The husband of the woman suspected of adultery is brought to the Tabernacle. The priest officiating the ritual prepares a cocktail of water and dust from the Tabernacle floor.
He makes the woman swear an oath that will bring an imprecation upon herself if she is guilty. Then the priest wrote out the words of the oath on a scroll, washed the ink from the scroll into the water and gave the water to the woman.
The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness. (Numbers 5:23)
The woman drank the water, symbolizing the ingesting of the curse to prove her guilt or innocence. If she was guilty, the water would harm her. If she was innocent, the water would have no malignant effect on her. Instead, it would increase her fertility.
The procedure raises a difficulty, though. Ordinarily in Judaism it is forbidden to erase God’s holy Name.
For example, when a scribe is copying the Scriptures in Hebrew, he can erase any mistake he makes unless it contains God’s Name. If he errs while writing a line of text with God’s Name in it, he can erase the rest of the line, but not the Name of God.
For this reason, observant Jews do not write the Name of God in Hebrew on a chalkboard or white board that might be erased. Documents containing the written Hebrew Name of God take on a more precious status.
They are not carelessly dropped or destroyed or irreverently tossed in the garbage. Holy books containing God’s Name are not even left face down on a table or placed beneath other, less sacred books. Holy books are never taken into bathrooms. Even photocopies containing God’s Name take on a holy status.
When a scroll or book or piece of paper containing God’s Name is ready for disposal, the item is accorded a proper “burial” of sorts in a repository for sacred writings. These traditions teach us to respect and revere God’s Name.
Given the respect accorded to God’s Name and the strong tradition against erasing God’s Name, why does the Torah command the priest to erase the curse from the scroll into the water?
God’s holy Name appears twice in the curse. The sages teach that God is so concerned for peace between a husband and wife that He is even willing for His own Name to be erased to bring it about (Sifre 17).
In Judaism, peace between husband and wife is referred to as shalom bayit (×©×œ×•× ×‘×™×ª), a term that literally means “peace of the house.” Peace between a husband and wife takes precedence even over the sanctity of God’s Name.
If that is the case, we need to be careful about allowing religion to disrupt marriage. God is more interested in the success of your marriage than He is in your particular religious choices.
He is so committed to the sanctity of marriage that He is even willing for his Name to be erased to preserve peace in the home. How much more should we make every effort to bring peace into our homes.
The Talmud says “One must always be careful of wronging his wife, for her tears are frequent and she is quickly hurt.” The Talmudic passage goes on to say that God is quick to respond to a wife’s tears and that her tears are more efficacious than his prayers.
God takes the tears of a woman very seriously. The passage concludes by saying, “One must always be respectful towards his wife because blessings rest on a man’s home only for the sake of his wife.” (b.Baba Metzia 59a)
12 Responses
Your father is a wise man…..we need more like him!
Thank you for this very informative post!
Pro 19:14 House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.
Mal 2:15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
AND I think the following proverb might be rare if husbands wisely heed your dad’s counsel….which is godly …
Pro 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
Pro 25:24 It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.
Hmmm saying it twice I believe confirms the loathing of any one to seek to avoid being in relationship let alone a marriage with someone who is ‘brawling’
I think quite a few women who love the Lord will do their level best to NOT be this kind of cantankerous woman but seek to be the Proverbs 31 kind of woman even in spite of a man who may have turned a deaf ear to the godly counsel such as your father echos from the scriptures in how a man might become not just content with the woman he has married, but delight in her due to his obedient to the way scripture instructs both spouses how to be content and rejoice with the spouse of his youth!
Don’t men see how their attitude toward their wives and comments and behaviors actually project to others his lack of respect for his OWN choice of a wife!
Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Many thanks to you and your dad for this very wise post!
Zaza,
I am glad that you liked the post. I will relay your comments to him, I’m sure that he will enjoy that. He often shares things he finds with me regarding affairs and family related issues.
Dear DrJeff,
So good to know you are well, my friend! So saddened to see the devastation in your lovely town! Prayers are going up for all the ones affected by these continuing disasters!
Thanks for letting us, your readers, get a glimpse into one of the main influences that shaped you into the caring person you are. Thank you for sharing your father’s article.
Love to all……
Sherri,
Thank you for your kind words. The lovely town took quite a hit and is working on bouncing back. Recovery efforts have been slowed by recent rains, but they are continuing. My father and I often have lively discussions the issues of affairs and their various aspects (the old iron sharpeneth iron). He just recently retired from service in the ministry where they focused on helping pastors over burnout, so he has some fascinating insights.
