Bereans Corner
Bereans Corner
Thru the Bible - #119 - Numbers 5 - On Defilement/The Adultery Tests
All right, we are back. Thank you for hanging out with me here on Berean's Corner. Go ahead and hit pause and get yourself a glass of water, cup of coffee, cup of tea as we get into today's lesson and when you get back, open your Bible to Numbers, chapter 5. The title of today's lesson is On Defilement and the Adultery Tests. On defilement and the adultery tests as always, as I like to mention, wherever you are here in this podcast, go ahead and give it a like, give it a comment and share with your family and friends. Let them know that there's a brother out there that goes through books of the bible, chat, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. That way we're getting all of the lord's good word.
Speaker 1:Remember our website over on buzzsprout? Um, sorry about that, brian'scornerbuzzsproutcom. You can go over there. Not only can you listen to the show over there, but you can also see the transcript of each show. Also over there you will see other places. You can follow us like our youtube page, brian's corner. That way, when you over there, you will see other places. You can follow us like our youtube page, barren's corner. That way, when you over there, you will click on it. It'll take you directly to the right place, because there could be other ones out there. So we want to make sure that you always end up in the right place. All right on to today's lesson, numbers, chapter five. As always, we start out reading and then we get into the chapter. So Numbers, chapter 5.
Speaker 2:Numbers 5. The Lord said to Moses Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send away male and female alike. Send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them. The Israelites did this. They sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
Speaker 2:The Lord said to Moses Say to the Israelites when a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one-fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged. If that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest along with the ram with which atonement is made for him. All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him. Each man's sacred gifts are his own, but what he gives to the priest will belong to the priest. 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 the 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 Lord. Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.
Speaker 2: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 the 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.
Speaker 2: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.
Speaker 2: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 a 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.
Speaker 1:All right, the last time we were together we looked at the duties of the Kohathites, the Gershonites and the Merorites. Today we are looking at the defilement and the test of adultery, as I mentioned earlier. That's the chapter of this lesson. Now we will break this down into three parts. Part number one the regulation regarding leprosy in male and females. We see this in verses one, through four numbers, five verses one 4. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying Command the sons of Israel that they send away the camp, every leper and everyone having a discharge and everyone who was unclean because of a dead person you shall send away, both male and female. You should send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp, where I dwell in their midst. And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses. Thus the sons of Israel did. Now we have to remember that back in this time, leprosy was the big thing. Leprosy was a big deal back when these scriptures were written. It was a very contagious disease and it was something that the Lord took serious and he wanted his people to take serious.
Speaker 1:Part number two, the restitution of sin sin. We see this in verses 5 to 10. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the sons of Israel. When a man or woman commits any other sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sins which he has committed and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add it to one-fifth of it and give it to him whom he has wronged. But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the lord, for the priest, besides the ram of atonement by which atonement is made by him, also every contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of israel which they offer to the priest shall be his. So every man's holy gifts shall be his. Whatever any man gives to the priest, it becomes his.
Speaker 1:Now I want to point out something. In verse 6 notice the word mankind. Let's, let's go back, look at that once again. Speak to the sons of israel when a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind. Now, that word mankind hebrew 120 this word adam means mankind, it means all of mankind's. It means male or female, and I like to point that out because sometimes people get things confused or they take things the wrong way and when they see mankind they think that only means males. But in this sense it means male and female mankind in that sense. So he's speaking to both.
Speaker 1:Now we will move on to part three. Now this is going to be a lengthy part of the chapter, but in verses 11 through 31 we read about the test of adultery. Then the lord spoke to moses saying speak to the sons of israel and say to them if any man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him and a man has intercourse with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is undetected although she has defiled herself and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act, if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself, the man shall then bring his wife to the priest and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall not pour oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, a reminder of iniquity. So we see what this is getting into. Here is the test of adultery. Now notice it said that they really is saying that if the man knows or he doesn't know, now, if he knows, that's one thing, but if he doesn't know, they call it the spirit of jealousy, meaning that basically he's, he's making an accusation against his wife.
