Numbers 5:2 "Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:"

The laws that we will cover in chapter five are necessary laws, where as in chapter six the laws are voluntary laws. The voluntary laws are laws such as apply to a Nazarite. So God's army is going to be spiritually ordered to follow these instructions.

The word Leper in the Hebrew is # 6870; "tsara, to scorge or stricken with Leprosy." It was believed that if one had Leprosy, that they were stricken by God, for even Miriam, the sister of Moses was stricken with Leprosy in Numbers 13, when she and Aaron her brother talked against Moses. She was questioning why it was only Moses that could speak to God face to face.

This is the law that instructs what must be done to the person that comes down with Leprosy, so that he or she does not endanger the will being of the rest of the camp or community of the children of Israel. Remember that this time was just two years after the children of Israel had departed out of their bondage in Egypt, and they would be on the go for the next thirty eight years, before they would cross the Jordan and enter into the promise land of Canaan. There would be a place outside the camp proper where these people could live in peace and be provided for.

"An issue" in the Hebrew text is "Zuwb" (zoob), # 2100 in Strong's Hebrew dictionary. "Zuwb, a prime root, to flow freely (as water); i.e. specifically, to have a sexual flux; fig. to waste away; also to overflow, gush out, pine away, run."

"The dead" is in reference to "touching the dead". This is dealt with in Leviticus 19:28; Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord." This was a practice of the Canaanite heathen worship; allowing those heathen priests to make markings on ones body. In the spiritual sense,

"the dead" is "Nephesh", referring to "the soul"; By the law, touching any dead person rendered the one who touched unclean for seven days (Leviticus 19:11); while touching dead creatures rendered the person unclean only till that evening, and that person could bathe.

Numbers 5:3 "Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell." "

There were four camp sites with three tribes in each, as well as the Levites encamped in the center of the overall camp, around the tabernacle. So when someone in any of the camp sites comes down with Leprosy, or an Issue, they are to be put out of the camp and away from the rest of the people so their sickness will not spread. "In the midst whereof I dwell" is YHVH reminding His people that He is amongst them. God is holy and He expects His people to be holy and clean also. What ever is unclean must not be in the camp of His people.

Numbers 5:4 "And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the Lord spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel."

The Leper was set outside the camp, but the cleansing of the Leper is covered in Leviticus 14.

Numbers 5:5 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,"

Numbers 5:6 " "Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do the trespass against the Lord, and that person be guilty;"

This "any sin that men shall commit" is to lie, or cheat a neighbor in any manner that breaks the line of trust that existed; and that person is found to be guilty. Though the sin committed is a sin of trespass against a neighbor, because it is breaking a law of God, it is also a sin against God. God let His people know that He was dwelling in the whole camp, so when this sin happened; it becomes a sin against the whole camp, including our Heavenly Father.

Numbers 5:7 "Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed."

So if a person does sin, that person shall confess that sin that he or she has done, and shall recompense or payback the damage that he has caused to his neighbor, and he must also add a fifth or 20% to the amount owed. This payment doesn't go to the priest or tabernacle, but to the one that suffered the loss. This also would include the ram to the priest for the trespass offering.

Say you had property that someone entrusted to you, or even an animal that had wandered over to your land, and you failed to tell your neighbor, or protect that property of his; then you would be in violation of the trespass law and the payment and the ram would be required of you.

Numbers 5:8 "But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him."

Now say that the man that suffered the damage had already passed away, and he had no close family alive; that doesn't relieve the person from the payment that he owes. This trespass offering is the "Asam" trespass offering, and it has to be paid, no matter how much later that it comes to light. So in this case, the atonement is to the Lord, and the recompense goes to the priest that acts in his place.

Numbers 5:9 "And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his."

And every "heave offering"; an offering lifted up to the Lord shall be brought into the tabernacle and given to the priest. In Leviticus 5, and 6 lists the parts of every sacrifice is to go to the priest. In the burnt offerings the priest could only keep the hide of the animal. Under the Leviticus law, it lists those parts that the Levites could and could not eat, and the location where those things had to be eaten by the priest. In certain cases, the entire family of the Levites could eat of the sacrifice, and in other cases, only the priest was allowed to eat of the offering sacrifice.

