Wondering can turn into curiosity and then suspicion. If this pattern happens between a man and woman, the next step may be jealousy. After jealousy, all sorts of things can happen- most of them are NOT GOOD!!! Consider the following passages of Scripture...
Numbers, Chapter 5
11 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him, 13 and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act; 14 and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she isn’t defiled: 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. 16 The priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh; 17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water. 18 The priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19 The priest shall cause her to swear, and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 20 But if you have gone astray, being under your husband, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband:” 21 then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; 22 and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.” The woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.”
Exodus, Chapter 20
1 God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Hebrews, Chapter 3
1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus; 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also was Moses in all his house. 3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God. 5 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken, 6 but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end. 7 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today if you will hear his voice,
8 don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers tested me by proving me,
and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was displeased with that generation,
and said, ‘They always err in their heart,
but they didn’t know my ways;’
11 as I swore in my wrath,
‘They will not enter into my rest.’”
12 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
“Today if you will hear his voice,
8 don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers tested me by proving me,
and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was displeased with that generation,
and said, ‘They always err in their heart,
but they didn’t know my ways;’
11 as I swore in my wrath,
‘They will not enter into my rest.’”
12 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
The first time I read about the "water of bitterness (or jealously)" it struck me as being harsh. After all, there is no such parallel for men. But, since I know that the psyches of men and women are different- I put it in God's hands. Then, I wondered how God (being a jealous God) feels about those who fall away from following the truth. The answer is punishment. What degree for what level of disregarding God? Trying to figure that one out could drive one crazy. This much seems sure to me: if you remain faithful, you have nothing to worry about. Now, put THAT in braille!!! And I really don't care how many dots you use, either!!!!
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