N
U M B E R S
CHAP. V.
In
this chapter we have, I. An order, pursuant to the laws already made, for the
removing of the unclean out of the camp, ver. 1-4. II. A repetition of the
laws concerning restitution, in case of wrong done to a neighbour (ver. 5-8),
and concerning the appropriating of the hallowed things to the priests, ver.
9, 10. III. A new law made concerning the trial of a wife suspected of
adultery, by the waters of jealousy, ver. 11, &c.
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The
Unclean to Be Removed.
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B.
C. 1490.
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1 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, 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. 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. 5 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, 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 their sin
which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass 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.
Here is, I. A command for the purifying of the camp, by turning out from
within its lines all those that were ceremonially unclean, by issues,
leprosies, or the touch of dead bodies, until they were cleansed according to
the law, v. 2, 3.
1. These orders are executed immediately, v. 4. (1.) The camp was now
newly-modelled and put in order, and therefore, to complete the reformation of
it, it is next to be cleansed. Note, The purity of the church must be as
carefully consulted and preserved as the peace and order of it. It is
requisite, not only that every Israelite be confined to his own standard, but
that every polluted Israelite be separated from it. The wisdom from above
is first pure, then peaceable. (2.) God's tabernacle was now fixed in the
midst of their camp, and therefore they must be careful to keep it clean.
Note, The greater profession of religion any house or family make the more
they are obliged to put away iniquity far from their tabernacle, Job
xxii. 23. The person, the place, in the midst of which God dwells, must
not be defiled; for, if it be, he will be affronted, offended, and provoked to
withdraw, 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.
2. This expulsion of the unclean out of the camp was to signify, (1.) What the
governors of the church ought to do: they must separate between the
precious and the vile, and purge out scandalous persons, as old leaven (1
Cor. v. 8, 13), lest others should be infected and defiled, Heb. xii. 15. It
is for the glory of Christ and the edification of his church that those who
are openly and incorrigibly profane and vicious should be put out and kept
from Christian communion till they repent. (2.) What God himself will do in
the great day: he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather out of
his kingdom all things that offend. As here the unclean were shut out of
the camp, so into the new Jerusalem no unclean thing shall enter, Rev.
xxi. 27.
II. A law concerning restitution, in case of wrong done to a neighbour. It is
called a sin that men commit (v. 6), because it is common among
men; a sin of man, that is, a sin against man, so it is thought
it should be translated and understood. If a man overreach or defraud his
brother in any matter, it is to be looked upon as a trespass against the Lord,
who is the protector of right, the punisher of wrong, and who strictly charges
and commands us to do justly. Now what is to be done when a man's awakened
conscience charges him with guilt of this kind, and brings it to his
remembrance though done long ago? 1. He must confess his sin, confess
it to God, confess it to his neighbour, and so take shame to himself. If he
have denied it before, though it go against the grain to own himself in a lie,
yet he must do it; because his heart was hardened he denied it, therefore he
has no other way of making it appear that his heart is now softened but by
confessing it. 2. He must bring a sacrifice, a ram of atonement, v.
8. Satisfaction must be made for the offence done to God, whose law is broken,
as well as for the loss sustained by our neighbour; restitution in this case
is not sufficient without faith and repentance. 3. Yet the sacrifices would
not be accepted till full amends were made to the party wronged, not only the
principal, but a fifth part added to it, v. 7. It is certain that while
that which is got by injustice is knowingly retained in the hands the guilt of
the injustice remains upon the conscience, and is not purged by sacrifice nor
offering, prayers not tears, for it is one and the same continued act of sin
persisted in. This law we had before (Lev. vi. 4), and it is here added that
if the party wronged was dead, and he had no near kinsman who was entitled to
the debt, or if it was any way uncertain to whom the restitution should be
made, this should not serve for an excuse to detain what was unjustly gotten;
to whomsoever it pertained, it was certainly none of his that got it by sin,
and therefore it must be given to the priest, v. 8. If there were any
that could make out a title to it, it must not be given to the priest (God
hates robbery for burnt-offerings); but, if there were not, then it lapsed to
the great Lord (ob defectum sanguinis--for want of issue), and the
priests were his receivers. Note, Some work of piety or charity is a piece of
necessary justice to be done by those who are conscience to themselves that
they have done wrong, but know not how otherwise to make restitution; what is
not our property will never be our profit.
