Numbers 5 Summary: A Concise Overview in 5 Minutes

Numbers 5 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Numbers 1:1 tells us these events began on the 2nd month, in the 2nd year after Israel left Egypt, which would place the date at approximately 1490-1489 B.C.

• Numbers covers approximately 40 years of Israelite history.

CHARACTERS:

• Moses – Moses was selected by God to lead the Israelites to Canaan. God spoke directly to Moses and Moses communicated God’s words to the people.    

• Israelites (Hebrews) – The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God granted them freedom after several hundred years in slavery in Egypt. In the book of Numbers, they were travelling through the wilderness to the land of Canaan.

WHERE:

• According to the book of Leviticus and Numbers 3:1, the Israelites were camped in the wilderness of Sinai, near Mount Sinai.

OUTLINE:

• RELOCATION OF UNCLEAN PEOPLE (5:1-4):

  • God told Moses to relocate all leprosy people, people with a discharge, and unclean people (spiritually speaking) outside the camp.

  • This was done so the camp, where God’s presence dwelled, would not be “defiled.”

• CONFESSION AND RESTITUTION FOR SIN (5:5-10):

  • If a person sinned against a fellow Israelite or against God, when that person realized their guilt, they were to confess their sin and make restitution.

  • Full restitution was to be made to the victim and 1/5th of the original value was to be added to the total.

  • If the victim and his family were no longer alive or able to receive the restitution, the money was to be given to the priests along with a sacrifice for the sin.

• TEST FOR ADULTERY (5:11-31):

  • If a man suspected his wife of adultery but didn’t have hard evidence, he could bring her to the priests to discover the truth through a miraculous test.

  • Along with his wife, he was to bring an offering of barley flour.

  • The priest was to take holy water in an earthenware vessel and mix dust from the Tabernacle floor into it.

  • The woman was to drink the water to reveal whether she was guilty or innocent.

  • If she was innocent, the water would have no negative effect and she would be blessed with the ability to conceive children. 

  • If she was guilty, God would cause her womb to swell, give her bitter pain, and cause her thigh to “fall away.”

APPLICATION:

• Certain individuals who wish to legalize abortion have twisted this passage to suggest it is an example of a “God approved abortion.”

• They mangle this text to try to prove God values life inside the womb less than life outside the womb.

• To those unfamiliar with these verses their arguments can seem compelling.

• But a critical evaluation of their theory quickly reveals it to be bogus.

• For further study, search for my video on YouTube titled, “A Biblical Argument for Abortion - Exodus 21 and Numbers 5.”

DIAGRAM OF THE CAMP OF ISRAEL:

DIAGRAM OF THE TABERNACLE: