Full sermon outline follows the handout version. Make It Count, #3
THE GUILT DETECTOR
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Numbers 5:12-22
I. Some really old-time religion.
A. How far would you go to prove your integrity?
B. To us it all sounds very archaic.
C. Purity (of women) remains big in many parts of the world today.
II. When you don't trust your wife.
A. What to do when there is suspicion but no definite proof.
B. The religious test to prove guilt and innocence.
III. Why this ritual is different than primitive ordeals.
A. The woman is in no direct harm.
B. The consequences come from God.
IV. We are not that much more advanced than them.
A. How do police today determine the truth?
B. People can always deceive if they put enough effort into it.
V. Purity still matters.
A. Are you a Christian or a pagan?
B. Be faithful to one another.
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Rev. David Holwick V Make It Count, #3
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
June 26, 2011
Numbers 5:12-22
THE GUILT DETECTOR
I. Some really old-time religion.
A. How far would you go to prove your integrity?
In July 2002, Sangeeta Sauda, a 20-year-old new bride in India,
went on a pilgrimage with a female friend.
Unfortunately her husband had not given her permission and
accused her of being unfaithful to him.
Sangeeta volunteered to undergo a traditional trail by fire.
Her hands protected only by leaves and turmeric paste, she
held a red-hot iron rod for 15 minutes to prove she was pure.
She wasn't burned, and her Khanjar community celebrated her
innocence by throwing a feast.
The government was not quite as understanding.
They arrested her husband and in-laws, saying they had pressured
her to hurt herself.
#22392
B. To us it all sounds very archaic.
1) Not much different than tying up a woman, throwing her
in a pond, to see if she floats and is thus a witch.
2) For many Christians, this is a rather embarrassing passage
in the Bible.
a) Many preachers spend their entire career avoiding it.
b) But it does deal with some important principles.
C. Purity (of women) remains big in many parts of the world today.
1) Note the recent controversy where Egyptian authorities
examined female protesters to determine their virginity.
a) Their obvious intent was to label the protesters
as decadent sinners.
b) We consider it hopelessly sexist.
2) Purity is the theme that ties Numbers 5 together.
3) What should it mean for us today?
II. When you don't trust your wife.
A. What to do when there is suspicion but no definite proof.
1) It is a conditional argument - if such and such is
suspected, this is what you are supposed to do...
2) It seems one-sided, even sexist.
a) But if rest of chapter 5 is considered, it would seem
to apply to men as well, as the other verses state.
1> But the punishment is very specific - barrenness.
2> What guy wants to give birth to a kid? None.
b) It is more likely that the protection of paternity is
the driving force.
1> Almost everyone knows who their mother is.
It can be less clear who the father is.
This is no big deal to us.
Two recent movies illustrate a trend:
"Momma Mia" - she has a daughter, and wants
her former lovers to guess who she belongs to.
Bill Murray's "Broken Flowers" - he gets a
letter that says he has a son, but he
doesn't know who the mom is.
2> It is a bigger deal in cultures where fathers
have to support their children.
A> They want to know who really belongs to them.
3) Here, the husband is tormented by jealousy.
a) Two possibilities:
1> He is suspicious because she is guilty.
2> He is suspicious but she is innocent.
b) Powerful emotions are at play here.
Jealousy can be a huge issue in a marriage.
At its root is insecurity.
It can arise from phone calls that hang up, dark
hints from friends, or seeing them with an old flame.
Perhaps you have checked their email accounts or
cell phone history.
Some even hire private detectives.
Jealousy can create a root of bitterness, strangling
what was true love.
Perhaps it is just your imagination, or you suspect
them because you yourself have fallen to temptation.
Or you are not nuts and something is really happening.
It makes sense to be jealous if your lover has really
betrayed you.
The betrayer themselves may have tormented souls,
knowing the truth will blow up in their face.
How can both these issues be resolved?
c) The solution is to take it to God.
1> In this case, it is to go to the priest at the
sanctuary.
B. The religious test to prove guilt and innocence.
1) Husband and wife appear before the priest.
a) They stand before the Lord. 5:16
1> The priest has no personal power in this, he is
just a stand-in for God.
2> The husband brings the offering because if she
brought it, it would imply guilt on her part.
3> The offering of barley is the lowest form of
sacrifice.
A> It is what a poor person would bring.
B> No special additives are included.
4> The real issue of the procedure is not easing the
emotions of jealousy, but dealing with sin.
b) Holy water and sanctuary dust are combined.
1> It is called bitter water.
2> It has the potential to curse the wife.
3> Elsewhere in the Bible, drinking the cup of God's
wrath is the ultimate judgment.
c) Her hair is loosened.
Her hair is let loose as a sign of shame.
