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Reflection for Naso

“Jealous Judgment”

John 7:53-8:11
Acts 21:17-32

excerpted from TorahScope Apostolic Scriptures Reflections

This week’s Torah portion, Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89), continues the census of the Ancient Israelites. More specific tasks are assigned to the three family lines of the Levites: the Kohathites, Gersonhites, and Merarites.[1] After their duties are delineated, the reading turns to some specific means for maintaining purity in the camp during Israel’s wilderness sojourn.[2] The extremely close quarters for their encampment precipitated some challenges, as illness and death would need to be properly handled, so defilement could be avoided and sanitation could be maintained. It is not difficult to see how the proximity of living circumstances could allow the human proclivity toward the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16), to germinate and blossom. Certain instructions about how to deal with wrongful behavior toward another are outlined, as well as how to handle the problems of possibly sexually immoral actions and the jealousy it provokes.[3] After the details of the Nazirite vow are given,[4] as well as the specifics of the priestly blessing known as the Aaronic Benediction (Numbers 6:22-27), our parashah concludes with a section dedicated to recording the actions associated with the dedication and consecration of the Tabernacle and its accoutrements.[5]

It is quite logical to see that when selecting an appropriate Haftarah reading for Naso, the Jewish Sages chose to focus on the early life of Samson (Judges 13:2-25). Samson’s life as a Nazirite from the time of his birth, represents and amplifies the blessings of one fully dedicated to serving the Lord, although one does have to consider some of the severe challenges which he encountered in later life. When we move ahead and look at the Apostolic Scriptures, we see that those within Second Temple Judaism continued to follow the prescriptions for taking a Nazirite vow. When he returned to Jerusalem with his offering collection from the nations (cf. Romans 15:25-27), the Apostle Paul was asked to quell a false rumor that he taught against the Torah by helping to pay the expenses of four Jewish Believers, who would be finishing up their Nazirite vows:

“When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. The day following, Paul went in with us to Jacob; and all the elders were present. When he had greeted them, he reported one by one the things which God had worked among the Gentiles through his ministry. They, when they heard it, glorified God. They said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Judeans of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Torah. They have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children and not to walk after the customs. What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses for them, that they may shave their heads. Then all will know that there is no truth in the things that they have been informed about you, but that you yourself also walk keeping the Torah’” (Acts 21:17-24, WMB).

There would not be sufficient time for Paul himself to take a Nazirite vow here, but he could purify himself, to be present for when the four who had taken a vow would complete it. Paul being present—and the fact that taking a Nazirite vow was not a standard, daily or weekly Torah practice—would indicate to those who had heard the rumor, that Paul was not at all anti-Law. Yet, when he arrived at the Temple, the crowd was stirred up against him and he was arrested (Acts 21:26-32). Thankfully, though, Paul had been told by the Lord that these events would be used in order for him to be sent to Rome (Acts 19:21; 23:11).

As important as Paul’s arrest is to much of the Book of Acts, rather than focus on the motives of the agitated crowd—the Numbers 5 law of jealousy has tended to stimulate a great deal of reflection and speculation on the part of Bible readers. The emotion of jealousy is something which can be either godly (Exodus 34:14; 2 Corinthians 11:2), or extremely carnal (Genesis 37:11), in humans. We can see Scriptural examples of how there is a godly trait of jealousy or zeal for righteousness, to be contrasted with a selfish or self-centered jealousy which erupts in emotions, which if kept unchecked, can lead to sinful behavior and immoral acts. In both the Book of Proverbs and the Song of Songs, there are descriptions of the potential for unbridled vengeance, which can lead to serious harm and/or even death if not kept disciplined:

“For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won’t spare in the day of vengeance” (Proverbs 6:34, WMB).
“Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?” (Proverbs 27:4, WMB).
“Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of the LORD” (Song of Songs 8:6, WMB).

Within Numbers 5, the procedures given for handling improper sexual activity—whether actual or perceived—took place when the “spirit of jealousy” (ruach-qinah) overwhelmed a man. These instructions were not necessarily given for when the same jealous emotion overcame a woman:

“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: “If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and this is kept concealed, and she is defiled, there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act; and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she isn’t defiled; then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: one tenth of an efah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory”’” (Numbers 5:11-15, WMB).