III. A general rule concerning hallowed things given upon this occasion, that,
whatever was given to the priest, his it shall be, v. 9, 10. 1.
He that gave it was not to receive his gift again upon any pretence
whatsoever. This law ratifies and confirms all grants for pious uses, that
people might not give things to the priests in a fit of zeal, and then recall
them in a fit of vexation. 2. The other priests should not come in sharers
with that priest who then officiated, and to whom the hallowed thing, whatever
it was, was given. Let him that was most ready and diligent in attending fare
the better for it: if he do the work, let him have the pay, and much good may
it do him.
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The
Bitter Water of Jealousy.
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B.
C. 1490.
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11 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, 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, 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, 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 upon it,
nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an
offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16 And the
priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:
17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust
that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it
into the water: 18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD,
and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands,
which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand
the bitter water 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, 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, 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. 23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he
shall blot them out with the bitter water: 24 And he shall
cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: 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, and shall wave the offering before the LORD,
and offer it upon the altar: 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. 29 This is
the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of
her husband, and is defiled; 30 Or when the spirit of jealousy
cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman
before the LORD,
and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. 31 Then shall
the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
We have here the law concerning the solemn trial of a wife whose husband was
jealous of her. Observe,
I. What was the case supposed: That a man had some reason to suspect his wife
to have committed adultery, v. 12-14. Here, 1. The sin of adultery is
justly represented as an exceedingly sinful sin; it is going aside from God
and virtue, and the good way, Prov. ii. 17. It is committing a trespass
against the husband, robbing him of his honour, alienating his right,
introducing a spurious breed into his family to share with his children in his
estate, and violating her covenant with him. It is being defiled; for nothing
pollutes the mind and conscience more than this sin does. 2. It is supposed to
be a sin which great care is taken by the sinners to conceal, which there is
no witness of. The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Job
xxiv. 15. And the adulteress takes her opportunity when the good man is not
at home, Prov. vii. 19. It would not covet to be secret if it were not
shameful; and the devil who draws sinners to this sin teaches them how to
cover it. 3. The spirit of jealousy is supposed to come upon the
husband, of which Solomon says, It is the rage of a man (Prov. vi. 34),
and that it is cruel as the grave, Cant. viii. 6. 4. "Yet"
(say the Jewish writers) "he must make it appear that he has some just
cause for the suspicion." The rule they give is, "If the husband
have said unto his wife before witnesses, 'Be not thou in secret with such a
man;' and, notwithstanding that admonition, it is afterwards proved that she
was in secret with that man, though her father or her brother, then he may
compel her to drink the bitter water." But the law here does not tie him
to that particular method of proving the just cause of his suspicion; it might
be otherwise proved. In case it could be proved that she had committed
adultery, she was to be put to death (Lev. xx. 10); but, if it was uncertain,
then this law took place. Hence, (1.) Let all wives be admonished not to give
any the least occasion for the suspicion of their chastity; it is not enough
that they abstain from the evil of uncleanness, but they must abstain from all
appearance of it, from every thing that looks like it, or leads to it, or may
give the least umbrage to jealousy; for how great a matter may a little
fire kindle! (2.) Let all husbands be admonished not to entertain any
causeless or unjust suspicions of their wives. If charity in general, much
more conjugal affection, teaches to think no evil, 1 Cor. xiii. 5. It
is the happiness of the virtuous woman that the heart of her husband does
safely trust in her, Prov. xxxi. 11.
II. What was the course prescribed in this case, that, if the suspected wife
was innocent, she might not continue under the reproach and uneasiness of her
husband's jealousy, and, if guilty, her sin might find her out, and others
might hear, and fear, and take warning.
