Sexual Licentiousness: The Path of Destruction. Proverbs 5:1-23;
6:24-25; 7:1-27
The writer of Proverbs is a father talking to his son,
and in these next two or three chapters we have a man to man focus, an insight
into their conversation: the advice of the father to the son in guiding him
through the treacherous steps in dealing with sexual temptation and the
problems and catastrophes that occur as the result of yielding to that
temptation.
As we have seen in the previous chapters there are ten
basic lessons here from the father to the son in the first nine chapters.
Starting in chapter ten we see individual proverbs, just a collection of wise
sayings that the father is teaching to the son. In the first nine chapters
there is an integrated, consistent pattern that takes place. We have gone
through the first seven, and in the eighth lesson we see the emphasis on the
emptiness of free sex, the emptiness of a sexually promiscuous lifestyle, and
in the end a challenge to the wisdom of marriage and the importance of intimacy
within marriage and keeping that within the marriage vows. In the ninth lesson,
which begins halfway through the sixth chapter, there is another discourse on the
problems of sexual promiscuity and the dangers of the adulterous woman. Then
the tenth lesson again returns to the focus on the adulteressÕs seductive
tactics.
So we see that this is an important emphasis in
Scripture. This is one of the greatest areas of failure, especially in a
culture that has been seduced by moral relativism where the divorce rate is
going down only because the marriage rate is going down because people just
choose to live together for whatever period of time until the go on to somebody
else, and where sexual promiscuity has become the norm for children even as
young as nine or ten years of age. We have a horrible problem in our culture of
children having babies. Another horrible problem and epidemic that is
destructive in our culture is pornography.
Once people begin to succumb to sexual temptations,
once they open that door and begin to justify and to moralize their sexual
infidelity, it leads to a degradation of moral values across board among young
people who have no idea of the horrible danger they are putting their souls in
through sexual infidelity.
Any kind of sin impacts the very core of the health of
our soul—not just sexual immorality, but that is one of the most
pervasive areas, especially in a licentious culture. It is one of the most
destructive. All are destructive, but this one of the worst in some ways
because of the weakness that we all have in the area of sexual temptation. So
it is no surprise that a concerned father would address his son in this
particular area and give a lot of attention to it.
With the level of repetition that we have in the text
we will be starting to move away from simply a verse by verse exposition and
shifting into more topical exposition. So we will be just summarizing this material
in one lesson.
In Proverbs 5:1, 2 we see the
introduction. It is addressed to the son. Proverbs 5:1 NASB ÒMy son,
give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding; [2] That you
may observe discretion And your lips may reserve knowledge.Ó This introduction
is not any different from what we have heard many times before as these lessons
are introduced. It is a challenge to listen to what the father is teaching, not
because it is the fatherÕs opinion but because the father represents the
revelation of God in these particular areas. He is the conduit for
communicating the revelation of God to his son so that the son can live a wise
life. The son in this instance is probably beyond the years of puberty and is
susceptible to the temptations of sexual promiscuity.
We know from a later writing, the
Mishnah—not written down until the second century or so AD
but it reflects a long oral tradition among the Jewish people—one of the
rabbis stated: ÒAt the age of five a child should start being introduced to
Scripture, at ten to the Mishnah, at thirteen to religious duties, at fifteen
to Talmud, and at eighteen to the wedding canopy.Ó So they saw marriage taking
place at approximately the age of eighteen. It is interesting that in our culture
we have lost sight of the fact that in the ancient world they understood that
when what we would refer to as an adolescent (a modern concept) came to puberty
it was the time for them to get married so that there would not be this long
gap between the time they had reached sexual maturity and when they got
married. As we all know, this gap leads to complicated problems.
