NUMBERS
CHAPTER 5
Lepers put out of camp—Sinners must confess and make restitution to gain forgiveness—Women believed to be immoral undergo trial of jealousy before priests.
2 Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
3 Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
[ God is saying "I need some cleanliness around me". There needs to be distance here.Just as recovering from sin takes time, so too there should be distance between sinners and those who try to be living a clean life. After all the tabernacle is Gods santuary. He walked there in the cool of the day, as Adam and EVe sought to conceal themselves. They knew they ahd done wrong and tried to separate themselves. ]
4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.
6 Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty;
7 Then they shall confess [ Repent. ] their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass [ Restitution. ] with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.
8 But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.
9 And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.
10 And every man’s hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.
12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
13 And a man lie with her carnally, [ In to days world we would just say that they had sex. ] and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;
14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, [ So the man here is wondering if his wife has cheated on him, but he does not know. ] and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:
15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil [ No oil, no bring in the light from which the oil gives when it is burned. Mo need to the oil press of Gethsemane as there is no repentance at this point. This is uncovered by the atonement at this point. ] upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; [ There are no sweet prayers to God either. Why? because she is not to the point of pulling the atonement in to work for her. ] for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
[ Suggesting that "What does it take to awaken a guilty conscience, if there be one on the woman's part." Hid your own wickedness. If you are keeping the Savior and the atonement at bay so that you can keep your sin hidden, that none may know. Well then you cannot have access to the soothing oil associated with the atonement. So she might have become complacent to the fact that she had sinned. The husband does not know for sure but he is suspecting of it. SHe has not confessed, and does not seem to be bothered by it either, maybe she has rationalize it away in some manner. So what is he to do - here is the answer. ]
16 And the priest shall bring her [ The suspected guilty party. ] near, and set her before the LORD:
[ The Lord will be her judge here. He knows more than we, he knows her thoughts as well as her actions. Help them to understand the all seeing eye of God. he knows. You cannot hide from him. ]
17 And the priest shall take holy water [ Which is what we should all be trying to be. Pure in the inside and the out. To begin it is on the inside. She would have been reminded of this as she sit in front of the priest who was wearing a head piece that had the inscription "Holiness to the Lord" on it. ] in an earthen vessel; [ Made of clay; just as we are vessels of clay. ] and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:
[ There is dirt with your divinity, recognize that. Admit it to yourself in order to begin to apply the atonement to your life. The symbolism of removing dust from a holy place like the tabernacle provide a symbolic way of saying like the tabernacle you are holy and here is a chance to remove dust from your life as well. ]
18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, [ Notice that it is the Lord who will make the judgement. ] and uncover the woman’s head, [ Every place else we take about kafar, being covered by the atonement, here you are uncovered, you are the opposite. You are un atoned for. You are on your own. ] and put the offering of memorial in her hands, [ Think about this - "Do you remember your sins?" ] which is the jealousy offering: [ Because the husband has no proof. ] and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water [ Remember this was originally holy water that was then mixed with the dust from the floor of the tabernacle. Bitter because it is no longer just the holy water. Suggesting that if you are in sin that this is what you have been drinking lately instead of the holy water that you should be drinking. ] that causeth the curse:
19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, [ If you really did not have sex with another man, then you are free. If you are free then you really don't care how much someone would look into your life. If you drink the water you will not notice the dust as it is not there so to speak. ] be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:
20 But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:
21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, [ Are you weak in the knees so to speak. ] and thy belly to swell;
22 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
[ I agree, I agree. so the woman accepts the potential consequences of this bitter water. That if I am guilty I will take the suffering on myself rather than repent and apply the atonement. Interesting that if she is guilty she might think that she is clearer enough to beat the lie detector test, or she has rationalized it so much that she actually believes that she is free of sin. Then she is willing to be found out because she will become sick, rather than just confess and apply the oil of the atonement now. Because if she is guilty she will be found out, she will become sick, she will still need to ask for forgivess - so why not now? ]
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:
24 And he [ The priest. ] shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: [ She then drinks the water. ] and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.
25 Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, [ Take the jealousy offering of barley with no oil or frankincense from the woman's hand and place it on the altar. ] and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar:
[ The priest is calling Gods attention to what is given here. In this case either there is nothing to give because she is guilty and is not sorry so the offerring is a muse to her, or she is making the offerring and is not guilty so the offerring is proof that she is not guilty. ]
26 And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.
27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
[ A jealous husband would be in fear that if she was with child whether it was his or not. But here the Lord through the oath given the husband may know that they child is indeed his. You can trust now that the baby is indeed yours. ]
29 This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;