Numbers 5:10 "And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his." "

"The Hallowed things" are the gifts, firstfruit offering and the such, not sin offerings that are given to God, those things are the priest's. Keep in mind that sacrifices were necessary back then in the time of Moses, for our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ had not gone to the cross yet. But after Christ's death on the cross, then all sacrifices would be done away with. Jesus' blood shed while He was on the cross, was the perfect sacrifice for one and all times. He went to the cross to fulfill all the prophecies of the Old Testament, and from that point, the veil to the holy of holies was rent in two, and Jesus made the way that we could approach the Father directly. This is why we pray in Jesus' name, for this means that we recognize that Jesus blood is sufficient to make payment of our sins, and that we accept that gift from our Lord. Of course you would only do this by faith, as a believer, for it wouldn't make sense to a non-believer.

All of the blood ordinances that we are reading of here in Numbers were nailed to the cross with our Lord Jesus Christ, and the blood of Christ is sufficient to cover all sin. However at this time of Moses, it took the blood of animals to temporarily cover sin on an annual basis. Hosea 6:6 tells us that; Today God wants our Love, He does not want our animal sacrifice.

Numbers 5:11 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,"

Numbers 5:12 " "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, `If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,"

This law deals with jealousy between a man and wife. It gets quite detailed in parts. If any man's wife "go aside", stray from her duty as a wife; meaning sexual duty to her husband. "Trespass" as used here is "a breach of trust" between the husband and wife.

As Christians, this applies directly to the spiritual application also, for We as Christians are "the bride of Christ", and Our Lord Jesus Christ is our "husband". To breach our trust to Christ is to stray after other gods, or in the case of this generation, many will go chasing after Satan, and break the trust that is suppose to exist between you and God [Christ]. Our relationship then to Christ is as a bride groom to a bride, and wife to a husband. Jesus points this out in Matthew 24:19 "And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!" Of course this is not talking about the tenderness of a mother and her child; No, but a bride of Christ that has gone chasing after Satan the antichrist in the end times, and committed whoredoms with Satan and his crowd. Think spiritual. This is talking about idolatry, and the worship of anything other than our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ is just that.

Numbers 5:13 "And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner."

If a man lie with another woman, and kept it secret, and the knowledge did not get out, then there would be no witness allowing them to be caught in the act.

Numbers 5:14 "And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:"

This is in the stage of not knowing by the one if guilt actually exists, and yet in time the spirit of jealousy comes over the husband. In other words, he suspects it, but isn't sure, so then he takes her and goes to the priest.

Numbers 5:15 "Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance."

"Barley meal" is poor man's bread, or fine flour. This jealous man then takes his wife and a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour, "with no oil poured upon it, nor frankincense," and he and the flour and the woman go to the priest. The oil [olive oil] and the frankincense are symbolic of the Spirit of God, and prayer [the frankincense goes up to Father in prayer]. Why? Because of the nature of the offering, for this offering would be submitted because of the law of jealousy. If the woman denies the act and there are no witnesses, then this move was to bring to her to remembrance and repentance of any wrong that she might have done. In this case it would be left to God Himself who decides guilt or innocence.

Numbers 5:16 "And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord:"

The priest brought the woman near to the altar of the Lord.

Numbers 5:17 "And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:"

This holy water was kept in the basin within the sanctuary, such as for the use of washing hand, and to be used for cleaning during sacrifices. So the priest is to take water from this water basin, and sweep up some of the dust and put the dust into the water. So this judgment dust is to penetrate the water with the power of the Holy Spirit, and the process would take place in the inner sanctuary, the holy of holies.

Numbers 5:18 "And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:"

The uncovering the woman's head would symbolize the loss of morality. This offering of the flour that the husband brought would be placed in his wife's hands, while the priest took the bitter water in his hand, the bitterness from the sanctuary floor. The reason the water is called "bitter", is that if she is guilty, this dirty will bring the woman bitter sufferings. The "bitter water" itself was suppose to bring on the curse upon the accused woman [his wife]. The curse was to be brought on by God, if this woman was guilty.

Numbers 5:19 "And the priest shall changer her by an oath, and say unto the woman, `If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:"

With the bitter water in the hand of the wife, then the priest would make a challenge to the woman and have her repeat the oath after him. The oath was; "If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse;"

Stay on a spiritual level with this verse, for God knows exactly what each of us do and think, the moment that we do our acts, and think our thoughts. YHVH Father knows if we have violated our trust in Him. God has told us that his name is "Jealous" many times in the scripture, for we serve a jealous God [Exodus 34:14]; "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, Whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:" then in verse 17, "Thou shalt make thee no molten gods." So any time the scripture is talking about adultery; as Christians we ought to think in terms also of idolatry. Before the book of Numbers is over, we will read of many forms and times His people have chased of after other gods, and in turn, they paid a huge price for their sins.

