Is it just me or does it feel like we stepped back into Leviticus again today. More rules and how tos. And I'm so very grateful to being living under the blood and not required to do so much of what was required of them. But that doesn't mean that holiness and purity is no longer required of us. Numbers 5 says if God is dwelling in the camp, impurity has to go.
Back then it was tents in the wilderness. God's Presence rested in the tabernacle, right in the middle of everything. And because He was there, the camp had to be clean. But we don’t have a tabernacle in the desert anymore.
We are now the temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19 says our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Paul wasn’t being metaphorical for effect. He was drawing a straight line from the wilderness camp to us.
So when He cleans house now, He's not clearing tents. He's cleansing hearts, He's aligning minds, He's strengthening spirits.
That's what this season feels like that im walking through It's Not chaos although at times it looks like it. It's Not punishment, even though the old me tries to tell me thats what it is. Its a time of Cleansing.
Numbers 5 shows impurity being removed because God was in the middle. And in our lives today that looks like a steady pressure of the Holy Spirit saying, "That doesn't belong here." That reaction. That thought pattern. That edge in your tone. That subtle pride. It doesn't belong in a temple.
David prayed it in Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Hebrews 10:22 says our hearts are sprinkled clean. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says to cleanse ourselves from defilement of body and spirit. 1 Peter 1:16 repeats Leviticus "Be holy, for I am holy."
He's the Same God then as he is now. The Same holiness just a difference in location. It used to be external. Now it's internal, he lives in our hearts. So when God searches now, He's not inspecting a building or cleaning up the camp, He's searching us. And I don't want Him dwelling on the surface. If I'm the temple, then clean it. If my mind needs renewing, renew it. If my thoughts need capturing, capture them. If bitterness tries to take root, pull it up before it defiles the temple. It's about being aligned with him.
Then Numbers 6 talks the Nazarite vow and this really intrigued me. It wasn't required and that's important to understand. Deeper consecration was chosen.
Paul talks about it in Romans 12:1 present your bodies as a living sacrifice. No one can force surrender. No one can force holiness.
But if I carry the Spirit of God, I don’t want to carry Him casually. I don't want to be a casual Christian. Refining isn't rejection.It's preparation. And the Nazarite vow is a deeper level of that.
Numbers 6 ends with the blessing. "The Lord bless you and keep you and give you peace."
Peace comes after consecration. So when He cleans house now, it"s not to strip the joy from our lives. It’s to establish peace. Not surface peace but a deep down in our soul peace.
Because when the temple is aligned, the Presence rests without resistance.
So today let the prayer of our hearts be simply this....
Lord, if I am Your temple, then cleanse what doesn't belong. Search my heart, Renew my mind. Strengthen my spirit. Not out of fear but
Out of reverence to you. The same God who dwelled in the wilderness now dwells in me.
And I won't carry that lightly. Purify the temple. And let Your peace settle where Your holiness lives.
Love Pastor Mandy
Ark of Hope Ministry
Daily Numbers 5-6
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