Speaker 1:Pick it back up in verse 16. Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before the lord, and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put into the water. The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord and let the hair of the woman's head go loose and place the grain offering of memorial in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. And the priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman if no man has lied with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, being under the authority of your husband, but immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse. If you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you, then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse. And the priest shall say to the woman the Lord, make you a curse and an oath among your people by the lord's, making your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell. And this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh waste away, and the woman shall say amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Now I'm gonna start right there, so we see what. What's going on here. So this is the test that the priest is going to get to the woman. She's going to swear oath, he has put the dust in this water and he's basically going to say it's like being under oath. You know, do you swear to tell the truth? The whole truth is nothing but the truth. And you see, at the end of verse 22, the woman shall say amen, amen. Pick it back up at verse 23.
Speaker 1:The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness. Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness. And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand and he shall wave the grain offering before the lord and bring it to the altar. And the priest shall take a handful of grain offering as this memorial, as an as an emory, as as a memorial offering, offer it up in smoke on the altar and afterwards he shall make the woman drink the water.
Speaker 1:When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse shall go into her and cause bitterness and her adamant will swell and her thigh will waste away and the woman will become a curse among her people. So you? So, as we see what's going on, if it's true, this is what's going happen, but verse 28,. But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive children. So, in other words, if her belly, if her abdomen doesn't swell, her thigh doesn't waste away, then she is clean.
Speaker 1:This is the law of jealousy. When a wife, being under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before the lord, and the priest shall apply all this law to her. Moreover, the man shall be free from guilt, but that woman shall bear her guilt. So what it's talking about him being free of his guilt. It means that once this test is done, he will be free of his guilt or of his jealousy.
Speaker 1:Now I want to read five observations that, uh, my pastor, who uh, broke down this chapter, uh, that he said about this at the end of this chapter, he actually did, uh, five observations of his own, and you can find this in pastor david david thompson's exposition of numbers. It is on page 35 that I'm reading, because I want to read his five observations pertaining to this. Number one there's no place that we know of where any man ever did this to his wife, and that is true. I've never seen anywhere in scripture where a man went back here and actually applied this test. Number two this was a public exposure and most husbands would not want to publicly, publicly expose this.
Speaker 1:When mary was pregnant with jesus, joseph suspected immorality, but he was not going to publicly expose this. When Mary was pregnant with Jesus, joseph suspected immorality, but he was not going to publicly do this. His initial reaction was to privately put her away and if you remember that story, that's what Joseph said he was going to do. He said that he will quietly put her away because what was happening was that Joseph really wanted to accuse Mary and say oh no, I don't believe a word. You're saying you've been with another man and now you're pregnant and you're trying to put it off, saying that the Holy Spirit did this and he wanted to do it and he wanted to go do it quietly, but this was to be done in public.
Speaker 1:Number three if the husband were wrong in his suspicions, he would owe her a great apology and would have to work to rebuild the relationship. However, the woman would shine bright with a great reputation, just like uh, you know, see back how joseph did so. That is true when you really think about it. You got to think about how humiliating this would be and for you to have that spirit of jealousy, you being a man, and then you're wrong about it. You have. You have publicly shamed your wife, you've embarrassed her, you've actually embarrassed yourself as well, and it will take some time to work on that. Number four although this law of jealousy is no longer operative, do not assume that god does not observe sin and that he will not judge sin. That's something that we all should know. And then number five if god's people want god's blessings, they must keep themselves free from defiling sin. See first Timothy, chapter 5, verse 22. All right, people. That brings us to the end of numbers, chapter 5.
Speaker 1:As always, I hope you got something out of this lesson. As I mentioned earlier, when you go over to the website, you will also see everywhere that you can hear this podcast. Pretty much wherever your favorite podcast app is, you can get this podcast, I thank. Wherever your favorite podcast app is, you can get this podcast. I thank you all for joining me. As I always say, I am praying for you and I ask you to do the same for me, to give me the strength to continue on. All right, that was numbers, chapter five. That's all for now. God bless, thank you, thank you.