Wisdom Avoids Adultery

Proverbs 6:20-35 

20 My son, keep your father's command,
And do not forsake the law of your mother.

21 Bind them continually upon your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you roam, they will lead you;
When you sleep, they will keep you;
And when you awake, they will speak with you.

23 For the commandment is a lamp,
And the law a light;
Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24 To keep you from the evil woman,
From the flattering tongue of a seductress.

25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
26 For by means of a harlot
A man is reduced to a crust of bread;
And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.

27 Can a man take fire to his bosom,
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Can one walk on hot coals,
And his feet not be seared?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

30 People do not despise a thief
If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.
31 Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold;
He may have to give up all the substance of his house.

32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;
He who does so destroys his own soul.
33 Wounds and dishonor he will get,
And his reproach will not be wiped away.

34 For jealousy is a husband's fury;
Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will accept no recompense,
Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.

Wisdom understands and avoids seductive, alluring, and adulterous women who prey on a man’s soul.  God’s word gives examples, commands, and consequences of those not wanting the wisdom of godly understanding.  Solomon was speaking from unfortunate experience, having so many ungodly wives and concubines who did not follow God and caused him to sin with their false gods (1 Kings 11:2, 3-4, Nehemiah 13:26).  The adulterous neighbor’s wife and prostitute alike both drag men down the same due to their ungodliness and disregard for the commands of God and His good will for us.  Therefore Solomon pleads from God to us to avoid sexual immorality of all kinds, with a focus on the immoral women who draw men into their dens of iniquity to break up marriages and families, not to mention their relationship with the Lord Himself.  We are to bind God’s word on our hearts to avoid sin (Psalm 119:11, 37:31).  The picture here is to tie His commands of purity and holiness to the LORD as His priests (Exodus 28:36, Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17) around our neck to keep the instruction close to our thoughts and above our heart’s desires opposed to that word as we sojourn along the narrow path set before us (Psalm 1:1-2, Hebrews 12:1).  His word lights our way through the darkness to keep us from straying off the path; the reproofs of correction from the scriptures are for our good and His glory!  They keep a man from the tantalizing words of the temptations and flattering words of the seductress which draw men to the burning candle’s flame in time.  The word is clear to not allow ourselves to desire the beauty and sexual appeal of women who flirt for effect to bring men down to where they live; as their prey, we are reduce to a mere dried up and discarded crust of old bread.  Yes, such fire of passion always burns and consumes those running into the fire of unbridled and unlawful passion in God’s eyes.  The example of committing adultery with the neighbor’s wife is a clear example of the consequences of falling for such temptation to sin which must be stood firmly against (James 1:14-15) according to His word and by the power of His Spirit living in us.  Nothing goes unseen before God, and sin will eventually find us out if we go down that path as if the darkness can hide or disguise these things.  To commit adultery is to lack understanding, which is to refuse wisdom in such willful self-satisfaction over the clear prohibition of scripture, yet some will ignore God to their own peril, unfortunately.  The wrath when God shines light on such sin and when the sinners are found out is devastating, so why even imagine such ungodliness when tempted?  In Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus makes it abundantly clear that the very imaginations we call fantasy are the same as the physical act of adultery (Matthew 15:19 also), so we are to keep our hearts with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23) and put any such sin to death that raises its ugly head from the serpent’s work in the Garden (Genesis 2:25, 3:10-11).  This is the wisdom to avoid sexual immorality from God’s word through Solomon the wise to us today as pertinent as it was then.