Reading With the People of God #14 Proverbsنموونە

The Folly of Adultery

Proverbs is such a powerful work of Scripture. Scholars have thought many of the Proverbs to be collections and compilations of colloquial wisdom literature, including those directly authored by Solomon. With its roots deeply in the 7th Commandment, Proverbs 5 today is as influential and steadfast as when it was written under the inspiration of God. The author speaks with the wisdom and eloquence of the ages when issuing warnings of great moral and physical harm that will befall the unwise man caught up with the adulteress. Solomon was singularly qualified to speak to the destructive influence of indulgence in amoral associations with a smooth-talking succubus...he had over 300 concubines! These relationships are described in 1 Kings 11 as turning his heart to follow other gods and angering the one true God. One can hear the deep regret in the text when the author describes the joy and peace of keeping oneself dedicated and exclusively faithful to the “wife of your youth,” your true love. Matthew Henry, in his commentary, acknowledges that some may also take the cautionary tone of Proverbs 5 and the imagery of the immoral woman as figurative of other sins that mankind may fall into, such as idolatry or false doctrine. Still, he describes the message as being from a father figure to his son, whom he loves…the father’s intent here is to impart wisdom and save the son some heartache and the destructive results of a promiscuous lifestyle.

Today, in the NT, we continue the theme of sexual morality and our response to God’s standard of conduct for believers. Paul expresses outrage that the church in Corinth had compromised God’s law and the expectation of upright living in the tacit approval of a particular man having a relationship with his father’s wife while still attending the church. Paul calls out the church to stand for uncompromising decency, call evil what it is, and put the flagrant and unrepentant sinners out of the church. Their sin is described as leaven, which spreads throughout the whole loaf. The Corinthians were willing to compromise Godly principles to make the unacceptable acceptable. Paul calls them to be unleavened “new bread” of sincerity and truth. He draws a bright line at indulgences of sexual immorality, and it should not be tolerated among believers.

* Primer contributed by Matt Harry, Older Elder, Cornerstone Church of Chowchilla