In the last pastor’s message, we reviewed the sixth commandment which deals with the preservation of human life, the seventh commandment we will be reviewing here deals with the preservation and sanctity of human marriage. Found in Exodus 20:14, repeated in Deuteronomy 5:18, the 7th Commandment is: “You shall not commit adultery”.
The Commandment should be straight-forward. It explicitly forbids the sin of having sexual relations, wanting to have relations, or even imagining the act of sexual relations with someone that is not your spouse. Marriage is a sacred ordinance from God, that reflects His desire for people to have companionship, support, and love. As a loving Creator God, after creating Eve, He immediately ordained marriage in Genesis 2:20-24. So, the prohibition of extramarital sex—adultery—was designed to protect the sanctity of marriage and show the importance of faithfulness.
Consider Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This verse contains significant meaning. The man and woman start a new family as they switch their primary dependency, devotion, and commitment from parents to spouse. The word “joined” refers to much more than the wedding. God meant for them to be permanently and inseparably welded together. There should never be any sharing of sex, intimacies, romance, or even flirtations with anyone else. Notice how various Bibles translate the Hebrew word for “be joined”—cleave, cling, hold fast, be united, be married. God views marriage as a sacred covenant by which husband and wife promise before God their fidelity to each other, to faithfully stay together and unselfishly love and serve one another.
The phrase, “one flesh” (in Genesis 2:24) refers specifically to sexual relations and the intimate bond between husband and wife that this action reflects and indeed promotes. This is shown by Paul’s wording in 1 Corinthians 6:13-20. Notice specifically that in verses 19-20, Paul tells us that our bodies and minds belong to God so when we use them as God intends, we “glorify God!” So, when God told Adam and Eve to “become one flesh,” He was specifically telling them to come together in a sexual relationship. Additionally, He also meant for them to come together for companionship, completion, partnership, and love. In Mark 10:9, Jesus said: “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” God says He “hates divorce” and breaking a wedding vow is dealing “treacherously” with one’s spouse (Malachi 2:14-16). Hence, God expects full commitment to our wedding vows.
Adultery is the complete corruption of God’s divine creation of marriage. “Adulterate” means to contaminate or make impure. God forbids anything that spoils marriage. Like murder the gravity of committing adultery is demonstrated by the severity of the punishment—death (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22). Through the sin of adultery, Satan tempts us to seek sexual fulfillment in avenues other than the only one God has ordained—within the bounds of monogamous, heterosexual marriage.
Adultery rips at the fabric of society because it tears apart marriages and families which are the building blocks of society. God’s law in general, and the 7th commandment in particular, at one time used to be held up as the standard for Christian behavior. Today, most people in (or not in) relationships totally ignore what the Bible reveals. Our society is increasingly immoral and actually becoming amoral, going so far as to even redefining God given genders. The consequences are catastrophic. When the building block of society—the family—collapses, the society soon collapses.
I find Proverbs 6:32-35 (JPS) to be very poignant: “He who commits adultery is devoid of sense; only one who would destroy himself does such a thing. He will meet with disease and disgrace; his reproach will never be expunged. The fury of the husband will be passionate; he will show no pity on his day of vengeance. He will not have regard for any ransom; he will refuse your bribe, however great.” I don’t believe I have to give you statistics or articles proving the point that sex is a real problem with our society. Any type of sex outside of marriage is prohibited.
