Tag: Numbers 5

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Who Drinks the Curse?

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Numbers 5 Listen: (4:39) Read: Acts 28 Listen: (4:56)

Scripture Focus: Numbers 5.12-17

12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him 13 so that another man has sexual relations with her, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), 14 and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure—15 then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah  of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder-offering to draw attention to wrongdoing. 16 “ ‘The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord.

John 8.2-11

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Reflection: Who Drinks the Curse?

By John Tillman

The “jealousy sacrifice” is uncomfortable to read. It seems like a double standard. The “adulterous woman” is held accountable, but what about the unknown adulterer? Also, why is there no test for the unfaithfulness of a man suspected by his wife? Could this ceremony be performed if suspicions were reversed?

Struggling with difficult parts of the Bible is a necessary part of faith. Pretending the Bible is easy to understand is a denial of truth. There is no satisfactory explanation we can reach in a 400-word devotional. But here are a few practical and symbolic things to reflect on.

The sacrifice tests the couple, not just the woman. The sacrifice’s lack of oil addresses the marriage’s lack of trust and joy. Distrust is based on jealous “feelings,” not evidence. The woman’s faithfulness and man’s unsubstantiated suspicions are tested. The ceremony’s primary purpose seems to be restoring trust by proving the wife’s innocence rather than punishing her guilt.

The curse would vindicate the innocent. The Tabernacle’s dust was holy and only harmed the unholy. The ink of the written curse would be washed off the scroll into the water and reveal the truth. Shame would fall on the guilty party. Either secret adultery or public jealousy would be shamed. An unharmed woman would be shown to be holy.

Some Mosaic laws were allowances for hard hearts. (Matthew 19.7-9; Mark 10.4-9) Jesus prioritized Edenic ideals over Mosaic commands, saying “Moses allowed” things God did not intend from the beginning. Mosaic law was how God dealt with the people where they were.

Jesus redeems sinners and the law. Everything in the Old Testament is about Jesus. (Luke 24.25-27) Jesus seemed to subtly reference this curse when the “adulterous woman” was brought before him in the Temple. The differences are that neither her husband nor the adulterer are with her. How can someone be caught “in the act” without the partner being there?

Jesus stooped to the dust of the Temple floor as the priest would in the Tabernacle. Jesus wrote in the dust just as the priest wrote the curse. What Jesus wrote in the dust surely exposed the jealousies and sins of those standing there, as the curse would expose the truth behind the accuser’s suspicions.

Satan accuses us not with “feelings” but facts. We are guilty. Yet, Jesus defends us. He drinks our curse and bids us “sin no more.”


Let us say, “Amen. So be it.” (Numbers 5.22b)

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Jesus said to us: “Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.” — Matthew 10.26-27

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Calluses Aren’t Forever

Calluses develop. We aren’t born with them…calloused hearts, ears, and eyes were temporary. Jesus and Paul knew this. Calluses aren’t forever.

Calluses Aren’t Forever
Read more: Are There Ashtrays in Your Elevators?

Like ashtrays in elevators, there are always systemic, tangible, widespread, societal enablements of sins.

Are There Ashtrays in Your Elevators?

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Are There Ashtrays in Your Elevators?

Scripture Focus: Numbers 5.5-8
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord is guilty 7 and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. 8 But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer.

Reflection: Are There Ashtrays in Your Elevators?
By John Tillman

God’s law is clear. Harming others is sin against God. There is no way in which a person can be harmed that is not connected to sin. Thinking about systemic sin and harm to others always reminds me of ashtrays in elevators. 

If you happen to see an ashtray in an elevator, I’d recommend taking the stairs. That elevator is old.

When smoking was viewed as innocuous, even healthful, it was incorporated into every aspect of life. From the 60s to the 80s, ashtrays were a ubiquitous normality of architecture and design. They appeared on every surface like not-so-secret compartments with nifty little sliding, rotating, or opening panels. Like light switches, they were built into the walls of hallways, offices, and hospital rooms. They were in desks and bathroom stalls and above every urinal. Some cars had more ashtrays than seatbelts. Airlines installed them in armrests both in terminals and in planes. But most memorable to me, for some reason, were the ones in elevators. Not even for the brief time of riding in an elevator, could people do without an ashtray.

