(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah.
This Torah portion contains the instruction regarding “sotah”- comes from a word which means to go astray.
Isa 53:6 We all, like sheep, went astray, each one of us has turned to his own way. And יהוה has laid on Him the crookedness of us all. “astray” -BDB Definition: 1) swerver, revolter, rebel, deeds that swerve – idolator.
“ The ceremony for the sotah, a suspected adulteress who was witnessed going into seclusion with another man--despite being warned not to associate with that individual. The woman is brought to the Temple. This section of the Torah is written on parchment and then soaked in water until the ink dissolves. The woman drinks the water mixed with dust. If she indeed willingly committed adultery, her belly miraculously swells and she dies a gruesome death. If she is unharmed by the waters, she is cleared of any suspicion.”
The rabbis marvel that YHVH would allow His Most Set Apart Name to be washed away on a piece of parchment. Such an action is unimaginable to a devout Levite. We then consider the seriousness of marriage as a reflection of our relationship with YHVH.
‘’We will only begin to understand this
when we realize that, in Scripture, mankind’s being is symbolic at its deepest
root. And the image of YHVH is especially focused upon a particular
relationship, the fruitful marital bond between man and woman. Given its
symbolic importance, a distortion or violation of this bond is an act of
idolatry and, indeed, a monstrous crime against human nature itself, often
suffering the punishment of death. Consequently, anything that perverts,
parodies, undermines, attacks, violates, replaces, or distorts the sexual
fidelity appropriate to marriage between a man and a woman is seen to strike at
the very heart of biblical religion -because sexual behaviour always symbolizes
realities greater than itself. By
teaching the testing of the unfaithful wife at the instigation the jealous
husband, this passage highlights a prominent biblical theme, that of the
testing of the faithfulness of the people of YHVH, as his bride, by the jealous
divine husband (cf. Exodus 20:5; 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24). Israel will go on to
fail the divine test of jealousy in the book of Numbers. https://alastairadversaria.com/2013/02/09/the-cup-of-the-adulteress-understanding-the-jealousy-ritual-of-numbers-5/
Num 5:29 ‘This is the Torah of jealousy,(Heb ‘’kinah’’
sexual passion or religious zeal) when a wife turns aside under her husband’s authority
(or towards another)and defiles herself,
Our Torah portion begins:
Num 5:11
And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, saying,
Num 5:12 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say
to them, ‘When any man’s wife turns aside (Sotah) and has committed a trespass
against him,
Num 5:13 and a man has intercourse with her, and it is
hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled
herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she caught,
CLV13 that a man who lies with her has an emission of
semen, and it is obscured from her husband's eyes, and she conceals that she
defiled herself since there was no witness against her, and she was not grabbed
with force;"
Num 5:14 and a spirit of jealousy comes upon him and
he becomes jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or a spirit of jealousy
comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife although she has not defiled
herself,
Num 5:15 then the man shall bring his wife to the
priest. And he shall bring the offering for her, one-tenth of an ĕphah of
barley flour. He is not to pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it
is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing
crookedness to remembrance.
Num 5:16 ‘And the priest shall bring her near, and
shall make her stand before יהוה.
Num 5:17 ‘And the priest shall take set-apart water in
an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the
Dwelling Place and put it into the water.
Num 5:18 ‘And the priest shall make the woman stand
before יהוה, and shall
uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands,
which is the grain offering of jealousy, while the priest holds in his hand the
bitter water that brings a curse.
Num 5:19 ‘And the priest shall make her swear, and say
to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to
uncleanness under your husband’s authority, be free from this bitter
water that brings a curse.
Num 5:20 “But if you have turned aside under your
husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other
than your husband has lain with you” –
Num 5:21 then the priest shall make the woman swear
with the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman – “יהוה make you a
curse and an oath among your people, when יהוה makes your
thigh waste away and your belly swell,
Num 5:22 and this water that causes the curse shall go
into your inward parts, and make your belly swell and your thigh waste away.”
And the woman shall say, “Amĕn, amĕn.”
Num 5:23 ‘And the priest shall write these curses in a
book, and shall wipe them off(Heb –“machah” to obliterate or exterminate – see
also Dev 29:20) into the bitter water,
Num 5:24 and shall make the woman drink the bitter
water that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter
her to become bitter.
