When one comes to faith in Christ, when he is born again, that person becomes one with Christ. I honestly believe that. It chronicles the story of their deliverance from four hundred years of bondage and how God sent Moses as an instrument of deliverance. This union is set apart, it is to be distinct from the previous relationship of parent and child. Abraham marries Keturah, who couldn't have been a daughter of Israel as Israel, Abraham's grandson was yet to have been born. In chapter 38, Judah engaged in sexual union with his daughter-in-law, whom he thought to be a Canaanite cult prostitute (38:14-23). 5:7-9). Women, why do keep your silver in a special place, bringing it out only for special occasions? Let us conclude by seeking to isolate the principles which underlie and govern sexual purity, and then some of the practical outworkings of these principles. Shall I not punish these people, declares the LORD, And on a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? (Jer. Sanctification was, for example, the first great test which man failed in the Garden of Eden. There is usually a large number of people making an exodus. But it is also referred to regularly in later Bible books. The reason seems to be solely because God has sanctified the marriage and the sexual sin has profaned it. (2) We can see by Josephs words that adultery was not only wrong, but that he understood it to be sin. The Law pertaining to adultery also confirms the sanctity of marriage. Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? Our Lord teaches us here that divorce causes adultery. God is God, and He can manage timelines as well. First, since the sanctity of sex reflects its value, its beauty, its goodness, let us never think of sex as something dirty and defiling. Verse Concepts . Remember that God made it, and that all He made was good. From what we have already learned in Genesis, it is apparent that the Israelites understood what adultery was and that it was sin. NLT - 27 Moses told them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. One of these particulars is that of marriage. Those of you that have read it, are you reeling also in the aftermath? The consequences of guilt or innocence are spelled out (vss. He equates sexual union with marital union. but the scene where Cecilia says goodbye to Sean in Exodus literally broke me. Sanctification involves setting something apart for a special use. Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the LORD your GOD (Lev. The Israelites performed the same physical act of worship (obeisance) towards Yahveh and King David, as it is written, 1 Chr. When some have read Deuteronomy 7:2-5, they conclude that God is opposed to intermarriage among the races. This sexual union consummates and symbolizes the union of marriage. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. May it never be! I also believe that humans will not stop the plan of God. The forbidden fruit was not forbidden because is was intrinsically bad. Let those who would consider divorce an option carefully ponder the implications of their actions in accordance with our Lords words here. Teenagers, culture is lying to you. 4:1-5). The nation Israel is kept apart from other nations by her time in Egypt, and in the plagues, the Israelites are distinguished from the Egyptians. 13:27). As for a man or a woman, if there is a medium or a spiritist among them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them (Lev. There are other instances of sexual immorality in Genesis, but let us turn our attention to the bright light of Josephs character, in contrast to that of his close relatives.43 Joseph was a young man, with all of the sexual desires of any other healthy male. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. He joined the first man and the first woman together in marriage. But this does not take the Law far enough, as our Lord must continually point out to His listeners, and to His literalistic opponents, the scribes and Pharisees. (2) Jesus thus teaches here that attitudinal sins precede sins of action (cf. Sometime later, Moses was married to Zipporah, the daughter of Reuel, the priest of Midian ( Exodus 2:16-22 ). They become one in spirit, and sexually they become one in physical union. The exodus of Israel was not easy, and it took time, but it was a God kind of job. The sanctity of marriage is indicated by the statement in Genesis 2:24, that a man must leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And trooped to the harlots house. It is also significant that He taught divorce causes adultery, except in the case where the divorce was based upon previous adultery. Prepare yourself. Their numbers threatened the new Pharaoh. The New Testament portrays a very similar picture. When we consider what does Exodus mean? we reach the books core theme. Q. I honestly don't think I'll ever be the same. In both cases, the forbidden fruit is forbidden. 19:4-6a). He joined the first man and the first woman together in marriage. 2:11-12). The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. Our culture is adamantly opposed to the sanctity of sex. (3) The sanctity of sex. The forbidden fruit was forbidden, not because of any evil characteristic of the fruit itself, but because God sanctified or set it apart. Second, in order to avoid the evils of sex, we need to minimize our exposure to those things which only stimulate lustful thoughts and sexual temptations. While depriving a partner tempts them, fulfilling a partner does not necessarily keep them from sexual sin. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church (Eph. In Exodus 20:3, we read: You shall have no other gods before me. At His second coming He will bring judgment to the wicked. But Uriah slept at the door of the kings house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for virgins." If the passages don't mean that a woman has to marry her rapist, then what do they mean? Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine. 18:24-30). The answer to the question is in Exodus 22:17 - the woman does NOT have to marry a . Let those who have already divorced and remarried remember that divorce and immorality (as all other sins save unbelief) is not an unpardonable sin. Her restoration is described as a marriage between God and His bride. Jesus did not have nearly as much to say about adultery and sexual immorality as did the apostles. Sanctification is therefore one of the great, governing and guiding principles of the Word of God. Here, Davids immorality led to the additional sin of murder. The dictionary highlights this when it points out the Biblical origin of the word (Merriam-Websters.com, 2022). Finally, sexual purity is vitally important to the Christian life because it is directly related to ones sanctification: For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. He is a purist in that regardI am not. This incident reveals several important truths: (1) Joseph knew he could not lie with this woman because she was the wife of another man. May God grant you the conviction to stand against the flood of cultural and peer pressure. Get a first look at Shaun and Lea's wedding on. His brothers gave him an unplanned exodus simply because his father adored him (Genesis 37:3-4). God was faithful to his promise that Abrahams descendants would number the stars in the sky (Genesis 26:4). I do not think that it is correct to conclude that adultery terminates a marriage, any more than it is correct to conclude that sin terminates our salvation. 4:1ff.,), intimacy and fellowship, and reproduction (evangelism, fruit bearing) are discussed in the context of ones personal walk with the Lord or with the corporate union of believers in the body of Christ. Ed, Issue 46, Winter 2023. The Gentiles were more like the Canaanites of Old Testament timesthey were distinctly pagan in their sexual conduct and values. Since marriage matters to God, it should matter to believers too. Thus, when a divorce is granted due to adultery, a later marriage on the part of the innocent (that is, not guilty of adultery) party is not viewed to be adulterous. And, of course, the ultimate example of fear and perfect love working together is Jesus Christ. He had promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation (Genesis 17). Sanctification is one of the great principles of the Bible, whether in the Old or the New Testament. There were many things that Israel had to learn during this process. In my opinion, the rampant sexual immorality of our day is not primarily the result of greater temptation, of increased sexual desire, of greater opportunity, or even of the availability of the pill and abortion. Just as God gave life to all of His creatures in Genesis chapter 1, now in chapter 2 He gives a woman to Adam as his wife. She has one stepson, Greg. They were oppressive to the Israelites and made them create bricks. Specifically, I am referring to what Paul has written in the Book of Ephesians, which especially relates to sexual impurity: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. After Joseph and his generation died, a new king arose over Egypt who was not familiar with Joseph (Exodus 1:6-8). Intimacy. Every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. Sin entered the human race and human history, and the consequences are evident all about us. We also see how the Lord made Pharaoh release His people. 5:22-33). He is found, and brought up by Pharaoh's daughter; He flees into Midian, and marries Zipporah. When we sanctify sex, it is because we value it highly, not because we disdain it as something of little worth. Anytime you hear the word exodus, it causes you to notice. Amongst the most surprising revelations would be the following: 1. 29:20. Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she looks good to me.. 13:4) implies that not every sexual practice of the pagan world is permissible or beneficial for the Christian. This is already the size of many metropolitan cities and doesnt count the mens female relatives or the men under 20 years. Most importantly, we must get in the Word of God and ask for Gods help. If He spoke it, He will make it good (Numbers 23:19). Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. 20:22-27). You may wonder what wood chisels have to do with the Seventh Commandment. The husband and wife become one. How long will you remain unclean? (Jer. It chronicles the story of their deliverance from four hundred years of bondage and how God sent Moses as an instrument of deliverance. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate (Matt. We must even distinguish between what is personally permissible and what is personally beneficial (1 Cor. Judgment awaits this nation, which is likened to a harlot. Pagan religion often intermingled sexual immorality with its worship. We therefore would expect to find some very specific revelation on the subject of adultery and sexual sin in the epistles. In a divine vision, God said to Peter, What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy (Acts 10:15). I did something which would make you cringe. Grietje Commelin. (3) While David enjoyed sexual intimacy with Bathsheba, even though forbidden, Uriah refused such pleasure, even when legitimate and encouraged by the king. Exodus 32:27. Some people did not enter the promised land that God had promised to give them because of their disobedience. Mohar is the cash gift the groom gives the bride, as Eliezer, Abraham 's servant, gave "precious things" to Laban, Rebecca 's father, and as Jacob gave seven years of service for the hand of Rachel.The great sage and the ketubah's most important . Most Americans seem to think that human sexuality is to be used in the same way I use my Stanley chiselthe more uses to which it can be put, the better. To John, my Stanley chisel is a wood chisel, only to be used for chiseling wood. The union of husband and wife is one of the unique elements of marriage. 