Instruction About The Tragedy of Adultery
May 13, 2022
Commentary
God never intended for children to be independent of their parents or parents to let children do as they please. This is a big mistake made in homes today. An emphasis is made on how important the discipline of parents is (vv. 20-30). The father is to establish the guiding principles and rules of the home and the mother is to help see that they are carried out. To let children be instructed by their peers, TV, or by much of what is on the internet, is worse than feeding them tainted meat. The one may destroy the body but the other may destroy both body and soul.
People may sympathize with a thief if he is stealing to avoid starvation (v. 30). Of course if he is caught, restitution is demanded (v. 31). But at least it is possible to make things right even though it may take all he has. However, one who steals another man’s wife will find that amends can never be made, either to the wronged husband or the partner in the act. Repentance toward God will not erase reproach. The deep marks of this wound and the shame will remain to haunt him.
Wisdom acquired from God’s Word, helps protect them from the life wrecking sin of adultery. Discipline, though painful (Heb. 12:11),helps keep a person on the right path. As parents and children we need to understand the seriousness of how a person who commits adultery “destroyeth his own soul” (v. 32). Adultery is more than a sin against the man or woman involved but is particularly hated by God (Eph. 5:5). Jealousy makes the wronged man furious (vv. 33-35).
Application
I have found that it has been important to spend time helping my children write out dating standards. Also to help them look up verses that will give them Biblical principles to go by. This included things that they would and would not do on a date. I had them type these out and put them in the front of their Bible for review.
Proverbs 6:20– 35 (NET)
20 My child, guard the commands of your father and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
21 Bind them on your heart continually; fasten them around your neck.
22 When you walk about, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, they will talk to you.
23 For the commandments are like a lamp, instruction is like a light, and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life,
24 by keeping you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the loose woman.
25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty, and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes;
26 for on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man preys on your precious life.
27 Can a man hold fire against his chest without burning his clothes?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
29 So it is with the one who sleeps with his neighbor’s wife; no one who touches her will escape punishment.
30 People do not despise a thief when he steals to fulfill his need when he is hungry.
31 Yet if he is caught he must repay seven times over, he might even have to give all the wealth of his house.
32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks sense, whoever does it destroys his own life.
33 He will be beaten and despised, and his reproach will not be wiped away;
34 for jealousy kindles a husband’s rage, and he will not show mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will not consider any compensation; he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation.
Illustration: Tozer Discipline Has Practically Disappeared
We must face the fact that many today are notoriously careless in their living. This attitude finds its way into the church. We have liberty, we have money, we live in comparative luxury. As a result, discipline has practically disappeared. What would a violin solo sound like if the strings on the musician’s instrument were all hanging loose, not stretched tight, not “disciplined“? (A.W. Tozer in Men Who Met God).