“23 ‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water. 24 And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter.” “29 ‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself,” -Numbers 5:23-24, 29.
In the days of early Israel, after God had brought them out of Egypt, He gave them many Laws and statutes to guide them in the ways of righteousness and truth. At the head of spiritual, social, and moral leadership was the priesthood. They were to do the work of judging and evaluating all serious matters among the people. Their judgment was to be based upon the Laws and guidelines the Lord had given through Moses. Among those laws was an established law to deal with the issue of jealousy, from a husband, and marital unfaithfulness on the part of a wife. The entire law is found in Numbers 5:11-31. Obviously men were held to strict sexual integrity within the nation as well (Deuteronomy 22:22-24), but this law in particular deals with the woman. Continue reading