Numbers 5:1-31


Purity is a priority for God’s people.  This is true in both the physical and spiritual realm.  God did not want those who were impure due to physical disease to remain in the boundaries of the camp so that they rest of the members of the nation would not be infected.  Diseases can be contagious and God wanted to protect His people.  Sin can also be very contagious and God instructed His people to be pure and zealous so as to be protected from contamination through Sin.

GOD CONDEMNS ADULTERY: God intends for marriage to be a faithful union between a man and a woman.  Adultery in condemned by God for it is the breaking of a vow of faithfulness made before God and man.  Both husband and wife are called to live in faithfulness to one another.  This passage talks about when the wife is away from her husband and she ends up committing adultery.  The best way to prevent an adulterous relationship is for the marital relationship to be close and united.  Marital conflict and periods of separation create vulnerability in marriage that God never intended.  We must be careful to unite with our spouses, remain close and protect one another from temptation through our own faithfulness a commitment to one another.

GOD REVEALS ADULTERY: This chapter describes a process by which a husband who suspects his wife of adultery but has no proof and there are no witnesses and she denies it can discover if she has been faithful or not.  Certainly this is an extreme case, but the husband was to bring his wife to the priest where she would be required to defend her innocence before the priest.  The priest would have her make an oath before God and drink “bitter water” that would apparently cause illness in those who were guilty but that God would not allow the innocent to be afflicted.  This practice reveals the truth that God does know all that man has done and even a person is able to hide his sin from others they are not able to hide from God.  He knows everything and is able to reveal our sins.  One day all of us will stand before God who know all of our sin and we will give an account before Him.

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