Theological Commentary: Click Here
Numbers 5
always seems like a mystical chapter for me – especially with the case to test
adultery in it. It feels so superstitious
to have a person come, drink some water, and then let fate take its
course. In today’s modern culture with
modern investigative techniques, it feels odd to read a chapter like this where
judgment and truth is left to seeing what happens to the woman.
While there
is some good in modern investigative techniques, these things often cause us to
lose our true focus. After all, who is
the best judge of us? Who is the one who
can truly know our sin and our guilt? In
whose hands should we commend our spirit and the spirits of those around us?
Our human
methods can try their best to find temporal answers and temporal justice. When we find a person guilty in today’s day
and age, there is a punishment for this life.
That’s exactly the point, though.
God can judge a person now and forever.
Because of
our perspective, we read this chapter and feel like we are reading some sort of
superstitious application of ancient religion.
Yet in many ways, their perspective was far more honest. They allowed judgment to rest in God’s
hands. They allowed God to bring good
and bad, both in this life and the life to come.
Don’t get me
wrong. I’m glad that we have police, crime
scene units, and evidence technicians. I
think people who are guilty of committing crimes should be held accountable for
the crimes that they commit. But my
faith shouldn’t rest in the science and the people. My faith should always rest in God, who may work
through those people and through the science.
For me, that’s the true learning we can get when we face chapters like
this.
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