Even as society realized that smoking was literally killing people, this didn’t change. We clung to personal freedom in defiance of scientific revelations. It was only when we recognized that cigarette smoke was not only harmful to the smoker but to everyone else in the elevators and other public spaces, that smoking “rights” began to be curtailed.

Is smoking a sin? Perhaps. But sin is absolutely like smoking. 

In the individualistic West, we think of sin mostly as personal choices that only affect the individual. However, there are no sins that only harm ourselves. Sin is not just what happens inside our minds, souls, or bodies. Sin creates a transcendent cloud of tangible and intangible damage that may be physical, economic, or cultural. Sin poisons everyone in our atmosphere.

Like ashtrays in elevators, there are always systemic, tangible, widespread, societal enablements of sins, especially if we think of them as innocuous. Let’s examine ourselves with sober judgment.

Are there ashtrays in your elevators? What in your life indicates an enabling of sin?
What sins do you think of as innocuous? Are you using personal freedom as an excuse for actions which harm others?

What harm to others do you need to repent of? What support structures of sins need to be ripped out of the walls of your life?


Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Righteousness shall go before him, and peace shall be a pathway for his feet. — Psalm 85.13

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 5 (Listen 4:39)
Acts 28 (Listen 4:56)

This Weekend’s Readings
Numbers 6 (Listen 4:04), James 1 (Listen 3:26)
Numbers 7 (Listen 12:51), James 2 (Listen 3:32)

Read more about The Sins Behind Sexual Sins
Many times sexual sins are a symptom of other sins such as greed, selfishness, inequality, and oppression.

The Sins Behind Sexual Sins—Readers’ Choice

Read more about Seeing And Believing
What personal experience have we had with Jesus that points to a transformative experience in our lives today?

Seeing And Believing
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Are There Ashtrays in Your Elevators?

Scripture Focus: Numbers 5.5-8
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord is guilty 7 and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. 8 But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer.

Reflection: Are There Ashtrays in Your Elevators?
By John Tillman

God’s law is clear. Harming others is sin against God. There is no way in which a person can be harmed that is not connected to sin. Thinking about systemic sin and harm to others always reminds me of ashtrays in elevators. 

If you happen to see an ashtray in an elevator, I’d recommend taking the stairs. That elevator is old.

When smoking was viewed as innocuous, even healthful, it was incorporated into every aspect of life. From the 60s to the 80s, ashtrays were a ubiquitous normality of architecture and design. They appeared on every surface like not-so-secret compartments with nifty little sliding, rotating, or opening panels. Like light switches, they were built into the walls of hallways, offices, and hospital rooms. They were in desks and bathroom stalls and above every urinal. Some cars had more ashtrays than seatbelts. Airlines installed them in armrests both in terminals and in planes. But most memorable to me, for some reason, were the ones in elevators. Not even for the brief time of riding in an elevator, could people do without an ashtray.

Even as society realized that smoking was literally killing people, this didn’t change. We clung to personal freedom in defiance of scientific revelations. It was only when we recognized that cigarette smoke was not only harmful to the smoker but to everyone else in the elevators and other public spaces, that smoking “rights” began to be curtailed.

Is smoking a sin? Perhaps. But sin is absolutely like smoking. 

In the individualistic West, we think of sin mostly as personal choices that only affect the individual. However, there are no sins that only harm ourselves. Sin is not just what happens inside our minds, souls, or bodies. Sin creates a transcendent cloud of tangible and intangible damage. This damage may be physical, economic, or cultural. Sin poisons everyone in our atmosphere.

Like ashtrays in elevators, there are always systemic, tangible, widespread, societal enablements of sins, especially if we think of them as innocuous. Let’s examine ourselves with sober judgment.

Are there ashtrays in your elevators? What in your life indicates an enabling of sin?
What sins do you think of as innocuous? Are you using personal freedom as an excuse for actions which harm others?
What harm to others do you need to repent of? What support structures of sins need to be ripped out of the walls of your life?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
The Lord is near to those who call upon him, to all who call upon him faithfully. — Psalm 145.19

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Numbers 5 (Listen – 4:39)
Psalms 39 (Listen – 1:49)

Read more about Steeped In Sin
Sin is gravity. It is our atmosphere. It is our water. We are radioactive with sin.

Steeped In Sin

Read more about Suffering and Sin
We feel less responsible when we believe only the lazy are poor, only the promiscuous are in danger of sexual assault, only hedonists become addicts, and only nihilists suffer depression.

Suffering and Sin