The Pentateuch is full of treasures...
I'm reading through the book of Numbers. Found one that made my jaw drop... It's about what happens to a woman if she is suspected of cheating. Sorry it's long, but check out the "Holy Water" reference!
16 " 'The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the LORD. 17 Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18 After the priest has had the woman stand before the LORD, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. 20 But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband"- 21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse of the oath-"may the LORD cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. d]">[d] 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away. e]">[e] "
" 'Then the woman is to say, "Amen. So be it."
The priest makes her drink holy mud and then curses her to have a miscarriage (in the footnote) and withered thighs!! Not to mention being cursed by her people. Just for suspicions from the husband...
I didn't even know there was holy water in the Bible. Thought that was just some Catholic thing. Shows my ignorance.
I hate the Law. I hate that God is perfect, and we are not. I hate that this is how our ancestors treated each other. Sometimes it still feels like God holds his perfection over us. That's probably just my own guilt and shame speaking, but when I read passages like this I wonder what God is really thinking.
Has God really remained unchanged since before time began?