11-31). It is God who brought Adam and Eve together as husband and wife. To play out her role as Gods priestly nation, Israel had to be separate, sanctified, different from the surrounding nations. Hence I have said to you, You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. When we are willing to do whatever it takes to avoid a sin, we will likely take the steps necessary to avoid it. The Bible says, Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needed not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). To remove either is a drastic action (as, for example, one would do in the case of cancer). 1 Corinthians 7:1-6 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Why did you not go down to your house? And Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. To me, a wood chisel can be used for any number of things, including, if necessary, automobile engines. I think there is little evidence for this conclusion. If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. Exodus 2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. God has here joined a man and a woman so that they have become a unity. 43 In Genesis chapter 34, Dinah is apparently forcibly raped by Shechem, a deed to which Jacobs sons violently reacted as an abomination (cf. It's been a long road, but on . But the messianic line until Mary was preserved through the union of a man and a woman in marriage. Prov. Numbers 12:1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. The apostle Paul has the most to say of the apostles on the subject of sexual purity. Exodus 22:16-17A man who seduces a virgin must marry her or pay the price of a virgins dowry. We will discover in our lesson that marriage and sex were also sanctified by God. There are many Christians in Ukraine. Her name. Because of its significance and the power behind it, we use it gingerly. He instructed his people to cast every male child born into the river (Exodus 1:22). . Based on the Hebrew Bible, intermarriage was quite frequent in early Israelite society. To John, a wood chisel is to be sanctifiedset apart for use only on wood. 4:11-12). God not only created man and woman, He also created the institution of marriage. When one enters into a sexual union, Paul reasons, one enters into marital union. Sexual purity begins with highly esteeming that which God has givenmarriage, and the one whom God has givenour mate. Later, God commanded Moses to take a census of all the Israelite men over 20 years old, which amounted to six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. (Numbers 1:46). (3) The way to fully keep the Seventh Commandment is to view sexual sin as so serious (damning) that we are willing to take any measure required to prevent it. 2:19-22). Joseph ended up in Egypt away from his family and did not understand until decades later when his brothers came to Egypt why all these events occurred (Genesis 50:20). One can build up the other in those intimate areas of ones heart and life, but one can also do great damage in the intimate areas as well. He does not necessarily teach that attitudinal sins are as bad as action sins. 2:16-22). 18:24-30; 20:22-26). If you havent read it yet, I highly recommend it. Great were the consequences. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king. Thus Jesus majored on those sins which were more subtle, and which were more characteristic of the religious leadership of Israel. Exodus. New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you. Having said this, let us note that eyes and hands are very precious body members. Sanctification is then stressed, so that Israel must not practice the immorality of the Canaanites before them, lest they too be thrust from the land (vss. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. Away from his family, perhaps never again to return to his own people, how easy it would have been for him to succumb to the advances of his masters wife: And it came about after these events that his masters wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. But he refused and said to his masters wife, Behold, with me around, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. Sometimes, people feel ready to make the big exodus from study to leadership, but they have not been released into ministry yet. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. (3) The Jewish religious leaders felt smugly self-righteous because they did not practice this form of sin, but they were guilty of other, more subtle, sins, which were more socially acceptable. Satan, to save his skin, would begin to understand that he must begin to wage war on the seed of the woman. Let us work at growth in each of these areas. This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man. For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh (Gen. 2:18-24). Answer. If someone were to say there was a mass exodus across state lines, it is safe to assume that many people crossed the state lines. The important thing to note here is that God also promised salvation through the seed of the woman in the midst of the curse pronounced on Satan: And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you will bruise him on the heel (Gen. 3:15). In both cases, the forbidden fruit is very desirable. Now when they told David, saying, Uriah did not go down to his house, David said to Uriah, Have you not come from a journey? How tragic it is to see young people seduced (philosophically and physically), so that they will share that most treasured gift with those who cannot even be named or numbered. Just as God had clearly forbidden the partaking of the forbidden fruit in the garden, so He has clearly forbidden the fruit of sexual impurity. The dubious distinction for the most well-known case of adultery would have to go to David, who sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah: Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body (1 Cor. Let us briefly consider the important truths our Lord taught on sex and marriage. Marriage, in Josephs understanding, was an exclusive relationship. Just a few verses away from the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:1-3, Abram places the seed in jeopardy, at least from a human perspective: Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people (Lev. