The Adulterous Women
By Pastor Charles Jennings

The background for the story of the Adulterous Woman of John Chapter 8 is found in Numbers 5:11-28.. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,  And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner ……..” [Ed. It will be very helpful to read these Scripture verses in conjunction with this important message]

This chapter depicts this rather strange scenario in the Old Testament with a very unusual charge given to a woman.  If she is guilty of adultery she shall drink bitter water, which was made of two components. Holy water taken from the laver and then added dust off of the floor of the tabernacle which denotes vileness, uncleanness, abomination and a curse. The priest mixed this together. The woman’s husband would present an offering of barley meal and then the priest would charge her, “when you drink this water if you are guilty of adultery, your stomach is going to swell.”  In other words, the woman is going to have malnutrition and her thighs are going to rot.

The significance of the thighs rotting refers to the reproductive organs that are between the thighs.  In other words she is not going to conceive seed and have children. If she was innocent this will not affect her. Her belly would not swell, her thighs would not rot and she would conceive seed and bare children unto her husband. Can water and dust cause such a curse, such a result to come to a human body? No, there was a supernatural element here that brought about these results.   Being that the priest administered this water,  it was up to the priest to make a charge to this woman.  When he made the charge to this woman, she had to agree that she would drink this, knowing if she was guilty, the result will be malnutrition to her body and a rotting of her reproductive organs so that she could never conceive seed again. 

In John chapter 7 is recorded the many events that took place during the Feast of Tabernacles. After Jesus had taught the people, the Pharisees and Chief Priests sent officers to arrest Him. When the officers had heard Jesus teach and make the offer of the Holy Spirit to those who believe upon Him, the officers were compelled to confess “Never man spake like this man.” In John 8:1 is recorded that Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. Jesus never slept one night in the city of Jerusalem. He would leave the city and go to the Mount of Olives to find his resting place.  Early the next morning Jesus returned and came again into the temple. All the people came unto him and He taught them. He was in Solomon's court yet He was in this temple that Herod took 46 years to restore. Here comes the scribes, the doctors, lawyers and those that were learned among the Jewish people of that day.  

The scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. They sat this woman in the very midst of the crowd. Jesus was standing there and no doubt they cast this woman at His feet. They said unto him, “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.” 

Then they began to quote the law. Their authority was the Levitical authority of Moses. They said, “Master, do you realize what Moses said about this sin of adultery?” They quoted a verse of Scripture in Deut. 26, as they continued. “This woman should be taken out and stoned.  This woman deserves death. It is time that we call a stoning crew and put this woman out of our society. She is not worthy to live among us righteous Pharisees, we who know the law, we who practice the ceremonies that were given in the law of Moses. This woman does not deserve to be among us righteous men. Out with her. Let’s stone her.” They said this because they were tempting Jesus that they might have a second reason to accuse Him, because of His compassion that He showed to the adulterous woman at the well in John 4. “Ah we've got Him again,” they say.  “This man who claims to be so righteous, and He gives pity to this promiscuous women in our society. How dare He call Himself the son of David, the Son of God, the Son of Abraham?” They were tempting him. No doubt the Chief Pharisee would turn back to his recorder and say, "Mark that one down, we got Him a second time. We got him in the squeeze play now because the woman was caught in the very act and she's laying at His feet. Now in Solomon's temple, we've got him.  He can't get out of this one.” They wanted to accuse Him. The record says that Jesus stooped down.  Remember the dust taken from the tabernacle floor, dropped in this holy pure water from the laver? Jesus knew Numbers chapter 5, He was a man that was educated in the Law and He reached down and He began to write on the temple floor in the dust. Have you ever wondered what He wrote? Hasn't it been asked a thousand times in churches across our land? What did Jesus write? Many a saint has said, “When I get to heaven I am going to ask Him what He wrote in the dust?” Numbers 5 tells us He wrote the curse for this sin. Number 1: This woman was caught in the very act of adultery. He wrote in the dust the antitype of Numbers 5. He wrote the curse for this sin which was, “Your belly is going to swell, your thighs are going to rot. You are not going to conceive seed anymore.” This woman at His feet, and at the feet of those self-righteous men called the Pharisees, represented National Israel; The adulterous woman.   Jeremiah (3:8) tells that Israel played the harlot among many nations. That was the accusation of many of the prophets, but that is not the end of the story. This was the test of Jealousy, as recorded in Numbers 5. One of the holy names of our God is Jealous, Exodus 34:14. That is His name. He is Jealous, over what and over who? His wife, His beloved one, Israel. He is jealous even though she has played the harlot among the nations. He is Jealous for her. The accusation was brought by the husband, plus an offering in the Old Testament.