Perhaps because men are generally more physically powerful and sexually aggressive than women, the Lord instructed Moses to relay these somewhat laborious procedures, in the event that sexual jealousy was erroneously aroused in a man. After all, if the rage was ignited, no matter whether the woman was had committed adultery or not, the enraged man who was offended might demonstrate some physical harm toward his wife—or even murder her, or the suspected or known fornicator—under the influence of the emotional passions of jealousy. By slowing the discovery process down to the measures required in this passage, the offended man would have some time to “cool down.” He would hopefully let any evidence of infidelity be revealed by the swelling of his wife’s abdomen and the wasting of her thigh, as detailed in the test for determining adultery:

“The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority[6], be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—’ then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, ‘May the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.’ The woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’ The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall wipe them into the water of bitterness. He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before the LORD, and bring it to the altar. The priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse among her people. If the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive offspring. This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled, or when the spirit of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute on her all this law. The man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity” (Numbers 5:19-31, WMB).

The judgment as to whether or not a man’s wife had committed sin, came down to the action of God. Despite the indictment and the embarrassment of going through the ordeal of having to drink bitter water, the woman was presumed innocent throughout the procedure. It is only when time was able to demonstrate whether or not she would swell and waste away, that she could then be considered an adulteress. Interestingly, the final statement of the law of jealousy (Numbers 5:31) asserted how the accusing husband would be free of guilt, even if he had erroneously accused an innocent wife by casting suspicion upon her. In later Rabbinical teaching, with support offered from Hosea 4:14, it is concluded that the ordeal with bitter waters was only effective if the husband himself was innocent of sexual immorality (b.Sotah 47b).[7]

When one encounters the Numbers 5 law of jealousy, from the vantage point of a modern person in the Twenty-First Century, we do rightly wonder why women were not given the same right within Ancient Israel—to challenge the suspected infidelity of their husbands. The question naturally arises about what recourse a woman would take, who suspected or knew that her husband was unfaithful. Should he not be put to some kind of a touchstone of testing, in the event that he violated his marriage responsibilities? Human nature certainly does not discriminate when it comes to the manifestation of jealousy in people. The often-quoted axiom, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” can certainly come to mind…

Our biggest disadvantage in understanding instructions, like that of Numbers 5, is that we often fail to place ourselves into the position of the Ancient Israelites who received this against a much larger Ancient Near Eastern setting. Law codes contemporary to the Torah of Moses had much more rigorous procedures in determining the potential adultery of a woman, like casting the accused into a rushing river[8]—and most frequently with the accused already assumed to be guilty. If the accused survived the ordeal, then obviously the woman was considered innocent. In the thought of J.A. Thompson,

“Strange as the whole circumstance and ritual may seem to us, it compares so favourably with non-Israelite practice that it may be taken as evidence of that generally considerate attitude of the law of Moses towards women.”[9]

The Israelite ordeal in Numbers 5 with an accused woman making an offering, taking a vow, and drinking some water laced with dust and some non-toxic script rubbed off an animal skin—was by far more humane than what an Assyrian or Babylonian woman accused of adultery would be made to do! Most important, though, the determination of judgment would be left to the Creator Himself, and not with any male accusers.[10]

Obviously, according to the Ten Commandments, adultery was to be considered a capital crime—resulting in the stoning of both parties liable to the transgression. God was certainly not mincing His words when He delivered the Seventh Commandment of the Decalogue:

“You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14, WMB; Deuteronomy 5:18).

The punishment of death prescribed for mutual adultery, was applicable to both the man and woman who were caught in the act:

“The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 20:10, WMB).

By the time the Numbers 5 law of jealousy was instituted for Ancient Israel, as their desert sojourn was progressing—the positive laws of holiness (Leviticus 19:1-37) and the instructions which handled pagan worship and sexual degeneracy (Leviticus 20:1-27)—were also a part of how the people were to be set-apart from their neighbors. When surveying all of this, we discover that according to God’s prescription, a number of violations can result in capital punishment, by either fire or stoning, or for milder transgressions, simply being cut off from the nation. It is most notable that within the midst of Leviticus chs. 19-20, one of the most important Biblical commandments appears. As the Israelites were instructed how to remove the presence of sin from the camp, they were admonished not to hate their fellow countrymen in their hearts, but how they could reprove or rebuke them without taking vengeance. They were required to actually love their neighbors:

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:17-18, WMB).