1. The process of the trial must be thus:-- (1.) Her husband must bring her
to the priest, with the witnesses that could prove the ground of his
suspicion, and desire that she might be put upon her trial. The Jews say that
the priest was first to endeavour to persuade her to confess the truth, saying
to this purport, "Dear daughter, perhaps thou wast overtaken by drinking
wine, or wast carried away by the heat of youth or the examples of bad
neighbours; come, confess the truth, for the sake of his great name which is
described in the most sacred ceremony, and do not let it be blotted out with
the bitter water." If she confessed, saying, "I am defiled,"
she was not put to death, but was divorced and lost her dowry; if she said,
"I am pure," then they proceeded. (2.) He must bring a coarse
offering of barley-meal, without oil or frankincense, agreeably to the present
afflicted state of his family; for a great affliction it was either to have
cause to be jealous or to be jealous without cause. It is an offering of
memorial, to signify that what was to be done was intended as a religious
appeal to the omniscience and justice of God. (3.) The priest was to prepare
the water of jealousy, the holy water out of the laver at which the priests
were to wash when they ministered; this must be brought in an earthen
vessel, containing (they say) about a pint; and it must be an earthen
vessel, because the coarser and plainer every thing was the more agreeable it
was to the occasion. Dust must be put into the water, to signify the
reproach she lay under, and the shame she ought to take to herself, putting
her mouth in the dust; but dust from the floor of the tabernacle, to
put an honour upon every thing that pertained to the place God had chosen to
put his name there, and to keep up in the people a reverence for it; see John
viii. 6. (4.) The woman was to be set before the Lord, at the east gate
of the temple-court (say the Jews), and her head was to be uncovered, in token
of her sorrowful condition; and there she stood for a spectacle to the world,
that other women might learn not to do after her lewdness, Ezek. xxiii.
48. Only the Jews say, "Her own servants were not to be present, that she
might not seem vile in their sight, who were to give honour to her; her
husband also must be dismissed." (5.) The priest was to adjure her to
tell the truth, and to denounce the curse of God against her if she were
guilty, and to declare what would be the effect of her drinking the water of
jealousy, v. 19-22. He must assure her that, if she were innocent, the
water would do her no harm, v. 19. None need fear the curse of the law
if they have not broken the commands of the law. But, if she were guilty, this
water would be poison to her, it would make her belly to swell and her
thigh to rot, and she should be a curse or abomination among her people, v.
21, 22. To this she must say, Amen, as Israel must do to the curses
pronounced on mount Ebal, Deut. xxvii. 15-26. Some think the Amen,
being doubled, respects both parts of the adjuration, both that which freed
her if innocent and that which condemned her if guilty. No woman, if she were
guilty, could say Amen to this adjuration, and drink the water upon it,
unless she disbelieved the truth of God or defied his justice, and had come to
such a pitch of impudence and hard-heartedness in sin as to challenge God
Almighty to do his worst, and choose rather to venture upon his curse than to
give him glory by making confession; thus has whoredom taken away the
heart. (6.) The priest was to write this curse in a scrip or scroll o
parchment, verbatim--word for word, as he had expressed it, and then to
wipe or scrape out what he had written into the water (v. 23), to
signify that it was that curse which impregnated the water, and gave it its
strength to effect what was intended. It signified that, if she were innocent,
the curse should be blotted out and never appear against her, as it is
written, Isa. xliii. 25, I am he that blotteth out thy transgression,
and Ps. li. 9, Blot out my iniquities; but that, if she were guilty,
the curse, as it was written, being infused into the water, would enter into
her bowels with the water, even like oil into her bones (Ps. cix. 18),
as we read of a curse entering into a house, Zech. v. 4. (7.) The woman must
then drink the water (v. 24); it is called the bitter water,
some think because they put wormwood in it to make it bitter, or rather
because it caused the curse. Thus sin is called an evil thing and a bitter
for the same reason, because it causeth the curse, Jer. ii. 19. If she
had been guilty (and otherwise it did not cause the curse), she was made to
know that though her stolen waters had been sweet, and her bread eaten in
secret pleasant, yet the end was bitter as wormwood, Prov. ix. 17,
and ch. v. 4. Let all that meddle with forbidden pleasures know that
they will be bitterness in the latter end. The Jews say that if, upon
denouncing the curse, the woman was so terrified that she durst not drink the
water, but confessed she was defiled, the priest flung down the water, and
cast her offering among the ashes, and she was divorced without dowry: if she
confessed not, and yet would not drink, they forced her to it; and, if she was
ready to throw it up again, they hastened her away, that she might not pollute
the holy place. (8.) Before she drank the water, the jealousy-offering was
waved and offered upon the altar (v. 25, 26); a handful of it was burnt
for a memorial, and the remainder of it eaten by the priest, unless the
husband was a priest, and then it was scattered among the ashes. This offering
in the midst of the transaction signified that the whole was an appeal to God,
as a God that knows all things, and from whom no secret is hid. (9.)
