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“You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.” (Numbers 35:33-34, ESV)

Pastor Abel’s sermon on Numbers 35 is titled, “Are You Desperate?”

Chapter thirty-five of Numbers covers laws regarding the cities of refuge, cities where those who have accidentally caused the death of another could flee to await a fair trial. At the end of the chapter, God highlights the purpose for these laws. They are to limit the ‘pollution of the land’ by the shedding of human blood.

This calls back to Genesis chapter 4, when Cain murdered Abel, and God said to Cain, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10, ESV). The first human death was by murder as Abel’s blood soaked into the once pure ground. From then on, the world would never be the same.

Thus, God’s plan to overcome sin and restore humanity to a right relationship with himself, his plan of redemption, had to include a plan to restore purity to the land itself. This is why it is significant that God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants, the nation of Israel, included a promise of land (Genesis 12:1).

God’s intention for Israel to be holy, and live in a holy land, and thus be a light to the world. So, it stands to reason that God would institute laws to limit the shedding of blood in his land. And yet, Israel failed and went into exile because of their sin. Today, wars continue, and man continues to spill the blood of man, polluting the ground.

But notice, in the above passage, the glimmer of gospel light: “no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.”

When Jesus died, murdered on the cross by the Jews and the Romans, held there bearing the wrath of God for sin, the Bible teaches that he became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). His blood carried the weight of all sin, all murder, thus making atonement not only for his people, but for the land itself for all of the murder committed in it (Colossians 1:20).

Part of our hope, then, is not only for the resurrection of our own bodies, but for the restoration of the creation itself. Paul talks about this in Romans 8:19-22, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (ESV).

So, even though we live in this fallen world, filled with death and corruption, we can take heart. Christ’s death has made a full atonement not only for our sin, but for the whole creation. And someday, even as our sinful bodies are made new, so will God make the whole world new (Revelation 21:1-4), for his glory and our joy.

 

Further Study

  • Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven dives deep into everything the Bible says about heaven, included a look at the new heavens and the new earth.

 

Small Group Questions

  • What stood out to you from the sermon?
  • What were cities of refuge, and how do they relate to our understanding of the gospel? (See Hebrews 6:13-20)
  • Have you experienced moments when you felt truly desperate because of the sin in your own heart?
  • Why is it important to not leave the refuge we have in Christ?
  • What are some practical ways we can abide in Christ (John 15) this week?