Num 5:25 ‘And the priest shall take the grain offering
of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering before יהוה, and bring it
to the altar.
Num 5:26 ‘And the priest shall take a hand filled with
the offering, as its remembrance offering, and burn it on the altar, and
afterward make the woman drink the water.
Num 5:27 ‘And when he has made her drink the water,
then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and has committed a trespass
against her husband, that the water that brings the curse shall enter her and
become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall waste away, and
the woman shall become a curse among her people.
Num 5:28 ‘But if the woman has not defiled herself,
and is clean, then she shall be clear and shall conceive children.
Num 5:29 ‘This is the Torah of jealousy, when a wife
turns aside under her husband’s authority and defiles herself,
Num 5:30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes upon a
man, and he becomes jealous of his wife. Then he shall make the woman stand
before יהוה, and the
priest shall do to her all this Torah.
Num 5:31 ‘And the man shall be clear from crookedness,
but the woman bear her crookedness.’ ”
Midrash:
‘’ The rite of jealousy is
particularly related to an event recorded in the Exodus narrative. In Exodus
32, while Moses was up on Mount Sinai, the children of Israel committed
spiritual adultery against YHWH, who brought them up out of Egypt, worshipping
a gold calf and eating communion meals with Egyptian idols (Exodus 32:6). Moses
came down the mountain with the stone tablets of the Testimony, to see the
Israelites sinning in this manner. He responded by breaking the tablets of
stone, burning and grinding the golden calf to powder, scattering it on water
and forcing the Israelites to drink it. The Levites were then instructed to
kill 3,000 of their Israelite brethren, after which Moses interceded for the
nation and the people were plagued.’’
When gold dust (colloidal gold)
is mixed with water it turns bright red. Colloidal gold is used as an
effective medication against various
skin diseases.
We are reminded that in this
portion the unfaithful woman had possibly received seed from another man. The
question for us today is how much impure and mixed seed are we receiving? Strange
teaching, deep commitments to false teachers and leaders. The evidence is found
everywhere – bareness and unrighteous offspring. The tragedy is that many do
not recognize or acknowledge their spiritual barrenness.
1Pe 1:22
Now that you have cleansed your lives in obeying the truth through the
Spirit to unfeigned brotherly love, love one another fervently with a clean
heart,
1Pe 1:23
having been born again – not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible –
through the living Word of Elohim, which remains forever,
Psa 119:142
Your righteousness is righteousness forever, And Your Torah is truth.
When we walk in the Torah the way Yahshua
teaches us, we are cleansed and learn to discern what “seed” to receive and
what “seed” to reject.
YHVH’s Word washes us – Eph 5:26 & Rev
19:8,9.
1Jn 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of יהושע Messiah His
Son cleanses us from all sin.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are
misleading ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is trustworthy and
righteous to forgive us the sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.
Principles
for Marriage
1Co
7:1 And concerning the matters
you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
1Co 7:2 But because of
whoring, let each one have his own wife, and let each woman have her own
husband.
1Co 7:3 Let the husband
render to his wife what is her due, and likewise also the wife to her
husband.
1Co 7:4 The wife does
not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the
husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
1Co 7:5 Do not deprive
one another except with agreement for a time, to give yourselves to fasting and
prayer. And come together again so that Satan does not try you because of your
lack of self-control.
1Co 7:6 And I say this
as a concession, not as a command.
1Co 7:7 For I wish that
all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from Elohim, one
in this way and another in that.
1Co 7:8 And I say to the
unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I
am,
1Co 7:9 but if they do
not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to
burn.
1Co 7:10 And to the
married I command, not I, but the Master: A wife should not separate from a
husband.
1Co 7:11 But if she is
indeed separated, let her remain unmarried or be restored to favour with her
husband, and let a husband not send away a wife.
1Co 7:12 And to the rest
I say, not the Master: If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she thinks
well to live with him, let him not send her away.
1Co 7:13 And a woman who
has an unbelieving husband, and he thinks well to live with her, let her not
send him away.
1Co 7:14 For the
unbelieving husband has been set-apart in the wife, and the unbelieving wife
has been set-apart in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean,
but now they are set-apart.
