B'Midbar (Numbers) 5

Numbers 5 -

1 ADONAI said to Moshe,

2 "Order the people of Isra'el to expel from the camp everyone with tzara'at (leprosy), everyone with a discharge and whoever is unclean because of touching a corpse.

3 Both male and female you must expel; put them outside the camp; so that they won't defile their camp, where I live among you." Kind of reminds me of the people today who end up quarantined with TB, HIV/AIDS, Measles and other contagious diseases.

4 The people of Isra'el did this and put them outside the camp - the people of Isra'el did what ADONAI had said to Moshe. They listened and obeyed GOD.

5 ADONAI said to Moshe,

6 "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When a man or woman commits any kind of sin against another person and thus breaks faith with ADONAI, he incurs guilt. That is so true. Sin should make us feel guilty. Sin also needs to be repented of ASAP!

7 He must confess the sin which he has committed; and he must make full restitution for his guilt, add twenty percent and give it to the victim of his sin. Wow...that's some forgiveness alright. :-)

8 But if the person has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the guilt, then what is given in restitution for guilt will belong to ADONAI, that is, to the cohen (priest) - in addition to the ram of atonement through which atonement is made for him.

9 "'Every contribution which the people of Isra'el consecrate and present to the cohen (priest) will belong to him.

10 Anything an individual consecrates will be his own [to allocate among the cohanim], but what a person gives to the cohen (priest) will belong to him.'"


11 ADONAI said to Moshe,

12 "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'If a man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him; listen up wives!

13 that is, if another man goes to bed with her without her husband's knowledge, so that she becomes impure secretly, and there is no witness against her, and she was not caught in the act;

14 then, if a spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she has become impure - or, for that matter, if the spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she has not become impure -

15 he is to bring his wife to the cohen (priest), along with the offering for her, two quarts of barley flour on which he has not poured olive oil or put frankincense, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a grain offering for remembering, for recalling guilt to mind.

16 The cohen (priest) will bring her forward and place her before ADONAI. Imagine standing before the holiest person alive knowing He knows what you have done.

17 The cohen (priest) will put holy water in a clay pot, and then the cohen will take some of the dust on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.

18 The cohen will place the woman before ADONAI, unbind the woman's hair (the Tanakh says the priest shall bear the woman's head and the KJV says the priest will uncover the woman's head...so does that mean she was veiled? Food for thought I would say) and put the grain offering for remembering in her hands, the grain offering for jealousy; while the cohen has in his hand the water of embitterment and cursing.

19 The cohen will make her swear by saying to her, "If no man has gone to bed with you, if you have not gone astray to make yourself unclean while under your husband's authority, then be free from this water of embitterment and cursing. In other words, if you are not guilty of committing adultery, then you are free to go.

20 But if you have in fact gone astray while under your husband's authority and become unclean, because some man other than your husband has gone to bed with you . . ."

21 then the cohen is to make the woman swear with an oath that includes a curse; the cohen will say to the woman, ". . .may ADONAI make you an object of cursing and condemnation among your people by making your private parts (the KJV and the Tanakh both say thigh) shrivel and your abdomen swell up! Yahweh was NOT kidding about marriage vows that's for sure. Marriage is such a serious covenant, not many couples realize that.

22 May this water that causes the curse go into your inner parts and make your abdomen swell and your private parts (thigh) shrivel up!"- and the woman is to respond, "Amen! Amen!" I can't imagine saying Amen to that...but what choice would I have as I stand before YAH?

23 The cohen is to write these curses on a scroll, wash them off into the water of embitterment

24 and make the woman drink the water of embitterment and cursing - the water of cursing will enter her and become bitter.

25 Then the cohen (priest) is to remove the grain offering for jealousy from the woman's hand, wave the grain offering before ADONAI and bring it to the altar.

26 The cohen (priest) is to take a handful of the grain offering as its reminder portion and make it go up in smoke on the altar; afterwards, he is to make the woman drink the water.

27 When he has made her drink the water, then, if she is unclean and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that causes the curse will enter her and become bitter, so that her abdomen swells and her private parts (thigh) shrivel up; and the woman will become an object of cursing among her people. Our sins that we commit have very serious consequences.

28 But if the woman is not unclean but clean, then she will be innocent and will have children. Amen!!!

29 This is the law for jealousy: when either a wife under her husband's authority goes astray and becomes unclean, A law for jealousy? Imagine our world today if we had that. Do you think it would help or hinder mankind?

30 or the spirit of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife, then he is to place the woman before ADONAI, and the cohen is to deal with her in accordance with all of this law. Well we just read what happens when a wife commits adultery on her hubby..don't think I would want to be her.

31 The husband will be clear of guilt, but the wife will bear the consequences of her guilt.'"
If you look at verse 28 you will see that if the woman is found innocent she will go on to have children, so I wonder if this verse (31) means that she will 'bear the consequences of her guilt' mean YAH has made her infertile (swells up her private parts)?

I also read B'Midbar 6 about the law of the Nazarite and his vows. It was really neat. It's only 27 verses, you should go read it. :-) The sacrifices that people make to obey YAH! Praise His glorious Name \o/

Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend so far! I know I am! Looking forward to church tomorrow YAH willing. It will be a blessing. =)

Hugs from my home to yours,

Dawn