Note: The following passage speaks of a woman being unfaithful to her husband. "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 - then the man shall bring his wife to the priest...." (vs. 14-15)
"And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord. 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. Then the priest shall stand the woman before the Lord...." (vs. 16-18)
"And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. And the priest shall put her under oath, and say to the woman, 'If no man has lain with you...be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. But if you have gone astray...and you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you ' - then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of a 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 (Lit. fall away) and your belly swell; 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.' (vs. 18-22)
"And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water...."
(vs. 24)
"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. But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive children. This is the law of jealousy, when a wife...goes astray and defiles herself, 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.... Then the man shall be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her guilt." (vs. 27-31)
And rejoice with the wife of your
youth."
And obtains favor from the Lord."
Because the Lord has been witness
Between you and the wife of your
youth,
With whom you have dealt
treacherously;
Yet she is your companion
And your wife by covenant,
But did He not make them one,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
He seeks godly offspring.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with
the wife of his youth.
'For the Lord God of Israel says
That He hates divorce,
For it covers one's garment with
violence,'
Says the Lord of hosts.
'Therefore take heed to your spirit,
That you do not deal treacherously.' "
"But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."
See (Fornication - Is Still Sin,
and The Samaritan Woman - Not An Adulteress)
Note: Divorce and marriage today are so far removed
from what God intended it is staggering. God initially gave a man an entire
year to bring his new wife happiness. (Deut. 24:5) To speak to her and learn of her hopes
and dreams, and to find what pleases her intimately as well. She was to
respect her husband. If a man thought his wife was unfaithful he took her to
the priest, and if she was found to be innocent he had to pay her father a fine
because he brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. Then he could not divorce
her all his days. This study also addresses the fact that a spirit of jealousy can come over a man in regards to his wife without her being unfaithful. Scripture does not go into those reasons, but we see (in Galations 5:20) that jealousy is one of the works of the flesh. I once was at a young couple's house until 5 a.m. trying to help the man understand just this thing. He was of a culture that they believed it was OK to be jealous because God says He is a jealous God (Exod. 20:5). He thought his pregnant wife was unfaithful to him because of this type of jealousy, and she had not been. By the grace of God I was able to show him through some of these scriptures that it is possible for a man to be jealous, and his wife innocent. God changed his heart.
There are other things that mankind openly does now which God would consider a defilement.
See (Beastiality Is Perversion To God,
Homosexuality Is An Abomination To God,
and Incest Is Wickedness To God)
It's also important to realize a Christian wife cannot save her husband by submission, nor can a Christian husband save his wife by insisting she do whatever he says because "He's the head of the house." If what he wants her to do is against what God says is right in His Word then she should not submit.
See (Wives Submit - As Unto God)
Women are called to be a witness to our spouse by our reverence of God; showing no fear of the enemies tactics, and men are called to love their wives as themselves. When we, loving God, want to do things God's way we need only to ask Him to change how we feel about our spouse, instead of wanting Him to change them, then He will change the Christian's heart towards their spouse, along with the heart of the sanctified spouse. Clearly the key here is for every child of God to study His word so that we may know what His will is for us in our lives. Yes we will stumble and fall at times, but God is faithful to be there for us when we come back to Him. The important thing to remember is to make sure you go to God when you fail - not away from Him because no matter how far we go, or how fast we run, when we stop and look back to Him we realize He was right there loving us in the midst of our struggle the whole time. Never believe the lie that God doesn't love you because of your sin. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us before we knew Him.
