For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Num. 5
So…about this business of the jealousy law…This is a difficult passage. Perhaps the whole thing made more sense in the culture of the day, but it is undoubtedly odd to us. I don’t understand all of it, so I will simply make three comments / observations regarding it.
- My first thought was a question. What happened if the woman simply admitted her guilt? By law, both the man and the woman involved in adultery would have been stoned. Her silence, then, which subjected her to this ‘test’, could potentially save the life of her partner, and/or give her the option of the scourge of infertility over the punishment of death. I’m not sure how any of that matters, but it is a curiosity.
- My second thought had to do with the accused woman’s faith in her innocence. The dirty water may not have been an actual threat to her (it’s not like she was drinking poison…), but if she believed it was, it took some courage for her to assert her innocence and drink it.
- My third thought is related to the second. Looking for Christ in this passage, I see that He, too, drank the bitter waters of accusation against His innocence. Though men cursed Him and nailed Him to a cross, He came out unharmed because of His innocence. As His followers, we, too, often face tests of our faithfulness. Maybe they are tests from a jealous God, meaning a God who desires to keep what belongs to Him, as He refines and purifies our faith. Or perhaps they come from a jealous world, meaning a world which serves the evil one who hates us. In either case, through our suffering we need to hold fast to Christ, who suffered to impart His innocence on us, and trust we will come out unharmed.
Ps. 39
Here David says, “I will guard my ways” (Ps. 39:1a), which he did by keeping silent in the presence of wickedness. As a result of his efforts to protect himself, his pain grew worse. I’m not sure if David’s concern was responding the wrong way to wickedness before God, or was instigating the wicked against him with his words. However, guarding his own ways with silence was a poor approach either way. On the one hand, he was relying on his own efforts to remain righteous. On the other, he was bottling God up within him in an effort to keep himself safe.
The realization that straightened him out was the brevity of life. Not only does recognizing this truth make us painfully aware of how small and insignificant we are before God, it also reminds us that any suffering we face in our time on earth is miniscule against an eternal destiny. Thus, there is nothing in this life worth stuffing God in a closet over – no shame, no rejection, no persecution…nothing. Thus, if we are going to be speechless, it should not be before the wicked of this world in an effort to guard our own ways. Rather, it should be before God because we are overwhelmed by Him, as David said later in this Psalm. “I am speechless; I do not open my mouth because of what you have done.” (Ps. 39:9 CSB).
SoS. 3
Reading Song of Solomon always makes me think of the letters to the seven Churches in Revelation. Most specifically, the letters to Ephesus and Laodicea. Ephesus lost her first love and Laodicea was lukewarm. Both are a stark contrast to the passionate love displayed by the bride in this Song. It makes me wonder what it looks like to actually live with this kind of love for Jesus. We don’t exactly go running through the streets looking for Him. Or do we? Perhaps we find our true love every time we witness to open ears or meet a fellow believer. And maybe we seek Him when we pray and think about His word in bed or elsewhere throughout our day. Whatever we do, we keep that love alive and burning when we do as the bride did. “I held on to him and would not let him go” (Ecc. 3:4b).