Which other scriptures emphasize the dangers of adultery and its consequences? Starting Point: Proverbs 6:35 “He will not be appeased by any ransom, nor will he be satisfied though you multiply your gifts.” The rejected husband’s fury pictures how adultery sparks relentless judgment. Scripture echoes that warning from Genesis to Revelation. Foundational Commands in the Law • Exodus 20:14 – “You shall not commit adultery.” • Leviticus 20:10 – “Both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.” • Deuteronomy 22:22 – “You must purge the evil from Israel.” The covenant began by labeling adultery a capital offense; the severity points to its threat against marriage, family, and society. Wisdom’s vivid cautions • Proverbs 5:5 – “Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.” • Proverbs 6:27-29 – “Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? … no one who touches her will go unpunished.” • Proverbs 7:26-27 – “Her slain are many in number… descending to the chambers of death.” • Ecclesiastes 7:26 – “I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare.” • Job 31:12 – “It is a fire that burns down to Abaddon; it would root out my entire harvest.” Wisdom literature pictures adultery as fire, a snare, and a highway to the grave—ruin that reaches body, soul, reputation, and legacy. Historical snapshots of consequence • 2 Samuel 11–12 – David and Bathsheba: deceit, murder, the child’s death, lifelong family turmoil (12:10-14). • Numbers 25 – Israel’s adultery with Moabite women brought a lethal plague. Narratives move warning from theory to flesh-and-blood results. Prophetic indictments • Malachi 2:15-16 – “Do not break faith with the wife of your youth… For I hate divorce.” • Jeremiah 3:8-9 – National exile is portrayed as the fruit of spiritual and physical adultery. The prophets tie marital unfaithfulness to covenant unfaithfulness toward God. Jesus’ uncompromising standard • Matthew 5:28 – “Anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” • Matthew 5:29 – Better to lose an eye than to be “thrown into hell.” • Matthew 19:9; Mark 10:11-12 – Remarriage after illegitimate divorce = adultery. Christ intensifies the command, exposing heart-level lust and eternal stakes. New-Covenant warnings from the apostles • 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – “Neither the sexually immoral… nor adulterers… will inherit the kingdom of God.” • 1 Corinthians 6:18 – “Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body…” • Galatians 5:19-21 – Works of the flesh include “sexual immorality… Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom.” • Ephesians 5:3 – “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.” • Hebrews 13:4 – “God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.” Persistent adultery is incompatible with kingdom citizenship; judgment remains certain. Eternal perspective • Revelation 21:8 – “The sexually immoral… will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” Final judgment fulfills every earlier warning: unrepented adultery ends in the second death. Threads that tie it together 1. Adultery violates God’s design (Genesis 2:24) and therefore provokes His justice. 2. Consequences span every arena—legal (death), emotional (jealous fury), physical (disease, death of a child), social (disgrace), spiritual (loss of inheritance, eternal judgment). 3. Scripture’s consistency—from Sinai’s thunder to the New Jerusalem’s gate—underscores the seriousness of marital fidelity and the need to flee temptation rather than negotiate with it. |
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