"Therefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you." Proverbs 7:15
Here are the enticements of the adulterous woman. These are the words that she uses to bring a man into her trap - which is her bedroom. Most men do not view a bedroom as a trap. Unfortunately, men tend to view the bedroom as a place of pleasure - and do not see that the difference between pleasure and pain - between a paradise and a pathway to hell is the status of the woman with whom they are having their pleasure at the moment. Guys, I want to be brutally honest with you for the next couple of days. We are going to follow this text for that length of time. This is an area where we are being decimated in the church today. We must open our eyes and begin to discern between the bedroom as a trap and as a treasure. The difference is in one term alone. Are we there with our wives as a holy place - where the Scriptures describe it as the "marriage bed" which it goes on to say is holy - or - are we being duped into thinking that God will in any way bless the bedroom beyond the relationship of marriage. Too often we are the dupes rather than the discerning. We listen to the siren song of the adulteress and do not heed the warning siren of the Holy Spirit to which we are deaf when we succumb to lust - or worse - encourage it in our lives. Please read today's passage and commentary with great discernment - because we, as a gender, must begin to walk in discernment as we walk through this world. Verse 15 reveals to us the secret weapon of the adulteress. It is the ego of a man - and how easily it can be manipulated. Look at what the adulteress says to this foolish man. After making him think that she is right with God (see Prov 7:14 for her religious comments) - she then aims straight for his ego. "Therefore I have come out to meet YOU. To seek YOUR presence earnestly, and I have found YOU." (emphasis mine) Oh, how foolish men love to be made much of by others - especially by a beautiful woman. This reveals to us a secret sin in this man's heart - that of being thought of romantically or sexually by a woman (even if it is a woman other than his wife). And at this point she has set her talons into his flesh. She has begun to hook him with this talk that strokes his deceived ego. Guys this is where we need to be brutally honest with one another. Biblically, God tells us that our desire is to be for our wives. Proverbs 5:17 says that we should be exhilarated with her love - focusing on her sexually. If we are not careful this present world and its sexual insanity will infect us. It is all around us each and every day. The world system is crazed with talk and with innuendo about sex. That is why we need to be so careful what enters our eyes and what enters our minds. Please don't mistake my passion here for either the thought that this is easy - or the idea that I've completely mastered this battle. Unfortunately due to choices I've made in my past, this is a battle that I fight daily. But men, it is worth fighting. Our only other choice is to make ourselves a much easier target for the world - either in physical adultery - or in the mental version of the same sin. This adulteress/prostitute comes to us telling us that it is all about us. I wanted you - I sought you - I've found you. Anything that ministers to the selfish, self-centered part of us is something we should run from in life. That is especially the case when it comes to our sexuality. There is only one relationship God will bless in this way - and that is the one that we have with our wives. Remember, men, this lie is only for a moment - because, as we will learn later in this chapter of Proverbs, there is a devastating payment that will come when the sexual encounter is over. Men . . . don't buy the lie that the wicked one puts before you through the lips of the adulteress. It is just that - a lie. She will say that it is all about you - but the truth is it is only about setting the trap. Behind all this lies the wicked one, who is longing to see you, your marriage, your family, your testimony, and your relationship with God destroyed. If you cannot remember anything else - remember the cost to David for his adultery with Bathsheba. It was a one night tryst - but the cost kept being paid for the rest of his life - and on through his family for generations to come. No matter what a woman says to you in this matter, do not believe her. Hold fast to the Word of God. Run! Flee youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. That is the biblical counsel that Paul gave to young Timothy. It should be the counsel we follow when a strange woman comes and tries to gain entrance to our lives through flattery and an appeal to our selfishness.
