Can I pray for you in any way?
Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we continue our study of Numbers, chapter 5, we find the Lord covering marital unfaithfulness in the final verses, another issue that could bring problems and unrest within any of the Israelite camps.
So what was an Israelite supposed to do if a man suspected infidelity?
Well, they weren’t to hire a fellow countrymen to serve as a private investigator who would try and get evidence that would affirm the suspected adultery. Rather, we see in the scriptures where they were to bring the matter the priest, the one appointed by God to be the authority on making judgments on many things. Look again at these verses from today’s passage:
"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." Vv. 11-14
So if unfaithfulness was believed to be taking place, 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 was a “grain offering for jealousy” and 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 this test was to see if the woman had or hadn’t been unfaithful. In regard to the process, let’s go back to our scripture verses for today:
"'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." Vv. 16-28
We should note here that the accused woman wasn’t immediately convicted of infidelity. Rather, she was tested first, not just tested before the priest and husband but before the Lord as well. And although we don’t know the makeup of the bitter water, we do know that it would reveal either innocence of guilt once ingested. If there was marital unfaithfulness, the woman would end up in bitter suffering, both physically (swollen abdomen and thigh wasting away) and emotional (accursed among the people). Indeed, there was harsh punishment for any woman who would cheat on her husband.
There was no excuse for anyone who committed infidelity. For God had made it clear in His Ten Commandments when He said this:
"You shall not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14
There was no question that God expected faithfulness within marriage during Old Testament times, and He still does today.
Speaking about today, what do you think the Lord thinks about the way we approach our marital obligations?
Consider these statistics:
- 20 to 25 percent of men and 10 to 15 percent admit to having an extramarital affairs at some time of their lives.
- Infidelity is a factor in 25 to 40 percent of all divorces and 55 percent of those marriages end in divorce within five years.
The Lord can’t be happy with the way people are approaching a relationship institution that He intended to be treated sacred. For He has made it clear that marriage was to be the consummate love connection between two people and that love, including sexual interaction, was mandated to be shared between one man and one woman, a husband and a wife, and this was supposed to be until death would lead the couple to part.
And so, it’s clear that the will of God is for a husband and wife to maintain their marriage in a way that sustains until death. That is what He has ordained.
So what’s the problem? Why are we seeing so much infidelity happening?
The answer is pretty simple.
Too many people in the world fail to give the Lord any attention in their lives and this means He isn’t present within these marriages. This creates fertile ground for Satan to step in and take control of things, establishing an environment where either the husband or wife could feel it’s appropriate to chase after their own desires if they feel they’re not happy.
Because of this truth, the only way any marriage will have a chance to last for the long run, not just surviving but thriving, is when the Lord is placed at the head of the relationship. This means that the husband and wife both completely surrender and submit to God’s authority, ensuring that all things run through Him. I know a marriage like this because I have one that is coming up on 33 years, one where my wife and I place the Lord first. It’s a marriage that is defined by amazing joy, peace, and love...and who doesn’t want that?
If you’re married today and your marriage is struggling, I encourage you to step back and either turn everything over to the Lord or rededicate your relationship to Him. Make Him first and your marriage can finish in first place. Trust me when I say, you’ll never regret it.
If you’re married and the Lord is first in your marriage, bringing you the kind of joy and peace and love I mentioned before, then give thanks and continue to model proper marriage to all who know you.
In all these instances, I pray that you will get to experience the bliss I have been blessed to have with my wife, Grace, sharing life together with the Lord who keeps us in His wonderful care.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment