“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.
This law was a way to deal with a husband’s aroused suspicion of jealousy of an unfaithful wife, and to decipher whether someone had been faithful or not. Essentially, if the husband became jealous or suspicious of his wife being unfaithful to him then he could take her to one of the priests of the nation, bringing a certain offering, and the charge of suspicion against his wife. The priest would take holy water and mix it with some dirt. The woman would hold the husband’s offering in her hand and the priest would take an oath from the woman while pronouncing a curse through this “bitter water.” The woman was to agree fully to the curse and to solemnly and sincerely swear in her oath that she had not been unfaithful to her husband.Then, the woman was to drink the cursed “bitter water” with the understanding that if she was indeed innocent and telling the truth, that she would be set free and would be without harm. But, if she had been lying, unfaithful, and had sworn falsely, then she would incur the curse of the bitter water. In this curse, her belly would swell up, and her thighs would “rot,” most probably with some horrible form of disease (whether an STD, leprosy, or another).
This law served an important purpose and provides a number of lessons for us. First, God expects marital faithfulness and honesty from both partners in a marriage (both before and after their marriage). Secondly, jealousy is a serious issue in a marriage and should be resolved. Thirdly, we should “be sure your [our] sin will find you [us] out” (Numbers 32:23).The wisdom and implications of this law are clearly evident. First, one should fear to transgress against their spouse lest they should be put through such a process and found guilty. Secondly, one should never give behavior that would arouse suspicion or jealousy in their spouse – they should “avoid the appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22) lest their behavior arouse suspicion and give reason to lead to such a trial. Thirdly, under such an oath, one should fear to lie and then be found out by their own confession (if guilty). Fourthly, if they were truly innocent it would be known and the matter would be settled forever, but if they were indeed guilty and had lied about it (under oath) then their wickedness would still be found out and they would suffer the additional punishment of a swollen belly and a diseased and rotting crotch – truly a just punishment for such a sin or crime.
The same God who opened the Red Sea for His people to cross, who turned Moses’ staff into a serpent, who brought water from a rock in the desert, and turned a rebellious Mariam [Moses’ sister] into a leper for one week, was no God to fool around with or be careless before. The potency and power behind the curse was real, and not merely a bluff from men to scare people into confession. The truth would indeed be uncovered no matter what!
From this law, let us take the following lessons: (1) Don’t sin – run from it! (2) Don’t even give a reason for doubt or suspicion – avoid the appearance of evil and show your faithfulness. (3) If you do mess up in your life, don’t hide it from those who need to know – confess it and deal with it. That is the only possible way for healing (See James 5:16; 1 John 1:9). Sin and unfaithful lifestyles will eventually lead to our total ruin. Lying or adding sin up sin will only make matters worse, so don’t! Sin will eventually be found out; and even if no human being ever discovered it, we can be sure that God has already known about it and judgment for it will surly come if it is not reconciled (See Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 1:16-20).