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To deliver you from the strange woman, From the adulteress who flatters with her words; Proverbs 2:16
Here we have a four verse warning against the adulterous woman. It is in the midst of a passage telling us the benefits of knowing God's Word and Wisdom. His wisdom will deliver us from this kind of sexual sin. The word deliver here means to overcome the power of another that is trying to overcome us. There is a very clear power that is manifest when sexual sin is trying to deceive us. Some call it sexual tension - but I believe that it is more clearly distinguished as sexual temptation - and it is energized by the power of the wicked one. Unless the sexual encounter is between husband and wife, we can be assured that the "tension" of which we speak is an evil tension. What we need is a greater power at work in us that can overcome the temptations and the enticements to sin. God says that wisdom and the Word will deliver us from the "strange" woman. What a great way to state what we are dealing with here. This is indeed a strange woman. She is a stranger to God's ways and to God's Word. She is an adulteress - and as such she is truly strange. How we need to train ourselves with a God-centered, Biblically-based worldview on such matters. We should look at such woman and see them as strange to us. They are strange because they choose to disobey God. They are strange because they dishonor their marriage vows. They are strange because they forget the covenant they made with God. They are strange because they promise pleasure and ecstacy, but actually only deliver death and shame. How strange it is for a woman to act in this way. Our society, in contrast, glorifies this woman. They may not come out and say that she is an adulteress, but they don't say or do anything to discourage her from flaunting her sexuality in a way that is odious to God. A woman's beauty is to be for God's glory and her husband's enjoyment. Other than that - she is not to parade her beauty around in unacceptable, immodest ways. When she does so - she is basically acting like a harlot/prostitute - and is causing numerous men to stumble into visual and heart-level adultery. We should view such women - as strange indeed. This woman lures men into adultery with her flattering words. The word for flatter here is very interesting. It speaks of words that are smooth. Flattering words are smooth and easy to the ear. When we hear them we tend to agree with them because, after all, it is nice when someone finally notices how awesome and hot we are! Such words seldom are spoken to us for our benefit. That is the danger of flattery. The words that are spoken seem like they are for our benefit, but actually they are for the benefit of the one who is offering them to us. The flattery is given to fill our ears with their words, yet their aim is to gain access to our heart. Once their flattery is effective in disabling our ability to discern and act prudently, they begin to carry out their hidden plan in our lives. Here, the adulteress is using flattery to get us to commit adultery with her. She does NOT have our best interests in mind. That is why we need to reject utterly her flattering words and depart from her presence as quickly as possible. To do otherwise is to risk grave danger to ourselves and to our marriages. A wise man will learn to hear flattery and reject it. He will also know that excessive compliments from a woman other than his wife is a set up. He needs to know that he is being hunted - and that is not something to feel flattered about. Ask any animal that has been lured into the open by deceptive measures - and then has narrowly escaped with his life when the trap is sprung. The flattery is seen afterward as extremely dangerous. Therefore a wise man learns to see the trap - clings to the Lord and to the wife of his youth. As I close today, let me encourage married couples for just a moment. It is too easy once you have lived with someone long enough to get out of the habit of complimenting and in a good way, flattering them. Your spouse wants to be complimented - and talked to in a way that makes them blush a little. Know this . . . YOU are the only one who should be doing this with your spouse. But if you do not - know that they will be more vulnerable to the flattery of others. Take the time to speak something very sweet to your wives guys - ladies, do the same to your husbands. There may be someone out their who is getting ready to set a trap for them. Make it completely ineffective by lovingly flattering your sweetheart - and do it on a regular basis. It is a wise thing to do. A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, The naive proceed and pay the penalty. Proverbs 27:12
What do you do when you see evil or sin coming toward you? Your answer might be that you don't often have evil coming in your direction. But the fact is that temptations come in two basic types. There are temptations that we will most likely not be able to avoid in life. They are going to happen so quickly that we do not have time to flee from them in advance. But there is a second type of temptation that is mentioned in this proverb. It is the temptation that we see coming - or the one that we just do not avoid or hide from in life. We just walk right into it. Those kind of temptations are the ones that we will most likely fall into - and pay the penalty in the process. The prudent men sees evil - and hides himself from it. He sees that there is a situation where temptation and testing is coming - and he makes choices to avoid it altogether. The alcoholic knows when he is being invited to a party or to a restaurant where liquor is being offered to him. He knows this and avoids the situation. The man struggling with sexual temptation is smart enough to hide himself from the R or PG13 rated movies - and avoids situations when he will be exposed to sights that will only cause him greater temptation. There are numerous temptations that we can avoid by simply being wise enough to hide from them. Rather than proceed into situations that pose us with choices that we would rather not make, we stay away from them. The proverb warns us what will happen when we do not make these kind of "choices-in-advance-for-righteousness." We read that the naive proceed and pay the penalty. I love the word for naive here. It is the Hebrew word "pethi" and it means to be simple or open-minded. The idea here is one who is so open-minded that they are naive about the evil that is in the world around them. They are simple in that they do not see the consequences of actions they are about to take. Contrary to this is the one who is spiritually mature. Hebrews 5;14 tells us about this person when it says, "But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." Here is the wise man. His senses are trained due to exposure to the Word of God. The passage tells us that this man is feeding on the meat of God's Word, not just the milk. As a result, he has his senses trained from reading the "word of righteousness." Thus he knows what is right and wrong. That is why he can discern good and evil. He does so through God's Word, the Bible. And as he does - he makes sure that he avoids situations where evil is present. Jesus taught us to pray, "Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil." That phrase has within it this same passage. There are times when we will have to face evil - when we will have to face temptation. But our heart is not to be led into it. When we have to face temptation we long for God to deliver us from evil. But in some cases, God desires for us to learn enough wisdom to avoid tempting situations altogether. That is where we learn to see the evil and hide ourselves - rather the walk into it thinking we can handle it - and find out we cannnot. Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:8-9 Here is the request of a wise man. It is a very wise request because it deals in two things that will derail a life that is seeking to be guided by God. It deals with deception and greed. As you seek to walk through this world in a way that pleases and honors God - you will find that these two things are snares that often will seek to trip your feet and make you stumble. The man who watches for them - and cries out for God to deliver him from them - is wise indeed. His first request deals with deception. He cries out to God to keep deception and lies far from him. If we are going to live a godly life, we are going to have to have truth. The wise man has come to know that there is an absolue truth that God gives in His Word. He will cling to it. Jesus prayed for His disciples, "Santify them in the truth. Your Word is truth." If we are going to be purified and preserved in this life - it will be because God has kept us from deception and lies. There is one sure cure for lies - and it is the truth. Why should we be in God's Word every day? Why should it dwell richly within us? Why should we hide that Word in our hearts? It is so that we know the truth - because it is only that truth that will set us free. The most secure prison in the world is nothing compared to a man who enslaves himself by believing lies and deception. The wise man's second request has to deal with the sin of greed. The best way to describe the danger of greed is by sharing the answer of a man who was very wealthy. He was asked how much money it would take for him to be content. His answer was telling because it did not refer to a specific, fixed amount. He sad, "Just a little more." There is the danger of greed. No amount is enough because we will be deceived into thinking that a little more will give us the illusive happiness that we seek from money. Our problem is that we were not made for money. Elsewhere in Scripture we are warned that when we set our eyes on wealth - it takes wings and flies to the heavens - always just a little beyond our reach. This pursuit will take forever - and will never end in contentment. The truth is that we were made for God - and until we find our contentment in Him - we will never be truly content. The writer of Proverbs cries out and asks for neither poverty or riches. He knows that both of those situations leaves him in want. Poverty in a want for enough - and riches in a want for just a little more. What he asks for is the food that is his portion. Ah, a wise man he is indeed. His words parallel those of Jesus in His teaching on prayer. "Give us THIS DAY our DAILY BREAD!" There is wisdom - give me what I need today - and keep me in need of only one thing constantly. Keep me constantly needing You, Lord! That is the prayer of the wise man. Next the wise man states why this request for enough for today is truly wisdom. First, he knows that too often the rich man thinks he does not need God. He looks to his riches and foolish thinks he does not need God. Such was the case for the rich farmer in the parable of the rich fool told by our Lord. He thought his bumper crop meant that he was set for life. His problem though was that he was not set for death. God came to him and called him a fool. That night he was to die - and he would suddenly have nothing. All his wealth was left behind - and since he did not prepare to meet God - he faced a horrific fate. He was about to enter into eternal poverty - having decided that storing up treasures in heaven was not a worthy