Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The Spirit of Jealousy


Numbers 5:11-16-  Then the LORD said to Moses,  "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'If a man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him by sleeping with another man, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure--or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure--then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder offering to draw attention to guilt. The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the LORD.

 

The ten commandments that God had given Moses included a specific law against adultery. And now  God felt the need to add to his explanations and guidelines a specific thing to do if adultery was suspected …but no evidence was found to substantiate the claim of a ‘jealous’ husband. A ritual …that required the woman to be brought before the Lord…and drink ‘bitter water’…was explained to Moses…so he could speak to the people…and remind them that only God has the right to punish sin…especially sin that is just suspected.

 

Jealously…a dangerous emotion….that eats away the trust between two people.  It destroys the heart…it eats away confidence and encourages other sins…like lying.  It eventually separates the two who once claimed love for one another… and in the days of Moses brought death by stoning to anyone who admitted such behaviors. It is one thing to know for sure…but quite another to just ‘think it true’ with no proof....the stoning of an innocent person…man or woman would be considered murder…so God gave them a sure way to deal with an ‘suspicion’  so it would not end in hostile actions for an innocent woman.

 

Believe it or not…this rule protected the woman…as much as it brought about a healthy fear of ever committing such a serious sin against God and her spouse.  Many of the commentaries I researched said that the mistreatment of suspected women was horrible in those days. This rule forced a jealous husband to let God decide her guilt or innocence. It kept one from dragging their wife out to be stoned without it being ordained by God.

 

This scripture…though it was written for a day long ago still reminds us to take our suspicions to God before they are allowed to fester….destroy trust….destroy a healthy heart and open the door to other sin. I am reminded this morning of my own first marriage...and how badly I fell into this trap of jealously when I suspected my first husband had been unfaithful.  I can see and hear the mean spirited accusations I spat out around the breakfast table where I work….how I allowed my suspicious to fester and create an anger that gripped my heart and engulfed me in depression and despair. I never once asked God to help me…never once just came out and ask him to show me what was true and how he wanted me to deal with it…I just whirled around the doubts in my heart till Satan had me complete in his grip of anger and hate….allowing my heart to give up…just walking out on a promise I had made 30 years before.

 

God has been working on me…trying to help me learn to forgive and forget the past. He is repairing the damage I allowed Satan to do to my heart…helping me to always bring my doubts and suspicions to him before I let them fester….or turn into anger. James 3:14-16 says “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

 

Father…I thank you for this reminder that I must constantly guard my heart against the anger and selfishness of jealously. I remember so vividly the night that you showed me how to forgive…and how your sweet peace washed over my anger and bitterness and began to heal my broken heart.  Help me to remain in your love…and draw strength from your truth…and never let Satan trick me into anger and jealously again.  Protect my heart….set up your presence in my soul and create a passion in me to always listen to you…to hear your voice...and act only on your directions. Amen

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