Daily Scripture Reading Numbers 5:11-31
Laura Bennett had been married to Mark for fourteen years. She led the women’s Bible study at church and was seen as a faithful Christian wife and mother of two.
Over time she had quietly decided that sexual purity was optional for her. When Daniel, a man from the church’s men’s group, began giving her attention, Laura let their conversations grow private. What started as friendly texts became secret meetings. She knew the New Testament warned against adultery and called believers to keep the marriage bed undefiled, but she told herself those were strong ideals for simpler lives.
Her own marriage felt distant and exhausting. Grace, she reasoned, covered complicated situations like hers. God understood.
She never stopped serving. She still taught her study group, prayed with her daughters at night, and stood beside Mark on Sunday mornings. When the topic of faithfulness or purity arose, she nodded and spoke about mercy and not judging others.
Laura lived two lives without much inner turmoil. She believed sexual purity mattered in principle, but that in her situation it was optional. She carried that conviction quietly, alongside her faith.
Western civilization in the 21st century treats sexual purity as optional, quaint, and outdated. Thus, many people, including many Christians, treat sex outside of marriage as acceptable.
The fifth chapter of Numbers reveals a very different mindset. In ancient Israel, sex outside of marriage was strictly forbidden. This helps us understand the sexual ethic we should observe in the 21st century because the New Testament sexual ethic mirrors that of the Old Testament.
The first four chapters of Numbers tell us Moses counted all the Israelites and assigned each tribe a place in the camp and in the order of march when they traveled. He also numbered the Levites and assigned each family within the tribe of Levi specific duties in relation to moving the tabernacle.
Then chapter five tells us Yahweh began speaking to Moses about keeping the camp pure. Lepers and anyone else unclean had to be sent outside the camp. Furthermore, anyone who defrauded a brother needed to make restitution.
Num. 5:11 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Num. 5:12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him,
Num. 5:13 and a man lies sexually with her, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected; but she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she has not been caught in the act,
Notice the word “defiled”. Any wife who was unfaithful to her husband and had sex outside her marriage defiled herself.
Modern society treats sex very casually. The dominant thinking rejects the idea that having sex outside of marriage is defilement. However, the New Testament reflects the Old Testament.
Paul commanded us in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 to abstain from sexual immorality. He used the word “impurity” to describe sex outside of marriage. Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that adulterers and sexually immoral people will not inherit the kingdom of God. In Galatians 5:19 he listed sexual immorality as one of the deeds of the flesh.
The author of Hebrews wrote that the marriage bed is to be undefiled and that God will judge adulterers and those who are sexually immoral (see Hebrews 13:4). The words “undefiled” and “immoral” indicate how God feels about sexual purity. That is the mentality that should guide our behavior in the 21st century.
Num. 5:14 if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife and she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she has not defiled herself,
Once again we see the word “defiled” indicating that sex outside of marriage defiles a woman.
Num. 5:15 the man shall then bring his wife to the priest and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, a reminder of iniquity.
Take note of the word “iniquity”. Sex outside of marriage was and is sin.
Num. 5:16 ¶ ‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before Yahweh,
Num. 5:17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.
Num. 5:18 The priest shall then have the woman stand before Yahweh and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and he shall place the grain offering of remembrance in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings curses.
The words “bitterness” and “curses” also reveal the severity of having sex outside of marriage.
Num. 5:19 Then the priest shall have her swear an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray into defilement, being under the authority of your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings curses;
This verse clearly states that when a woman laid with a man who was not her husband, then she defiled herself.
Num. 5:20 if you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself, and a man other than your husband has lain with you”
Num. 5:21 (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people by Yahweh making your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell;
Look at the word “curse”. If a woman was exposed as having defiled herself, then she would become a curse, once again indicating the importance of remaining sexually pure.
Num. 5:22 and this water that brings curses shall go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh fall away.” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.”
Num. 5:23 ¶ ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness.
Num. 5:24 Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings curses, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her to cause bitterness.
Num. 5:25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before Yahweh and bring it near to the altar;
Num. 5:26 and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.
Num. 5:27 So he will have her drink the water, and it will be that, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings curses will go into her to cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.
Num. 5:28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive a seed.
Num. 5:29 ¶ ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself,
Num. 5:30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before Yahweh, and the priest shall apply all this law to her.
Num. 5:31 Moreover, the man will be free from guilt, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’”
Don’t miss the word “guilt”. If a woman committed adultery, she was guilty.
Western civilization in the 21st century treats sexual purity as optional, quaint, and outdated. Thus, many people, including many Christians, treat sex outside of marriage as acceptable.
However, just as sexual purity was required in the Old Testament, and having sex outside of marriage was defilement, so too sexual purity is required in the New Testament, meaning it is required in the 21st century.
Paul commanded us in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 to abstain from sexual immorality. He also wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that adulterers and sexually immoral people will not inherit the kingdom of God. In Galatians 5:19 he listed sexual immorality as one of the deeds of the flesh.
The author of Hebrews wrote that the marriage bed is to be undefiled and that God will judge adulterers and those who are sexually immoral (see Hebrews 13:4).
Sexual activity is only allowed to take place between a man and a woman who are married to each other.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”