“ John 8:2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They said to him, Teacher, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us that such as her should be stoned: but what say you ? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have cause to accuse him. But Yeshua stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground . . . 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said to them, He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard, being convicted by conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the eldest, even unto the last: and Yeshua was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Yeshua stood up, and saw no one but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are your accusers? Does no man condemn you? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Yeshua said unto her, neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more.”

Ever wonder what Yeshua wrote on the ground ? More to the point, is it connected to something else in Scripture ? Numbers 5 tells of a woman suspected of adultery. She is taken to the Priest who presents her before the LORD. This would take place in the Tabernacle and later this potential scenario would take place in the Temple. The Priest would take dust from the floor area of this sacred place, put it in a CUP with mayim kedoshim, or holy water. He would then write down a curse and literally scrap it into the water. If guilty, she would suffer the curse written and then die by stoning. If there was no guilt on her part, she would be exonerated.

There are striking similarities between the Torah passage in Numbers 5:14-ff and the woman caught in adultery in John 8. The woman of John’s gospel was accused of a capital offense and presented to Yeshua in the Temple area, the same place to where the accused would be brought in Numbers 5. Yeshua writes in the dust of the Temple grounds. The Priest uses dust from the Temple grounds and writes a curse. In Numbers, the woman drinks of the cup which either reveals her sin or releases her from comdemnation and judgment. Yeshua confronts the adulteress woman’s accusers for their impure motives, and as they step away one by one, Yeshua gives forgiveness and direction for her future. He saves her from condemnation and death. For in Messiah there is no condemnation. (Rom. 8:11) He freed her from the bondage of her sin and the bondage of her unrighteous ‘head’.

Yeshua is the High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) as well as the Bridegroom. HE demonstrates His love for the Bride by accepting her cup in the garden (Matt. 26:39-42) and taking her guilt upon himself. “ . . . He became sin Who knew no sin . . .” ( 2 Cor. 5:21) “Husbands, love your wives as Messiah loves the church and gave Himself for her;” (Eph. 5:25) If the woman in both pictures can represent Israel, then the Scribes and Pharisees would represent the ‘jealous husband’ in John 8 since they represent the ‘head over the house of Israel’, the religious hierarchy of the day. In Numbers 5 it speaks of a ‘spirit of jealousy’ coming over the husband. In John 8 we have a ‘spirit of jealousy’ of sorts being revealed within the religious leaders. They were jealous of Yeshua’s popularity among the people and feared losing their positions and control over the ‘woman’, if you will. Yeshua overcomes this impure spirit and motive by exposing it for what it was and confronting it with the Truth of the Word and the Purity and Power of the Holy Spirit of God.
Adultery in the flesh is a picture of Idolatry in the spiritual realm. If we are the Bride and He is the Bridegroom, He desires we be bound to no other but Him and to no other ways but His. The woman caught in adultery had sin in her life. But there was other sin exposed that day. It was the sin of oppression by a religious spirit that manifested greater concern for maintaining it’s control than it did concern for a woman’s eternity. She was little more than ‘cannon fodder’ in their battle to hold their positions, ideology and traditions. Yeshua came to change all that. “for I have come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.” (John10:10) and “ he whom the Son sets free is free indeed . . .” (John 8:36). He came NOT to annul the commandments of God. He DID come to deliver us from the bondage of man’s ‘doctrine’ and deliver us from the bondage of sin.

The dust . . . why dust? For it is from dust man was formed (Gen 2:7), the dust was cursed along with all creation and dust represents God’s promise to Abraham concerning his descendants and ultimate restoration. (Gen 13:16).
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:20-21

Shalom –