Adultery. Adultery Is An Attack On Marriage

Adultery Is An Attack On Marriage Adultery Marriage was established by God in the Garden of Eden when He brought the Woman to Adam to be his helpmate (See Genesis 2:18-25). Genesis 2:18-25, Next, the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone, I will form (out of existing material) for his benefit a helper as his counterpart. Consequently, the Lord God constructed from the ground each and every creature of the field as well as each and every bird of the air. Then, He brought them to the man in order to see what name he would designate to them. Consequently, whatever name the man designated to these living creatures that was its name. Thus, the man designated names to each and every domestic animal and to the birds of the air and to each and every wild animal of the field but for man there was not found a helper as his counterpart. Then, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, thus he slept and He surgically removed a portion of his side and then He closed up the place with flesh. Then, the Lord God built this portion of his side, which He had surgically removed from the man up into a woman. Then, He brought her to the man. Then, the man said, this now is bone of my bones and flesh from my flesh. For my benefit, this will be designated the name, woman because from man she was surgically removed. Therefore, a man leaves his father and his mother and he is united with his wife and they become one flesh. And they, the two of them, the man and the woman were naked but they were not ashamed. Therefore, committing adultery would be sin against God because it would violate the divine institution of marriage. The Word of God prohibits adultery. Exodus 20:14, You shall not commit adultery. Where Adultery Begins Adultery begins in the heart. Mark 7:21-23, For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man. The act of adultery takes place when the thought of adultery is acted upon. James 1:13-15, Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God ; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1

own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Adultery Is A Manifestation Of Not Loving Your Neighbor Committing adultery is a manifestation of not loving your neighbor as yourself. Romans 13:8-10, Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET, and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Penalty For Adultery In Old Testament Israel Under the Mosaic Law, both the adulterer and the adulteress received the death penalty. Leviticus 20:10, If there is a man who commits adultery with another man's wife, one who commits adultery with his friend's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. The Lord Jesus Christ taught if you think look lustfully at another man s wife, you have already committed adultery with her in your heart. Matthew 5:27-28, You have heard that it was said, YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. James teaches those Jewish Christians who succumbed to the Judaizers and sought to live under the Mosaic economy taught that if you do not commit adultery but commit murder, you have transgressed the Law since whoever stumbles in one point has become guilty of transgressing all that is taught in the Law. James 2:10-11, For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, also said, DO NOT COMMIT MURDER. Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. Adultery Condemned In Both Old And New Testaments Both the Old and New Testament Scriptures condemn adultery. Proverbs 1:10, My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2

Proverbs 6:20-35, My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother; Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life to keep you from the evil woman, From the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids. For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, and an adulteress hunts for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is the one who goes in to his neighbor's wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished. Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry; But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; He must give all the substance of his house. The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out. For jealousy enrages a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not accept any ransom, nor will he be satisfied though you give many gifts. Hebrews 13:4, Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. God has ordained sex within the boundaries of marriage in order to perpetuate and protect the human race from disease and emotional trauma, which is brought on by adultery. Adultery Practiced By Old Testament Israel Adultery was a problem throughout Israel s history. Jeremiah 7:9-11, Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered! -- that you may do all these 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3

abominations? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," declares the LORD. Jeremiah 9:1-6, Oh that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert a wayfarers' lodging place; That I might leave my people and go from them! For all of them are adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me, declares the LORD. Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, and do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. Everyone deceives his neighbor and does not speak the truth, they have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the LORD. Ezekiel 22:1-16, Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations. You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD, A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time will come, and that makes idols, contrary to her interest, for defilement! You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands. Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of ill repute, full of turmoil. Behold, the rulers of Israel, each according to his power, have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood. They have treated father and mother lightly within you. The alien they have oppressed in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have wronged in you. You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have committed acts of lewdness. In you they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity. One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. And another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter. In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me," declares the Lord GOD. Behold, then, I smite My hand at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you. Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4

will act. I will scatter you among the nations and I will disperse you through the lands, and I will consume your uncleanness from you. You will profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am the LORD. In the first century, the Jews were divorcing their women without legitimate Biblical reasons and were thus committing adultery. There are three legitimate grounds for divorce: (1) Failure to be faithful to the marriage partner (Deuteronomy 24:1-5) (2) Failure to provide emotional support in the form of sex (Exodus 21:10-11) (3) Failure to provided material support (Exodus 21:10-11). Therefore, adultery was grounds for divorce since it was the failure to be faithful to the marriage contract. The refusal to have sex with your marriage partner is grounds for divorce since it is a failure to provide sex for your marriage partner under the marriage contract. Physical abuse is grounds for divorce since it is the failure to provide emotional support under the marriage contract. Physical neglect is grounds for divorce since it is the failure to provide material support under the terms of the marriage contract. It is interesting that Moses divorced his first wife Zipporah because she was negative to the doctrine of circumcision. The Lord permitted a believer to divorce his wife and remarry is Moses who according to Exodus 18:2 divorced his first wife Zipporah because she refused to obey the Lord s commandment to circumcise his boys (Ex. 4:25; Lev. 12:2-3) and according to Numbers 12:1, Moses got remarried to a Cushite woman. Many Jewish men tried to circumvent the Mosaic Law command against adultery by divorcing their wives and marrying another woman to whom they were attracted. This practice of divorcing their wives for simply any reason came about because of misinterpreting the meaning of the phrase indecency in Deuteronomy 24:1-5. Deuteronomy 24:1-5, When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance. When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall give happiness to his wife whom he has taken. 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5