All things being thus performed according to the law, they were to wait the
issue. The water, with a little dust put into it, and the scrapings of a
written parchment, had no natural tendency at all to do either good or hurt;
but if God was thus appealed to in the way of an instituted ordinance, though
otherwise the innocent might have continued under suspicion and the guilty
undiscovered, yet God would so far own his own institution as that in a little
time, by the miraculous operation of Providence, the innocency of the innocent
should be cleared, and the sin of the guilty should find them out. [1.] If the
suspected woman was really guilty, the water she drank would be poison to her
(v. 27), her belly would swell and her thigh rot by a vile disease for
vile deserts, and she would mourn at the last when her flesh and body were
consumed, Prov. v. 11. Bishop Patrick says, from some of the Jewish
writers, that the effect of these waters appeared immediately, she grew pale,
and her eyes ready to start out of her head. Dr. Lightfoot says that sometimes
it appeared not for two or three years, but she bore no children, was sickly,
languished, and rotted at last; it is probable that some indications appeared
immediately. The rabbin say that the adulterer also died in the same day and
hour that the adulteress did, and in the same manner too, that he belly
swelled, and his secret parts rotted: a disease perhaps not much unlike that
which in these latter ages the avenging hand of a righteous God has made the
scourge of uncleanness, and with which whores and whoremongers infect, and
plague, and ruin one another, since they escape punishment from men. The
Jewish doctors add that the waters had this effect upon the adulteress only in
case the husband had never offended in the same kind; but that, if he had at
any time defiled the marriage-bed, God did not thus right him against his
injurious wife; and that therefore in the latter and degenerate ages of the
Jewish church, when uncleanness did abound, this way of trial was generally
disused and laid aside; men, knowing their own crimes, were content not to
know their wives' crimes. And to this perhaps may refer the threatening (Hos.
iv. 14), I will not punish your spouses when they commit adultery, for you
yourselves are separated with whores. [2.] If she were innocent, the water
she drank would be physic to her: She shall be free, and shall conceive
seed, v. 28. The Jewish writers magnify the good effects of this
water to the innocent woman, that, to recompense her for the wrong done to her
by the suspicion, she should, after the drinking of these waters, be stronger
and look better than ever; if she was sickly, she should become healthful,
should bear a man-child, and have easy labour.
2. From the whole we may learn, (1.) That secret sins are known to God, and
sometimes are strangely brought to light in this life; however, there is a day
coming when God will, by Jesus Christ, as here by the priest, judge the secrets
of men according to the gospel, Rom. ii. 16. (2.) That, in particular, Whoremongers
and adulterers God will judge. The violation of conjugal faith and
chastity is highly provoking to the God of heaven, and sooner or later it will
be reckoned for. Though we have not now the waters of jealousy to be a
sensible terror to the unclean, yet we have a word from God which ought to be
as great a terror, that if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God
destroy, 1 Cor. iii. 17. (3.) That God will find out some way or other to
clear the innocency of the innocent, and to bring forth their righteousness as
the light. (4.) That to the pure all things are pure, but to the
defiled nothing is so, Tit. i. 15. The same word is to some a savour of
life unto life, to others a savour of death unto death, like those waters
of jealousy, according as they receive it; the same providence is for good to
some and for hurt to others, Jer. xxiv. 5, 8, 9. And, whatsoever it is
intended for, it shall not return void.
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