A study back in the 1980s on American
young people over the past 150 years indicated that in the late nineteenth
century the average age for sexual maturity or reaching puberty was around
eighteen years of age, but the average time frame for reaching emotional
maturity, recognizing responsibility, was about fourteen years of age. Because
in many cases the children grew up having to take responsibilities on the farm
or whatever the environment was, and they would start helping with the family
from a young age. So they developed a sense of responsibility and knowing right
from wrong long before they faced the temptations of sexual activity. By the
1980s the average age of puberty had moved to twelve—it might even be
earlier now for some, due to a lot of factors—but the level of emotional
maturity was about age twenty-two or twenty-three. So there is now a ten-year
span between reaching sexual maturity and having the emotional maturity to
handle these problems. This had led to numerous breakdowns in society.
The problem we see from the fatherÕs
viewpoint here as he is addressing his son (Solomon to his son) is that he
understands that yielding to promiscuity is not just a personal problem, it is
an assault on the second divine institution of marriage, on the third divine
institution, the stability of the family, and on the fourth divine institution,
the stability of the nation. So it is not simply a personal issue.
As he begins he focuses the sonÕs
attention once again on listening to what he has to say. And when we think
about the fact that this is Solomon the son of David and Bathsheba it takes us
back to recognize that there is a whole narrative—both as a Jew and as a
son of David—that lies behind this. There are two examples in the Old
Testament related to adultery. The first comes from Joseph in Genesis chapter
thirty-nine. In PotipharÕs house Joseph was completely trustworthy, but PotipharÕs
wife had a wandering eye. She was a classic example of the adulterous woman
mentioned in Proverbs. Her lustful eye was cast upon Joseph and she
continuously tried to entice him to her bed. Joseph would continuously turn her
down because he would not breach the trust of his master. One day when they
were alone she tried to grab him, he fled, and she retained hold of his cloak.
She used that to cry rape and to blame him, for which he was put in prison. But
we see here the example of the man with integrity who refuses to yield to the
temptation.
On the other side we have the episode
with David and Bathsheba—2 Samuel 11 & 12. Here we have an example of
a man who has integrity, who is righteous before God, and yet like all of us
has a sin nature, and has a time of weakness. He has already sunk to a level of
irresponsibility by not going out to battle with his troops. After the affair
he puts together a plan, a conspiracy, to have her husband killed so that it
wonÕt be discovered that she has committed adultery with him and that he is the
father of her child. He is then condemned by God because he has been guilty of
both murder and adultery. And yet GodÕs grace is extended to David even though
there is a fourfold punishment upon David. God forgives him and gives him the
grace to survive the condemnation and punishment. So no matter how we fail in
life, no matter what our past failures may have been in any of these areas, we
know that God still loves us and He still extends His grace in our lives.
So the writer of Proverbs says, ÒMy
son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding.Ó These
are the same words we saw in the previous chapter in 4:20, just a challenge to
pay attention, to listen. Then he says, ÒThat you may preserve discretion.Ó
This is the word we have seen again and again: to keep, to guard, to protect.
And ÒdiscretionÓ is the word mezimmah, indicating purpose, discretion, the application of wisdom
in decision-making in oneÕs life. ÒÉ that your lips may keep knowledge.Ó The
challenge is to be mature and wise in his life and in his actions.
As we go through these sections in
Proverbs we see that there are four or five different elements. The women are
described in specific detail in various terms. The men are then described as
well. The enticements, how the temptation takes place, is described in
specific. The specific prohibitions are given and there is an outline of the
consequences both to the individual as well as to the nation. This chapter,
chapter 5, concludes with the corrective, and that is to maintain and strong
marriage and to be faithful and loyal to your spouse.
The writer begins now with an explanation. He is answering the question: Why should I pay attention to you, Dad? Proverbs 5:3 NASB ÒFor [because] the lips of an adulteress drip honey ÉÓ The imagery here of dripping honey is something that is sweet, something attractive, something that tantalizes us, something that we desire; it promotes a temptation. In the parallelism in the second line is, ÒAnd smoother than oil is her speech.Ó The woman is identified here as an immoral woman. The word used in the Hebrew is the word zar, which indicates a stranger. It is the word used in literal historical narrative top describe a foreigner. But it is used metaphorically in wisdom literature in poetry to describe the adulteress who is foreign to the manÕs life. She is not married to him, there is not a covenantal unification in marriage. The terms that we see here in verse 3 and also through this chapter are indicated in Proverbs 2:16 and 7:5 by the term isha zarah—the strange woman or the immoral woman. That is emphasized in many parallels where she is also referred to in some cases as a prostitute, in some cases as an adulteress.