pursuit. Here on earth his riches deceived him into thinking, "Who is the Lord?" The answer to that question is one that does not need to be put off until after death. It needs to be answered here and now - because the one who puts it off - or ignores it altogether - will spend all eternity in a poverty that will consume his flesh with fire forever and ever as the smoke of his torment will never cease to rise in an epitaph revealing his eternal stupidity. The second reason he asks God for enough is because he knows that hunger may deceive a man into thinking that stealing is a way of getting enough. Want often leads men to profane God's name by their thievery. They steal thinking that God has not provided and therefore they need to take things into their own hands. Here is a wise man - praying. He seeks God for what is necessary for that day. He also knows that the best thing for him is to have to do this each and every day. His stomach may be full - and possibly can be provided for well into the future. But - he knows that his need of the Lord will never subside. He needs God continuously. May it be the wisdom of that need that guides us to our knees daily to ask for God's mercy and grace to deliver us from the twin foes of deception and greed. My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. Proverbs 1:10
Here we are given an inside seat to a spectacle that takes place every day. This event is when a fool or group of fools approach a person to entice him to join with them in their ungodly schemes. This is something we need to see because as Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes, there really is nothing new under the son. Men have tried to get others to join with their gang to do mischief for numerous generations. The lies are pretty much unchanged - and yet they are good to know ahead of time so that we are not taken in by the offers of fools whose only true promise is to get us into serious trouble before everything is over. How young people need to read these words and profit from rejecting them ahead of time. Here a father speaks to his son to warn him against such foolish company - and against their foolish offers to "cut him in on the action." His first instructive comment is to refer to those who do such things as "sinners." What is instructive about this word is the comment made by Zhodiates that this word is used, "to describe those who, by their actions, are under the wrath and judgment of God and face ultimate destruction." In Psalm 104:35 we are told that these folks will be consumed from the earth - and in Isaiah 1:28 that they will be crushed and will come to their end by the hand of God. The father warns that these people will come to "entice" them. They will come with words to try to allure, persuade, and deceive. They want to convince this young man to join with them as they plan to do their evil deeds. This may sound all melodramatic to some who read this - but that is only because the world has done a good job of mocking this kind of talk. They do so by overdramatizing the father or the spiritual guide - making him sound stupid when he warns of such things. Their effectiveness has only dulled the minds of our children to those who truly will come to them with such wicked counsel. In the end they only make it easier for the criminal and harder for the parent or mentor. This father is doing a good thing in warning his son about this kind of interview. His advice to his son is not to consent. In the end the boy is going to have to make a decision on his own. Eventually every child will leave the home and will face temptation to do evil. If we do not instruct them - they will face this without godly counsel on their side. This father does an admirable job of letting his son hear the enticing words ahead of time. But the father does so with additional commentary explaining to his son just where such counsel will lead. Hey dad, let me ask you a question. Are you preparing your son to face these things? Are you taking the time to let him hear the kind of things he is going to be told - and then put them into the context of where they will take him? There is a kind of Christian parenting that is going on today that does not think kids should be exposed to anything that is remotely wrong. I agree with this when it comes to exposing them to such things and encouraging them to do them. But what this godly father is doing is exposing his son to the reality of what wicked men will say to him one day. He is letting his son know the arguments - the offers - the lies that will be told to him. Then he is taking those statements and dismantling them before his son. He does so by showing his son where such lies will lead him. The warning his boy receives is a wise one - and one that we would do well to teach to our own children as well. When we think that placing them into a world without any form of tempation of proposed evil will protect them - we may be deceiving ourselves. One day they won't be with us - and an evil man will approach with his slick lies. What will they do then? Will they know how to stand and resist the lies? Maybe . . . maybe not. The only way we can prepare them for such a day is to teach them by exposing them to what will be said - as well as the sure judgment and destruction that comes with the lifestyle that will result. Proverbs 23:6-8 (NASB)
