This is Part 5 of our 15-part series walking through Session 1 of “The Assassins Among Us.” Check out the blog for previous posts.
ELEMENT 4: SEPARATION OF THE UNCLEAN
Numbers 5:1-3 records God’s command:
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead. You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.'”
God’s presence requires holiness. Uncleanness cannot coexist in His dwelling place.
The diagnostic question: What unclean things are you harboring in your life? What are you holding onto that cannot remain if you desire God’s presence?
WHO CAN BRING CLEAN FROM UNCLEAN?
Job 14:3-5 asks the penetrating questions:
“Do You open Your eyes to one like this? Will You bring him into judgment before You? Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one! Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed…”
Who can bring clean from unclean? No one. We cannot cleanse ourselves. But that doesn’t mean we tolerate uncleanness in our lives—it means we desperately need God’s cleansing power.
THE DEGRADATION OF HOLINESS
Here’s what modern Christianity has degraded: the absolute imperative of holiness.
We’ve ignored it and made it seem unimportant with terms like “watered down.” But the gospel cannot be watered down—it is either the gospel or it is not. This highlights the subtle way we try to have God and the world. We’ve acted like a little compromise doesn’t matter, like God grades on a curve, like His holiness isn’t really that serious.
But Scripture asks the question: Can light and darkness dwell together?
LIGHT AND DARKNESS CANNOT COEXIST
2 Corinthians 6:14-16 answers emphatically:
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God.”
Light and darkness cannot coexist. When light enters, darkness flees. The light of God’s presence dispels the darkness—it exposes the sin in our lives, everything hidden will be brought into the open.
Luke 8:17 warns:
“For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”
Everything hidden will be exposed. Every secret sin. Every tolerated compromise. Every unauthorized thing we’ve been harboring. The question is: Will you allow the Holy Spirit to expose it now in private conviction for repentance? Or will it be exposed later in public judgment?
THE WARNING OF UNAUTHORIZED FIRE
The warning from Leviticus 10: Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, and fire came out from the Lord and consumed them.
Are you offering unauthorized fire in your worship? Are you approaching God on your terms rather than His? Are you harboring uncleanness while claiming to serve a holy God?
This isn’t a game. God’s holiness is real, and it demands purity from those who serve Him.
Hebrews 12:29 reminds us:
“For our God is a consuming fire.”
The same fire that warmed Israel in the wilderness and led them by night is the same fire that consumed Nadab and Abihu. God’s presence is holy fire. It purifies what submits to it and destroys what profanes it.
THE HARD TRUTH
The hard truth for the battles ahead: You cannot carry unconfessed sin into spiritual warfare and expect God’s power to manifest. You cannot harbor compromise in your life and expect His presence to lead you. You cannot offer unauthorized worship and expect His blessing in battle.
The separation of the unclean wasn’t optional for Israel. It’s not optional for us.
THE QUESTION BEFORE YOU
What unclean things are you harboring? What sins are you minimizing? What compromises are you tolerating? What darkness is diminishing the light of truth in your life and displacing the position of the presence of God as purifier and sanctifier?
The light will dispel the darkness—but only if you stop protecting the darkness, stop making excuses for it, stop pretending it’s not that serious.
God’s holiness has not changed. His standards have not lowered. His requirement for purity in those who carry His presence has not been adjusted for modern convenience.
APPLICATION
Before you can face the battles ahead, the unclean must be put out of the camp. Not hidden. Not minimized. Put out of the camp of your heart.
Ask yourself:
- What unclean thing am I protecting or making excuses for?
- What “unauthorized fire” am I offering in worship—approaching God on my terms instead of His?
- Am I tolerating compromise because I think “a little” doesn’t matter?
- Have I degraded God’s holiness in my mind to make room for my sin?
- Am I willing to let the Holy Spirit expose what’s hidden NOW, in private, for repentance—or will I wait for public judgment?
Once the unclean has been identified and put out of the camp, the natural next step is making things right with both God and others. Separating from sin leads directly to confession and restitution.
TOMORROW: Element 5: Confession and Restitution – Making Things Right
We’ll discover why separation from sin must lead to restoration with God and others.
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