Parasha Naso

Me

Last Shabbat we discussed the idea of the camps of the Tribes of Israel and the Levites and Kohanim around the Tabernacle and the role the specific layers of placement played in serving as a barrier between the fallen nature of man and the Divine Revelation in the Shechinah.

This week we read Parasha Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89), which begins with the continuation of the role and function of the Levite families in relation to the Tabernacle service. It then moves into chapter 5 with a brief reminder of the necessity of purity in the Camps of Israel, particularly as it relates to the M’tzora, someone with a bodily discharge, or one who has come into contact with a dead body. Then we see a very odd passage dealing with the Sotah and the jealousy ritual. Moving through chapter 6 we read of the Nazirite Vow and the Birkat Kohanim. Finally, as we move through Numbers 7 we see a very detailed description of the dedicatory offerings brought by each of twelve Tribes over the course of 12 days to dedicate the altar in the Tabernacle, followed by the conclusion of Parasha Naso with Moses then entering the Tent of Meeting to speak with HaShem and hearing the Bat Kol speaking from above the Aron HaBrit between the cherivim.

Now, most of you know me pretty well, and you know I have a passion for motorcycles. I’ve been obsessed with motorcycles as far back as I can remember and have always wanted to own and ride them. I am actually on my fourth bike, third one I’ve actually been able to put any real miles on over the years. I have owned a 750cc Kawasaki Vulcan, an 1100cc Honda Shadow, and now a 1700cc Yamaha Road Star, which I’ve had for about five years or so now and absolutely love.

I have added all kinds of modifications and accessories to make the Road Star my own and my style. (Talk about the add ons.)

Like I said, I love my Road Star, no doubt about it—granted I have not been able to ride at all since December due to my achilles and then surgery on it. But what’s funny is (and I think car guys will admit to the same reality too), no matter how much I love my bike and no matter how much I make the bike exactly how I want it… I am always looking for the next bigger, badder bike I can get my hands on...

And Danielle will annoyingly tell you I have a long list of motorcycles I’d absolutely love to get one day… I love my bike, but I would always love another one, or maybe two, or maybe three… Or maybe just kick Danielle’s car out of the garage and fill the garage up completely with motorcycles…

Ultimately, I guess you could say that no matter how much I love my bike, I am never satisfied.

We

And my guess is that each of you have the same kind of obsession with various things...

Maybe you’re really into cars (talk about it)

Maybe you’re really into technology (talk about it)

Maybe you’re really into musical instruments (talk about it)

Maybe you’re really into literature (talk about it)

Maybe you’re really into education (talk about it)

Ultimately, I guess you could say that, in one way or another, none of us are really ever completely satisfied...

God

Now you’re probably thinking right now, “What the heck is Rabbi David going on about…?” And here’s the thing, as I dug through Parasha Naso this week and particularly the Law of the Sotah I came to a realization, and I think it’s a principal that as followers of Messiah we must all wrestle with and come to terms with…

And that principle is this:

I will never be fully satisfied in this world until I find my complete satisfaction in the Lord.

Let me repeat that again: I will never be fully satisfied in this world until I find my complete satisfaction in the Lord.

So let’s go ahead and dive into the Text a bit today together, and as we get ready to do so, go ahead and open your Bibles to Numbers 5.

And we’re going to look at what is called The Law of the Sotah and I think as we dig through this some we will see this principle coming to the surface in the text.

The Law of the Sotah is perhaps one of the strangest and mind-boggling passages in all of the Torah… At first glance, it can actually be pretty horrifying if you really think about it. The Lord speaks through Moses telling Israel about this whole procedure through which a husband can find out if his wife is cheating on him if he suspects she’s been unfaithful and there’s no real evidence and no witnesses of the act so there’s no judicial process available being there’s no witnesses and no evidence. Just the husband has a bad feeling...

