This is the Camp that God Built

Hold on: Cast out the grieving, the ill, women menstruating and men with discharge? What was going on here?

In order to unlock the principle, a crucial key is to hear what God is saying: Put out both male and female, put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell (Numbers 5:2, NKJV).

Dwell, shakan, in Hebrew, is a word which means to permanently move in and settle down.

Jenny Svetec

You see, it was almost moving day in Camp Israel. God's intention was to permanently settle as the centre of Israel, with all His power and His presence, the Hub of His people, with the twelve tribes settled like spokes around the tabernacle, a massive bird's eye illustration of God as the focal point of life for His people.

In order for God to move in, certain ground rules had to be maintained. Camp Israel, by virtue of God's Presence, had to maintain a standard which pagan, Egyptian-raised Israel would not be expecting: the camp needed to be holy. Upon uttering His intention for permanent residency, Moses acted quickly, for God was not suggesting a conditional rental agreement, a twelve month lease, easily broken and quickly abandoned. God was outlining His desire to stay with His people and Moses eagerly moved to meet His conditions.

Holiness to God is by its nature, uncompromising.

For the people of Israel, whose living experience of worship was limited to Egyptian idol worship and wilderness groans, leaving the tabernacle to the priests seemed normal. Yet God, in establishing His residency, informed Israel that His greatness impacted more than His tabernacle; in fact, by virtue of His holiness, anywhere God lived had to be holy, set apart, which meant the entire nation would be impacted, without exception. Hence the decree that all with leprosy, discharge or exposed to a corpse needed to leave.

Quite the object lesson. Notice the set standard. Basically, Moses said: If you are unclean, get out. This is no ordinary KOA campground. This is Camp Israel. God is our midst. We are not an ordinary nation. We are extraordinary.

For anyone ill, Camp Israel was not exactly a comfortable environment, though it was definitely an honest one. Yet why was discharge such an offense? And what was the problem with leprosy? Why banishment for being near a corpse?

In Israel's days, leprosy, a contagious disease of the flesh, was a literal illustration of the decay process, one slow day at a time, until disease overtook the afflicted one. Discharge was a sure outward sign that illness was present in an individual and unchecked illness always lead to death. Corpses were deadly, literally with the threat of disease multiplying the longer the body decayed.

With the command to remove those near death and diseased, God, the Giver of Light, firmly illustrated that He will not live with our darkness. Darkness and light can't cohabitate. One encompasses the other. Just as light can't cohabitate with darkness, so death cannot abide with the Source of all life.

With the command for the diseased to leave camp, the Israelites understood what holiness actually meant – no wiggle room, no excuses, no rationalizing of sin, death or disease. If you were diseased, you were out. No exceptions. God was in the camp and His Presence would have a huge impact on Israel. God's terms of His occupation with Israel were clear: Be holy, as I am holy. Be whole, be set apart and be honest with the condition of your sin. With God present, Camp Israel could never be a place where anything goes. The defiled and ill, the contagious had to leave, because the Holy One was coming to stay.

But what of those put out? What of the women, who were thrust outside of the settlement trying to understand the God who had removed them from the camp? What of the lepers who were banned from the camp? Or those dazed with grief at the death of their mother, father, or child?

Outside of the camp is where His mercy and healing flows deepest.

Jenny Svetec

The book of Leviticus brings us an answer with good news for the diseased and grieved in Israel: Outside of the camp is where His mercy and healing flows deepest. For beyond the camp was God's infirmary, where the diseased were healed, the grieving were restored and the priesthood was at its best.

For the leper, Leviticus 14:3,7 explains how the priesthood was more than equipped to deal with this disease, stating: And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper… And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field.

Leprosy wasn't a death sentence with God around. In fact, the outskirts of the Israelite camp was actually a place of healing, not banishment. When the priest journeyed out of the camp to verify the miracle, and the man or woman was declared clean once again, he let loose a bird to fly so that all the camp could see that restoration had happened.

For a woman with discharge, Leviticus 15 offered similar days, cleansings and offerings. For the man with discharge, Leviticus 15 established clear expectation for the man to wait, to clean, to atone and to be restored.

God's intention for the camp outskirts was for healing, not neglect. Outside of the camp, the individual would wait for healing, and then a merciful and compassionate priest would bring relief, declare the person healed and welcome them back into the camp where God lives. Unlike Egypt, God, Jehovah Ropha, the God of Healing lived at Camp Israel, thus restoration and mercy ruled the day. If an Israelite journeyed outside the camp to find God in their darkness, they could return to God in the camp and be transformed by His light.

Now consider, if God required holiness for the people of Israel, a stern reckoning of sin, which was transparently addressed and ministered to, what does God require for us, His people, who are temples for Him, the living God? Peter, in his letter says not much has changed on that account:

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16, NKJV)

God hasn't changed his plans. He still plans to permanently dwell within us. As we rend our hearts before Him, we need to remember the place of mercy outside of the camp, that beloved cross of Calvary for our diseased hearts, fleshy minds and broken bodies. Let's go to our great High Priest who loves and gave Himself for us and receive the forgiveness and healing needed, that we may return to live a life which glorifies God.

May we each humble our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in holy living as we delight in the Camp which God built, to His great glory and to our great wonder.