This chapter really spoke to my heart this morning in several ways. First, the repetitive reminders to protect the holiness of God is striking to me. Our social focus is so strongly 'tolerance' that we fear judging anything as wrong: but judgment is necessary in our own hearts! We must go before the Lord and seek His view of our actions and reactions...and confess, repent and reconcile with the person harmed and with God Himself.
The restitution section of this also blessed my heart. Repentance is not just 'oops, sorry, my bad.' It struck me, though, that sometimes the hurts we cause (or receive) can not be financially recompensed. Sacrificial giving comes in many ways, I am confident God will lead us to 'how' we can restore relationships through blessing others. And did you see...when we make our offering to God in true humble repentance, the sacred gift is returned to us (verse 10). God blesses us for obedience!
Finally, the bitter water passage. My first thought was that emotions must be dealt with...whether they are rooted in 'reality' or not. The husband's jealousy, unacknowledged, would have been a bitterness that destroyed the fellowship in the home. Taking that emotion to the Priest put it out in the open. Our great High Priest heals us when we bring out emotions to Him. I've always struggled a bit with the consequences for the wife in this section though. One absolute reality is that the emotions of our spouses do impact us--the actions of each of us bring consequences to others. Another thought occurred to me as I read this AM and please note: Just my thought maybe right, maybe not. Perhaps the bitter water was like our modern day abortion pill. I have read at some point that the wasting thigh refers to barren-ness and/or miscarriage. The sorrow of a lost child and the shame of the situation would have been a tremendous suffering. I wonder how many husband's ever repented and made restitution in humble recognition of sin on their own part. God condemned infidelity for both men and women; the reason it appears the man is 'pure' in this passage is because of a picture we are being given: the commentary I use sheds that light.
McGee explains that this passage is to depict the jealousy of Christ for the Church. We are often told our God is a jealous God...He is zealously jealous for our fellowship! This interpretation of the passage is a beautiful tie to the opening of the chapter: Jesus wants us to keep our hearts pure that we can be in fellowship with Him! Makes me want to sing "How Great is our God!" Have a blessed day.
No comments:
Post a Comment