Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them. (Num. 5:3)
Expanded Passage: Numbers 5:1-4
Living in a culture where individual freedom is the highest value makes it challenging to understand decisions that infringe upon an individual’s rights to serve the overall good of the community. This tension between individual and communal well-being was felt acutely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those influenced by a strong sense of individualism struggled with decisions regarding masks and business and school closures.
Ancient Israel was a collectivist culture where the community’s good outweighed the individual’s. Understanding this difference helps when grasping passages like this one in Numbers, where those who had become ceremonially unclean due to exposure to and contact with situations and substances associated with death were sent outside the camp. It seems cruel. However, God intended it to be life-giving for the community and the individual.
Removing unclean persons reminded Israel of the serious effects of sin and ensured God’s presence could dwell amongst his people, whose mandate was to be holy. It also provided a safe space for those who were not holy to become clean and healed. It was temporary, and no one was sent away alone. All who needed to be cleansed were sent together. By enacting this practice, Israel protected the community and offered compassionate care for individuals in need of restoration. Today, followers of Jesus are to join Jesus outside the camp, creating loving community for the lost and hurting.
Offer care to someone who feels sent away from closeness to God.
Shaunna Sturgeon is the pastor of the Watershed Collective, a microchurch movement in rural Kansas. She loves helping people discover God’s purpose for their lives.
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
