Numbers 5:11-31—11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'If any man's wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him, 13 and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she caught—14 if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself—15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. He shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD. 17 The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 Then the priest shall stand the woman before the LORD, uncover the woman's head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 And the priest shall put her under oath, and say to the woman, "If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband's authority, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you"—21 then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—"the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh rot and your belly swell; 22 and may this water that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot." Then the woman shall say, "Amen, so be it." 23 Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water. 24 And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter. 25 Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, shall wave the offering before the LORD, and bring it to the altar; 26 and the priest shall take a handful of the offering, as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings a curse will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot, and the woman will become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive children. 29 'This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife; then he shall stand the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute all this law upon her. 31 Then the man shall be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her guilt.'" The pro-abortion crowd loves to bring up this passage, as if it is some kind of “Gotcha” for the pro-lifers. There is just one problem with that. Well, more than one, but we will examine all the problems.
First of all, they only read from the NIV, the only major translation that relates any kind of miscarriage in this passage. Numbers 5:22 (NIV)—[the priest shall say] ‘“May this water that brings curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries”. Then the woman is to say “Amen. So be it”’. No other major translation uses the word “miscarry”. Why? Because it is not in the Hebrew text. Why? Read the entire passage again, and tell me where a pregnancy is mentioned. I’ll wait. Okay, time’s up. Not in there, is it?
And second, if she is pregnant, doesn’t that kinda blow the whole “concealed” thing out of the water? Because when a woman is pregnant, what happens to her belly? But here we see if she has been unfaithful, this test will make her belly swell. And she will become barren, and a curse among the people. There is a Hebrew word that translates as “miscarry”, and that is שָׁכֹל (shâkôl), and it means, literally, “to miscarry”. But that Hebrew word is nowhere to be found in this passage. So, why the 2011 NIV uses the word “miscarry” here is a mystery. Just one reason I don’t particularly care for the NIV. And really, when one of the abortion advocates latch onto this passage as an approval from God for abortion, they really show how clueless they are about the Scriptures. Because in Numbers 5:28 it says But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive children. So it is clear, from the surrounding verses, that the punishment is not a miscarriage, but barrenness.
So many on the side of abortion get so angry when you say you’re opposed to it. Even if you are not argumentative, they will lash out at you for all they’re worth. And they will defend Planned Parenthood almost to the utmost. Even though Planned Parenthood was founded by Margaret Sanger, an outspoken eugenicist and friend of the KKK. Planned Parenthood, in 1964, admitted that abortion ended a life. In an ad for birth control ad in 1964, Planned Parenthood themselves said the following:
An abortion kills the life of a baby after it has begun. It is dangerous to your life and health. It may make you sterile so that when you want a child you cannot have it.
It kills the life of a baby. But they have changed their tune over the years and now they will tell you today that it is not a baby, that it is merely a clump of cells. It is no different than having a tooth pulled. Why have they changed their tune? I can tell you in one word, and that word rhymes with “Money”. They want to make more of it, and they will have less of a chance to do it if you know that you are killing a baby. Interestingly, at the Democratic Party Convention in 1964, a document entitled “The Population Crisis: A Program for Action. Statement to the Committee on Resolutions and Platforms of the 1964 Democratic Convention” stated:
In the United States, population growth underlies and contributes to the three major domestic ills which the Johnson Administration and the Democratic Party have pledged to eradicate – poverty, discrimination and unemployment.
In other words, they believed we need to kill more babies in order to obtain a state of Utopia. Have they really changed their beliefs over the years? No. But their tactics have. Remember when I said that Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, was an enthusiastic eugenicist? It’s true, she hated blacks.
“We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. And the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”
And the quote that still resonates today, and is the reason many liberals want abortion on demand is this:
“[Our objective is] unlimited sexual gratification without the burden of unwanted children…”
Abortion is a practice this country has exported around the world, promising women they can live a happy life if they just kill their child while it is growing in the womb. Their mantra is “Keep abortion safe, legal and rare” or “My Body, My Choice” (of course, if they were to be truthful, they would say “Your Body, My Choice”). Of course it’s never safe, and where it is legal, they don’t want it to be rare. If a pregnant woman says they want to keep her baby, depending on the circumstances, she will be verbally assaulted with the most hateful speech you could imagine. Of course, our mantra, we on the Pro-Life side, is “Abortion: One Dead, One Wounded”. It is the only “medical” procedure that is successful if a death occurs.
When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings a curse will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot, and the woman will become a curse among her people. Just one more thing before I wind up this passage. First, this would be an example of what the writer says in Hebrews 6:16—For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. These days, when a person is on the witness stand during a trial, they place their hand on a Bible and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And if it is found out they lie, they are charged with perjury. And maybe they get convicted and sentenced, or maybe they don’t. That was not the case here. The husband and wife go to the priest, he makes some bitter water, he puts her under oath to God Himself. Now, at this point, if she has gone astray, she should say so. Because if she has been unfaithful, and she lies about it, her unfaithfulness will become obvious and not only will she bring upon herself a curse, she will actually become a curse. She has sworn to Almighty God that she is not guilty, and if she is, God will not let her escape. So before she drinks the water, she should examine herself if she has done what she is accused of doing.
We should do the same thing when we partake of the Lord’s Table. We should examine ourselves to see if there is any sin in our lives and get rid of it before we take the brad and the wine. 1st Corinthians 11:28—But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Because when we take the bread and the wine we are not simply eating, we are proclaiming Christ, and we are saying that we belong to Christ. And if we do partake of the bread and the wine when we have sin in our lives, we run the grave risk that many suffered in Corinth. 1st Corinthians 11:29-30—29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. Does this mean we have to be perfectly sinless when we come? No, of course not, for who can be sinless except Christ Himself? But we must look at our lives, and decide if there is some persistent sin that we must get rid of , or even if we think we have no sin, which thinking actually is sin (see 1st John 1:10). This not only makes God a liar but is also a product of pride, something that should not dwell in us who know Christ. We should be the humblest of all creatures, knowing that we are saved from an eternity on Hell because God has shown us His grace and has extended His mercy to us, in sending His Son to pay the penalty we should have paid ourselves. So let us examine ourselves as the unfaithful wife should have examined herself before she drank the bitter water. I will end with the words from John Calvin on 1st Corinthians 11:28:
You see here a method that is most easily apprehended. If you would wish to use aright the benefit afforded by Christ, bring faith and repentance. As to these two things, therefore, the trial must be made, if you would come duly prepared. Under repentance I include love; for the man who has learned to renounce himself, that he may give himself up wholly to Christ and his service, will also, without doubt, carefully maintain that unity which Christ has enjoined. At the same time, it is not a perfect faith or repentance that is required, as some, by urging beyond due bounds, a perfection that can nowhere be found, would shut out for ever from the Supper every individual of mankind. If, however, thou aspirest after the righteousness of God with the earnest desire of thy mind, and, trembled under a view of thy misery, dost wholly lean upon Christ’s grace, and rest upon it, know that thou art a worthy guest to approach the table—worthy I mean in this respect, that the Lord does not exclude thee, though in another point of view there is something in thee that is not as it ought to be. For faith, when it is but begun, makes those worthy who were unworthy.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.
