The law of jealousy is for an Israelite who suspects that his woman has been unfaithful.
Who can find a woman of value? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband/master [בעל – her ba’-al] safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. (Pro 31:10-12)
The relationship between a man and his woman is a sacred bond, and no one (except the man himself) can alter that relationship and still be acting in the will of Yehovah. And this is why a woman in Yehovah’s kingdom can never divorce her man.
[Note: There is no word for wife in Hebrew, a woman becomes a man’s “wife” by becoming his woman, his possession; see the 10th commandment.]
Just as a man can only serve one master (his ba’-al), so a woman’s desire is to be for her man and she serves only him. It does not matter if her man is a righteous man, or not; following her man is her place of safety, both short-term and long-term.
“For as a young man marries [בעל – ba’-al – masters] a virgin [בתולה – be-tu-lah’], so shall You master [בעל – ba’-al] Your sons; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your Elohim rejoice over you.” (Isa 62:5)
Yehovah is the one who searches the heart of a man and He knows whether a man is following Him or not.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, Yehovah, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man [אישׁ – eesh] according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. (Jer 17:9-10)
So it was, when they came, that he [Samuel] looked at Eliab and said, “Surely Yehovah’s anointed is before Him!” But Yehovah said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For Yehovah does not see as the man [האדם – ha-adam] sees; for the man [האדם – ha-adam] looks at the outward appearance, but Yehovah looks at the heart.” (1Sa 16:6-7)
The Law Of Jealousy
But the man, unlike Yehovah, can not see into the heart of his woman and know, without a doubt, whether she is faithful to him. And this is why Yehovah gave Israel’s seed the torah or law of jealousy, which can be found in Numbers chapter 5.
I love Yehovah’s kingdom and His eternal and unchanging ways, they always make sense; and He has a system, or way for doing practically everything! The law of jealousy was given to His sons to remove all doubt in their minds as to whether or not their woman has been with another man. In Judaism these laws are called the so-tah laws; that name comes from the Hebrew word שׂטה (sa-tah).
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שׂטה
sa-tah: A verb meaning to turn aside; to go astray. It means to turn aside from expected behavior or faithfulness, as when a person commits adultery, resulting in a woman’s defilement. (WordStudy)saw-taw’
A primitive root; to deviate from duty: – decline, go aside, turn. (Strong’s)
The law of jealousy is all about confirming or removing the doubt in the man’s mind as to whether or not his woman has “deviated” or “turned aside” from Yehovah’s system by joining herself with another man.
“Speak to Israel’s seed, and say to them: ‘If any man’s [ger or ezrach] woman deviates/goes astray [שׂטה – sa-tah] and she is slyly treacherous toward him; and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her man, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she caught. If the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his woman, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his woman, although she has not defiled herself. Then the man shall bring his woman to the priest. He shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance. ‘And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yehovah. (Num 5:12-16)
Oh my! In Yehovah’s kingdom a woman NEVER appears before Yehovah; and when she does appear before Him, she is in potentially big trouble!
The woman was created for and only given one instruction from Yehovah.
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth sons; your desire shall be for your man, and he shall rule over you.” (Gen 3:16)
The man in the above instance believes that his woman has deviated or turned aside from Yehovah’s instructions and has been with someone besides him, but he has no proof of it. Had his woman been caught in the act, both she and the man who took another man’s woman would be stoned. But it would be a mistake for this unfaithful woman, who did not get caught, to think that everything is OK now. If her man decides to bring her to the priest, she has no choice but to go.
What happens while she is standing with the priest before Yehovah in this law of jealousy process is described in detail in Numbers 5 and in my Sabbath teaching for this chapter (right-click and “Save As” to download and listen to this process). The woman is brought to Yehovah near the brass altar, her head is uncovered, she is put under an oath, says “amen, so be it” and then drinks the “bitter water” that brings the curse if she is guilty.
The curse is a very slow death in public before all her peers, as her belly swells and her thigh rots. She will not be going back home with her man and no other man will take a woman like this. She is now an example to all the other women of the land and a graphic reminder for them to stay faithful to their men.
Unfaithful women who will not desire and serve only their man are a plague in the earth today and this Jezebel spirit is promoted everywhere: movies, TV, radio, books, newspapers and even in the pulpit. A nation is only as strong as the families in it; so the break-down of the family which comes from this wicked spirit leads to the break-down of the nation as a whole. There is a reason the people from other countries will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people;” and I believe that the law of jealousy is one of those reasons they say it.
“Surely I [Moses] have taught you statutes and judgments, just as Yehovah my Elohim commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.‘ (Deu 4:5-6)
The statutes in this chapter describe what happens to a woman who may have deviated from the instructions of her elohim, her man, when he becomes jealous in thinking that she has played the harlot. But Yehovah, too, is a jealous Elohim. He will not tolerate His men playing the harlot with other elohim. And, unlike the woman, the men who will not learn to obey only His statutes, judgments and ordinances need not be brought before Him; He already knows their hearts and they will not live either.
We will talk about that in part 2
Here is my Sabbath teaching on this subject.
Law Of Jealousy
2N03 Numbers 5-6 – Law Of Jealousy
[Click to play this audio or right-click and “Save As” to download]
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