s name, we get a list of numbers as the leaders of the twelve tribes each bring that tribe’s offering before God as the tabernacle is officially set up in the new camp of the Israelites.

Psalm 41

This psalm is attributed to king David and falls into the category of lament psalm. It has all the features we have come to expect from a lament psalm; a complaint, a request for God to intervene, and a declaration of trust.

Psalm 41 is also significant because it is the last psalm of the first book in Psalms. The larger collection of Psalms is broken down into five smaller books. It’s not clear why the division between each book is made. Some argue it is to reflect the Torah that also has five books.

Either way, we can tell where one book ends, and another begins by the doxologies that end each section. A doxology is a liturgical hymn or declaration of praise that is used to end a service, prayer, or passage. The structure of the psalm is a chiasm where the passage reflects itself.

a) Psalm 41:1-3 - A declaration of trust in God

b) Psalm 41:4 - A prayer for mercy and healing

c) Psalm 41:5-9 - Lament over suffering

b) Psalm 41:10 - A prayer for mercy and healing

a) Psalm 41:11-12 - A declaration of trust in God

d) Psalm 41:13 - Concluding doxology to the first book of the psalms

The psalm opens with a declaration of trust in God. The Lord protects those who care for the poor. He keeps them alive, protects them from their enemies, and heals their illnesses.

This declaration of trust then leads the psalmist to bring his request to God. Have mercy on me and heal me. We can gather from the psalm that the psalmist is inflicted with some sort of illness, due to the number of references to health.

The psalmist then moves forward to bring his complaint, the suffering they have faced due to their illness. In this example, the worst thing isn’t the illness itself but how much the psalmist’s enemies are enjoying their illness.

While the psalmist is there, presumably wasting away, their enemies are rejoicing and tell everyone about it. They waiting for the psalmist to die, and even the psalmist’s friends have turned on them.

Having shared their complaint with God, the psalmist once again asks God to intervene. Have mercy on me and raise me up. And then psalmist returns once more to a declaration of trust. The psalmist know that God will delight in him, not his enemies. God will be the one to protect them.

Finally, this psalm, and first book of the wider collection, ends with a blessing to the Lord. In this psalm we can easily see the different stages of biblical lament, and how each one is important to processing difficult situations and emotions.