The Old Testament gives many examples of wrong uses of sex: incest, homosexuality, bestiality, etc. (see Leviticus 18:6, 22-23). In principle this also includes pornography which I strongly feel the need to single out as it is a growing problem (yes, even within the church). The New Testament in at least 19 places condemns all forms of “sexual immorality” (the Greek word being porneia, from which we get the English word pornography). Quoting from The Recovery Village website, Pornography Stat’s and Facts: “Today, porn addiction, or problematic pornography use, affects approximately 3% to 6% of the adult population. Up to 65% of young adult men and 18% of young women report watching pornography at least once a week, though this amount can be much higher”... “The increasing exposure of children to internet porn also likely contributes to the rise in porn addiction. Age restrictions on porn sites often consist of no more than a button to click claiming to be 18 or older. The median age of first exposure to pornography is now only 14 years old…”
The Conversation Website adds this: “For many young people, pornography has become the default sex educator. Children and young people are encountering pornography in greater numbers, at younger ages, and with a wider variety of content, influencing young people’s sexual lives. Research evidence from around the world shows porn has harmful impacts on young people and adults alike. Some impacts are deeply troubling, particularly pornography’s contribution to sexual violence” … “What’s more, meta-analyses – systematic research that synthesises multiple studies – from 2000 and 2015 have found associations between watching pornography and actual violent behaviours.” Pornography is a satanic problem we (especially parents) cannot ignore!
This 7th Commandment in effect addresses all our relationships, sexuality, and encompasses both physical and emotional sin. Adultery encompasses the many sins of the flesh, driven by uncontrolled passions and lusts. It often stems from other sins including covetousness. When God commanded people not to commit adultery, He was trying to protect their bodies, hearts, and souls.
Paul said premarital sex, adultery, homosexuality, and other sins would keep a person out of the Kingdom of God: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). He added in verse 18 that we must flee from sexual immorality: “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body”. It’s a violation of the body, which is God’s temple. We are reminded in God’s Word that all sinful actions begin with sinful thoughts (James 1:14-15).
Jesus Christ magnified the Seventh Commandment showing that it includes adultery in one’s mind. He said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). The Greek word for “to lust” is epithumeo, meaning carnal coveting, craving and fantasizing. Then in verses 29-30, Jesus uses dramatic language to emphasize that we must do whatever is necessary to get away from temptations.
In contrast to the stark prohibitions and warnings against adultery, marital relations were expected and considered a right. A newly married soldier in Israel did not have to go to war for a year, so that he could bring happiness to his bride (Deuteronomy 24:5). Proverbs 5:15-23 encourages the enjoyment of sexual relations within marriage: “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow 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 deer – may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.”
God did not design humans’ sexuality only for reproduction as He did when He designed the anatomy and instincts of animals. He would have designed humankind far differently if He were only concerned about reproduction. God’s intent was that sex would also be pleasurable is emphasized by various scriptures including Proverbs 5:15-19, Ecclesiastes 9:9 and Song of Solomon. A healthy and active sexual relationship is God’s special gift only to married couples. Sex within marriage is pure and good—honorable: “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). We must be vigilant to not let our society cheapen sex into simply a biological drive to indulge and satisfy or some decadent sport. Read Solomon’s warnings about the lure of immorality and its consequences compared to the joy of committed love (Proverbs 5:1-20).
God wants married couples to regard their marital intimacy as a major responsibility and as an essential expression of their love for one another. 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 warns husbands and wives not to be selfish by neglecting to give one’s spouse sexual satisfaction. This tells us that if you are married, you should not deprive (KJV: defraud) your spouse of their sexual needs. God’s plan is that when loving married couples regularly “become one flesh,” that will strengthen and enhance their marriage, bonding and blending them together to also have one mind and one heart. Two become one! That is God’s plan. He created us male and female so husbands and wives can become intimately united physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. A beautiful and deeply meaningful plan indeed!
God’s relationship with His people was portrayed as a marriage (Jeremiah 3:14; Ezekiel 16:1-63), and the relationship between Christ and the Church is also portrayed this way (Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-9). When Israel—whom God referred to as His wife—turned to false gods, God called it “committing adultery” and “playing the harlot” (Jeremiah 3:1-9). Idolatry is spiritual adultery and a topic that I may cover in detail at another time. However, since marriage is intended to illustrate our relationship with Jesus Christ, every kind of sexual sin can be viewed as a shameful blasphemy against God. The marriage of a godly man with a godly woman helps them to understand their relationship with God and Christ and helps them to grow spiritually. Likewise, the more we understand the relationship of the Church with Christ, the better we understand what our marriages should be like.