Jealousy of a husband and John the Baptist: Numbers 5 and 6

So I have a few questions about Numbers 5. What about the men who were having these adulterous relationships with the women? Could a woman accuse her husband? I think it is interesting that when a husband was jealous and thought his wife may have been unfaithful she would go to the priest and she would have to swear before God of her innocence. I would not take it lightly to take an oath before God. It would scare me to no end. Wouldn’t you rather confess your sin. The penalty for adultery death by stoning. But if you lied before God and lived under a curse wouldn’t that be worse? Today I think christians often take too light of a view when it comes to sin. I think of Paul when he talks about grace in Romans chapter 6. Shall we continue to sin so that grace can abound more? Grace is what frees us from bondage to sin but it does not give liberty to indulge in sinful behavior.

The curse the woman in adultery would bear seems similar to the conviction that a person will have from the Holy Spirit. I know when I become aware of a sin in my life and I am not willing to address it or confess it I start to feel sick and I become convicted about my behavior. However when I am convicted I am the only one who knows how I feel and maybe only those close to me would be able to notice a change in my demeanor. The whole people of Israel would be able to see that she had sinned. She would become a curse among her people as it states in Numbers 5:27. Was this curse of for adultery because of a jealous husband a deterrent to affairs? If life for the people of Israel has any similarities to today then I would probably guess that it was not a great deterrent. I think this is another vivid example about mans inability to close that gap between God and himself due to sin. The only way is to place your trust in Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for sin.

In Numbers 6 we get an vivid picture of what a Nazirite or Nazarite is. These men or women offer themselves to God with a special vow and they dedicate themselves to the Lord. I love how scripture intertwines stories from the Old and New testament. There will be stories and prophets will talk of a man who will come before Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was a Nazarite and the one sent to prepare the way. He was the herald of Jesus Christ. He was dedicated to the Lord from birth. Seeing in scripture that he never has his hair cut. John must have had some crazy hair. I wonder if it was all curly? What a sight that would have been.

I want to leave you with a blessing from Numbers:

The Lord bless you, and keep you,
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.

–Numbers 6:24-26 NASB