Nu. 5: Lepers and Jealousy

       Numbers 5:1-4 separates the defiled people from the camp. Infection control comes to mind....

       Verses 5-30 describe what seems like a bizarre ritual. When I read it as a kid, it was pretty freaky. I wondered if the woman ever got off okay.

       Jealousy deserves its own study. Right now I’m reading Henry Wright’s Envy and Jealousy: I don’t want to be me…I want to be YOU, c. 2007. (In just an hour of reading it, I realized I had at least 3 issues I needed to bring before the LORD, repent and get whole. It’s good stuff.)

       Wright cites this passage in Numbers. I don’t want to parrot what he says; I will write my thoughts and encourage you to look at his book to get a more thorough understanding.

       In Matthew 19, the Pharisees ask Jesus about divorce. Jesus quotes scripture showing it wasn’t God’s intent to have divorce. They ask why Moses gave a command about divorce. In verse 9,

       He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

       “Hardness of heart” is one word, sklhrokardia sklerokardia. Sklero + kardia. We get words like “sclerosis” and “cardiac” from these root words. Hard hearted.

       Moses understood that life with a hard-hearted person could be so bad that he allowed the hard-hearted to put away his wife. But from the beginning, it wasn’t so.

       I view Numbers 5 in light of Matthew 19. We must also understand the Old Testament principle that sin should not go unpunished. Clear, distinct, predetermined and prescribed punishment for specific sin is the standard. The predetermined punishment should both be a deterrent and limit retaliation and escalation.

       The situation: a man suspects his wife has had sex with another. Whether she is guilty or innocent, she will go through the steps of the ritual. If she is innocent, the curse will not befall her. Then the husband will be convinced of her innocence. I would hope that this will cause the man to in turn repent from agreeing with the spirit of jealousy that came upon him. And this is all before the priest, so there is built-in accountability for the man and the woman.

       I encourage the reader (and myself) to examine oneself. Is jealousy lurking in your thinking? Numbers 5 lists some nasty side effects of jealousy. Take it to God and get right with Him and get whole. I’m not speaking only of jealousy toward a love interest. It’s about money, body image, you name it. Jealousy isn’t worth it. When you ditch the jealousy, you can begin to fulfill the wonderful command in Romans 12:15.

         Romans 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

I’m off to deal with those 3+ issues now.

Peace,

exodus15