Numbers 5:20 "But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:' "

In other words, if the woman is guilty of adultery. She has just drank this filthy water from dust from the floor, and the priest goes on to charge her to take an oath that she has not slept with another man.

Numbers 5:21 "Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, `The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell:"

So if the woman is guilty, the priest shall charge this man's wife with an offence against God and her husband. "Charge" means that she is to take an oath before God that the punishment will come upon her. By her own words, she will bring judgment down on her own head. "Thy thight to rot" was some sort of "dropsy of the ovaries"; while "thy belly to swell" meant to bring on a sickness that would render her childless in the future. However this oath is calling on God to bring down these judgment on the guilty party.

This type of "charge" or ordeal was also provided for in the ancient Laws of Khammurabi, before the time of Abraham, back in Babylon. We see the laws of Khammurabi existing in many places in the book of Genesis. These ancient laws were far more harsh than the Laws of God of the book of Leviticus. In the case of stealing, burglary, and harboring a fugitive slave, the punishment was death under the laws of Khummurabi, however as we read in Exodus 22:7 - 9 the punishment of God was in restoring double what the offense was. Even though Khammurabi called his laws, "judgments of righteousness", they were neither just nor righteous. When Pharaoh was going to take Sarah, the wife of Abraham in ignorance (Genesis 12:18), God revealed to Pharaoh that she was a married woman. This was serious, for it demanded death and Pharaoh knew it.

However here in the book of Numbers when a woman was suspected of having taken part in adultery, the husband was to take her to the priest to drink this dirty "bitter" water, and for this oath to be given by her in the presence of the priest. "A drink made with bitter herbs [dust]" was made up and the woman was made to drink the drink in the presence of the priest.

The point for us living in this end generations is that Father does not want us worshipping other gods, and when a Christian does, there will be swift judgment on God's part for the correction of that individual. If you mess around, expect correction from God. When we do fall and sin, we do have victory in Christ through repentance under the blood of Christ, and through Jesus' Name. "If we confess our sins" Jesus has told us that "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous;" but it requires you to act on faith and accept that precious gift that Christ has offered. It's an offer of love given that must have an acceptance by the sinner before it can be valid.

Numbers 5:22 "And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot:' And the woman shall say, `Amen, amen.' "

The woman would drink the drink of bitter water and swear before the priest and her husband, and say, "Amen, amen." Amen, a Hebrew word, in the Greek means "verily, truly so". So if one said "amen" to agree with what another person has said, it was considered as confirmed by an oath.

So this entire trial process comes from the sentencing that God put on Satan after His sin in the garden of Eden. Satan deceived Eve into sexual union, and from that union came Satan's child Cain, and Cain's lineage, the Kenites. We see in Genesis 3:14; "And the Lord God said unto the serpent [Satan], Because thou has done this [made Eve pregnant], thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:" Satan is called a "Serpent" because of the role he played in the garden of Eden.

Satan is called the "dragon" from his role in the first earth age, and he is the devil and Satan because he is the deceiver of this earth age. It would be Satan's children, the Kenites that would much later be the ones to accuse, try and murder our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. This sacrifice of our Lord will be the very act that will "bruise his head", cause him to be turned to ashes at the close of the Millennium age of our Lord Jesus Christ's kingdom here on earth. That kingdom starts at the seventh trump, that is not far off to our generation living today.

So this wife of the jealous husband was made to take this oath, where she swore by God that if I am guilty of this sin, then these things will come upon me. This way she has no one to blame except herself. She publicly acknowledges that if she is guilty and these things done in secret are so, she accepts the punishment from God. that curse was given in verse 21, was that her thigh was to rot and belly to swell, meant that she would be so affect the body parts that caused the sin, that she would never be able to bear children.

These things happened to these Old Testament people, as an example, a warning to you and I living in this end generation, that will face the coming of Satan personally to this earth, to deceive all the people on the face of the earth.

Revelation 12:9 "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

Jesus was telling this to John, and John was writing this from the first day of the Millennium age, so he is looking backward in time, which is forward to you and I living today. When Satan arrives it will be the sixth trump, and the sixth trump has not sounded yet. So these are warnings to you and I that are given in this flesh age. Adultery in the flesh realm, is the same as idolatry in the spiritual realm. The sole threat to our generation is idolatry, Satan presenting himself as the True Christ and men and women in their flesh body believing it. This is going to happen, and the whole world will be washed away in Satan's flood of lies, most Christians also.

