The Jealousy Ritual

Numbers 5:11–15 (HCSB)

“The LORD spoke to Moses: ‘Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him, and sleeps with another, but it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t caught ‹in the act›; and if a feeling of jealousy comes over the husband and he becomes jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she has not defiled herself— then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering for her of two quarts of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance that brings sin to mind.’”

Here is the thing about a man: he cannot function with jealousy. Suspicion paralyzes him. So God provided a “jealousy ritual.” He did not need a private investigator to follow his wife. He could bring her to the priest and this ritual would reveal whether she was faithful or not.

Now you’re thinking: “What about the man?” Good question. There were severe penalties for a man committing adultery. But this is the thing: a woman was under a man’s authority. He had no way of knowing if she had been untrue. God gave him a way to settle the issue. The man, on the other hand, is under the God’s authority. God knows if the man has been “cheatin’ around.” Make no mistake, his sin will find him out. God will make sure of it. The winds of time eventually blow away the sands that cover our buried Egyptians. Until that time there are consequences—and after the sin is revealed there will be other consequences that could spell the end of life!

Sin is sin whether it is in a man or a woman, and God does not allow sin to go unpunished.