Numbers 5:11-16
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the people of Israel, If any man's wife goes astray and breaks faith with him, 13 if a man lies with her sexually, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act, 14 and if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself, 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16 And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord.
Numbers 5:11-31 is a strange law for determining whether a woman had been unfaithful. I do not suggest we follow the steps of this law, but the assumptions underlying the law are worthy of consideration. The assumption is that God knows what really happened. We might be able to hide our sin from others, but God knows the truth. Just because our family doesn't know what happened doesn't mean that we really "got away with it". The reality is that we've just postponed the punishment. But we don't really have any secrets before God, so there will be a reckoning. By bringing the person before the priest and making them take an oath before God, the Israelites were attempting to break through the person's denial and get them to admit the truth. That really is our only hope, for we either come clean now or we suffer the consequences later. This is why the 12 steps stress being honest about our sin, and honesty is also the goal of confronting a loved one about their sin. To get right with God we have to start by being honest with God.
God, to be honest, I am sometimes afraid of being honest. I'm afraid because I want You and others to like me, and I'm afraid you won't if You know my dark secrets. But honestly, that's rather silly, because You already know my dark secrets, for you know everything about me. So help me to be open and honest with You.
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the people of Israel, If any man's wife goes astray and breaks faith with him, 13 if a man lies with her sexually, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act, 14 and if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself, 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16 And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord.
Numbers 5:11-31 is a strange law for determining whether a woman had been unfaithful. I do not suggest we follow the steps of this law, but the assumptions underlying the law are worthy of consideration. The assumption is that God knows what really happened. We might be able to hide our sin from others, but God knows the truth. Just because our family doesn't know what happened doesn't mean that we really "got away with it". The reality is that we've just postponed the punishment. But we don't really have any secrets before God, so there will be a reckoning. By bringing the person before the priest and making them take an oath before God, the Israelites were attempting to break through the person's denial and get them to admit the truth. That really is our only hope, for we either come clean now or we suffer the consequences later. This is why the 12 steps stress being honest about our sin, and honesty is also the goal of confronting a loved one about their sin. To get right with God we have to start by being honest with God.
God, to be honest, I am sometimes afraid of being honest. I'm afraid because I want You and others to like me, and I'm afraid you won't if You know my dark secrets. But honestly, that's rather silly, because You already know my dark secrets, for you know everything about me. So help me to be open and honest with You.