Numbers 5 / Psalm 32

Numbers 5

1 - 4 Unclean Persons

Anyone who is impure or who has had contact with the impure must be put outside the camp.

5 - 10 Confession and Restitution

My notes say this is a supplement to Leviticus 6.1-7 in case the injured party has died or there's no next of kin.

11 - 31 Concerning an Unfaithful Wife

Here's what to do when a woman is suspected of adultry: Bring her to the priest and offer a cereal offering of jealousy. The priest will have the woman stand before the Lord and place the offering in his hands. If she is guilty, the water of bitterness will have a negative effect on her body; if she's truthful, the water will have no effect. My notes say the symptoms in 21 describe a prolapsed uterus. The punishment for the guilty is the inability to bear children.

Hmn, let's move on to the psalm . . .

Psalm 32

Remission of Sin

1 - 2 Happy are those who are forgiven

3 - 7 "As long as I kept silent, my bones wasted away. At one time the psalmist was stubborn, and a victim of his sin, but once he opened himself he My notes: "Sin here, as often in the Bible, is not only the personal act of rebellion against God but also the consequences of that act - frustration and waning of vitality.

8 - 11 The psalmist wishes to teach others about the stupidity of sin. "Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you just; exult, all you upright in heart."