In first century Israel, there were two schools of interpretation concerning Deuteronomy 24:1. There was the Shammai school, which was conservative in that they took the word indecency literally referring to some form of sexual immorality such as adultery. The second was the Hillel school, which was liberal in that they took the word indecency and added to it, saying that the word meant any indecency at all, thus teaching that a Jewish man could divorce his wife for anything that he didn t like about her such as she burned the bacon at breakfast. The Lord Jesus Christ condemned this practice of divorcing without a legitimate reason. Matthew 19:1-12, When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all? And He answered and said, Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE and said, FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. They said to Him, Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY? He said to them, Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery. The disciples said to Him, If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry. But He said to them, Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it. The certificate of divorce enabled the divorcees to remarry. The directive will of God is that marriage was originally designed to be a life long commitment (Gen. 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6), but the permissive will of God has permitted divorce because of the fallen nature of man and negative volition to the Word of God on the part of one or both partners (Matt. 19:7-8). Recovering From Adultery The victim of adultery has two legitimate choices, forgiveness or divorce. 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 6

Ephesians 4:31-32, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Recovering from the sin of adultery demands the confession of the sin to the Father and then bringing one s thoughts in obedience to Christ, which constitutes obeying the commands of Ephesians 5:18 to be influenced by means of the Spirit and Colossians 3:16 to let the Word of Christ richly dwell in your soul. 1 John 1:9, If any of us does at any time confess our sins, then, He (God the Father) is faithful and just with the result that He forgives us our sins and purifies us from each and every wrongdoing. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 2 Corinthians 10:5, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Ephesians 5:18: And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit. Colossians 3:16, Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. The believer s love for the Lord is to motivate him to obey God s will, which prohibits adultery. His love and gratitude to the Lord for all that He had done for him is the secret to withstanding the temptation to commit sin and not just adultery since his love for the Lord and gratitude towards Him will motivate him to obey the laws of God pertaining to adultery. Obedience to the will of God, motivated by his love for God, enables the believer to withstand temptation from the old Adamic sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan. Obedience to the will of God demonstrates our love for God. John 14:15, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. Obedience to the Word of God is motivated by the believer s love for the Lord and the believer s love for the Lord is simply the response of the believer to the love God has demonstrated towards the believer through His Son Jesus Christ on the Cross and raising him up and seated him with Christ (See Ephesians 2:1-10). This is why the apostle Paul prayed that the Philippians love for the Lord would continue to grow since love for the Lord serves as a protection from sin and motivation to resist the temptation to sin. 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 7

Philippians 1:9, Now, this I make it a habit to pray that your divine-love might continue to flourish yet more and more by means of a total discerning experiential knowledge (of the love of God manifested in Christ by the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture). Therefore, the believer receives the capacity to withstand committing the sin of adultery and all sin by means of his love for the Lord and if the believer loves the Lord it is only because the Lord loved him first. 1 John 4:19, We love, because He first loved us. The believer s love for the Lord is demonstrated by his obedience to the Lord s commands and his obedience to the Lord s commands is the response in his soul to the love, which the Lord exercised towards him. Also, the believer s awareness that God had a plan for his life and his personal sense of destiny will further motivate him to withstand the lusts of the old Adamic sin nature. Spiritual Adultery The Bible not only prohibits adultery but also spiritual adultery. Church age believers have been entered into a marriage relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of salvation. Ephesians 5:28-32, So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Many believers are committing spiritual adultery with the Lord today forsaking their relationship with the Lord and have committed spiritual adultery by putting idols in their souls such as money, houses, wives, husbands, children, jobs and self. Jeremiah 3:8-10, And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception," declares the LORD. James 4:4-10, You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 8

speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. Of all the relationships that you have in life, your relationship with God is the most important, but it must be cultivated and matured. At the moment of salvation when you expressed faith alone in Christ alone you were entered into an eternal relationship with God and at the same time given the opportunity to become intimate with God. Galatians 3:26-28, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. This relationship with God can never be broken. Romans 8:38-39, For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to not put any human relationships ahead of their relationship with Him since to do so was tantamount to committing spiritual adultery. Matthew 10:37-39, He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. The nation of Israel was guilty of committing spiritual adultery throughout her history. Jeremiah 5:7, Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me and sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the harlot's house. Jeremiah 3:6-10, Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. I thought, After she has done all these things she will return to Me ; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw that for all the adulteries of 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 9

faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception, declares the LORD. Hosea 1:1-2, The Word of the LORD which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD. Hosea 3:1-5, Then the LORD said to me, Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes. So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley. Then I said to her, You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you. For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days. 2008 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 10