I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 5-6.

    The description of the trial a woman must go through if her husband believed her to be unfaithful bothers me. However, there are two things it is important to remember here. Many of the surrounding cultures (and even many cultures in the world today) would have found it perfectly acceptable for the husband to torture or kill his wife out of his jealousy, with no more evidence than his suspicion. Second, those who condemn this as barbaric and arbitrary are dismissing the power of God. It is well within God’s power to cause only those women who had been unfaithful to suffer the possible negative effects of this drink. That being said, I am happy that we do not practice this.

    I find the description of the ritual to be taken by anyone taking the vow of the Nazirite fascinating. It occurred to me that this vow was something which predated this ritual and this ritual was a formalization of what the vow was. I am unsure what the vow of the Nazirite is. From the context, I am going to attempt to figure out as much about it as I can. One taking the vow of the Nazirite was dedicating themselves to carry out some task which they felt furthered God’s will in this world. I believe that one could also take the vow to request God’s assistance to carry out some task which one was then dedicating to increase the glory of God. There are several stories later in the Bible of God instructing a woman to commit her son to a Nazirite vow from the time of his conception (Sampson and Samuel come to mind). One of the key factors in the vow of the Nazirite is dedicating oneself to maintaining both the appearance and truth of holiness.