I hope all is well with you and your family.
Best Regards,
Jeff Murrah
DrJeff,
Yes, my family in Texas is safe. Where they are did not get hit so hard this time around, though they are not all that far from you. Additionally, they live on high ground, well away from the River (not the Blanco), so the flooding aspect would not have impacted them directly.
Their area was hit by the tornadoes & severe storms, though.
I do have in-law family in some of the areas that have been hit hard, but all of them are safe, as well.
My prayers still go out to all my precious fellow humans whose lives have been saddened with loss from these storms.
Sign of the end times, my friend……
And, yes, it is always good to be sharpened! The trials & traumas of this evil world can ‘dull’ us quickly, IF we allow it to!
Love to all……
Sherri,
I had forgotten that you were in Texas as well, and not far away. I am glad that you all are fine. It boggles my mind even trying to grasp the scope of the recent flooding. Wimberley, San Marcos, Luling, Houston, Fort Worth, along the Red River, Austin and many other communities have been hit very hard by the severe weather.
I know that here, it is not just the folks on the river, but also those on hillsides where the rushing water entered their homes. The ground is so saturated that hard fast rains just roll on down.
Definitely signs of the times. Fortunately, we have a good Father, who is still in charge.
All the Best to you and your family.
DrJeff,
I agree about trying to grasp the scope of it all. Impossible!!
I have not seen the current devastation personally, but I did see the devastation in New Orleans after Katrina and in Moore OK after the tornadoes 2 years ago. Defies the imagination. Can not wrap your head around it, as our Creator never intended for such horrors to befall us.
Yes, all these events, both here and world-wide, do indeed fulfill Bible prophecy. Please remember, though, what Jesus said about this time period: ‘Lift your heads up, because your deliverance is near.’ In other words, what is ending is rule by satan & all the wicked who follow him, not our planet & not the lives of faithful ones.
End times ushers in a time of joy, peace & relief for all who choose to be reconciled to our beloved Creator! Yes, he certainly is a precious Father who has NEVER relinquished control. (just gave satan the opportunity to prove what a fool he is, that’s all!)
Yes, all the areas you mentioned have memories for me. I no longer live in Texas…..Have not actually lived there for many years. But, family & friends still there and visit when I can.
My prayers continue……Love to you & Peggy….Love to all………..
Sherri,
Thank you for sharing those comforting thoughts and prayers. I had never considered the idea that God never intended for such horrors to befall us. That is comforting.
Sherri and Jeff,
I had not known you were in that area…Such terrible storms there and we prayed for those living and suffering in that recent storm.
Yes ….we DO watch for the Lord to gather us to be with Him in the clouds …but in the mean time it is heart wrenching to think of how many are not concerned with seeking Him in truth …..glad to hear of your faith as well…
Those coming to this blog need to have such healing as you are offering….it is a terrible desperate ‘storm’ of a different kind…any destruction is difficult.
My niece and her family had their home burn to the ground in the South east….but they were unhurt…just lost all worldly goods….She and her family are praising GOD despite the losses….They rejoice as they know their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
May you continue to enjoy the fellowship of the Lord’s presence and overcoming help .
Zaza,
We (Peggy and I) do live in the area considered the epicenter of the flash flooding. It was not our first Rodeo with floods. We lost one home to flooding during Hurricane Ike. It was weeks before we could even get into our home and neighborhood. With the flash floods they are able to start clean-up quickly. My heart goes out to those going through the heartache of such losses and the emotional strains it often brings.
Oh no! Well it seems you are well acquainted with heart break and loss …another form of becoming equipped with empathy and compassion….though it would be so much nicer if you had not gone through that!
I believe you would still be the caring person you are and with your dad being so equipped with his own faith and raising you with the wisdom of Gods word by faith you are in your “place” in the body and firing on all Pistons
Those who may not know what God aha in the Bible may wonder about why the weather happens as it does
There is no mystery really in that the whole creation was effected by the Fall and groans with consequences …looking for the Lords return and His restoration of all things.
Until then we do as some of those British t shirts and coffee cups say but with a believers slant “Praise God and carry on!”
Very thankful for you and yours🌻
Zaza,
Thank you for your thoughtful and kind words.