Exodus 20: 14 “You shall not commit adultery.”
The Israelites have just escaped from Egypt, but they have had 400 years in which to copy the Egyptians and they are still carrying most of the things they learned in Egypt with them.
Charlotte Booth has described marriage practices in ancient Egypt in an article entitled “Love, Sex and Marriage in Ancient Egypt” on the HistoryExtra BBC website. Basically, the Egyptians had all kinds of relationships, but formal marriage was not necessarily common. In general, men and women who wanted to be married simply moved in together. There were trial marriages that only lasted for a year.
Booth continues, “Marriages however, dissolved for a number of reasons, with the most common being lack of children or adultery….. Both men and women committed adultery, and both men and women were able to instigate a divorce due to this… Both men and women could divorce the other, with the man simply saying: ‘I throw you out,’ or the woman saying to him: ‘I am leaving,’ or either spouse claiming: ‘I divorce you.’ The divorce was generally as simple as a wedding, and the woman would move out of her husband’s house, either returning to her father’s home or even to a home of her own. Being divorced held no social stigma and both men and women remarried and many went on to have large families.”
Having just come out of Egypt, the Israelites are undoubtedly still practicing the loose relationships that they observed there. But God wants to mold Israel into a holy nation. Widespread adultery and weak marriages have no place in God’s plan. God wants the Israelites to have strong family units, something that is impossible if adultery is always an option. Spouses need to be able to trust each other and children need a stable environment if they are to grow up feeling secure and loved.
What actually takes place when a couple comes together to have sex? Not only is there an exchange of body fluids, but there is also a spiritual exchange as well. One Christian who was previously caught up in witchcraft testified that his coven concentrated on luring young people into having sex with coven members, knowing that in this way these young people would then become open to joining the coven.
Twenty – six years ago, there was a young man in the community in which we were working who was a faithful Christian and a worship leader in one of the local churches. Our friend was bright and intelligent and we hoped for great things for him. But subsequently this man had several affairs with women from fetish families. Today our friend is possessed by vagabond spirits; he cannot concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes and those who work with him find themselves frustrated.
APPLICATION: Many years later, God warned his people about the dangers of adultery in the 5th chapter of Proverbs.
Proverbs 5:15 – 23 “Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well. Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever. Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger? For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths. The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him. He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.”
Sadly, these days, adultery is common and those who speak out against it are considered spoilsports, intolerant, or even wicked. But God’s purposes for His people have not changed. Israel was to be a holy nation, not just for itself, but to show the rest of the world what holiness looked like. Sadly, the Israelites failed repeatedly; however, that does not diminish the importance of God’s Commandments.
Families fractured by adultery wind up in trouble. Children may find themselves caught in a tug of war between two parents. Child abuse by a live – in boyfriend or girlfriend can even be fatal. Committing adultery is akin to taking a sledge hammer to a foundation and beating it until it crumbles. Once the foundation is gone, nothing else can stand. And all the time we are trying to find excuses for our behavior, God is watching and sadly shaking His head.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for loving us so much that you refuse to give up on us, even when we ignore your commandments and try to work around them. Thank you for your Word which has stood for all these years and which continues to act as a standard and as a guide. Lord, help us to examine our lives and to see where we have compromised and then help us to repent. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment