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CHAPTER 3

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT ADULTERY?

Since adultery is THE sin which relates to ungodly sexual conduct and is widely used by modern Christians to describe a man who has sexual intercourse with more than one woman, it is necessary that we analyse the scriptural definition of adultery.

11. DEFINITION OF ADULTERY

a. ADULTERY DEFINED IN DEUTERONOMY 22

Let us consider the definition of adultery. Deuteronomy 22:22 states:

22 "If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die-- the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

This is quite unambiguous, adultery involves a man (any man, marital state unspecified) lying with a very specific woman, a woman married to a husband and the penalty for adultery is death to both guilty parties.

b. ADULTERY DEFINED IN ROMANS 7

Romans 7:1-3 states:

1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.

3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. (NKJ)

Can there be any uncertainty regarding the definition of adultery? It is clearly a woman who marries another man while her husband lives!

c. ADULTERY DEFINED IN PROVERBS 6

There are numerous other verses which give the same definition. Proverbs 6:23-35 is particularly explicit:

23 For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

24 To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress.

25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids.

26 For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.

27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

28 Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared?

29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

30 People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving.

31 Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; he may have to give up all the substance of his house.

32 Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does so destroys his own soul.

33 Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away.

34 For jealousy is a husband's fury; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

35 He will accept no recompense, nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts. (NKJ)

This is also quite clear, adultery involves "going in to" one's neighbours WIFE and jealousy is the HUSBAND'S fury. There is no such provision regarding a man who is already married to another woman "going into" a virgin. There is also NO provision for jealousy as a wife's fury. Female jealousy is a Satanic counterfeit of the Godly jealously of a husband!

d. ADULTERY DEFINED IN PROVERBS 7

Proverbs 7:5-27 states:

5 That they may keep you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words.

6 For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice,

7 And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, a young man devoid of understanding,

8 Passing along the street near her corner; and he took the path to her house

9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night.

10 And there a woman met him, with the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.

11 She was loud and rebellious, her feet would not stay at home.

12 At times she was outside, at times in the open square, Lurking at every corner.

13 So she caught him and kissed him; with an impudent face she said to him:

14 "I have peace offerings with me; today I have paid my vows.

15 So I came out to meet you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you.

16 I have spread my bed with tapestry, Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.

17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with love.

19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey;

20 He has taken a bag of money with him, and will come home on the appointed day."

21 With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him.

22 Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,

23 Till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost his life.

24 Now therefore, listen to me, my children; pay attention to the words of my mouth:

25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths;

26 For she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men.

27 Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death. (NKJ)

This woman is clearly an adulteress, she is seeking "love" with a man other than her husband. Equally clearly, the spiritual consequences of adultery are too terrible to contemplate, reference is made to an ox to the slaughter, a fool to the stocks, an arrow stiking his liver, a bird hastening to a snare. It is quite clear that this one act will cost him his life, that she has slain many strong men and that her house is the way to hell. Can there be any doubt that adultery will commit the soul of the offender to Hell?! Certainly true repentance, confession of sin and asking for forgiveness will deliver the soul of the offender who sin's unwittingly but what of the many who keep sinning because they cannot keep their sexual drive within the bounds of enforced monogamy?

e. ADULTERY DEFINED IN PROVERBS 9

Proverbs 9:13-18 states:

13 A foolish woman is clamorous; she is simple, and knows nothing.

14 For she sits at the door of her house, on a seat by the highest places of the city,

15 To call to those who pass by, who go straight on their way:

16 "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here"; and as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,

17 "Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

18 But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell. (NKJ)

Again, can there be any doubt that those who partake of adultery and harlotry are committing their souls to hell?! How then can the church dare to define adultery as anything that it is not and institute doctrines which, of necessity, require that adultery is condoned?

f. ADULTERY DEFINED IN NUMBERS 5

As a further confirmation of what the Word of God has to say in terms of providing a definition of Adultery, consider Numbers 5:11-31:

11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

12 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'If any man's wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him,

13 'and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she caught--

14 'if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself--

15 'then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. He shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an EPHAH of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance.

16 'And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD.

17 'The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.

18 'Then the priest shall stand the woman before the LORD, uncover the woman's head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse.

19 'And the priest shall put her under oath, and say to the woman, "If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband's authority, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse.

20 "But if you have gone astray while under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you"--

21 'then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman--" the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh rot and your belly swell;

22 "and may this water that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot." Then the woman shall say, "Amen, so be it."

23 'Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water.

24 'And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter.

25 'Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, shall wave the offering before the LORD, and bring it to the altar;

26 'and the priest shall take a handful of the offering, as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.

27 'When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings a curse will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot, and the woman will become a curse among her people.

28 'But if the woman has not defiled herself, and is clean, then she shall be free and may conceive children.