Proverbs 2:16 says that the purpose for
these proverbs is to deliver from the immoral woman, the seductress. The
immoral woman is the isha zara, and the seductress is the term nokri. This gives us an insight into how this was viewed within the
proverbial literature; that it was wrong to go outside of marriage to seek
sexual satisfaction. Another pair of terms used is isha ra, ra meaning evil. The adulteress is
viewed as an evil woman. Also there is the term zanah for fornication or an adulterer or
a prostitute. These words are used to express primarily elicit heterosexual
intercourse. They are mostly used to refer to women but on occasion (Exodus
34:16; Numbers 25:1) they are applied to men.
The focal point here is on the son
being attracted to the adulterous woman, but the principles would apply in the
other direction as well, i.e. a woman being seduced by a man.
The penalty for adultery under the
Mosaic Law is stated in Leviticus 20:10 NASB ÒIf {there is} a
man who commits adultery with another manÕs wife, one who commits adultery with
his friendÕs wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to
death.Ó The reason this was a capital offence was because it threatened the
sanctity of marriage and the home, which is the core stabilizing influence in a
nation. It is the home, the family, that is the training ground for the next
generation, and when that breaks down it has incredible unintended consequences
in the destruction of society.
The adulterous woman is
described in a variety of different terms. Proverbs 9:13 NASB ÒThe
woman of folly is boisterous, {She is} naive and knows nothing.Ó She is
ignorant of truth. The word ÒfollyÓ is the Hebrew word kesiluth, which means stupid or foolish,
someone who has rejected divine viewpoint, the teaching of GodÕs Word. Notice:
God is not politically correct in the way He describes us! Rejection of the
truth means you are stupid and a fool; and that is GodÕs opinion, not ours.
She is described as one who
sets a trap. Proverbs 9:16 NASB
ÒWhoever is naive, let him turn in here ÉÓ So the young man who is susceptible
to adultery is viewed as one who is simple. This is someone who is open to any
influence, any moral idea, and has no convictions of his own whatsoever and can
be turned in any direction and influenced by anyone.
The adulteress is viewed
and described as a sexual predator in Proverbs 22:14; 23:27, 28. Proverbs 22:14
NASB ÒThe mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; He who is cursed of
the LORD will fall into it.Ó This is a picture of laying a trap for
a wild animal. She is also described in 23:27 as a Òdeep pitÓ and a
Ònarrow well,Ó a place of danger where you could fall in and lose your life. In
23:28 she lies in wait for the victim and increases the unfaithful among men.
She is pictured here as a predator who is seeking to destroy others with her
sexual activity.
Men are described in
similarly uncomplimentary ways. Proverbs 6:32 NASB ÒThe one who
commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself
does it.Ó Literally this means that he is one who lacks heart. This phrase is
used several times in Proverbs, e.g. 10:13. It is translated by one translation
on Proverbs 7:7 as a young man who lacks heart is Òbrainless.Ó That gets the
point across. He has no content with which to think.
Then the enticement, the
way the adulteress woman baits the trap, is described in several passages.
Proverbs 7:14ff this is laid out. Proverbs 7:14 NASB ÒI was due to
offer peace offerings [some value]; Today I have paid my vows [IÕm a good
woman; IÕm right with God].Ó She tries to camouflage herself as someone who is
moral an upright. [15] ÒTherefore I have come out to meet you, To seek your
presence earnestly, and I have found you.Ó She appeals to his vanity. She is
looking specifically for this one when in fact any male would do who could pay
here for her services. She then shows how she has made everything in her life
attractive to the purpose of setting the trap. [16]
ÒI have spread my couch with coverings With colored linens of Egypt.Ó [18]
ÒCome, let us drink our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves
with caresses.Ó LetÕs just be completely irresponsible and no pay attention to
what is right or what is wrong. Let us just live for the moment and give in to
all of our sexual desires.