Anyone who has read the New Testament is aware of how Leviticus 19:18 is one of the most frequently quoted verses from the Old Testament (Mark 12:31; Matthew 19:19; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). At the same time, the thrust of Leviticus 19:18 was most important to the ancient Pharisee Hillel the Elder, who taught immediately prior to the ministry of Yeshua in the First Century B.C.E., and whose grandson Gamaliel trained the Apostle Paul (Acts 5:34; 22:3). Hillel is noted for the famed statement, “What is hateful to you, to your fellow don’t do. That’s the entirety of the Torah; everything else is elaboration. So go, study” (b.Shabbat 31a).[11] In other words, Hillel said that people were to love their neighbors because they were just like you—and subject to the same temptations which you are!

Yeshua said Himself, “Therefore, whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the Torah and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12, WMB). Judge others via the same scale as you expect to be judged. In His Sermon on the Mount, elaborating on how the Torah was to be “fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17ff) in His teachings, Yeshua delivered clarity and meaning to what the original intention of Moses’ Teaching actually was:

“Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:1-5, WMB).

One Gospel passage, which draws some parallels from the Numbers 5 instructions, is John 7:53-8:11. In this scene, there appears to be elements of the law of jealousy, the requirement to love one’s neighbors, the admonition not to judge in order to avoid a similar measure of judgment—and the wide-reaching Biblical principle to extend grace, mercy, and fairness to those who are guilty in their trespasses and sins. A woman and a man appear to have been caught in the act of adultery. Yet, the attention of those who were deliberating over what to do, was given only to the woman, as the man who was apparently involved was nowhere to be seen. The text indicates that the scribes and Pharisees present wanted to test Yeshua, in order to have further grounds to somehow accuse Him of being a false teacher:

“Everyone went to his own house, but Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the middle, they told him, ‘Rabbi, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. Now in our Torah, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?’ They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Yeshua stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Yeshua was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. Yeshua, standing up, saw her and said, ‘Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ Yeshua said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more’” (John 7:53-8:11, WMB).

There is no doubt that Messiah Yeshua not only knew the Seventh Commandment prohibiting adultery, but also the Leviticus 20:10 injunction to put adulterating offenders to death. He also knew the Numbers 5 law of jealousy, and the command to love one’s neighbor (Leviticus 19:18). Most importantly, the Lord was quite aware of the sordid motives of the religious persons present, as they were searching for a reason by which they could accuse Him of violating the Torah of Moses, and so discredit Him and His ministry.

In this scene—with a group of people on the Mount of Olives, and then onto the Temple with the Messiah delivering some teaching—He was rudely interrupted by some scribes and Pharisees, thrusting into the center of the Temple court, a woman caught in the act of adultery. They failed to bring forward the man with whom she was fornicating, though. When Yeshua heard their venomous demand to respond to the claim, “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (John 8:5, NIV), Yeshua did not react hastily. Only one of the two apparent offenders involved in the adulterous act was even present—and the Torah instructed that both were to be put to death. Something was amiss with what was going on, especially how the accusations would easily gain the attention of many or most in the Temple complex. Yeshua was certainly quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger (cf. James 1:19).

Instead of reacting to their prodding, Yeshua waited a moment, while probably surveying the scene as the accusers pointed to the woman and yelled out their demands. Rather than responding to their words immediately, Yeshua simply stooped down and began writing something on the dusty ground. While some might speculate that He was etching in the dust the curse prescribed by Numbers 5:23, it is impossible to categorically make such a claim. Nevertheless, there does appear to be some similarities as noted in the procedure of the law of jealousy, hence the association with what is witnessed here:

“The priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD. The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water…The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall wipe them into the water of bitterness. He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter” (Numbers 5:16-17; 23-24, WMB).

Rather than asking someone nearby to fetch a jar or vessel filled with holy water to complete this rite—Yeshua stood up, looked intently at His inquisitors, and directly and authoritatively made this soul-piercing statement to all within hearing distance, gathered at this mock trial: “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7, NIV). Can you imagine the deafening silence as those piercing words from the Messiah Yeshua sunk into the hearts of those hearing?

Yeshua simply stooped over again, and continued drawing on the dust on the ground. Next, the group of accusers began to dissipate as the older and wiser of them, who knew the power of these words, recognized that they all were with sin (John 5:9a). They began to guiltily leave the scene. In a relatively short amount of time, Yeshua was left with the accused woman and whatever remaining onlookers were observing this extraordinary encounter.