Revelation 12:15; "And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood." Satan will be coming disguised as Jesus Christ, and he will deceive man because of their false doctrine through man's traditions. To worship Satan in any form is idolatry. So you see that the warning of I Corinthians 10:1-12, keeps these stories on a spiritual level, that we can apply it to ourselves.

The church is the bride, and our Lord Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom. Remember the ten virgins from Matthew 25? Five had oil to make it to the end, the time of the coming of the Bridegroom, and five did not have enough oil. That oil was olive oil, symbolic of the truth from the Word of God. The truth that would allow them not to be swept away in Satan's flood of lies, but would see Satan for the deceiver he is. Those that did not have enough oil will be taken by the wrong husband, Satan, and become a whore to Christ at the end. They will be standing with child and giving suck to Satan's child, spiritually speaking, when our Lord returns.

When Christ comes, only those faithful to the end will go into the marriage feast, and the door will slam shut on the rest. Friend you will be sealed in your mind before the sixth trump sounds, the coming of Satan in his role of Antichrist, or you will become one of Satan's bride. If you mess around with Satan, God will give you over to him, our God is a jealous God and He will not mess around with an unfaithful wife or bride. God will enter you into His books in heaven as an unfaithful bride. If you think that you can go play your games and later come back to Him; however there is a point in time that it becomes to late. The door is shut, and won't be opened.

Numbers 5:23 "And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:"

"The bitter water" was the water mixed with the floor dust, that the priest cause here to drink part of, and the rest is used here in the book of cursings. The priest will write these cursed that will come on her, if in fact she did commit adultery with another man. "Blot" means to "erase"; the priest writs the oath all out, and she says "Amen, amen", verifying the oath, then the priest takes the paper with the oath on it, and dips it into the dirty water earthen vessel, and the ink of the words goes into the water. So this water that had all the dirt in it, now also has the ink from the paper that has washed into the water also.

Numbers 5:24 "And he shall cuase the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter."

If she drank the bitter water and with in stomach it turned to bitterness, it would have several effects on her body's reaction to the drink. When the priest makes here drink the water, it is not the water that causes the curse, but God put within this water the ability to make the illness come on the woman. If the water has an affect on her, then she is guilty, but if it passes through her, she is innocent.

Numbers 5:25 "Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar:"

This "jealousy offering" was called the "Minchah, or gift or meal offering. Hence it was an offering not necessarily to secure admittance, but to secure favor. In the early times is was with a sacrifice by blood, but later, without blood. Remember that innocence is still presumed, because there were no witnesses. If it was true and known there would be no way that this wave offering would be allowed.

Numbers 5:26 "And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water."

The priest then would take a handful of the barley flour, mentioned in verse fifteen; and burn it on the altar. The reason that barley was used in a meat offering, is that it had to be a fine flour, symbolic for a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. The barley, as in the meat, had to be without spot and blemish. For that is how our Lord was when He became our sacrifice for one and all time.

Numbers 5:27 "And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her People."

Remember that when she goes through this testing, the curse that would come over her would come from God. If she truly was guilty of what she has been accused of by her husband, God knows and and would bring this curse down upon her. However if she was caught in the act, and known to be an adulteress, Leviticus 20:10 would apply. Then the man and the woman would be stoned to death.

Leviticu 20:10 "And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death."

So with the witnesses, the punishment for adultery is sure death, and where there are no witnesses, then the punishment is a curse from God. In one case, God wants you back to stand trial in heaven, the other way without witnesses, God places a curse on the body, and marks you until that time you die and stand before Him. The curse is that she would not have children in the future.

Numbers 5:28 "And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed."

If the woman is found to be free from the adultery charges by her jealous husband, then she shall be free from all curses and accusations leveled at her. When she is free God will bless her and she shall have children. If she refuse to take the drink and stand before the priest and take the oath, then guilt is automatically implied, and Leviticus 20:10 would take place.

Numbers 5:29 "This is the law of Jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;"

"The law of Jealousies" does not make her guilty, but is in place when a jealous husband's mind has convicted her without proof or witnesses. This is the way that she has to prove her innocence in the matter.

Numbers 5:30 "Or when the spirit of Jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law."

It might seem unfair that the man has the right to sue the woman, but the woman has no provision to sue the man for adultery, under the law. Keep in mind that at this period of time, men had several wives, just as Jacob, Abraham, and many other examples. The only way that a man could be brought up for being an adulterer, was if he was caught with another married woman.

Numbers 5:31 "Then shall the man be guiltless form iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.' " "

If the woman was guilty of the claim of adultery and the curse came upon here, and she would become childless. These laws of chapter five are required by God, but in Chapter six we come to involuntary laws.