Proverbs 7:19 NASB
ÒFor my husband is not at home, He has gone on a long journey; [20]
He has taken a bag of money with him, At the full moon he will come home.Ó
There is no accountability: LetÕs just do whatever we want to do.
Proverbs 7:21 NASB
ÒWith her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she
seduces him.Ó The point and the correction of this is to not even listen. For
the male it is to leave, to completely avoid any and every circumstance where
temptation could possibly be offered. This involves every area from pornography
to actually putting oneÕs self in an position where he could be tempted or
seduced by a woman.
Proverbs 5:3 NASB
ÒFor the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech.Ó
And so the young man is warned in Proverbs 6:25: ÒDo not desire her beauty in
your heart, Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.Ó DonÕt get sucked into
her physical attractiveness. Men are attracted sexually by what they see more
than conversation or developing relationships. So men need to be very careful
about what they put in front of their eyes.
One aspect of the
temptation: Forbidden fruit, something we are not supposed to have seems to
have a greater attractiveness. Proverbs 9:17 NASB ÒStolen water is
sweet; And bread {eaten} in secret is pleasant.Ó The problem is that it always
results in eventual catastrophe.
Scripture is very clear
on adultery, prohibiting any sexual activity outside of marriage. Proverbs 5:6 NASB
ÒShe does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know
{it.}Ó There is so much camouflage that is going on here, so much that she is
not telling. All she really wants is money and to take your life. She is not
concerned with you in terms of any kind of relationship, in terms of actually
being attracted to you. There is much that you donÕt know; you are just walking
into a trap.
Proverbs 5:7 NASB
ÒNow then, {my} sons, listen to me And do not depart from the words of my
mouth.Ó Here he moves from Òmy sonÓ to Òmy children.Ó He has more than one son
and so he is viewing these sons as they come along and each one grow to
maturity. [8] ÒKeep your way far from her And do not go near the door
of her house.Ó DonÕt ever think of putting yourself in a position where
something could happen.
Proverbs 7:5 NASB
ÒThat they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner [seductress] who
flatters with her words.Ó Proverbs 31:3 reinforces this by saying: ÒDo not give
your strength to women, Or your ways to that which destroys kings.Ó Then this
idea is reinforced in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 6:18 NASB
ÒFlee immorality. Every {other} sin that a man commits is outside the body, but
the immoral man sins against his own body.Ó There is something distinctive
about the unintended consequences to our souls and to ourselves when we get
involved in sexual immorality.
The consequences are
spelled out in three ways in these passages. There are social consequences,
economic consequences, and there are personal spiritual consequences.
The father says: Proverbs
5:4 NASB ÒBut in the end [after your moment of pleasure] she is
bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.Ó Immediately things go from
great to horrible and you never know what the long-term consequences might be.
They always lead to death: not physical death, not spiritual death, but to an
emptiness of life—the lack of joy, the lack of fulfillment, the lack of
any kind of significance in life. To yield to sexual temptation always leads to
guilt, remorse, and numerous other factors.
Proverbs 5:9 NASB
ÒOr you will give your vigor to others And your years to the cruel one.Ó You
are spending your resources, the value of your life goes to someone else. [10]
ÒAnd strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned goods
{will go} to the house of an alien.Ó And so what happens is this loss of wealth
is transferred to the adulterous woman.
Proverbs 5:11 NASB
ÒAnd you groan at your final end [regret, remorse and guilt], When your flesh
and your body are consumed; [12] And you say, ÔHow I have hated instruction!
And my heart spurned reproof! [13] I
have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to my
instructors! [14] I was almost in utter ruin In the midst of the assembly and
congregation.ÕÓ This is the expression of guilt and remorse by the person who
has yielded to temptation. For once that occurs it is easier the next time,
easier the next time, easier the next time. It leads to a pattern which leads
to a destruction of life.
