Commentary - Numbers 19:14-16

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Numbers, we are dealing with the ceremonial laws surrounding death. It is crucial that we not read this as some kind of primitive hygiene manual, as though God were giving Israel a rudimentary lesson in germ theory. The issue here is not biological contamination but theological defilement. Death is the wages of sin (Rom. 6:23), and so in the ceremonial code of Israel, contact with death in any form rendered a person unclean. This uncleanness was a picture, a constant object lesson, of the spiritual defilement that comes from sin. God is life, and so anything associated with death was, by definition, separated from His holy presence. These laws were given to make the Israelites profoundly aware of the chasm that sin creates between God and man, and to point them toward the only true purification that would one day be provided.

The regulations here are strikingly comprehensive. The uncleanness spreads not just by direct contact, but by proximity. It fills a tent, it seeps into uncovered pots, and it lingers in the open field. This is a portrait of the pervasiveness of sin's curse. It is everywhere. You cannot escape it. The whole world, since the fall of Adam, has become a great boneyard. These laws were designed to make the Israelites long for a Redeemer, one who could walk into the graveyard of this world, touch death, and not be defiled by it, but rather defeat it entirely. This passage, then, is a dark backdrop against which the glorious light of the gospel will one day shine.

Outline

Numbers 19:14

14 ‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean for seven days.

‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent... The setting is a tent, the common dwelling place for Israel in the wilderness. This is not some abstract legal principle; it is intensely practical and personal. Death has invaded the home. The law addresses the central consequence of the fall, which is death, and it shows how this consequence radiates outward, affecting the whole of life. A tent is a fragile, temporary structure, a fitting picture of our mortal bodies (2 Cor. 5:1). And just as a death in a tent defiles the whole space, so also sin, which brought death, has defiled our entire human existence.

...everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean for seven days. Notice the totality of the contamination. It does not matter if you touched the body or not. Simply being under the same roof as death makes you unclean. Proximity is enough. This is a powerful illustration of our solidarity with Adam. We were all 'in the tent' with him when he sinned, and so the uncleanness of his sin and the penalty of his death have spread to all of us (Rom. 5:12). The seven-day period of uncleanness points to a complete cycle, a full measure of separation. It is not a trivial matter that can be brushed off in an afternoon. The defilement of sin requires a thorough cleansing that takes time and divine provision, which the rest of this chapter goes on to describe.

Numbers 19:15

15 And every open vessel, which has no covering tied down on it, shall be unclean.

And every open vessel, which has no covering tied down on it, shall be unclean. The defilement is so potent that it affects even inanimate objects. A simple clay pot, if left open, becomes unclean. Why? Because it is receptive. An open vessel is a picture of a life that is not guarded, not sealed. The uncleanness of death, like sin, is an invasive spiritual reality. If you leave yourself open, you will be filled with the spirit of the age, which is the spirit of death. The law here teaches the necessity of being sealed and protected. We are to be vessels for honor, set apart for the master's use (2 Tim. 2:21). In the New Covenant, believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13), who protects us from the corruption that is in the world through lust. This Old Testament picture shows us the danger of being unsealed in a world saturated with death.

Numbers 19:16

16 Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.

Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally... The law now moves outside the tent, into the 'open field.' This demonstrates that the problem of death is not confined to our homes; it is a universal problem. The entire world is under its curse. Whether the death is violent ('slain with a sword') or peaceful ('died naturally'), the result is the same: defilement. Sin leads to death in all its forms. There is no 'clean' way to die apart from Christ. All death, from a martyr's execution to a quiet passing in old age, is a result of Adam's original rebellion. This law prevents any sentimentalizing of death. It is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), and its touch is polluting.

...or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days. The contamination lingers. Even long after the flesh has decayed, a single bone retains the power to defile. A grave, a place dedicated to the dead, is a permanent source of uncleanness. You cannot escape the consequences of sin by simply waiting for them to fade away. The boneyard of this world is everywhere. But this is precisely where the gospel shines brightest. Jesus Christ entered our world, this great open field of graves. He touched the untouchable, healed the leper, and raised the dead. And on the cross, He became the ultimate unclean one, bearing our sin and dying our death. He entered the grave, the very heart of uncleanness, and He did not remain there. He rose, having defeated death and cleansed it of its power to defile. By His death and resurrection, Christ has sanctified the graves of the saints. For the believer, the grave is no longer a place of defilement, but a resting place, a seedbed from which our glorified bodies will one day spring.

Application

The central lesson of these verses is that sin is a pervasive and polluting reality, and its ultimate wage is death. We live in a world that is, in a ceremonial sense, unclean. We are surrounded by the effects of the fall, and we carry its corruption within our own mortal bodies. These laws were designed to make an Israelite feel the weight of this, to make him yearn for a cleansing he could not provide for himself.

We are not bound by these ceremonial laws today, but the reality they pointed to is still with us. We must recognize the spiritual defilement of sin in our own lives and in the world around us. We must not treat sin lightly, or imagine we can remain 'open vessels' in a fallen world without being contaminated by it. We must see death for what it is: an enemy, the final consequence of our rebellion against the God of life.

But we do not stop there. We must flee to the one who is our cleansing. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all these shadows. He entered the 'tent' of our humanity, He touched the 'dead' in His ministry, and He went into the 'grave' for us. He is the water of purification. Through faith in Him, we are cleansed from the defilement of sin and delivered from the power of death. We are no longer unclean, but are called saints, holy ones. Therefore, we are to live as those who have been washed, guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, the one who is life itself.