"The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Numbers 5:16-19, 23-24, 29-30,
"The priest shall bring her [a wife suspected of adultery] and have her stand before the Lord. Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water... The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her... This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and makes herself impure while married to her husband, or when feelings of jealousy come over a man because he suspects his wife."
Can you imagine how horrible it would be for a wife accused of infidelity to drink water that had dust from the tabernacle floor mixed in? Think of the hundreds of animals slaughtered there with the blood splashed against the bottom of the altar and all about, and then tracked everywhere for days, weeks, months and years!
The Lord said the outcome for guilty wives would be miscarriage and swollen abdomens, "bitter suffering." This procedure would require the Lord's intervention to insure a just outcome would take place.
The circumstance calling for this procedure was when a husband suspected, but didn't know for sure, if his wife had been unfaithful to him. It was initiated by him and was the result of his jealousy, whether from something real or imagined, "if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure", verse 14.
I have to think that a man requiring his wife, through the priest, to drink water with old bloody dust mixed in, that it would cause him to think twice about making an accusation against his wife. He best have cause for his feelings of jealousy as this would have been serious business.
Some men struggle with feelings of jealousy whether well founded or not. We are told jealousy is something that is spawned by our own sinful natures, "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like." Galatians 5:19-21a. There it is, right in the middle of Paul's list. A man who is given to unfounded jealousy causes problems for everyone (particularly his wife!) I suspect many of us have encountered it.
In any event, if a man struggled with unfounded jealousy and caused his wife to go through this procedure without cause... can you imagine how that might affect the happy homelife afterwards? Proverbs 25:24 comes to mind here, "Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife."
"The priest shall bring her [a wife suspected of adultery] and have her stand before the Lord. Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water... The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her... This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and makes herself impure while married to her husband, or when feelings of jealousy come over a man because he suspects his wife."
Can you imagine how horrible it would be for a wife accused of infidelity to drink water that had dust from the tabernacle floor mixed in? Think of the hundreds of animals slaughtered there with the blood splashed against the bottom of the altar and all about, and then tracked everywhere for days, weeks, months and years!
The Lord said the outcome for guilty wives would be miscarriage and swollen abdomens, "bitter suffering." This procedure would require the Lord's intervention to insure a just outcome would take place.
The circumstance calling for this procedure was when a husband suspected, but didn't know for sure, if his wife had been unfaithful to him. It was initiated by him and was the result of his jealousy, whether from something real or imagined, "if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure", verse 14.
I have to think that a man requiring his wife, through the priest, to drink water with old bloody dust mixed in, that it would cause him to think twice about making an accusation against his wife. He best have cause for his feelings of jealousy as this would have been serious business.
Some men struggle with feelings of jealousy whether well founded or not. We are told jealousy is something that is spawned by our own sinful natures, "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like." Galatians 5:19-21a. There it is, right in the middle of Paul's list. A man who is given to unfounded jealousy causes problems for everyone (particularly his wife!) I suspect many of us have encountered it.
In any event, if a man struggled with unfounded jealousy and caused his wife to go through this procedure without cause... can you imagine how that might affect the happy homelife afterwards? Proverbs 25:24 comes to mind here, "Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife."
It seems to me this unusual procedure had a mitigating impact on both a husband given to unfounded jealousy as well as a wife given to adultery.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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