>From  Brian L. Fulton
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Bitter Waters of the Adulterous Wife


Hello Eddie,

    I have been trying to read all of the information you have posted on
your page about the seven Feasts of our Lord.  After reading the
information that you included on the marriage covenant of the
Israelites in your Rosh Hashanah paper and how it parallels the method
whereby Yeshua is marrying the Ekklesia, I have some additional
information that I believe you will find very interesting.  It
concerns the punishment for the adulterous wife that is found in
Chapter 5 of Numbers.  This topic is pretty deep, but I'll try to
cover it quickly to keep this post as short as possible. 


     In the days when the temple still stood in ancient Israel, any Hebrew's
wife who was guilty of committing adultery, would be brought to the
Cohen Gadol and would have to drink bitter waters which would either
convict her of her sin or excuse her.


Num 5:12-18
12  "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'If any man's
        wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him,
13   '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--
14    '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--
15   'then the man shall bring his wife to the Cohen. He shall bring
        the offering required for her, one-tenth of an EPHAH 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.
16   'And the Cohen shall bring her near, and set her before HaShem.
17   'The Cohen 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.
18    'Then the Cohen shall stand the woman before HaShem, uncover
         the woman's head, and put the offering for remembering in her
         hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the Cohen
         shall have in his hand the BITTER WATER THAT BRINGS A CURSE.


After the  Cohen Gadol puts the dust from the tabernacle floor into
the water, it becomes BITTER WATER.  This happens BEFORE the curses
are written down in the book and washed out into the cup.

Num 5:19-29
19    'And the Cohen 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.
20    "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"--
21     'then the Cohen shall put the woman under the oath of the
          curse, and he shall say to the woman--" HaShem make you a curse and an
          oath among your people, when HaShem makes your thigh rot and
          your belly swell;
22     "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."
23     'Then the Cohen shall WRITE THESE CURSES IN A BOOK, and he
          shall scrape them off INTO THE   BITTER WATER.
24     'And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings
          a curse,  and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to
          become bitter.
25     'Then the Cohen shall take the grain offering of jealousy from
           the woman's hand, shall wave the offering before HaShem, and
           bring it to the altar;
26      'and the Cohen shall take a handful of the offering, as its
           memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the
           woman drink the water.
27      'When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if
           she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her
           husband, that the water that brings a curse will enter her
           and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will
           rot, and the woman will become a curse among her people.
28      'But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then
           she shall  be free and may conceive children.
29      'This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her
            husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself,

After putting dust from the tabernacle floor into the cup, the Cohen
Gadol would write down all the curses on paper. The Cohen Gadol would
then pour the bitter water over the paper, washing them down into a
jar or cup that the accused adulteress would drink of. The sins of the
woman were now symbolically contained in the cup.  When the woman
drank this water, it was symbolic of the woman drinking up her sins.

Rev 8:10-11
10   Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven,
        burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the
        springs of water.
11   The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became
        wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was
        made BITTER.

The third shofar plague of Revelation turns the rivers and fresh
springs of water to wormwood, or bitter water.  Wormwood is portrayed
in the Scriptures as the penalty for committing idolatry or spiritual
adultery.  Like the adulterous woman of Numbers, all of the nations
that do not worship Hashem, and are therefore guilty of committing
spiritual adultery with the god of this world, will have to drink of
the water that brings a curse. In Numbers the water was FIRST turned
bitter by putting dirt from the tabernacle floor into it, and then the
Cohen Gadol would write down the sins and curses into a book and would
wash them off with the bitter water which trickled down into the jar
or cup that the adulteress would drink of.  Just as in Numbers, the
waters in Revelation are first turned bitter, then the sins of the
people are written in a book in heaven and the bitter water is poured
over them washing off the sins from the book into the rivers and
streams that the people must now drink.

Rev 16:4-6
4   Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the RIVERS AND SPRINGS
      OF WATER, and THEY BECAME BLOOD.
5    And I heard the angel of the waters saying: "You are righteous, O
      L-rd,  the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have
      judged these things.
6   For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have
     given them blood to drink. For it is their just due."

Now, after the waters are turned bitter, the people must drink of
their sins (which is the water that symbolically contains them), to
atone for their transgression.  The water is turned to blood because
this punishment is symbolic of the sins that they have committed,
namely the slaying of God's people.  In heaven, Yeshua our Cohen Gadol
has written down the sins of the people in a book and will pour out
the bitter water over them, washing the sins into the rivers and
springs of water that the people must now drink. Once we understand
that the punishment that is given to the adulterous woman of Numbers
is symbolic of the punishment of all who commit fornication with the
world, we can come to a deeper and more profound understanding of the
meaning of this temple ritual.

Rev 17:3-6
3    So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I
       saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of
       blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4     The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with
        gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden CUP
        FULL OF ABOMINATIONS AND THE FILTHINESS OF HER FORNICATION.
5      And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE
        GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE
        EARTH.
6      I saw the woman, DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS AND WITH
        THE BLOOD OF MARTYRS of Yeshua.

This cup that Babylon the Great was holding was the cup full of the
sins that she was guilty of committing.  Just as when the adulterous
woman in Israel would have to drink of the filthiness of her
fornication, symbolized by the curses being washed from the paper into
the cup, so too will Babylon the Great have to drink up her sins of
spiritual adultery.  The cup that she is holding in the above verse
has already had the sins washed into it from God's book.  As her
punishment, Babylon the Great (the nations of the world) will have to
symbolically drink the blood of the saints, since this is her crime
against G-d.  This is why the rivers and fountains of water are turned
to blood as demonstrated by Revelation 16:4-6.

Rev 14:9-10
9    Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If
       anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark
       on his forehead or on his hand,
10   "he himself shall also DRINK THE WINE OF THE WRATH OF GOD, which
         is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He
        shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of
        the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

As we know from the Gospels, wine is symbolic of blood.  Therefore,
drinking the WINE of the wrath of God is the symbolic punishment of
all those who are guilty of shedding the BLOOD of the saints.  Not
only are these people guilty of killing the saints, but they have also
committed spiritual adultery with the god of this world, Satan.

Therefore, as prescribed by the Torah, these people must drink of the
bitter waters that bring a curse.  As demonstrated by Revelation, the
waters are first turned bitter, and then their sins are washed into
this bitter water which in turn must be drank by those who have
committed this fornication.  This cup that is full of the "wine of the
wrath of God" is the same cup that the adulterous woman had to drink
of in Numbers.  Below are some examples in the Scriptures where this
"water that brings a curse"  can be found.

Hosea 5:10
10    "The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I
will POUR OUT my wrath on them like [bitter] WATER.

Jer 25:15-17
15    For thus says HaShem God of Israel to me: "Take this WINE CUP OF
FURY from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to
drink it. 16    "And they will drink and stagger and go mad because of
the sword that I will send among them." 17    Then I took the CUP from
HaShem's hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom HaShem had sent
me:

Job 21:20
20   Let his eyes see his destruction, and let him DRINK of the wrath
of the Almighty.

Ps 75:8
8     For in the hand of HaShem there is a CUP, and the WINE is red;
it is fully mixed, and He pours it out; surely its dregs shall all the
wicked of the earth Drain and drink down.

Isa 51:17
17   Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the
hand of HaShem the CUP of His fury; you have drunk the dregs of the
cup of trembling, and drained it out.

Isa 51:22
22   Thus says your L-rd, HaShem and your God, who pleads the cause of
His people: "See, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trembling,
the dregs of the cup of My fury; you shall no longer drink it.

Every one of us has a choice, we can either drink of the cup of God's
wrath, or we can drink of the cup of G-d's covenant.  The cup of God's
covenant can be referred to as the "water of life," as opposed to the
"bitter water," or the "water that causes a curse" that Satan offers.
We must drink one cup or the other.

