Proverbs 5:1-20, Immorality, the Big Picture!
February 23, Proverbs 5:1-20
Eph. 5:25-31; 1 Cor. 6:15-18; 10:12 “Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies; I flee unto thee to hide me” (Ps. 143:9)
Immorality, the Big Picture!
Chapters 5 through 7 are a warning against adultery (except 6:1-19). Matthew Henry say some take these verses figuratively as referring to spiritual adultery, that is, false doctrine, which corrupts men’s minds and affections. The primary scope, however, is to warn against ‘seventh-commandment’ sins, to which both youth and adults are so prone. These temptations are so violent, so many, and so destructive to the soul. We would gladly skip these verses, but it would be to our loss and peril. Let us not forget, as Martin Luther puts it, that “there is no estate to which Satan is more opposed to as marriage.”
- God’s Love Commended! These words (v.18-20) challenge all to find true love in the marriage bond and let the man, in particular, be satisfied with the wife of thy youth. Let all enjoy the comfort and satisfaction of lawful marriage, ordained by God, which Paul declares honourable in all, and the bed undefiled (Heb. 13:4). Don’t be guilty of drinking water from your neighbour’s well! To do so is to yield to a serpent that stings. God’s order is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife. Paul also warned not to join what belongs to Christ, your body and soul, to a harlot, an adulteress. This biblical fact is ignored to their sorrow by all who are irresponsible with the divine gift of love. As Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; so ought husbands to love their wives. Let husbands praise God for virtuous wives and love them, for Christ’s sake, as their own bodies. When that is the standard of your love, your marriage will not fail to know God’s blessing.
- Man’s Lust Condemned! An unholy union begins in lust and can only end in the sinful consequences of that lust (vs.3-5). Experience shows that man’s own strength, in spite of education, upbringing, or self-discipline, is likely to prove powerless before this seductress, the strange woman. We need engrafted wisdom, which is the only safeguard on this moral battlefield, hence, the vital importance of applying the Wisdom of Proverbs in youth, but also throughout the whole of life. Surely here is a lesson in true biblical morality. The warning bells can’t be shut off or ignored, for on these very rocks many a promising career has come and still comes to grief. Solomon loved many strange women. “Ponder this chapter, ye that know not the poison and corruption of fleshly lusts. Perhaps painful experience (1 Kg. 11:1-8) had given the wise man wisdom and understanding. Therefore, attend to it with fear and trembling” (Bridges). Solomon’s many wives turned away his heart after other gods, and he ended with a divided heart and a divided kingdom! If, as Bridges suggests, Solomon learned some of his wisdom the hard way, then let his own testimony be taken seriously by us all. Listen to his cry, “I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her” (Eccl. 7:26). How many mighty men are still so taken in! Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall!
Thought: “Family life is a school for character” (Martin Luther).
Prayer: Lord, make me a good student in that school.