6 Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies; 7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten, And waste your compliments. Proverbs lays out for us here three verses that warn us of selfish and greedy men. The term used to describe this men is a man of an 'evil eye.' This term is a Hebraism that refers to a man whose eye is set in a way that he is covetous and very selfish when it comes to his money. This guy has evidently made a promise of a sumptuous meal. To break bread with someone in this day was to offer them a meal. And from what we read here - this man is putting quite a the spread before us. It does not only involve putting food before us - but delicacies. Delicacies here is the Hebrew word "mat'am" and it means a very tasty, delicious food. It indicates soemthing like gourmet food or special tidbits and delicacies that were usually only served to the wealthy and influential person. This meal is provided to catch our eye - but dull our sensest. This is not just a Big Mac at Mickie-D's. This would be an entire meal at a fancy restaurant - including a top shelf dessert as well. Why would this man do this? What is even more important though is that God warns us to stay away - and not eat it - and not to be drawn in by the delicacies! We are warned against the desires that arise in us as we look at te delicacies set before us. Again, one might ask, "Why?" The answer lies with the character and the motives of the man who is providing the meal. He has a reason for what He is doing. And according to this passage - his motives are evil, selfish, and self-centered. Let's look a little further at all this as we seek to get all we can from this warning - as well as how all this applies to what we can face from men in THIS generation that use the same tactics. God now reveals to us this man's heart. The motives of his heart are hidden from us and the only way we know them is when God reveals them to us. This man thinks within himself differently than he is acting outwardly. His outward words say, "Eat and drink!" There is every indication that he is all about his hospitality. There is a problem though. His words do not match his heart. Who he is in his heart is who he really is and since his heart is not with us, we should question his true motives. Why would someone provide a great spread like this - and not have their heart in it? The answer to this question is that greed and selfishness are what motivate him. Ever been to a "free meal" or a "free weekend" at a time share? Yeah . . . that's what we're talking about here. We are provided what seems like an innocent and wonderful gift. Problem is the entire time we are enjoying it we are being set up for the real purpose. The gift is given to get something from us! Before the night is over - before the weekend is over - there is going to be a presentation. The reason for all the generosity is that you are supposed to buy something - commit to something. I've been to a free weekend at a resort - and the term "high pressure sales" is an understatement of what I eventually faced. When my "free" weekend was over, I honestly wished I had just paid for my so-called free vacation. That was one of the longest three hours of my entire life. When someone's heart is not with you in providing that great meal or that wonderful weekend; when someone's heart is not with you in giving you those "free tickets" or that gift card for a free meal, you need to know that a the heart is not set on giving, but greed. You are being lured into a way for Mr. Generous to make money in the end. We are told that we will vomit up the morsel we thought we enjoyed. There will be a disgust in our hearts when we eat this man's food. That disgust will only be experienced after we find out the real agenda here. He didn't do this for us . . . He did it for himself. Covetousness and profiteering were the real reason this for Mr. Generosity's gift. In the end you feel like a fool for being tricked into doing something you "normally" would not do. You curse your desires that deadened you to the warnings of the Holy Spirit. Remember my time share story? Oh, how embarassingly this ended. I told myself that I would not buy anything! I was going to be strong - and say NO to everything. Then I'd enjoy the rest of my free vacation and go home. Remember the "high-pressure sales pitch?" Well, in the end, we didn't buy a time share. Instead we paid a ridiculous price for a promised "future" vacation - actually three were promised. I'm not stupid enough to fall for just one! Of course the promised triple play did not quite work out like it was mapped out for us. In fact the entire sitaution was a debacle. In the end - I vomited out the vacation we took - and wished I could take back my compliments about what a "great deal" I had just gotten! Remember this . . . when a selfish, greedy man "gives" you something, he has every intention to more than double or triple what he invested. At least that is my story - and my savings (or lack thereof) is sticking to it! In the end - you feel like a fool for complimenting the generosity of your host. You look at what was provided - and you think that it is wonderful. But the cost in the end - oh the cost in the end - makes you feel like a complete idiot for ever accepting his invitation. You kick yourself for ever getting involved. There are plenty of evil-eyed men out there in the world. They have their plans and their purpose for their pseudo-generosity. But remember that we've been warned by a wise God - and a wise man who walked with God - that there are subversive plans in this pseudo-generosity. The plans of these heartless givers are laid out like a trap for the unwary and the unsuspecting to step into. They want to catch your eye with their delicacies - and keep you from seeing the long-term plan in their ruse of free provision. Believe me when I say that their intention is to make far more than they have given. The truly wise man will see this ahead of time - and avoid even a meal provided by one whose eye is evil - and whose plans are selfish and filled with snares. For the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech; Proverbs 5:3
