At the time of this writing, I have been married for 12 years. That’s long enough to build a life with my spouse. We have three kids, a mortgage, and a future filled with memories that we can’t wait to make together.
It’s inconceivable to me that either one of us would intentionally jeopardize what we have, and yet, that’s what happens to hundreds of “happily married couples” every day. One spouse decides that they’re going to wander outside of the marriage to seek fulfillment in the arms of someone else, and the family subsequently implodes.
The fallout from adultery is enormous, but what’s arguably just as bad as the act of infidelity is the deceit that comes along with it. In today’s age where there are burner phones and incognito accounts and websites that legitimately help you find cheating partners, it’s easier than ever to hide your activities from your unknowing spouse. And that hurts.
But imagine how hard it would have been three thousand years ago, when there were no security cameras and smartphones to trace. All you had to rely on was the whispers of concerned neighbors, family, and friends.
Maybe that’s why Numbers 5 is so difficult—and yet, at the same time, so absolutely necessary.
This chapter gives us a vivid, divinely-ordained test for adultery that a husband can deploy if they suspect their wife of cheating. If a “spirit of jealousy” overtakes the husband, they can take their wife before the priest. She stands, while water and dirt from the tabernacle floor are placed inside of an earthenware vessel.
The woman is then forced to take an oath, after which she drinks some of the holy water. If she has committed adultery, then her belly will bloat and her “thighs waste away.” If she’s innocent, then nothing will happen and she is deemed innocent.
You shouldn’t have to think too hard to see the difficulties that people have with this section. For starters, this law only applies to a wife who is suspected of adultery; nothing is said about the husband. Theoretically, this kind of test could then be weaponized by a controlling spouse who wants to publicly embarrass his wife.
Second, it directly ties barrenness with adultery (at least in the case where she is guilty). Passages like Leviticus 20:20-21 further reinforce this punishment. It’s no wonder why the Apostles asked Jesus whether it was the blind man who sinned or his parents (John 9:2).
But we know that deformities, disabilities, and illnesses sometimes just happen, and not as a result of any sin. Jesus Himself explains that in John 9 with the story of the blind man, saying that neither him nor his parents did anything wrong. Instead, Jesus would use the man’s blindness as a demonstration of God’s power.
I don’t have the space or the education to address either of the above concerns, other than to state that I understand the knee-jerk reaction to this test on an initial reading. But dig deeper into the Text, and you’ll at least see the value of this procedure.
Genealogically-speaking, the line of inheritance goes through the man. If someone has a legal claim to a piece of property because they fathered a child through a married woman, that creates a lot of legal headaches for everyone involved. Potentially, it could destroy a whole tribe.
Just as serious is the sin of adultery itself. God likens faithfulness in marriage to faithfulness between Him and His people (as shown in the book of Hosea and in Ephesians 5). If a woman is actually guilty of adultery, then God is going to come down hard. The sanctity of marriage needs to be protected because of what it represents.
Curiously enough, there is no record of this test ever being deployed throughout the Old Testament. Perhaps it was used often and there’s no record of its practice, but the simple existence shows the seriousness by which God takes marriage.
If nothing else, it’s a lesson for modern families to respect the institution that God created as a gift for mankind (Genesis 2) and that He uses to imitate the relationship His Son has with the Church.
