Keeping out the defiling influences
What is the significance of a statement like this today? “Every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean” (Num. 19:15). Surely the circumstances to which it refers no longer exist. Is not the quotation taken from an order of ritual that has long ago been superseded by the clear light of the gospel?
The chapter from which the words are quoted is one which deals with a subject of great practical importance. Of course the teaching is clothed in typical language. It is nonetheless clear on that account.
The ritual of the red heifer concerns the issue of defilement contracted by any of God’s people and how such defilement may be removed. Will anyone deny that this is a matter of great practical moment for us Christians? (See Heb. 12:24;
1 Pet. 1:2 concerning the blood of sprinkling.) All around are corrupting influences, and by painful experience we have learned how easily they defile the soul.
The contents of an open vessel, unprotected from the pestilential atmosphere in an eastern climate, easily became contaminated. It thus serves as an illustration of what we become if we are left exposed to the polluting influences of the world. Hence the importance of having what we may call a lid on our souls.
What is it that constitutes this protective lid? The fear of God; walking with God; the consciousness of the presence of God; the subjection of the soul to the revelation of God in grace—these form an ample protection from the damaging environment around us.
Now to have this covering upon our souls, it must be placed there. And the right time to place the protecting lid upon the soul is surely at the beginning of the day, before we mingle with persons and come in contact with things from which contamination might come.
Not that the early morning is the only time for this. Whenever spiritual defense is needed it becomes us to see that the lid is adjusted for the soul’s protection. Seeking the face of God in prayer and confession, diligent and devout reading of the Scriptures: these are the means by which the soul obtains its covering. But neither prayer nor study will effect this unless they lead to what has been aptly termed the practice of the presence of God.
In connection with the teaching of this Old Testament type there are two things that must be distinguished:
1. Things that may loosen or remove the lid.
2. Things that contaminate the contents of the vessel.
The contaminating influences are wrong things, things of the world which in themselves are sinful, things which are easily recognized as hurtful to the soul.
Not so the things that loosen the lid. These may be things which in themselves are harmless and right. It is of such things that one frequently hears the question asked: “Why should I not do it? What harm is there in it?” The question, however, should be framed differently. It is not to the point to say that such and such a thing does not defile the contents of a vessel. Does it loosen the lid, and thereby leave the contents exposed to influences that are corrupting?
The reading of a book, the spending of an hour with a companion, an act of self-indulgence, the neglect of prayer—such things as these may easily loosen the lid.
Does reading a particular book blunt the edge of your appetite for the Word of God? Then reading it has loosened the covering of your soul and the influences that corrupt will find a more ready entrance. The same may be said of many things.
Notice in our text the word “bound.” The vessel was only free from uncleanness that had its covering bound upon it. A lid that is bound upon the vessel with cords is not easily loosened. This is the kind of covering that we need.
Morning by morning, and whenever occasion arises, we need to get the fastening of our soul’s lid tightened. We need to draw near to God and breathe the atmosphere of His holy presence. There we need to continually resort that the protective grace of His presence may be the covering of our souls, preserving them from exposure to the corrupting influences of the age.