Num 5:11-28 | KingComments | STEP | The direct meaning of the part of puts the importance of the marriage in full light. The slightest suspicion of unfaithfulness is a violation of marriage at its root. The violation of marriage affects society in its foundations. Therefore, there must be clarity about the relationship in marriage when questions arise about faithfulness. Uncertainty must be disposed of. God indicates here the way in which this should be done. In the unfaithful woman the picture of Israel can be seen as a testimony for God on earth. The same goes for the church that is now God’s testimony on earth. Israel has deviated from God by serving the idols. The church has deviated from God by connecting with the world. Both forms of unfaithfulness are spiritual fornication. Instead of fighting for and with God against the enemies, God’s people have made a covenant with those enemies. There is also a personal application to be made regarding how everyone’s life is. The question must be asked whether our life is for the Lord or for something or someone else. This is about the assessment of our walk through the wilderness, while God walks with us through the wilderness. It is based on the jealousy of the man. This should not be seen here as a negative characteristic. This jealousy or suspicion is a justified feeling that belongs to sincere love when the object of that love does not show any love in return. It is even possible that, instead of love in return, unfaithfulness is present, that the expected love goes to someone or something else. This case is presented here as an option.

‏ Numbers 5:11-28

A Suspicion of Unfaithfulness

The direct meaning of the part of Num 5:11-31 puts the importance of the marriage in full light. The slightest suspicion of unfaithfulness is a violation of marriage at its root. The violation of marriage affects society in its foundations. Therefore, there must be clarity about the relationship in marriage when questions arise about faithfulness. Uncertainty must be disposed of. God indicates here the way in which this should be done.

In the unfaithful woman the picture of Israel can be seen as a testimony for God on earth. The same goes for the church that is now God’s testimony on earth. Israel has deviated from God by serving the idols. The church has deviated from God by connecting with the world. Both forms of unfaithfulness are spiritual fornication. Instead of fighting for and with God against the enemies, God’s people have made a covenant with those enemies.

There is also a personal application to be made regarding how everyone’s life is. The question must be asked whether our life is for the Lord or for something or someone else. This is about the assessment of our walk through the wilderness, while God walks with us through the wilderness.

It is based on the jealousy of the man. This should not be seen here as a negative characteristic. This jealousy or suspicion is a justified feeling that belongs to sincere love when the object of that love does not show any love in return. It is even possible that, instead of love in return, unfaithfulness is present, that the expected love goes to someone or something else. This case is presented here as an option.

The Grain Offering of Jealousy

There may be a suspicion that something is not right in the dedication of a believer or a local church. Those who care about the welfare of the believers will bring the matter to the priest. We can see the priest here as a type of the Lord Jesus. With all our suspicions we can go to Him.

The offering that is brought along also represents the Lord Jesus: a grain offering of barley meal. This offering is the lowest kind of grain offering. It shows the Lord Jesus in His deepest humiliation on earth, in which He was completely faithful to His God. This has become perfectly visible on the cross, where He is made sin. Because this offering is a reminder of iniquity, no oil nor frankincense may be added. God can’t have any pleasure (frankincense) in injustice and the Holy Spirit (oil) is completely alien to it. The Lord has become the sacrifice for our unfaithfulness.

Acts of the Priest

The priest then presents the ‘suspect’ before the LORD. Any question of our dedication can only be decided in His presence and not by any ecclesiastical commission.

Then the priest takes holy water, a picture of the Word of God (Eph 5:26). He does that water in an earthenware vessel. The earthenware vessel is a picture of what man is by nature (2Cor 4:7). He also takes dust from the floor of the tabernacle. This represents the power of death in the presence of God. The Lord Jesus was laid by God “in the dust of death” (Psa 22:15b). The dust is what man is and what he becomes when he dies (Gen 3:19). Water and dust represent that God cleanses (water) through judgment (dust).

Then the hair of the woman’s head is let go loose. The woman’s long hair is the symbol of dedication. God expects the woman to wear this symbol (1Cor 11:15). It is not a matter of time or culture. It is let go loose because her dedication is at stake (cf. Lev 13:45). She also receives the grain offering of jealousy on her hands, which here is called “grain offering of memorial”. The believer of whom dedication is questioned must be reminded, Who the Lord Jesus is as the One Who was perfectly dedicated to God, Who was faithful to death.

Finally, we see that the priest holds in his hand the water made bitter by the dust. The Word of God must be presented to that believer as a Word that judges (Heb 4:12). Then the priest will speak to the woman.

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).

The Memorial Offering of Jealousy

The application of the Word cannot happen separately from the Lord Jesus, presented here in the grain offering of jealousy. The Lord Jesus cannot be seen apart from His full dedication to God. God always wants to be reminded of this. We see this in the picture of the priest who offers up a memorial offering as a special form of the grain offering in smoke on the altar.

When the Water Is Drunk

After drinking the bitter water, the truth about faithfulness or unfaithfulness will become clear. The Word is like the rain that is drunk by the ground, after which what the ground produces will show what kind of soil we are dealing with. The Word always makes it clear whether there is fruit for God or whether it is reprehensible fruit: “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned” (Heb 6:7-8).

If the examination shows that she is innocent, this has consequences for her fertility. Life will come forth from her. So it is with every child of God that lives dedicated. The fruit of life will become visible.