It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.

As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.

Torah Portion Name and Readings-

Nasso is the Hebrew words for “lift up” (Nasso rosh, translated ‘take a census’ literally means ‘lift up the head’) and is the name for the weekly Torah Portion reading for the Book of Numbers starting in chapter 4 verse 21 and going through chapter 7 verse 89.

Prophets and New Testament-

It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of Judges in chapter 13 verse 2 through verse 25.

The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Luke in chapter 1 with verses 11 through 20.

Torah Portion Overview-

Trial by Yahweh

In the law of the Jealous husband we find a scenario where the husband suspects that his wife has committed adultery. Scholars debate on if the husband is suspicious because he has found that she is pregnant, or if she has acted in a way that has aroused suspicion. But whatever the reason the husband is filled with jealousy. He is to come before the priest and bring an offering of a tenth of an ephah of Barley flour with no oil or frankincense on it. The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch explains the measurements.

“The basic dry-measure system of the Hebrews was a decimal structure: 1 homer = 10 ephahs; 1ephah = 10 omers (see Ex 16:36; Ezek 45:11). The ephah, according to Leviticus 19:36, was the primary and most common dry measure. It was equal to 3/8 to 2/3 bushel.”

Barley is 48 lbs a bushel. So an ephah would be approximately 32 lbs, the husband had to bring about 3.2 lbs of barley, or over 3 loaves worth of barley (if all assumptions are correct). The priest takes an earthen vessel, mixes holy water and dust from the floor of the tabernacle together. This is called the water of bitterness that brings a curse. The accused woman takes an oath that she is innocent but will be cursed if she is guilty. The priests writes the curse with ink and then washes the ink into the bitter water. Then the woman drinks the water, the priest waves the grain offering and burns some. Then the woman drinks more bitter waters (I am not sure if she drinks once or twice, but it appears that she drinks twice).

Numbers 5:27-28 (ESV)

“And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people. But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.”

There is some debate on what this means, but either way, the punishment was severe. Even the start of the ceremony the woman has to let down her hair, a form of shame! This whole procedure would have been very hard on the woman and would encourage any woman to be sure not to arouse suspicion. However, the shame of a wife that was found innocent would end with the husband being shamed (Deuteronomy 22:13-19), so this kind of accusation was probably not common in my opinion.

This whole law may seem harsh, but it was common to have a trial by ordeal like this in Africa and Mesopotamia. Other nations would tie you up and throw you into a river, or make you hold a burning object. This Israelite trial was of note, because the miracle is not her survival, but her punishment. What I mean by this is if you are tied up and thrown into a river because of an accusation of adultery, you may drown whether you’re innocent or not, just because you can’t swim. Drinking the bitter water however would have no effect on the woman unless Yahweh intervened. Thus this was a trial by Yahweh. It was a safe (yet shameful) way to find out if the woman was guilty.

But why would this matter to us? There is no temple or tabernacle that a man could bring his wife to, there is no priest to perform the ritual, therefore this command seems to lack modern meaning. But does it? Indeed it is rich when we bring it to bear in comparison to the New Testament.

I am reminded of the woman in John 7:53-8:11 who was caught in adultery and brought before Yeshua (Jesus) to trap Him. The Romans had already removed the ability for the Jews to inflict capital punishment, thus, if Jesus (Yeshua) instructed the accusers to stone the woman as the law required then He would be in rebellion against Rome. But if He said to show her grace then He would be in rebellion to the Torah. And so this was supposed to be a trap. The Pharisees were shaming a woman just to trap Him! Besides that fact I will point out two problems here.

1. Where is the man? When someone is caught in adultery they were to be brought together and accused by two or three witnesses. If they were guilty they would be stoned together (if she was betrothed) (Deuteronomy 22:23-24) or put to death (if she was married) (Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22). So where was the man? Why was only the woman brought?

2. Why come to Yeshua? Yeshua was a Rabbi, He was not a priest, Sanhedrin council member, or even a tribal leader. So why come to Him? Yes He is the Messiah, but the Pharisees did not believe He was! If this was actually about justice they would have taken the man and woman to the judges, instead they brought only the woman to Yeshua.

Jesus immediately ignores them and begins to write in the ground. Perhaps He was thinking of this verse.

Jeremiah 17:13 (ESV)

“O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.”

We don’t know exactly what He wrote, perhaps He wrote their names down, some say their sins. It is not meant for us to know for sure, the point is not what He wrote, but what He said.

John 8:7b (ESV)

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

They were immediately ashamed and left. Notice that they shamed the woman and He responded by shaming them! They have no right to condemn her. He then turns to the woman, and asks,

John 8:10-11 (ESV)

“Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

The only one who had the right to condemn her did not! He chose mercy!! The parallels here are striking! Compare the dust in the tabernacle being mixed with the written curse, to Jesus writing in the dust. Yet our Lord showed mercy! You see, Yeshua came for a bride that has often been unfaithful to Him (Hosea 1-3, Jeremiah 3). We were unfaithful! We deserved a curse! But just as we talked about with the curse of the law, He came to set us free from that curse! He loves us so much and He loves the world around us so much!

When we look into the eyes of the world; adulterers, fornicators, strippers, thieves, murderers, gossips, abusers, narcissists, we are looking at those whom Jesus loves, whom He died for, and whom He says “I do not condemn you, go and sin no more.”

Love them.

Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-

• Numbers 4:21 Continued census and service of the Levite families

• Numbers 5:1 Israel removes the unclean

• Numbers 5:5 Confession of sin and restitution

• Numbers 5:11 Jealousy curse for Adulterous wife

• Numbers 6:1 The Nazirites

• Numbers 6:22 The Aaronic blessing

• Numbers 7:1 Dedication offerings

Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-

• Judges 13:2 Manoah sees The Angel of Yahweh and receives word of Sampson

Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-

• Luke 1:11 Zechariah sees Gabriel and receives word of John

Bibliography

• Baruch A. Levine, Numbers 1–20: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 4 of Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 192–212.

• J. D. Currid, “Weights and Measures,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 889.

• George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers, International Critical Commentary (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1903), 43–49.

• D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 333–334.

• Gail R. O’Day, “John 7:53–8:11: A Study in Misreading,” Journal of Biblical Literature 111 (1992): 631.

The Book of Numbers “Bamidbar” which means “in the wilderness.”

The Old Testament is commonly referred to as the Torah. It is considered the most sacred of all of Israel’s Scriptures. Most of our modern Bibles include the Old Testament “Torah” as the first five books in the Bible. The name for the forth book of the Bible, Numbers, is called Bamidbar in the Hebrew. The name “Bamidbar ” comes from the opening phrases in the book of Numbers which means “in the wilderness.”

Numbers flows directly out of the stories in the previous books of Exodus and Leviticus and recounts their journey in the wilderness as they leave Mount Sinai.

As Christians, we find the book of Numbers and the stories therein, as a historical account of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness which helps to inform us on how we should face adversity, hardship, trials, and tribulations, as well as judgment, with faith, courage, and obedience.

To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE