What is Numbers 5:19-21 talking about? And why are we talking about this verse? Let’s examine and expose the Truth of God in God’s Word.
First, what does Numbers 5:19-21 say?
“Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— here the priest is to put the woman under this curse —“may the LORD cause you to become a curse among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell.“
The false accusation: mockers claim a) God is sanctioning abortion, and/or b) is unjust in punishing the child for the sins of the adulterers.
The truth in context: This passage actually points to a curse of infertility for violating the marriage covenant — the consequences of a wife’s adultery, not a sanctioned miscarriage or elective abortion. Even if divine miscarriage, God alone has the power to give and take life.
Is this about abortion or miscarriage?
This verse is dealing with the consequences of a wife having adulterous sexual relations with another man — an affair, and concealing it from her husband. But atheists and pro-abortionists try to use it to accuse God and claim abortion is condoned by God.
Nowhere in these verses is elective abortion by a mother or father condoned. Furthermore, it is not clear that this is a miscarriage, since only a few translations use the word miscarry. The context better fits a curse of infertility or barrenness for having despised God’s laws and the holy covenant of marriage between a husband and wife.
The vast majority of translations (ESV, NKJV, KJV, NASB, Young’s Literal, etc.) say nothing of miscarriage. Only the NIV (and lesser recognized REB, and NEB) use miscarriage language, which is not explicit in the Hebrew text.
But even if this text is referring to a miscarriage, it is a judgment from God — a consequence of sin, and God has the right to take any life He chooses. The difference between abortion and a divinely decreed premature birth is significant. We do not have the right to take innocent life, even the life of the pre-born babies. But God has every right, since He is the Creator of all things, and Judge over all.
Furthermore, the baby, taken early, would not have his or her mother’s sin on themselves. God would take care of and nurture the baby in Heaven.
Children have been taken to God early as a punishment to the parents. In King David’s case, when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and even murdered her husband, Uriah, to cover up his crime, the Lord’s judgment included taking the life of the child:
2 Samuel 12:13-15
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.”
After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.
This proves that children — even children born out of wedlock — are blessings to the Lord and the parents. God warns over and over that blessings follow and overtake those who walk with Him in humility, but curses will follow and overtake those who show utter contempt for the Lord.
It is important to remember that, while David lost the blessing of seeing his son grow up, he was forgiven by the Lord. You, too, can be forgiven by God through the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Simply confess your sins, draw near to Him, ask to be forgiven and the Lord will forgive you, completely!
Look at this wonderful promise:
1 John 1:9 – 2:2
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
What is the goal?
Sometimes a question about this verse is innocent and well-meaning, where a new Christian wants to understand God’s character against the backdrop of a permissive culture. Tough, heart to understand verses present themselves to believers, and it is natural to wrestle with them, but with the knowledge of God’s sovereignty and goodness guiding our desire to know the answer.
Other times, it is the spirit of antiChrist rising up against Christ, His Word, and the Church with something like “God is evil and unloving… what do you say about Lev. 27:29?”. Or when defending the lives of the unborn and repudiating the abortion acceptance cult following today — which is cheering the elective act of murdering children inside the womb, someone will point to verses like Numbers 5:19-21 and say, “See, even God isn’t against abortion!”.
Steal, Kill, and Destroy
John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
The enemies of God war against the Church using two strategies:
- to deny the goodness of God, and
- to deny the truth of God’s Word, the Bible.
The first premise is to insult or curse God, calling Him evil and unloving. This is an “in-your-face” attack, and often used to try to destroy a Christian’s faith by sowing doubt.
The second premise is to twist the scriptures or character of God, claiming God is permissive of sin or actually approves of sin (though they are packaging the behavior as not sinful), to try to deceive Christian’s into accepting sinful behavior while still claiming to be a Christian.
Both premises are false and in error. And you will see that God is neither evil, nor sinful, nor unloving, nor unjust. He is, however, very conditionally angry at times (the Bible uses the word “wrathful” – an overflow of fuming wrath) toward certain humans for specific and just reasons.
The Promise and Fulfillment of Love
It is precisely because of God’s love that his anger and justice are so fierce and swift. A loving God will not indefinitely allow evil to go unpunished. Yet, in the meantime, He has made a way to escape His wrath and just condemnation we all deserve. You can be fully pardoned of your sin, fully forgiven, and fully accepted by your Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.
He must punish sin, and the soul that sins dies†. But the good news (the gospel) is that Jesus Christ died in your place on the Cross, taking your sin upon Himself. Therefore, God can fully forgive you since Jesus paid the price for those sins in full!
Praise Him! Proclaim Jesus is Lord and Savior. And begin to follow Him, and you will have eternal life!
The Power of His Promises
To my fellow brothers and sisters: Jesus Christ is faithful to establish you who cling to Him and hope in Him. Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy, deceptively designed to steal, kill, and destroy your faith and future with the Lord. Stay faithful! Study to show yourself approved. And keep yourselves in the love of Christ, Who has promised this:
Jude 1:24-25
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
† Deut. 14:16, Ezek. 18:4, 20