So when the husband is overcome with the Ruach Kinah, the “spirit of jealousy”, whether she is impure or not, he is to take her before the Kohen along with an offering of barley flour without oil or incense, which the Parasha calls the offering for jealousy.

Numbers 5:16–18 TLV

“The kohen is to bring her near and have her stand before Adonai. Then the kohen is to take some holy water in a clay jar and take some dust from the floor of the Tabernacle and put it into the water. Then the kohen will have the woman stand before Adonai, loosen the woman’s hair, put into her hands the reminder offering, the offering for jealousy, while in the kohen’s own hands are the bitter waters that bring a curse.

The Kohen is to let down her hair, or to uncover her hair, which would have been a sign that she has been disgraced either by her husband’s false accusations and the embarrassment with it or because she is about to be caught in her adultery.

Numbers 5:19–22 TLV

Then the kohen will have her swear under oath, then say to the woman, ‘If no man other than your husband has slept with you, and if you have not gone astray into impurity from your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. If, however, you have gone astray from your husband and if you became impure and had sexual relations with a man other than your husband’— Then the kohen is to have the woman swear under this oath of a curse, and say to the woman—‘then let Adonai cause you to be cursed and denounced among your people when Adonai causes your thigh to rot and your belly to swell. “May this water which brings a curse enter your body and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to rot.’ “The woman is to say, ‘Amen, amen!’

The Kohen makes her swear to this oath which describes what will happen if she is found to be innocent, the bitter water of the curse will bring no harm to her. Or if she is found to be guilty the bitter water will cause her, as the rabbis describe it, a very excruciating and painful death as her stomach expands rapidly and her womb basically implodes. The woman is then to accept the oath upon herself by saying “amen, amen”.

This oath is actually one of several opportunities in the ritual designed to allow the woman to fess up to her error if she is guilty without the consequence of the curse befalling her. If she is guilty and owns up to it then she will simply be divorced and sent away from her husband. Being she wasn’t caught in the act and there are no witnesses and the man she would have been with is not present, she could not be tried and thus could not receive capital punishment for the sin.

Numbers 5:23–26 TLV

“Then the kohen is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them into the waters of bitterness. The kohen will then have the woman drink the bitter water bearing curses, so that the water of the curses of bitterness enters her. The kohen is to take the jealousy offering from the woman’s hand, wave the offering before Adonai and bring it to the altar. The kohen is to take a handful of the grain offering and burn it up in smoke on the altar as a memorial offering. The kohen will then have the woman drink the water.

This is, yet again, another round of opportunity for her to own up and repent of her sins without the potential consequence of death due to the curse.

The curse is to be physically written on the scroll, and the oath includes the writing of the Sacred Name of HaShem. Then the ink of the scroll is washed off into the waters of bitterness. This is, in fact, one of the only times in Jewish law that the Tetragrammaton is allowed to be destroyed intentionally, which is very interesting in and of itself.

Numbers 5:27–28 TLV

“When she is made to drink the water that carries the curse, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, it will enter her and cause bitterness—her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away. She will be accursed among her people. If, however, the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be free from guilt and be able to have children.

If the woman is found innocent by this ritual then she will live and her womb will be blessed, the rabbis kind of describe this latter fact as sort of a consolation prize for the humiliation she would have suffered at the unfounded accusation of her husband.

What’s really interesting, I think, is that the actual enacting of The Law of the Sotah is never found anywhere throughout the Scriptures… No where… And, to the best of my knowledge, I don’t know of any evidence of it every being enacted throughout Jewish history.

This brings about a bit of curiosity… If the Word of God never returns void, if God doesn’t waste words, then why in the world is this passage even a part of the Torah?

Look, I’m going to be totally honest… This is a very difficult and very awkward Passage of Scripture. It is one often used to describe the Bible as being sexist and patronistic… But, I would like to pose to you that this is actually found here in the Torah for a far different reason and was never intended by HaShem to be used in the way it is described in Torah.

As I begin to unravel this train of thought a little further I want to remind you of the principle I mentioned early, which I believe is at the root of this text of the Torah...