What is it about an adulteress - or an immoral woman that gives her power over men? According to what we read in Proverbs 5:3, it is the power of her words. Granted, we know that a woman can use her body to get a man's attention - but very few men on a lustful look will enter into an adulterous affair. What is dangerous is when the "strange woman" begins using her lips and speech to reel a man in for the kill. The lips of an adulterous drip honey. She is filled with compliments and sweet words for the dope who listens. To be honest, part of the reason this works is twofold. First, too often married women don't know the power their words have on their husbands. A man longs for his wife to say nice things about him - to him. (By the way - this is a two-way street! Men don't use their mouths like they should either to compliment and praise their wives). After a period of time, a husband no longer hears nice comments from his wife (which may be partially his fault for being ungodly - or no longer a husband who takes care of things as he should) - and misses being spoken to in this way. Enter the adulterous woman - who comes into his life with lips that drip honey. Oh, how we need to see the additional proverb that says that more flies are caught with honey than with vinegar! (By the way - more husbands are caught with this too - and ladies . . . there are plenty of women who will compliment him if you won't. This doesn't mean he'll become an adulterer - but it does mean that if you don't speak nicely to him - he's just that much more vulnerable!) The other reason this works is because men are stupid. They'll listen to some adulterer who compliments them - not realizing that her compliments are empty. She is using them to bait him into the relationship. Just like a fish bites a lure - so he bites at the compliments of her honey dripping lips - not realizing that when he does - he will be hooked - dragged out of the water - stuffed and put on the wall as a trophy to her feminine wiles. She will come to him with speech that is smoother than oil. He may be a husband who only hears bitter, angry, or resentful speech at home (again usually his own fault - but ladies beware - his failures do not merit yours - just like yours are no excuse for his). When this fool listens to her smooth speech, he does not know nor understand that she is baiting him with it. Oh, dear saint of God - especially if you are a brother in Christ - RUN FROM SUCH WOMEN! When a women who is not your wife or daughter seems to always be offering compliments - it is not a good thing. When you think to yourself that you wish your wife would say the kind of nice things this lady does - realize this - SHE AIN'T A LADY - AND THAT THING IN YOUR MOUTH - THAT'S A HOOK! This is dangerous situation - one that is repeated far more often than I'd even want to consider! You are being set up - and the best thing to do is to run like crazy! Go home fool - talk to your God and then to your wife. This is the wisest thing you can do - and if you don't do it - well . . . get ready to be caught, gutted, stuffed, and displayed as another foolish man who went for the honey-lipped, smooth-as-oil speech of a strange women - and ended up an adulterer! As a ring of gold in a swine's snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion. Proverbs 11:22
One way to deal with lust is to redirect our thoughts and redraw pictures in our mind's eye so that they no longer look good to us. Interesting that Proverbs encourages us to do just that. We live in a time when women are not taught modesty according to biblical standards. It is difficult to be a man who desires to keep his eyes pure in this present world. We are assaulted daily with images from the world that present women in a way that promotes sexual immorality. The number of images that we face in an average day may shock us if we ever counted them - which I don't encourage any man to do. How do we deal with this pictoral minefield? Proverbs does it with a picture. It is not a pretty picture though - and it is meant to disgust us. God depicts a beautiful woman who lacks discretion in a way that will turn our stomachs if we think long enough about it - and that is what I would encourage any man to do when he is confronted with images that tempt him to lust. Like a ring of gold . . . there is something desirable and something beautiful. Consider a ring of 24 karat gold before you. It is designed flawlessly and is a work of sheer beauty. This could be an ornament that would enhance the beauty of any woman who wears it. The problem is a woman is not wearing it in this passage. This beautiful ring of gold is pierced through a swine's snout. When you think about this - it is a truly disgusting picture. Consider a large pig that has just come from rooting its snout in a trough of swill. As you focus on the beautiful ring - you see it is pierced through the snout of this pig. The ring itself is dripping with the refuse of all the spoiled rotten food that was in the trough. In addition to this it is also dripping with the mucus from the pig's nose. Not a pretty picture, huh? Now first of all I want to thank you for bearing with me as I took you through a very disgusting picture. But there is method to my madness. Consider for a moment whether you would be tempted to stare at this ring - desring to take it and put it on as an ornament. Your rightful response would be to say, "NO! Not in the slightest would I want anything to do with that disgusting piece of jewelry." This is why God describes this beautiful woman in this