The Mundane - Numbers 19

When I first started reading this passage, I was thinking, "Man, this is just another long boring section of the Old Testament." However, two things jumped out at me as I was reaching the end of the passage: it is important to God that we stay clean, and that it is all for our protection.

First of all, we see throughout the whole Law that it all has to do with cleanliness, and that all sin produces uncleanliness. God wants us to be pure, and that is the bottom line! He has called us above and beyond the world, and He wants us to be "worthy of our calling". It is important to God that we stay clean. So, while it may seem mundane to us, there is an underlying reason (which leads me to the second point)...

God does it all for our protection.

He loves us. We are His children. And like any good parent, He wants to protect His children. This passage may seem mundane, and in today's terms, touching a dead body is not a bad thing. Many people when they pass by a casket at a funeral either give a loving touch, or even kiss the body on the forehead. It is common today. However, in the day this was written, dead bodies meant disease. Just being in the same tent (vs. 14) could mean catching the disease. So, it was for the people's own protection that until they were proven clean after seven days that they be cut off from the people. It was not so much a punishment, per se, as just a healthy plan.

You see, the same goes today. God doesn't give us rules and laws to abide by just to quench our fun. He does it because He knows that the things of this world is not healthy for us. He knows what they produce - spiritual death - and He wants us to steer clear of all uncleanliness so that we can live healthy, happy lives. Now, I do not mean to sound like a Health & Wealth Televangelist who promises fortune and to never be sad again, but I do think God ultimately wants us to have joy. Throughout the Bible, we read how God wants us to have "joy from our salvation", and how "God is our joy". He knows that a pure life is the only truly happy one, and that's why it is so important to Him - even if it seems mundane to us!