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 Paul says that the will of God is for us to be sanctified. If we misrepresent God's design for marriage, then we distort His means of revealing His love for the church. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. It is about friendship first and foremost. (2) Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience, while most of the apostles addressed Gentiles. Understanding marriage as a covenant which establishes between husband and wife a "partnership of the whole life" in which they "mutually hand over and accept each other" (see Code of Canon Law, c. 1055 and c. 1057) can greatly enrich our appreciation of this special union that is: (a) sacred in the plan of God; (b) permanent, faithful . So, the Egyptians devised a plan to set taskmasters over the Israelites and enslave them. It did not look bad, it did not taste bad. 3, 24-30). Judaism condemned adultery and sexual immorality, as can be seen from John chapter 8. 13-21). Sexual sin defiles the people (vss. Moses -- a great Israelite leader, prophet and lawgiver, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular, To show willingness, be pleased, determine, undertake (to do anything), Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct, To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular, Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular, Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular. It also assured the integrity of the home and a righteous seed, through whom the Redeemer would come. And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 42 One may wonder why only the husband is to leave his father and mother, and not the wife. Fellowship. "You shall have no other gods before me. Thus, it was not necessary for our Lord to dwell on the sinfulness of sexual immorality, since the Jews of His day agreed with Him on this point. The second layer of application relates to the church. For this reason it says, Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you (Eph. v. 24). How many times have we heard that adultery breaks the marriage union, that is, that adultery (legitimately) causes divorce? 25:1-9). I understand that possessing ones vessel in sanctification and honor (1 Thes. More than this, it was very desirable: And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9). Dr. Smith primarily teaches language arts. As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, The lewdness of your prostitution On the hills in the field, I have seen your abominations. We must distinguish between truth and error, between good and evil, between holiness and unrighteousness. The Hebrew midwives feared God and would not do what the king of Egypt asked. (4) Adultery is a violation of the union of marriage. Pharaoh also instructed the midwives to kill the male children during birth but spare the female children (Exodus 1:15-16). Abrams request was for Sarai to lie, representing herself as an eligible bride, and thus potentially putting her in another mans bed in order to save his life. When Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the state of the war. And, Paul says, it involves for Timothy the fleeing of youthful lusts, which surely include illicit sexual passions and conduct. And I will destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, These are my wages Which my lovers have given me. And I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field will devour them (Hos. Exodus 22:16-17 "If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife. Leviticus 18 and 20 emphasize the defiling nature of adultery, and warn that the practice of such sins will defile the land and will result in expulsion from the land, just as the Canaanites were expelled (cf. In other words, what is it that makes a marriage distinct, unique, sanctified? If you have been following global events, the people of Ukraine are making an exodus because the Russians have invaded their country. Uriah was a Canaanite, but a godly one, while David, the Israelite, acted like a heathen. Neither man nor beast was allowed to draw too near to it (Exod. Second, if we want the world to understand God's faithful love, we need to . So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac; and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abrahams son, the sister of Nebaioth. God is not a fan of bondage or suffering. In effect, Abram was not only endangering the promises of God and the purity of his wife, but he was paving the way for men to unknowingly commit adultery with his wife. "If a man who has married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy. It Is So Painful to Care: How Do I Conquer Apathy? First, I believe that a Christian has the right to divorce a spouse for adultery, but that this is never ones duty, and seldom ones highest calling. Lev. The man, on the other hand, is under his parents authority as a child, but when he leaves them he terminates that chain of command and establishes a new chain of command, being the head of his wife and the family which may follow. Prior to education, she worked in local and national television news for 13 years including positions as an overnight news anchor, reporter, and assignments editor at two local network affiliate stations. In the Book of 1 Corinthians he focuses on illicit sexual union and its relationship to the believers union with Christ: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? If you look at Exodus 1:5, you will see that seventy souls had come out of Jacob and arrived in Egypt with Joseph.