way. If we focused simply upon her beauty, we would be drawn in to her. But, when we see the heart, we are introduced to something vile and disgusting. She may be beautiful, but she is lacking in any godliness or heart that seeks to honor God. She takes her beauty and uses it to lure attention to herself. She wants attention from men - and seeks to get it in all the wrong ways. She is encouraging sin in men and that is odious in God's sight. The Lord encourages her to clothe herself in righteousness and in godly good works. Instead she clothes herself in lustful outfits that draw men's attention to her figure rather than her face and character. This is not a beautiful woman - any more than the gold ring in the swine's snout is beautiful. We just need to look at things from God's perspective rather than our own. A picture is worth a thousand words - and a picture that encourages us to righteousness is worth a thousand fortunes. In a sexually super-charged world like ours - it would be wise to take this picture and use it daily. For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, And I saw among the naive, And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense, Passing through the street near her corner; And he takes the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and in the darkness. Proverbs 7:6-9
I find it not only interesting, but also highly instructive to see that God addresses the issue of sexual immorality several times in the opening chapters of Proverbs. Far from being a book that is out of date and not in step with the times, the Bible is very instructive to any generation that would pick it up and seek to learn from it. The current verses from Proverbs 7 read more like a script from a soap opera than they do the Bible - but that is the dig isn't it. The Bible does address the core corruptions of man - and does so with amazing clarity and color. That is why it can be so instructive if we will listen. This all starts innocently enough. The writer is looking out of the window of his home - through the lattice in the window to see what he can see at night. Again, typical evening in a typical town anywhere in the world. But that is where things, unfortunately in a typical fashion, become not just interesting, but instructive. He sees one "among the naive," one of the simple-minded ones. This is not a compliment - this one is simple-minded because as we will continue to see, he is NOT wise. As he looks he begins to discern something about this young man - he saw deeper than skin deep - and what he saw was not good. This was "a young man lacking sense." The word sense is interesting. It means he lacked heart - he was wanting and very needy - this young man did not have a heart for God - and his heart was in great need of change and transformation. When we get involved in sexual immorality we are among those who lack a heart for God. We are unwise and simple-minded to miss the danger in turning from God to our own fallen hearts. If we are going to stand against the wiles of the devil and those of the world, we need a heart for God. The fact is that these attacks - those that entice our flesh and our eyes and the pride of living our lives as we want - are some of the wicked one's most effective advances. It will take a heart that is regenerated and renewed to stand in these moments. And that is not what this young man possessed. Therefore we continue to read of his demise. We see what a heart that is not turned to the Lord does here. It may not run directly into sin - but it definitely does not take the principled road either. He takes his journey in a bad part of town - at least a bad part for those with sexual immorality issues in their lives. He does not flee sexual immorality as the Scriptures advise. He decides to "pass through" the street near to the immoral woman's house. He wants to flirt with evil - probably thinking he can handle it in the end. The fact is that he cannot handle it - and as he walks near her house - he suddenly finds that he is taking the way to her house. Here is wisdom for us in regard to sexual immorality. Stay FAR from temptation. There are times when temptation will come to you - and that is unavoidable. But for the vast majority of life - our proximity to temptation is a matter of our choice. Now, just because you are near to temptation does not mean you will succomb to it, but the closer you get to sinning - the more likely you will choose to sin. The wise man steers clear of the harlot's house. He stays away from the woman who flirts with him. He avoids the loose-moraled women of the world. But this young man reveals his total lack of discernment by heading near her house. Here is a piece of advice that will pay off for you if you will heed it. When you have a problem with an area of temptation, stay far away from it. When you have the thought that you can go near it - or you have a strong urge to go around it - put that thought out of your mind. This is the prelude to failure and acting out. God will not lead you "hang around" temptation. In fact He instructed us to pray that He would NOT lead us into temptation. When this young man took the way near her corner - he knew within that she would be there. Secretly - at least at a heart level - he wanted her to come out and meet him. To make such a calculated mistake is to make provision for our sin - something the Scripture expressly forbids. Some may read the previous paragraph and accuse me of prejudice and judgmentalism toward this young man. How could I make such strident comments about him? I make these comments because this young man is not fulfilling Scripture - he is ignoring it. Why would he make such choices? Why would he