1 Cor 10:21
21  You cannot drink the CUP OF THE LORD and the CUP OF DEMONS; you
cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons.

As we all know, when Yeshua was hanging from His execution stake
(tree) He asked for something to drink and they gave Him vinegar.
Although we may have never realized it, there is profound significance
in the fact that Yeshua's last act was drinking vinegar before
yielding up His Spirit on the tree.  Vinegar can be described as sour
wine.  A synonym for sour is bitter, therefore vinegar could be called
BITTER WINE.  This vinegar that Yeshua drank of was both symbolic of
the BITTER waters that the adulteress would have to drink of at the
temple, and the WINE of the fury of G-d found in the hand of Babylon
the Great in Revelation.

John 19:29-30
29   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. 30
So when Yeshua had received the SOUR WINE, He said, "It is
finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Matt 27:45-50
45   Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness
over all the land. 46  And about the ninth hour Yeshua cried out with
a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God,
My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 47  Some of those who stood there,
when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!" 48
Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with SOUR
WINE and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49  The
rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save
Him." 50   And Yeshua cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded
up His spirit.

Mark 15:36
36   Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of SOUR WINE, put it on
a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us
see if Elijah will come to take Him down."

What was the purpose for Yeshua drinking the water that brings a
curse? According to the Torah, any wife that has committed adultery
had to drink of the bitter water. We are the BRIDE of Yeshua.  Being
imperfect humans, we commit sin, which is in reality spiritual
adultery, all of the time.  So we, being the bride of The Messiah, are
guilty of committing spiritual adultery. If we were to obey the Torah
to the letter, we would all have to drink of the waters that bring a
curse (BITTER water) since we have committed spiritual fornication.

But God in His infinite mercy has given His only begotten Son to take
the punishment for His bride in our stead.  He drank the BITTER wine
so that we don't have to.  Although we didn't drink bitter waters, we
died according to the requirements of  the Torah by being buried into
water and our sins were washed off into the water, not unlike the sins
of the adulteress being washed off from the book into the cup for her
to drink.  This vinegar that Yeshua drank was also symbolic of the
wine of God's wrath which is given to Babylon to drink.  Every one of
us is guilty of killing Yeshua since we have all sinned.  Therefore,
by rights, our sin is not only spiritual adultery, but we have also
shed the blood of the Son of God.  Therefore we must drink of the
punishment for shedding the BLOOD of the Son of God, which is the WINE
of God's wrath.   But as stated above, Yeshua has drank of this
punishment symbolically portrayed as bitter WINE, so that the only
atonement we have to make is to drink the cup of His blood every year
at Passover.  This cup that He drank at the very end of His life is
the same cup that He spoke of throughout His three year ministry.

Matt 20:22
22   But Yeshua answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are
you able to drink the CUP that I am about to drink, and be baptized
with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are
able."

Matt 26:42
42   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."

Mark 14:36
36   And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take
this CUP away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You
will."

John 18:11
11   Then Yeshua said to Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath. Shall
I not DRINK the CUP which My Father has given Me?"

The cup of the adulterous woman spoken of in the book of Numbers has
proven to be a key to great insight.  This same cup is the one spoken of in
Revelation that Babylon the Great has been given to drink from.
Yeshua Himself drank of this cup so that we, His Ekklesia, can be
found righteous, and are as a result, capable of standing in the day
of His return.  Let us hold this knowledge in remembrance as a
testimony to God's endearing love for all of His people.  As I said, I
have covered this topic very briefly, but I hope I have explained it
well enough to provide insight into this amazing act of selflessness
that was demonstrated by Yeshua.  Take care, and G-d bless.

Your brother in Yeshua,
Brian L. Fulton

**********************************************************************

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Please visit the Hebraic Roots Global Network
Web Site located at:

http://www.hebroots.org/

Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int'l