These self-righteous Pharisees brought the accused and the accusation, but they brought no offering. Why? They wanted her condemned. At least in the Old Testament there was an offering. But here it was just pure condemnation. Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. When they continued asking Him, He stood up and said, "He that is without sin, go ahead and pick up the first stone.” The next verse said, “Again He stooped down on the ground” John 8:8. What was He writing the second time? Surely He wasn't bringing the same accusation against this woman the second time. This time He was accusing the Pharisees, and He writes the curse in the dust of the floor of the temple. And what is that curse? It was their destruction as He later said, “Your house is left unto you desolate” Matt. 23:38. I am going to take the kingdom away from you and I am going to give it to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Matthew 21:43.  He wrote their doom on the floor of that sacred building they revered and actually worshiped. The Old Testament tells us that the woman's head was uncovered, because the husband was not at her trial in Numbers 5. He was not there, therefore, she had no covering. Her destiny was up to the priest and to the Lord.   National Israel lost her covering, when she played the harlot. She had no covering for at least 745 years. Being that she had no covering, it was left up to the priest to judge her. What priest? Thank God National Israel didn't have to be judged by a Levitical priest. When the true judging took place in John 8, that judge was a Melchisedec judge. The only function that priests in the Old Testament could carry out was the ceremonial law. In the New Testament, Jesus, the Melchisedec Priest, that was without number of days, without father and mother, had no beginning and no end. That woman, Israel, that lay at His feet on that temple floor, was being judged by a righteous Melchisedec judge. He can function not only as a priest but, Prophet, Priest and King. This woman in John 8 was at the mercy of men that knew the Law, but with no mercy or compassion. Then she was thrown at  the feet of the Savior. She was now being judged and at the mercy of one who was mercy personified. There is justice, mercy and grace in Him alone. Justice is what you get when you deserve it. Mercy is when you don't get what you deserve, but grace is what you get what you don't deserve. National Israel deserves justice. Many times I have heard to our chagrin, the phrase, “America is going to get what she deserves”, while the self-righteous judges themselves sit aloof while America burns. That is not the heart of a Melchisedec priest. That’s the heart and corrupted feelings of a Levitical priest and Pharisee personified. We're looking for justice, but we are also looking for mercy and grace. The Old Testament laws did not have a provision for the priests to bring any charge against the accuser. In Numbers 5 the husband made the accusation and he could go home. But when Jesus wrote in the dust on the temple floor at that Feast of Tabernacles, He not only had the right to accuse the woman, being that He is the husband of National Israel, but He accused the accuser, because He could see into the heart of man. Now when He said, He that is without sin cast the first stone, what was He saying? I like to think that Jesus probably pointed His finger at one of those Pharisees and said, “you're probably the guilty party that she was caught in the act with.” What did they do when He stooped down and He wrote in the ground? They that heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, said, I'm going to get out of here. He's got my number.” They were probably guilty of adultery, maybe with her or maybe some other woman. They which heard it being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one beginning with the eldest even to the least. Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. Oh what a scene. As we see the accusers leave the courtroom, then Jesus and this adulterous woman representing National Israel, our mother was standing alone. When Jesus had lifted up Himself and saw none but the woman, He said, “Woman where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” Jesus knew the woman was guilty. She said, “No man, Lord.” Then He spoke the words of love and mercy that no man can erase. He spoke the words that reached you and me.  