Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'If a man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him by sleeping with another man, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure - then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder offering to draw attention to guilt. " 'The priest shall bring her 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. After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband"- here the priest is to put the woman under this curse of the oath-"may the Lord cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away." " 'Then the woman is to say, "Amen. So be it." " 'The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. He shall have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water will enter her and cause bitter suffering. The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord and bring it to the altar. The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial offering and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. If she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then when she is made to drink the water that brings a curse, it will go into her and cause bitter suffering; her abdomen will swell and her thigh waste away, and she will become accursed among her people. If, however, the woman has not defiled herself and is free from impurity, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children. " 'This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and defiles herself while married to her husband, or when feelings of jealousy come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the Lord and is to apply this entire law to her. The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.' " Numbers 5:11-31
Another issue that could bring problems and unrest within any camp was the matter of unfaithfulness in marriage and the remainder of Numbers, Chapter 5 deals with this subject.
So what was an Israelite supposed to do if a man suspected infidelity? Well, they didn’t hire a private investigator to try and get evidence like someone might do today. Instead, they went through the one who was deemed the authority in most all things: the priest. Here’s what the scriptures say:
"'If a man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him by sleeping with another man, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure - then he is to take his wife to the priest." verses 11-14
So the man would bring his wife to the priest along with an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour on her behalf." He was to "not pour oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder offering to draw attention to guilt." The priest would then initiate a test on the accused spouse, a test that is referred to as the "law of jealousy" or "jealousy test". Of course, the purpose of the test was to see if the woman had or hadn’t been unfaithful. Here’s what the priest would do:
" 'The priest shall bring her 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. After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband"- here the priest is to put the woman under this curse of the oath-"may the Lord cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away." " 'Then the woman is to say, "Amen. So be it." " 'The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. He shall have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water will enter her and cause bitter suffering. The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord and bring it to the altar. The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial offering and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. If she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then when she is made to drink the water that brings a curse, it will go into her and cause bitter suffering; her abdomen will swell and her thigh waste away, and she will become accursed among her people. If, however, the woman has not defiled herself and is free from impurity, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children." verses 16-28
I think of note is that there wasn’t an immediate conviction of guilt on the accused woman. Instead, she was tested…and not just tested before man but before the Lord. And although we don’t know the makeup of the bitter water, we do know that it would reveal faithfulness or infidelity after being drunk. Unfaithfulness would result in bitter suffering, both physically (swollen abdomen and thigh wasting away) but emotional as well (accursed among the people). There were harsh penalties attached to one cheating on a spouse.
Of course, this expectation isn’t something new. You’ll recall in Exodus 20 that one of God’s Ten Commandments was "Do not commit adultery." God expected faithfulness in marriage. He did so then and He still does today.
Ever wonder how the Lord feels about the world today and the way His children handle themselves in marital relations. Last year while there were 7.3 marriages per 1,000 people, there were also 3.4 divorces per the same population. Thus, around half of all marriages are ending in divorce, a troubling figure. Here’s one just as troubling if not more. A 2007 study on infidelity found that "45-55% of married women and 50-60% of married men engage in extramarital sex at some time or another during their relationship." On average, that’s more than 50% of all husbands and wives. Is there little wonder that half of all marriages are ending in divorce?
One thing is certain from our scripture today and God’s word from earlier in the Old Testament:
God despises unfaithfulness in marital relations. For God made marriage to be the consummate love relationship between two people…a love relationship that would be shared only between the husband and wife…a love relationship that was to last until death would part the couple. It is God’s will that the husband and wife sustain and maintain the love relationship He has ordained. And herein is where much of the problem lies…because too many people are in marriages where the Lord isn’t acknowledged. And without the Lord, Satan is ready to step in and ruin every good and perfect relationship that God creates. And infidelity is just one of the ways he does it.
Question: If you’re in a marital relationship, have you fully submitted that relationship to the Lord? Have you vowed to ensure that everything done in that relationship will be done to glorify God? Is the Lord central to your relationship?
Friends, the only way a marital relationship has a chance of making it in a way that pleases the Lord is if He is central to that marriage. All things must run through Him and His will must be done in the lives of the married couple, individually and collectively. And when you have a relationship where the Lord is first, you will experience more joy, peace, and love that you could ever imagine. It’s my prayer that everyone experience this kind of marriage. I can tell you I am and there’s nothing better. Thanks be to God.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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