Yeshua straightened up, and with unparalleled love in His eyes for this woman, He simply asked her who those who had condemned her were (John 8:10). Her response to His question was simply, “No one, Lord” (John 8:11, WMB), certainly recognizing Yeshua as a spiritual Authority. Yeshua then made it abundantly clear to her and to all who had sinned (or will ever sin), “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more” (John 8:11, WMB). We cannot know whether or not she actually was guilty of committing adultery; all we know for certain is that the accusations were not proven. In His great mercy, Yeshua released her from any penalty which was due her—and that those present would have wanted to see enacted—yet He clearly admonished her to never sin again.

Moving ahead in John’s account, we see how Yeshua demonstrated His great grace toward us, as He declared Himself to not only be the Light of the World—but also how He was sent from the Father Himself. In contrast to some of the Pharisees present, Yeshua’s words were true as He came to Earth from Heaven—something which they did not know or can comprehend:

“Again, therefore, Yeshua spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.’ The Pharisees therefore said to him, ‘You testify about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.’ Yeshua answered them, ‘Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don’t know where I came from, or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. It’s also written in your Torah that the testimony of two people is valid. I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.’ They said therefore to him, ‘Where is your Father?’ Yeshua answered, ‘You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ Yeshua spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come” (John 8:12-20, WMB).

Within these statements, Yeshua invoked the Torah requirement for two or three witnesses to attest to the guilt of another. As people who had highly valued and treasured what He rhetorically called “your Torah,” they should have been aware of such an obvious principle:

“At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from among you” (Deuteronomy 17:6-7, WMB).

Without equivocation, Yeshua strongly asserted how His testimony about Himself and His Heavenly Father was enough to confirm His position as not only Lord—but the ultimate Judge who could release captives and extend mercy to those who have transgressed, like the woman accused of adultery. In the balance of the Apostolic Writings, we find multiple witnesses testifying how Yeshua is indeed the One appointed by the Father to judge the living and the dead.

Peter declared this in Caesarea, to those of the household of Cornelius:

“how God anointed Yeshua of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of everything he did both in the countryside of Judea and in Jerusalem; whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree. God raised him up the third day and gave him to be revealed, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to proclaim to the people and to testify that this is he who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:38-43, WMB).

The Apostle John recorded in his Gospel how Yeshua said,

“For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires. For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:21-23, WMB).

The Apostle Paul, in his final letter written, told his disciple Timothy,

“I command you therefore before God and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom: proclaim the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:1-2, WMB).

With great confidence and a jealousy which is tempered by God for His service, born again Believers can confidently declare that Yeshua is Lord and God without any reservation! With thankful hearts we can embrace the forgiveness that was secured by the shedding of His precious blood on Golgotha (Calvary).

Finally, it is imperative that Believers recognize how the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is a righteously jealous God. He declared that one of His names was actually “Jealous,” because of His zeal for His people:

“for you shall worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14, WMB).

With this in mind, I ask you to simply consider some words from James the Just, the half-brother of Yeshua—who witnessed not only the character of Yeshua up close and personal—but who himself is a great example for all Believers to emulate. James warned people not necessarily about the sexual adultery which we have been discussing, but rather committing adultery with the world and with pleasures which tempt the flesh to pursue friendship with fallen society. James appealed to how the Lord jealousy desired His Spirit to dwell in His people. He also warned individuals about the dangers of improperly judging others:

“Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously’? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’ [Proverbs 3:34]. Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you. Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another? Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.’ Yet you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. For you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.’ But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil. To him therefore who knows to do good and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:1-17, WMB).

James’ words are most important for us to consider, when it comes to the proper judgment of individuals or situations. After all, if we are truly jealous in a godly way, to be all that we can be before the Almighty, should we not be judging ourselves—and especially the thoughts we have and actions we take? If we know that our thoughts or actions are not consistent with the Word of God, and we continue to act and think according to a worldly model—then it is absolutely clear that we are sinning before an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God. We are surely not fooling Him or hiding from Him, but rather we are sinning before Him while knowing what the right thing to do actually is.

Without reservation and without hesitation, I urge you to confess and repent of any hidden sin. As Yeshua, the ultimate Judge told the accused woman: “Go and sin no more!”