make them when it is twilight? There is a reason - a twofold reason. First, he has every intent in the recesses of his heart to walk in immorality. Why else would he go out near her house after the sun has set? Why would he wait until dark? Another thing we might not be aware of too is that this was the time when prostitutes and women of this type would go out to ply their trade among men who left their morals elsewhere. To go at this hour to this location was the height of folly - and the prelude to disaster as we see later. This young man lacks heart - that is the estimation given to us in verse 7 of this passage. He lacks the heart to stand firm in God's ways and avoid the pitfalls of his own flesh. He starts on a journey near her home deceiving himself of his intention to meet her. He gives in quickly when she arrives to deceive him. He is not dealing with his core corruptions - not being honest with himself that he is planning on being sexually immoral - and he is not being true to God's standards even as he sets out on his unwise course. The attitude of one avoiding sin is absent in his mind. If it was he would know that the wise man views sin as a plague - as a deadly wild beast whose only desire is to catch and devour him. If that were his mindset - he would have fled this scene instead of having walked into it. May God give us grace to do the same! 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. Proverbs 6:26-29
Here we have the "harlot" described for us in very expressive language. Interesting that we don't even call sexually immoral women harlots any longer - but the term is what God uses to describe a woman who has sexual relations with men - and is not married to them. Harlot is the word "zanah" and it means to commit fornication, another word we've left behind in our enlightenment - or should we say, "endarkenment." This word is used to describe anything from adultery and prostitution to fornication and unfaithfulness. It is the word used for the women involved in sexual immorality, and that is what it refers to in this passage. Let's take a closer look at how she is described. 1. She reduces you to a loaf of bread . . . This was the price of a prostitute. What God intended to be a beautiful thing in the sexual relationship between a man and a woman has now been reduced to giving someone a loaf of bread for sex. What a sad picture of how high we fall. 2. She hunts for the precious life . . . The adulteress hunts for our very lives. Too often we see sexual things in our lives without this revelation. We would think twice about illicit sex if we grasped that we were not being seduced - we were being hunted for the kill. 3. Hugging fire . . . The harlot wants us to think of her embraces. She's there to comfort us and bring us pleasure. Interesting that the Scriptures say that when we do this we're hugging fire to ourselves. The harlot promises pleasurable embraces - but would we think of them this way if we were getting ready to hug a burning log to our chests with the result that we'd be badly burned? 4. Burned clothes . . . The result of embracing the harlot is to be physically burned - and what would be burned is our clothes first of all. All affairs seek secrecy. We don't want any trace of our indiscretions leaving any evidence. But in a day when a person had very few changes of clothes - we are told doing this is like embracing fire while thinking your clothes won't be burned. The fact is there is evidence - and just like burned clothes - their will be proof of our unfaithfulness. 5. Walking on hot coals . . . The harlot wants us to think that we can walk into her bedroom without harming ourselves. Yet the Scriptures tell us that doing so is like walking on hot coals and thinking we won't burn our feet. Our "walk" is going to be extremely hindered! That is the result of sexual immorality. We get burned - and that burning severely hinders our ability to walk with the Lord - and sometimes walk much at all. Imagine being laid up for weeks with feet scorched and blistered. Those caught in adultery not only hinder their walk with God - for many it is even painful to walk outside among people because of the stigma attached to their actions. Think first about this - before visiting the harlot. The conclusion to this is a warning - so is the one who has sex with his neighbor's wife! All these pictures - and they are graphic pictures indeed - are what we'll get for a few moments of stolen pleasure. Just seeing these things by themselves - we'd run from the situation - but our problem is that often the pleasure promised - and our blindness to the situation - keep us from seeing all this. God knows that these graphic pictures will help us to see the real danger - the real harm - the real damage that will come from visiting the harlot. The warning is clear - "Whoever touches her will not go unpunished!" This word "unpunished" means to be acquitted - to be declared free, clean, or pure. The one who visits and uses the harlot will not enjoy these things. There will be punishment for adultery - and that punishment is sure. Ours is a visual society . . . and that in itself is often why we get in trouble. The harlot used to be a physical woman alone - and not images we see on billboards, in magazines, and in movies and television shows. But thanks be to God that in His battle against sin He has given us pictures - graphic portrayals that get our attention. He does so to remind us of the dangers of sexual sin. May we see the pictures - be horrified at what they show us - and turn from the harlot at every opportunity for sin. |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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