He spoke the words that are going to redeem our national mother Israel, and bring her back home. Words of mercy, compassion and love when He said, “neither do I condemn thee.” Those are the words that comprises life's sweetest chime. Those are the words that our Master spoke that day to a guilty woman. All the accusers were gone, just He and the guilty party were there. To this woman representing National Israel, those words were spoken. To that woman the spirit of grace and supplication was poured out, fulfilling the words as prophesied in Zechariah 13:1, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” Today, every one of us are standing alone with the Savior. We can be an Israelite and prove it, no doubt this woman was an Israelite, no doubt she could trace her lineage back to one of the tribal fathers, of the sons of Jacob Israel. Possibly we could do the same thing and take pride in that but the record says all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. It's just you and the Savior. He knows we are guilty of sin, we are born in sin. In His mercy and compassion He looks down at us and says, "Neither do I condemn thee.” He backed up that judicial verdict, in that court room six months later when He was on the cross. Friends, I challenge you. Do you really know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Do you really know this one who has the power to forgive or is it just a religious exercise with you. Is it just something that you go through three times a year at Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles to fulfill some kind of religious guilt within you? Or have you really had an encounter with the Savior, because someday we will stand alone with Him face to face at His judgment bar? Jesus said, “ye must be born again.” It is imperative to be birthed from above. Now He adds five more words. "Go and sin no more." What does that mean? He was not only forgiving this woman for her sins, but now he was enabling her to remain clean and pure. When He said, Go and sin no more, He was speaking a possibility. He wasn't speaking impossibility. I wish for the day when that takes place with our national mother, Israel, when she walks again with her husband, hand in hand in purity. Our national mother has committed adultery with the nations and stands guilty before the Lord, who is her only rightful husband. We need forgiveness. We need to come into a personal encounter and a national encounter with the Melchisedec Priest that walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. He is the one that made His offer at the Feast of Tabernacles when He said, “come unto me, ye who are thirsty and I will give you water to drink and you will never thirst again.” We need to get rid of the attitude of criticism and take on the attitude of compassion toward our mother Israel. She needs an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Glory. We hold in our lips and we speak with our mouth words of life, but we speak it only to the choir. We need to get out of the choir and get down in the mire. Get our hands dirty. Now what does it say about the curse? The curse in Numbers 5 was that if the woman was guilty, she would suffer malnutrition and her stomach would swell and she would be barren. She would not conceive seed. In Numbers 5, if she was innocent she would conceive seed by her husband. Now in John 5 that curse is reversed even though she was guilty. Levi priests could not do that, but the Melchisedec priest could. He reversed the curse of a guilty woman. Even in the Old Testament it says the curse shall be written in a book by the priest and then he shall take this bitter water, and wipe out the curse, if she is innocent. What about if she is guilty? In the New Testament even though she is guilty, the curse is reversed. Those wonderful words; “Neither do I condemn thee” are the forgiving words of the Lord of Glory. This is no self righteous Pharisee speaking, this is the God of all creation speaking, This is the great I AM. This is the one that walked up to Abraham's tent when he was sitting in the plains of Mamre. This is the one who met Moses at the burning bush, and said, “I AM that I AM.” This is the one with the drawn sword that met Joshua just before he crossed over the Jordan River at Jericho. He is now speaking to an adulterous, filthy, promiscuous woman, and He reverses the curse. This same Grace of God must also be expressed through us. Isaiah 54:1 tells us, “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bare; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, [talking about Israel and Judah] saith the LORD.” This is a prophecy concerning numerous offspring of National Israel. What did the Lord speak through Hosea? His son Jezreel was going to be scattered but not forsaken. What about his daughter, Lo-ruhamah, meaning, no Mercy? Melchisedec says, I am going to reverse that curse and now I will have mercy because they are my people. How? Through the Blood of the cross, which is the fountain that has been opened up in the House of David for sin and uncleanness. He is manifesting Himself to us and our National Mother Israel in love, mercy and grace. On Calvary Israel’s husband, who is also her Melchisedec priest, reversed the curse of her adultery.