Numbers 5:21

The priest would put the offering in the woman's hand and hold the bitter water himself. If she was guilty, that water would bring a curse on her. Then the priest would put her under oath. Of course, if she had already confessed her guilt, this would not be needed. Her oath was a statement that she was not guilty. The priest would warn her that if she was lying, the Lord would make her thigh rot and her belly swell, so that she became a curse among the people (v.21). She was to answer, "Amen, so be it" (v.22).

A strong statement of agreement and consent. We first read of its use when a woman was suspected of being unfaithful to her husband and had to drink the bitter water. The priest spoke a curse that would fall on her if she was guilty, and the woman had to answer, "Amen, Amen." Numbers 5:22.

The camp was to be holy, because it was the dwelling place of God. If a man began to suspect his wife, that suspicion was not to be left to fester in his mind. It had to be tested, whether it rested on fact or on imagination. If it was true, judgment fell on the woman. If it was false, she went free, and the trial showed it.

He wanted His people together to judge evil, and each one to judge himself. But even where there was only a suspicion of evil, with no evidence to be had, He Himself designed a trial that brought the truth fully to light. The guilty one had to drink death, and found it to be judgement. The faithful one drank death, and found it victory.

The law of jealousy, for when a man suspected his wife of being unfaithful to him, is given in Numbers 5:11-31. The woman had to drink bitter water. It was made of "holy water" with dust from the floor of the tabernacle put into it. The dust pictures the Holy Spirit using the word to press on the conscience what death is, as God's judgement of sin. If she had been unfaithful, it would be a curse to her.

At last He brings His case against her by this trial. She acts like a hardened wife who dares to face the test while she knows her own guilt, and she defies divine justice. When Israel said, "His blood be on us and on our children!" it was like the woman's "Amen" to the curse spoken over her. But their confidence has been their shame.

The Lord she wronged will accept her again. She has been unfaithful, it is true, and the trial of jealousy proved it. She has said, "I will go after my lovers." But the Lord has also said, "I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy."

It may be very painful for us to be suspected, but when we are, let us never resent it in the pride of our hearts... A restless urge to make excuses and deny the charge is always a sign of weakness at the least, and very often a sign of guilt. As a rule, the fiercer the denial, the more certain the guilt. ... Where the heart is willing for everything to be tested in God's presence, the Lord takes up the cause of the one suspected without cause, and makes everything flourish as never before.