Theme of the Week: Our Sexuality Matters to God
Bible Verse: “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 ESV
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 7:13-27
Back in those times, religious sacrifices (Proverbs 7:13-15) could include a meal from the meat of the animal sacrificed. Eating meat was a luxury anyway. So here the woman is saying, “Not only am I caught up on my religion, but I also have a feast of extra-special food waiting at home. It’s a special occasion, like Prom Night or Mardi Gras. Come on, everybody needs a break. And you’re the one I want to share all this with.”
Only the rich owned furniture in their homes back in this world (Proverbs 7:16-17). So this guy thinks he is hitting the jackpot. A beautiful woman, a great feast, a luxurious setting, exotic experiences are all just waiting for him.
The Hebrew wording in Proverbs 7:18 could be paraphrased and expanded, “Come, let’s saturate ourselves with love-making in all its forms; let’s enjoy ourselves with every act, all night long, slowly passing the night, no hurry.” But as one commentator points out,
To have a full sexual relationship with somebody is to give physical expression to what is meant to be a covenanted relationship—that is, stable, faithful, permanent. To say physically, “I am giving myself to you,” while emotionally and spiritually holding back from covenanted commitment is in fact to live a lie—a split in the personality which is ultimately stressful and destructive.1
“Nobody will ever know” is the temptation. The offer of sin-with-no-regret is how Satan lied to us in the Garden of Eden. But this young man, on an impulse, falls for the temptation: “All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter” (Proverbs 7:22). Why like a dumb ox? Because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). They just are. We cannot change that by any amount of wishful thinking. But by the time this young man feels the impact, it will be too late.
It is not enough for us to know how foolish we have been. We also need to know how good it is really to be loved. Maybe you have noticed that something is missing from this entire passage here in Proverbs. The word “God” appears nowhere in this text. But elsewhere in the Bible we find out how good it is to be loved by God.
1 David Atkinson, The Message Of Proverbs (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997).
Taken from Proverbs: Wisdom That Works by Raymond C. Ortlund Jr., © 2012. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, crossway.org.
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