Num 5:21-24 | KingComments | STEP | The priest has to make the woman swear under oath. The water, a picture of the Word of God, will bring to light the truth concerning her unfaithfulness or faithfulness. If she is unfaithful, the LORD will make her thigh waste away and her abdomen swell when she has drunk of that bitter water. The Word of God will, in case of a secret unfaithfulness of a believer, reveal the features of that unfaithfulness through His Word. Such secretly unfaithful believers serve not Christ, but their own appetite or stomach, which is their god ( ; ). Also, the application of the Word in judgment to their walk will make it clear that there is no spiritual power present, of which the wasting away of the thigh is a picture. Such unfaithful believers are spiritually limp, they are unbalanced in their religious life. In saying “amen, amen” by the woman we see her cooperation in the examination (cf. ). She declares that she is aware that she has been placed in the light of God. Those who would like to live a dedicated life will be willing to undergo this examination.

‏ Numbers 5:21-24

The Priest Shall Have Her Take an Oath

The priest has to make the woman swear under oath. The water, a picture of the Word of God, will bring to light the truth concerning her unfaithfulness or faithfulness. If she is unfaithful, the LORD will make her thigh waste away and her abdomen swell when she has drunk of that bitter water.

The Word of God will, in case of a secret unfaithfulness of a believer, reveal the features of that unfaithfulness through His Word. Such secretly unfaithful believers serve not Christ, but their own appetite or stomach, which is their god (Rom 16:18; Phil 3:19). Also, the application of the Word in judgment to their walk will make it clear that there is no spiritual power present, of which the wasting away of the thigh is a picture. Such unfaithful believers are spiritually limp, they are unbalanced in their religious life.

In saying “amen, amen” by the woman we see her cooperation in the examination (cf. Deu 27:26). She declares that she is aware that she has been placed in the light of God. Those who would like to live a dedicated life will be willing to undergo this examination.

The Woman Drinks the Bitter Water

As a sign that the water of judgment cleanses, the priest writes the curses on a scroll and washes them off into the water of bitterness. Then he gives the woman the water of bitterness to drink. The Word is bitter when it has to examine us for possible deviations. This is not a work that gives joy. The Word gives joy when we are allowed to occupy ourselves with the Lord Jesus, not when we have to occupy ourselves with ourselves and with the judgment of our flesh (cf. Rev 10:9; Pro 5:4).