Jesus and the Adulterous Wife

I hear so often that Jesus died for the sins of the world. This line of thinking is based on a verse found in John.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I do not dispute that thought, however, I do believe there is so much more to this verse than what is commonly taught. It seems, from what I continuously hear, God loved the whole world, meaning every individual person, so he sent His only son to die for everyone sins. Now, this is where I start to see issues because Yeshua says He only came for the lost sheep of the House of Israel. There is a ton of information that would go into that and I have already covered it several times so I wont go into it here. But, the House of Israel was scattered among all the nations of the world, therefore it completely fits with what Yeshua says and what John says.

There are astounding parallels between Yeshua and the law of jealousy of the adulterous wife found in the Torah. This seems to make so much more sense when we realize exactly what Yeshua did for us, along with helping us understand who we are.  

Leviticus 27:1-4 (CJB)

Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘If someone makes a clearly defined vow to Adonai to give him an amount equal to the value of a human being, the value you are to assign to a man between the ages of twenty and sixty years is to be fifty shekels of silver, with the sanctuary shekel being the standard, if a woman, thirty shekels.

Matthew 26:14-16

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

Here is the first link between Yeshua and a woman. He was sold for thirty pieces of silver, which is the exact price for a woman and the age fits as well. Therefore, we know He was sold for less than the cost of a man.

Numbers 5:12-22, 29-33

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him, and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she caught— if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself— then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. He shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah (an OMER) of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance.

‘And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord. The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. Then the priest shall stand the woman before the Lord, uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. And the priest shall put her under oath, and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you”— then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—“the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh rot and your belly swell; and may this water that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot.”

‘Then the woman shall say, “Amen, so be it.”

‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself, or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife; then he shall stand the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute all this law upon her. Then the man shall be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’ ”

Deuteronomy 32:21

They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.

Hosea 5:3, 6:10

I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit adultery; Israel is defiled.

I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: There is the adultery of Ephraim; Israel is defiled.

Here we can see the Husband, who is YHWH was provoked to jealousy by Israel. In the law of jealousy the husband becomes jealous. YHHW is jealous of His wife. The woman may have defiled herself. We see the very same terminology with the House of Israel being the wife of YHWH.

Matthew 26:57

And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled

The adulterous wife is taken to the high priest, Yeshua is taken to the high priest. So far, Yeshua has hit all the high points of the adulterous wife. He says He came only for the lost sheep of the House of Israel. I believe this is to take her place due to her sin. We can also know that Yeshua took the place of the sinner in the story of Barabbas.

Matthew 27:20-21

But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!”

Mark 15:7

And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion

John 18:40

Then they all cried again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

Barabbas was a murderer and a thief. He represents a sinner and Yeshua was killed in his place. This is symbolic of the idea He took the place of the adulterous wife.

Matthew 26:39, 42

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

The adulterous wife had to drink a cup of bitter water to show whether or not she had committed adultery. This is the cup Yeshua is speaking about in the garden.

John 19:28-30

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Galatians 3:13-14

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23

“If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

As seen in the law of jealousy the woman becomes a curse. We see here Christ has become a curse for us, and was hung on a tree to assure the idea that He was cursed.

Numbers 5:21-22

then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—“the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh rot and your belly swell; and may this water that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot.” ‘Then the woman shall say, “Amen, so be it.”

The Hebrew word used for rot found in Numbers 5:22 is Strong's H5307 – naphal. This word can be translated to cease, die, waste away, fall short, to let drop, and cause to fail. Any of these could be acceptable.  

The phrase thigh waste away or rot could be a direct reference to Yeshua’s using his thigh muscles to lift Himself up to breath while hanging on the cross.

According to a science article put out by the Guardian News, this seems to be a definite possibility because hanging on the cross would require supporting yourself with thigh muscles until they eventually gave out.

“The feet were nailed to the upright part of the crucifix, so that the knees were bent at around 45 degrees. To speed death, executioners would often break the legs of their victims to give no chance of using their thigh muscles as support. It was probably unnecessary, as their strength would not have lasted more than a few minutes even if they were unharmed.”

The phrase “the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people” is translated in other ways as well. For example the Complete Jewish Bible says this, “…may Adonai make you an object of cursing and condemnation among your people …” Now couple this with the passage found in Matthew.

Matthew 27:39

And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads

We can clearly see Yeshua was cursed at and condemned by His people. We was mocked and ridiculed. This is another example of what seemingly fits with what is stated in the law of jealousy.

From what I have found concerning the science behind the crucifixion of Yeshua it seems His lungs would have filled with fluid as He hung from the cross. The weight of the fluid which filled His lungs would have pulled down on the lungs and push the abdomen out in a swelling.  This can be directly linked to show the adulterous woman’s abdomen swelling. Yeshua suffered bitterly as He hung on the cross which is another direct link to the law of jealousy found in verse 27.

Numbers 5:27

If she has defiled herself by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings on the curse will cause bitter suffering….

Yeshua undoubtedly took on the curse of the adulterous woman. There are simply far too many similarities between what He went through and what the adulterous wife was supposed to experience. Knowing the adulterous wife was the House of Israel, and knowing Yeshua came only for the lost sheep of the House of Israel, it all makes so much more sense. It is truly all about the love YHWH has for His chosen people. 

We can conclude from the similarities Yeshua took our place as the adulterous wife.

1.       Was bought for 30 silver pieces

2.       Brought husband to jealousy

3.       Defiled by another who is not the husband

4.       Went before the high priest

5.       Drank from the cup of sour wine/water

6.       Became a curse

All of these things should have come upon the House of Israel. Instead, the House of Israel was scattered among all the gentile nations of the world. This is the reason Yeshua says He came only for the House of Israel. They were the adulterous wife, but Yeshua stepped in and became cursed for them. Take this idea and compound it with the Deuteronomy 24 marriage law, which binds a wife to her husband so long as He lives, and being unable to return to the husband once divorced and defiled and there is no question as to why Yeshua had to die.