11And the LORD said to Moses, 12“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel
“Suppose a man’s wife goes astray, and she is unfaithful to her husband 13and has sex with another man, but neither her husband nor anyone else knows about it. She has defiled herself, even though there was no witness and she was not caught in the act. 14If her husband becomes jealous and is suspicious of his wife and needs to know whether or not she has defiled herself,
“This law was given partly to deter wives from adulterous practices, and partly to secure wives against the rage of their hard-hearted husbands, who otherwise might upon mere suspicions destroy them, or at least put them away.” (Poole)
Jealousy
We’ve all been there and sometimes it’s justified and other times it’s not. In this unique scripture the Lord gives Israel a method in dealing with the spirit of jealousy.
“When jealousy begins to turn its sharp tooth upon a man’s heart, his reason fails him. Madness takes possession of his faculties. A determined purpose, which he would not have dared to contemplate under the influence of a well-balanced judgment, prompts, plans, and performs, almost without premeditation, an atrocious crime, when jealousy rules the cruel hour. We believe it, and we deplore it, no revenge has ever been found too bitter, too malicious, too lawless for jealousy to inflict. Relentless as the grave, it spares not youth nor beauty, respects not fame nor fortune, but accounts all comers for its prey.” (Spurgeon)
My wife enjoys murder mysteries like Homicide Hunter and First 48 Hours. Often these murders are investigated and discovered to be a crime of passion and jealousy.
Have you ever been guilty of jealousy?
Blessings
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