seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Numbers 19:11 “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. 12 They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. 13 If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them.
14 “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15 and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.
16 “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20 But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. 21 This is a lasting ordinance for them.
“The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. 22 Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”
14 “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15 and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.
16 “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20 But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. 21 This is a lasting ordinance for them.
“The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. 22 Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”
I know this will be mentioned again. It has to because there are over 2 million people involved in this story.
First I went to the easy English site.
The first part of chapter 19 gives instructions about how to prepare special water and ashes. If a person touched a dead body, they became unclean. Of course, the Israelites had to touch dead bodies. There were thousands of people in the camp, including both young and old people.
But anyone who touched a dead body had to follow these instructions. It was a very serious matter if anyone refused to do this. That person was unclean. Anything that an unclean person touched became unclean, too. Therefore that person made the camp unclean. So if the person refused to follow the instructions, he or she could not remain with the other Israelites. The punishment might be death. Or it might be that the person had to leave the Israelites permanently.
Also, these instructions were for people who had been in a tent with a dead body. People who had touched a human bone or a grave had to follow these instructions, too. Even the person who had splashed water on the unclean person became unclean. That person had to wash his or her clothes also. Afterwards, that person had to wait until evening to be clean.
But anyone who touched a dead body had to follow these instructions. It was a very serious matter if anyone refused to do this. That person was unclean. Anything that an unclean person touched became unclean, too. Therefore that person made the camp unclean. So if the person refused to follow the instructions, he or she could not remain with the other Israelites. The punishment might be death. Or it might be that the person had to leave the Israelites permanently.
Also, these instructions were for people who had been in a tent with a dead body. People who had touched a human bone or a grave had to follow these instructions, too. Even the person who had splashed water on the unclean person became unclean. That person had to wash his or her clothes also. Afterwards, that person had to wait until evening to be clean.
According to the studylight.org site, this was a health issue too.
The practice of quarantining all those who come into contact with a dead body was a wonderful public health measure as well. Those potentially contaminated would be set aside until it could be seen if they contracted a disease from the dead body.
In fact, it even extended to every open vessel - which could potentially harbor disease causing organisms - those vessels would be declared unclean and thus destroyed, reducing the danger of communicable disease.
In fact, it even extended to every open vessel - which could potentially harbor disease causing organisms - those vessels would be declared unclean and thus destroyed, reducing the danger of communicable disease.
It occurred to me, while reading all of this.... God is wonderful and humans are just stupid.
How many people died before the medical establishment started washing their hands and sterilizing equipment? All they had to do was read the Bible. God gave them the answer but they were just to stupid to see it.