1Co 7:15 And, if the
unbelieving one separates, let him separate himself. A brother or a sister has
not been enslaved in such matters. But Elohim has called us to peace.
1Co 7:16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you shall save your wife?
1Co 7:28 But even if you should marry, you have not sinned. And if a maiden should marry, she has not sinned. But such shall have pressure in the flesh,(Gk – distress of mind) but I would spare yo
1Co 7:39 A wife is bound
by Torah as long as her husband lives, and if her husband dies, she is free to
be married to whom she desires, only in the Master.
Last days – ‘’The rite of jealousy is the major instituted process by which secret sins are
brought to light by divine judgment. However, it is merely a ritual
precipitation of the general process, by which the secret sins of the
unfaithful are exposed by divine punishment’’ in the last days.
Rev 10:9 And I went to
the messenger and said to him, “Give me the little book.” And he said to me,
“Take and eat it,b and it shall make your stomach bitter, but it shall be as
sweet as honey in your mouth.” Footnote: b Eze_2:1-10 and Eze_3:1-27.
This is a Hebraism which means to receive knowledge.
Rev 10:10 And I took the little book out of the messenger’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, Eze_3:3 but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.
1Sa 15:23 “For rebellion(Heb ‘’marah’’ disobedience and bitterness) is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness (pushy and contentious)is as wickedness (Heb ‘’avon’’ or iniquity) and idolatry.(generational curses) Because you have rejected the word of יהוה, He also does reject you as sovereign.”
Exo 34:14 for you do not bow yourselves to another mighty one, for יהוה, whose Name is jealous, is a jealous Ěl –
Deu 4:23 “Guard
yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of יהוה your
Elohim which He made with you, and shall make for yourselves a carved image in
any form, as יהוה your Elohim has commanded you.
Deu 4:24 “For יהוה your
Elohim is a consuming fire, a jealous Ěl.
Deu 4:25 “When you bring
forth children and grandchildren, and shall grow old in the land, and shall do
corruptly and make a carved image in the form of whatever, and shall do what is
evil in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim to provoke Him,
Deu 4:26 “I shall call
the heavens and earth to witness against you on that day, that you soon
completely perish from the land which you pass over the Yarděn to possess – you
do not prolong your days in it but are completely destroyed.
Deu 4:27 “And יהוה shall
scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the
nations where יהוה drives you.
Deu 4:28 “And there you
shall serve mighty ones, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither
see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
Deu 4:29 “But from there
you shall seek יהוה your Elohim, and shall find, when you search for Him with all
your heartb and with all your being. Footnote: b Jer_29:13.
Deu 4:30 “In your
distress, when all these words shall come upon you in the latter days, then you
shall return to יהוה your Elohim and shall obey His
voice.
Deu 4:31 “For יהוה your
Elohim is a compassionate Ěl, He does not forsake you, nor destroy you, nor
forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
Midrash – John 8:1-11 – Jn 2 – Yahshua’s first miracle in
Cana - Galilee
Jas 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose? Does the Spirit which dwells in us intensely crave unto envy?
From G1909 and ποθέω potheō (to yearn); to dote upon, that is, intensely crave possession (lawfully or wrongfully): - (earnestly) desire (greatly), (greatly) long (after), lust.
Eph 5:24 But as the assembly is subject to Messiah, so also let
the wives be to their own husbands in every respect.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Messiah also did love the
assembly and gave Himself for it,
Eph 5:26 in order to set it apart and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the Word,f Footnote: f Rev_19:8-9.
Eph 5:27 in order to present it to Himself a splendid assembly,
not having spot or wrinkle or any of this sort, but that it might be set-apart
and blameless.
Eph 5:28 In this way husbands ought to love their own wives as
their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Eph 5:29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but feeds and
cherishes it, as also the Master does the assembly.
Eph 5:30 Because we are members of His body, of His flesh and of
His bones.
Eph 5:31 “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Gen_2:24.
Eph 5:32 This secret is great, but I speak concerning Messiah and
the assembly.
Eph 5:33 However, you too, everyone, let each one love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she fears her husband.
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh,
our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and
have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of
the Torah – Ameyn