I will never be fully satisfied in this world until I find my complete satisfaction in the Lord.

I pose to you, especially considering we never see this ritual play out Scripturally or historically, that this passage has nothing to do with an actual jealous husband or a adulterous wife… No, I believe this is a prophetic statement about Israel and her relationship with the Lord. As I alluded to last week, Israel was still sitting at the base of Mt. Sinai where they experienced the revelation of the Presence of God and heard the Aseret HaDibrot spoken audibly from the mouth of God, which in reality was a betrothal ceremony between Israel and God. Yet, Israel immediately prostituted themselves with the idols of Egypt from which they had just been freed.

We had been freed from slavery in Egypt miraculously, by the strong and mighty hand of Adonai, and yet we still were not satisfied. Remember the, “we have no water to drink, we have no bread to eat, we have no meat to eat, Moses, did you bring us out here to die because there weren’t enough graves in Egypt? Israel had never fully grasped the principle that mattered most...

I will never be fully satisfied in this world until I find my complete satisfaction in the Lord.

And because of this, we constantly found ourselves chasing after the shiny things of the world around us, even though we have a much greater call… To bring the people of the shiny things to the God of all Creation…

As we see in the Prophet Hosea, Israel turning away from Adonai and turning to idolatry was them prostituting themselves with the gods of the nations. Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom, the Kingdom of Israel, and was instructed by God to marry a prostitute and love her as his own. After they had children she then left and returned back to prostitution. Ultimately the Lord commands him to go and find her again, to buy her freedom and take her back as his bride again. Adonai tells Hosea that this is a lesson about Israel and her prostitution with the gods of Canaan and their turning their back on Adonai as their husband and protector.

Hosea 3:1–5 TLV

Then Adonai said to me: “Go again! Love a woman who is loved by a companion and committing adultery—just as Adonai has loved the Bnei-Yisrael, while they were turning to other gods and loving raisin cakes.” So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and an omer and a half of barley. Then I said to her: “For many days you must stay with me. You must not practice prostitution. You must not have a man, and I will be the same toward you.” For Bnei-Yisrael will remain for many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without sacred pillar, and without ephod or teraphim. Afterwards, Bnei-Yisrael will return, and they will seek Adonai their God and David their king. Then they will turn in awe to Adonai and to His goodness in the last days.

And because of Israel committing adultery against Adonai we suffered the many curses laid out in the Blessings and Curses. Adonai took Israel as His bride, as the one who He chose in covenant relationship with Him. He promised generations and generations of future for Israel in the Promised Land should they maintain their faithfulness to Him. And many of the curses themselves have to do with producing future generations, with physical ailments and disease, with death

Here’s the thing though, the Laws of the Sotah are a prophetic reality for Israel that God is a jealous God. And, unlike the proverbial jealous husband in Numbers 5 who doesn’t know for sure and who doesn’t have any evidence. The Lord is well aware of all of our sins… He is well aware of all of our failures… He is well aware of all of our spiritual idolatry and adultery…

But the Word says over and over again that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a jealous God.

Exodus 20:5 TLV

Do not bow down to them, do not let anyone make you serve them. For I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Exodus 34:14 TLV

For you are to bow down to no other god, because Adonai is jealous for His Name—He is a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:24 TLV

For Adonai your God is a consuming fire —a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 5:9 TLV

Do not bow down to them or worship them. For I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,

Deuteronomy 6:15 TLV

for Adonai your God in the midst of you is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of Adonai your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you from the face of the earth.

Joshua 24:19 TLV

But Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to worship Adonai, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not pardon your transgression and your sins.

Nahum 1:2 TLV

A jealous and avenging God is Adonai. Yes, Adonai is the avenger and master of wrath. Adonai is avenger to His adversaries, Yes, a keeper of wrath for His foes.