Ordinarily, she would only do this in the presence
of her husband.
Since she is suspected of lewdness, the letting down of
her hair is tantamount to her being, in a sense,
undressed before the priest, and therefore,
before God.
However, the Lord will vindicate her if she is truly
clean, and she can place herself in His hands--this
is her "Amen". [1]
2) She is placed under oath.
a) She is only in danger if guilty.
1> If she is guilty, she will become barren, unable
to bear children.
2> "Abdomen and thigh" are probably euphemisms for
the reproductive organs.
b) If she is innocent, nothing will happen to her and
her husband will look foolish.
3) She drinks the water and accepts the curse.
a) The water now includes the words of the curse.
b) You might say she is eating her own words.
III. Why this ritual is different than primitive ordeals.
A. The woman is in no direct harm.
1) The water and dust drink by itself presents no danger,
though we would consider it kind of gross.
a) This is far different than holding a hot iron or
being tied up and thrown into a pond.
b) The Code of Hammurabi, also from the ancient Middle
East, has this law:
"If a man's wife was accused by her husband, but she
was not caught while lying with another man, she
shall make an oath by the god and return home.
[so far, so good...]
"If a finger has been pointed at a man's wife because
of another man, but she has not been caught lying
with that other man, she shall leap into the
River for the sake of her husband."
2) The Jewish version is much better for the innocent.
a) Interestingly, the potential punishment here -
barrenness - is much less severe than the punishment
for adultery, which is death.
B. The consequences come from God.
1) In our age, we could consider a negative outcome like
barrenness a psychosomatic result of her guilt.
2) The Jews relied on God, not guilt.
a) It is interesting that this is the only Jewish law where
God is expected to intervene to produce the justice.
b) If anything, this law is gracious and moderate in that
it forbids "honor killing."
1> In Muslim countries with Sharia law in force,
wives that are suspected often disappear.
2> The Jews understood this impulse, so verse 31 adds
that following this ritual will protect the
husband from doing something rash.
IV. We are not that much more advanced than them.
A. How do police today determine the truth?
1) They use lie detectors.
a) Their evidence cannot be used in court.
b) The results can be influenced by many things -
nervousness, illness, as well as guilt.
c) But since people think they can detect lies,
lie detectors work.
1> Police call them confession machines.
2) Perhaps modern science will come up with something better.
a) Currents studies are being done with brain waves.
1> "No Lie MRI" company.
b) A high degree of success is claimed, but much is hype.
B. People can always deceive if they put enough effort into it.
1) It is much better to be able to trust one another because
we know we are living by God's standards.
2) Does your spouse trust you? Should they?
V. Purity still matters.
A. Are you a Christian or a pagan?
Presbyterian pastor Ligon Duncan was flipping channels on his
TV one day and came upon the very conservative Roman Catholic
television channel "The Eternal Word Network."
That's the network that has shows by super-Catholics like
Mother Angelica.
For this show there was a priest doing a lecture to Catholic
students at a large university in the Midwest.
He was addressing the issue of sexual purity, and he was talking
about a young Catholic couple who came to him on one occasion.
They were cohabiting together, and they were engaging in
immoral sexual relations.
And they said to him, "Father, surely there couldn't be anything
wrong with something so beautiful as this.
Our love for one another overflows into our physical relations
with one another."
And he said to them, as he told the audience, "Of course there's
absolutely nothing wrong with your fornication - if you're a
pagan."
It was a very powerful apologetic.
He said in effect, "That's how pagans act, that's not how
Christians act."
That's precisely what God is saying in this passage.
Sexual purity is an issue that He's concerned about.
He wants spouses to be able to trust one another implicitly.
It's a spiritual issue.
It's not just a private, personal issue.
It's an issue that affects all the people of God.
God cares about our relationships, he cares about our purity.
#63444
B. Be faithful to one another.
1) Do not give your spouse a reason to doubt you.
2) Trust in a marriage is only part of the equation -- are you
being faithful to God?
a) The potential unfaithfulness of the wife in v. 12 is
paralleled to the unfaithfulness of Israel in v. 6.
1> (The same term is used in both places.)
b) God knows, and some day God will judge.
c) How will he judge you?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] From a sermon by Rev. Todd Ruddell, Christ Covenant Reformed
Presbyterian Church (RPCGA) of Wylie, Texas.
<http://www.puritanboard.com/f40/unbinding-womans-hair-numbers
-5-11-31-a-38986/>
#22392 “Proving She Is Pure,” ABC News, Associated Press, July 7, 2002.
#63444 “Fornication Is Fine - If You're A Pagan,” adapted from the
sermon “The Adultery Test” (Kerux Sermon #63148) by
Dr. Ligon Duncan III, February 14, 2007.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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