«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

　　Num. 19:13 Whoever touches a dead person,…and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Jehovah…. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean…

　　Rom. 5:17 For if, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

　　The water for impurity was to be sprinkled upon the unclean persons: those who touched a dead body, or came into a tent or were already in a tent in which a man died, or touched one who had been slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave (Num. 19:11-14, 16-20). This is a picture of the situation of the children of Israel at that time. The uncleanness of death was everywhere.

　　The impurity in [Numbers 19] does not refer to sin but to death. Death comes out of sin, and sin is the root of death (Rom. 5:12). From the sin of rebellion, death became prevailing among the children of Israel. Thus, there was the need for the water for impurity. Only the working of Christ's redemption, through His dignified and humbled humanity, with His death and the Spirit of His resurrection, could heal and cleanse the situation. (Life-study of Numbers, p. 206)

　　In [Numbers 19] a heifer is burned with other items, and the ashes are used to make a water for impurity. By reading the whole chapter we can understand that the impurity, the uncleanness, refers mainly to the filthiness of death. This water is a provision to get rid of the effect and impurity of death. Immediately after the rebellion in chapter 16, death was everywhere. In one day 14,700 people died, and their carcasses lay everywhere. In many of the tents in the camp, there were dead bodies. A man became contaminated by touching a dead body (19:11), by being present when a person died (v. 18), or by entering the tent where a dead body had been (v. 14). The entire population of two million Israelites was under the effect of death. They were all in a situation of impurity. Thus, there was the need for the water for impurity to annul the effect and impurity of death. (Life-study of Numbers, p. 203)

　　Death is an ugly, abominable thing. Therefore, we need to abstain from death….The death from which we should abstain is not mainly physical death but spiritual death….Spiritual death is everywhere. Not only sinful, worldly places but even the most moral, ethical places are full of spiritual death. According to the typology in the Old Testament, sin is not as dirty as death. If one sinned, he could be forgiven and cleansed immediately by offering a trespass offering (Lev. 5:10). But if one touched death, he had to wait a few days to become clean. From this we can see that death is more defiling than sin. However, we in the church life may think that sin is serious but that touching death is common and not serious. But in the eyes of God to touch death is the most serious thing.

　　The poison of death can damage and destroy the saints. In Romans 14 Paul says that we should not destroy the work of God by doing things carelessly (vv. 15, 20). Christ has redeemed and saved the saints, and we should not destroy them by acting carelessly. The Lord has done a lot of gracious, redemptive work on the saints in the Lord's recovery, and for years we have been working to build up the saints. No one should destroy the gracious work of Christ on the saints. No one should destroy those on whom we have been working for their building up. Would not our hearts be hurt to see the saints destroyed by the poison of death? We need to be sober, fair, calm, and kind to consider whether we are really building up the Body of Christ or unconsciously doing something to destroy God's work by spreading the poison of death. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 321-322, 198-199)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msg. 28; Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 22