Other passages that
emphasize the regret and remorse are Proverbs 6:32, 33 NASB ÒThe 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.Ó
Proverbs 6:26 NASB
ÒFor on account of a harlot {one is reduced} to a loaf of bread, And an
adulteress hunts for the precious life.Ó He is wiped out financially, and
another manÕs wife (literally) will prey upon his precious life.
Proverbs 29:3 NASB
ÒA man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, But he who keeps company with
harlots wastes {his} wealth.Ó So again and again the consequences that we see
just economically and personally leads to business collapse and to national
collapse.
Proverbs 6:27 ÒCan a man
take fire in his bosom And his clothes not be burned? [28] Or can a man walk on
hot coals And his feet not be scorched? [29] So is the one who goes in to his
neighborÕs wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.Ó
There is the idea that we
are going to get away with it; who is going to know? But God who is omniscient
knows, and God is the one who brings about the consequences of our sin.
National consequences are
mentioned in Jeremiah and mentioned by the prophets, and that this is one of
the characteristics of a nation leading up to the destruction of the nation in
586 BC. Jeremiah 5:7,8 NASB ÒWhy 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 harlotÕs house. They
were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing after his neighborÕs wife.Ó
Jeremiah 7:9 NASB
ÒWill you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices
to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, [10] then come and
stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ÔWe are
delivered!Õ—that you may do all these abominations?ÕÓ
Jeremiah 23:10 NASB
ÒFor the land is full of adulterers; For the land mourns because of the curse.
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil And
their might is not right.Ó Notice: Even the impact of sexual immorality in the
nature destroys natural resources.
The corrective is to remain
faithful to your wife. Focus upon her and build that level of intimacy and love
within the marriage so that there is no reason to look elsewhere.
Proverbs 5:15 NASB
ÒDrink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well. [16]
Should your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?Ó Are
you going to run around and spend your resources on everything around you,
on every woman around you, and therefore destroy your own resources and wealth.
Proverbs 5:18 NASB ÒLet your
fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth.Ó It is proverbial
that as men grow older they are casting about for some younger woman. It
happens too often in our culture. But when that happens it is a false hope, a
false promise. There is such value in men and women growing close together,
growing older together, and facing the challenges of life, building that
richness of their life together so that as we come to the end of our life and
we face all of the challenges that come, and as we grow older that we have a
partner that we have built that foundation with to face the challenges towards
the end of life.
The concluding warning is given in
5:21-23 NASB ÒFor the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD,
And He watches all his paths.Ó He canÕt get away with stuff. God is watching;
god is the eternal judge and there will be consequences. [22] ÒHis own
iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his
sin. [23] He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his
folly he will go astray.Ó We think that somehow we can get away with sin, but
sin has consequences and God also intensifies those in divine judgment.
In the New Testament we are reminded in
passages such as Galatians 5:19-21 which lists a whole series of the works of
the sin nature—adultery, fornication, lewdness, sexual sinÓ Òthose
who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.Ó That
doesnÕt mean they wonÕt be saved, it means there will be no rewards, no
inheritance, no positions of responsibility in the coming kingdom because
of failure to grow to spiritual maturity in this life.
1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 NASB ÒOr
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.Ó
But we are reminded that
even if we have fallen prey to fornication, fallen prey to immorality or any of
these other areas of carnality, that GodÕs grace is greater than any sin and
there is always forgiveness, always recovery just as with David after his sin
with Bathsheba. He had to go through a series of divine discipline but God gave
him the grace in order to survive and surmount those disciplines. And David
went on to greater heights of spiritual maturity and growth. So whatever our
failures might be we always have the grace of God that can sustain us and
strengthen us, and that gives us forgiveness. That is the message of the
gospel, that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins that we might have
forgiveness of sins and move past whatever sins have been committed in our life
and press on to spiritual maturity, and recover from any failure and glorify
God.