Sexual sins and their penalties are spelled out in detail (vss. The epidemic of sexual immorality is, I believe, the result of a failure to understand or appreciate the sanctity of sex and of marriage. So, too, the pleasures of sexual sin are prominently proclaimed, but the price for immorality is exceedingly high (cf. God is God, and He can manage timelines as well. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for virgins." If the passages don't mean that a woman has to marry her rapist, then what do they mean? 5:7-9). Sexual purity begins with highly esteeming that which God has givenmarriage, and the one whom God has givenour mate. Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. Many are crying out to God, and He hears them. When one comes to faith in Christ, when he is born again, that person becomes one with Christ. Thus Jesus majored on those sins which were more subtle, and which were more characteristic of the religious leadership of Israel. We would thus expect him to wage war on the marital union, for it is through marital union that the seed will be preserved and the promised seed will come. I also believe that humans will not stop the plan of God. It can dull the mind, like wine, making one insensitive to reality (Hos. Fornication is also applied symbolically in the Bible to the sins of idolatry and apostasy, or the abandoning of God. When we are willing to do whatever it takes to avoid a sin, we will likely take the steps necessary to avoid it. Lev. Gen. 1:11-12, 31). For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org, Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,. Israels sexual conduct set them apart from the Egyptians and the Canaanites. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God? And it came about as she spoke to Joseph day after day, that he did not listen to her to lie beside her, or be with her (Gen. 39:7-10). In the Bible, this word is used for the departure of the people of Israel out of Egypt. In later chapters Reuel is called Jethro. The University of Memphis alumnae has been in education for about 20 years after receiving the call to teach. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. In my opinion, the rampant sexual immorality of our day is not primarily the result of greater temptation, of increased sexual desire, of greater opportunity, or even of the availability of the pill and abortion. Let us work at growth in each of these areas. 1 Corinthians 7:1-6 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. We can be disgruntled about what is happening with our pastor or whoever our leader is. Let us conclude by seeking to isolate the principles which underlie and govern sexual purity, and then some of the practical outworkings of these principles. In both cases, the forbidden fruit is available. Some of this may be cultural, but I think the primary reason is that in those days especially (and in other cultures still today) the woman is under the authority of her parents, and her parents authority over her is simply transferred to her husband. He then immediately turns to our sanctification as it relates to our sexual conduct. You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out. When Moses was born (Exodus 2), he escaped this fate and became an instrument God used to deliver the children of Israel. Our culture does not value sex, it thinks of it as very common, so common that virtual strangers will share lifes most intimate treasure. and that we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. Understanding marriage as a covenant which establishes between husband and wife a "partnership of the whole life" in which they "mutually hand over and accept each other" (see Code of Canon Law, c. 1055 and c. 1057) can greatly enrich our appreciation of this special union that is: (a) sacred in the plan of God; (b) permanent, faithful . "If a man who has married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy. Such could be the conclusion one would reach from a reading of John chapter 4, where Jesus spoke to the immoral woman at the well, or of John chapter 8, where Jesus refused to cast stones at the woman caught in the very act of adultery. Taken as a whole, I believe that the above passages convey several vitally important truths, which we must pause to underscore: (1) Adultery is a more serious sexual sin because it is a violation of a marriage. The opposite is true. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders (Matt. I will also put an end to all her gaiety, Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festal assemblies. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification (1 Thess. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! 11. Second, in order to avoid the evils of sex, we need to minimize our exposure to those things which only stimulate lustful thoughts and sexual temptations. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. I believe that the sexual union of Adam and Eve consummated their marital union, and thus there is implied here a sanctity of both the marriage and the sexual relationship of Adam and Eve. And, Paul says, it involves for Timothy the fleeing of youthful lusts, which surely include illicit sexual passions and conduct. 13:4) implies that not every sexual practice of the pagan world is permissible or beneficial for the Christian. The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. There were many things that Israel had to learn during this process. A few months ago, I was talking on the phone to my friend, John Maurer. We sanctify those things to which we attach great value. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion. 1 And it was said, WHOEVER DIVORCES HIS WIFE, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DISMISSAL; but I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Matt. He has also set this unity apart, distinguishing it from the previous parental-child entity. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. I did something which would make you cringe. She is the author of the self-published novel GLORYTHE HAIR. Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Leviticus 18Israel is to distinguish herself from practices of Egypt and Canaan by maintaining sexual purity (vss. They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing after his neighbors wife. Marriage, by Gods decree, is sanctified, it is a relationship that is set apart and restricted. His brothers gave him an unplanned exodus simply because his father adored him (Genesis 37:3-4). You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. Prepare yourself. What Is the Significance of Not the Letter but of the Spirit? The consequences of either guilt or innocence are spelled out (vss. After Joseph died, the children of Israel were numerous, a great nation. Closely related to the union of a husband and his wife is the intimacy which they experience in marriage. The forbidden fruit was not forbidden because is was intrinsically bad. 11-31). her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage shall he not diminish, Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not, Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular, To scrape off, to shave, remove, lessen, withhold, Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular, Flesh, as living, for, food, food of any kind, kindred by blood, Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular, Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, OT Law: Exodus 21:10 If he takes another wife to himself (Exo. Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright 2023, Christianity.com. He warned us . 2:16-22). Num. If you look at Exodus 1:5, you will see that seventy souls had come out of Jacob and arrived in Egypt with Joseph. While the seduction of a virgin entails either marriage to the virgin or the payment of her dowry price to the father, sexual union with a married woman is punishable by death. Dr. Smith has freelanced for the Tri-State Defendernewspaper and Contempora magazine. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those who are His, and, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness. Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen. 12:2-3). If we have accepted the principle of sanctification in general, we must then see it in the particulars of our Christian experience. It is very important for me to be precise in what I say here. We sanctify sex because we value it highly, as a good gift from the hand of a gracious God. We must begin by taking the Bible literally, and thus we acknowledge that any act of adultery must be avoided. The word exodus is significant because it means departure. Israel was tired of being in bondage. The children of Israel had become a threat, for the Egyptians might not control them. Mount Sinai, from which God spoke to Moses and the Israelites, was sanctified, set apart. I would further suggest that these four areas (there are probably others, too) provide the glue which holds a marriage together. We know, of course, that the Lord Jesus was not born of the union of Mary and Joseph, but by a supernatural conception brought about by the Holy Spirit. I do not think that it is correct to conclude that adultery terminates a marriage, any more than it is correct to conclude that sin terminates our salvation. The Bible says God is near the brokenhearted (Psalms 34:18). The Scriptures frankly tell us that sexual sin can be the source of other sins. May it never be! Shall I not punish these people, declares the LORD, And on a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? (Jer. But if they marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. When Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the state of the war. Our Lord is teaching us that we must, unlike our culture, take sexual sin most seriously.