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When reading Numbers chapters 5 and 6 today, my thoughts turned to what I’m calling “cultural empathy.” In other words, the 21st-century American culture conditioning that wires me to feel compassion for people who experience hardships—or worse, persecution—due to circumstances beyond their control.

For instance, in Numbers 5:2, God instructs Moses:

“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.”

I naturally wince at the idea of these innocent people being marginalized or expelled. My cultural conditioning leads me to question, “What did they do to deserve such treatment?” … Maybe a better question would be, “What did I do not to receive a similar treatment?”

Later in the same chapter, we find another instance where my cultural empathy kicks in. God instructs that if a husband suspects his wife of infidelity, he is to bring her before the priest for a test to determine her innocence or guilt. Numbers 5:28 says:

“If the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.”

However, there appears to be no repercussion for the husband who falsely accused his wife. Again, my contemporary sense of justice seeks retribution for the wife’s public embarrassment and unjust suspicion.

Yet, it is important to remember that we aren’t entering a kingdom governed by 21st-century cultural values and popular opinion—and thank the Lord for that! Instead, we are entering the Kingdom of Heaven, where God’s ways and judgments transcend human understanding and societal norms.

At the end of the day, after we have devoted ourselves fully to the Lord and His ways, the most significant pronouncement over us—whether we are outcasts like lepers or innocently accused individuals—is the undeserved gracious blessing that,

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24–26)

Takeaway: God’s ways often challenge our contemporary cultural perspectives. Rather than judging His commands by modern standards, let’s embrace His timeless wisdom, trusting that His blessings and justice far surpass our human understanding.