And in Moses’ final song recorded in Torah we read:

Deuteronomy 32:21 TLV

They made Me jealous with a non-god. They vexed Me with airy idols. So I will make them jealous with a non-people. With a foolish nation I will vex them.

As a reminder, there is no evidence of this ritual ever being carried out in the Tanakh. This leaves the question, was this meant to be taken literally? Or was it meant as more of a spiritual lesson—God is jealous for HIs people...?

It appears that the streamlined result of the jealousy ritual is the consequence of fertility or infertility. If a spiritual lesson—God is jealous for His people—then does the result of fertility/infertility have to do with producing fruit in the sense of reaching the lost, expanding the Kingdom of Messiah, making disciples?

If fertility/infertility in this situation is related to producing spiritual fruit, then is the expanding belly and rotting thigh of the curse connected to spiritual curses and ramifications of guilt, shame, and oppression?

But here’s whats beautiful about the love of God, even when we turn our backs on Him, even when we put the gods of this world over Him, He is always ready to open His arms and restore us again when we repent of our sins and return to Him.

We see this in John 8 when a woman caught in adultery is brought before Yeshua. The crowd wanted to trap Yeshua and catch Him breaking Torah. However, Yeshua is the only one upholding the Torah in this account. The woman was brought without the man she was guilty with, and the Torah says both have to be accused and tried together in order for them to be stoned. The text says,

John 8:7 TLV

When they kept asking Him, He stood up and said, “The sinless one among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Those stirring up conflict knew they were wrong, and odds are one of the men in the crowd may have been the very guy himself. Yeshua was well aware of the woman’s sin and guilt, He is God in flesh. For all intents and purposes, He was well within His authority to handle the situation Himself. Yet, instead, what He does next is...

John 8:10–11 TLV

Straightening up, Yeshua said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” “No one, Sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Yeshua said. “Go, and sin no more.”

Go and sin no more… This woman, like Israel with the Golden Calf and like Israel spoken of in Hosea and many of places, was seeking satisfaction in the ways of this world rather than in the Lord. Yeshua didn’t condemn her, He didn’t berate her, He didn’t cast her away… In fact, He specifically didn’t condemn her and He told her to go and sin no more. He called her to repentance, and He offered her redemption and restoration.

This is the same message we see throughout the Tanakh and the Brit Chadashah, “Go and sin no more!”

This is why the Law of the Sotah is such a powerful spiritual lesson, when we are chasing after satisfaction in the ways of the world we will remain infertile for the Kingdom of Messiah. We must pick up our cross and follow Him, we must be fully restored and devoted in Yeshua.

I will never be fully satisfied in this world until I find my complete satisfaction in the Lord.

You

Now, odds are (and I really pray this is true for us all) you are not struggling with literal adultery.

But, perhaps you are still guilty of the same principle because you place your career and work before your walk with the Lord.

Perhaps you place your education before your walk with the Lord.

Perhaps you place your financial status or investments before your walk with the Lord.

Perhaps you place your own understanding before your walk with the Lord.

Or maybe it’s something entirely different… At one point or another we have all been guilty of placing our own desires before our walk with the Lord. But, the truth remains the same...

I will never be fully satisfied in this world until I find my complete satisfaction in the Lord.

We

If our worship team will make their way back up to the stage.

The Lord loves you and gave His Son to restore you in right relationship with Him. He has called each and every one of us who are bought by the Blood of the Lamb to be disciples who make disciples. His desire is for us to advance the Kingdom of Messiah. But, we will continue to be infertile in His Kingdom if we continue to place the cares, desires, and ways of this world above His ways. He has called us to walk away from the ways of this world and to produce many generations for the Kingdom.

As our worship team leads us in a brief time of worship I want to encourage us to take the next few minutes to seek the Lord’s direction for any and all areas of our lives in which we are still chasing after the satisfactions of this world. I want us to take a few moments to contemplate the prophetic principle found in the Law of the Sotah...

I will never be fully satisfied in this world until I find my complete satisfaction in the Lord.