29 'This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself,

30 'or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife; then he shall stand the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute all this law upon her.

31 'Then the man shall be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her guilt.'" (NKJ)

Again, there is no ambiguity here, it is quite clear that it is the woman who goes astray with another man. There is no reference to a married man taking a second woman as a wife being adultery.

g. ADULTERER'S BARRED FROM THE ASSEMBLY

*** reference from Lamsa "No adulterer shall enter into the assembly of the Lord"

h. ABRAHAM AND ABIMILECH

In order to obtain another perspective of the way God views adultery, let us consider another passage of scripture.

In Genesis 20:1-18 we read the following report:

1 And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.

2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife."

4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also?

5 "Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this."

6 And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.

7 "Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."

8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very afraid.

9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done."

10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?"

11 And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.

12 "But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

13 "And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'"

14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him.

15 And Abimelech said, "See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you."

16 Then to Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody." Thus she was rebuked.

17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children;

18 for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. (NKJ)

In this passage we see that adultery is a sin against God, that even although Abimilech had done this thing after Abraham and Sarah had deliberately misled him and Abimilech had acted in good faith, God told him that he was "a dead man". Furthermore, God closed up ALL the wombs in the house of Abimilech, both of his wife and his female servants. Thus, although Abimilech already had at least one wife, God defined adultery as being the taking of "a mans wife" and would have executed judgement, even death, if he had actually consummated the relationship or had not repented!

Further, we see that even if a woman lies about her marital state, the man is guilty. Presumably this applies as much to a woman who lies to the effect that her hymen was perforated in athletics or through the use of a tampon, or who says her husband is dead or says that God permitted her to get divorced or for that matter who is mistaken in her belief. We have ministered to a woman who was seduced under hypnosis when she was in her teens and only had the full situation revealed to her by the Holy Spirit when she was in her forties and had been living in adultery in the sight of God for nearly twenty years!

Clearly it is also a sin if the pastor has said that she is free to remarry! In such a case the pastor will presumably also be found guilty on the day of judgment!

Can one do other than exclaim Woe to this evil and perverse generation!

Adultery is not to be taken lightly, it truly is an abomination in the sight of God. This is confirmed throughout scripture. Surely, to call marriage that is acceptable in the sight of God, that is the taking of more than one wife, "adultery" must also rank as an abomination in His sight?

i. SEXUAL IMMORALITY IS SIN AGAINST ONE'S OWN BODY

1 Corinthians 6:13-20 states:

13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

14 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!

16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."

17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. (NKJ)

Clearly sexual union with a harlot or adulteress joins the man's body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, to hers. Refer section 43, page 127 on the one flesh bond for more details. How then can the church permit men and women to remarry when they are not divorced in the sight of God? How can they prevent a man from taking a woman whose virginity he has taken as a second wife because he is already married, thus condemning her to widowhood or adultery? Is this not the most heartless religious heresy? And an afront to the Holy Spirit and our uncompromisingly righteous Saviour?

j. ADULTERY IS SIN AGAINST GOD

In the previous section we see that God Himself states that adultery is sin against Him.

In Psalm 51, David repents of his sin in his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband (2 Samuel 11 and 12):

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight-- that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.

6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.

9 Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You.

14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; you do not delight in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart-- these, O God, You will not despise.

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then they shall offer bulls on Your altar. (NKJ)

This scripture is perhaps the most powerful example of true repentance in the entire Bible. Clearly David truly feared that God would cast him away and take His Holy Spirit from David. David had also apparently lost the joy of his salvation. This Psalm clearly portrays the cry of a desperate man who has known God and knows the magnitude of his sin. At this time he had approximately ten wives in addition to Bathsheba and ten concubines. Surely we should not refer to anything as adultery if it is not? Likewise, we should surely not do anything to downplay the seriousness of adultery when it occurs?

Appendix N, page 277 lists a range of scriptures containing the words adultery, adulterer, adulteress, fornication, fornicators, harlot in order to illustrate just how seriously God views these sins.

Appendix D, page 233 contains many more examples of scriptures which support the fact that Yahweh permits a man to have more than one wife.

k. THE CURSES OF THE LAW

Appendix S, page 292 lists the curses associated with breaking the Mosaic Law or Mosaic Covenant or Torah. These curses apply to all those laws which are listed from Deuteronomy, Leviticus, Numbers, Exodus and Genesis. In other words, they apply to those who add to or take away from the commandments of God, they apply to those who commit adultery and harlotry, etc. In other words, they apply to all those who have taught the heresies addressed in this book AND to all those who wittingly or unwittingly have sinned as a consequence of these heresies. Conservatively we are talking of millions of people, probably we are talking about billions!

But Jesus became a curse for us, I hear you cry! Yes, certainly Jesus became a curse for us but we must still repent of our sins, confess them before God and ask for and receive forgiveness. Under the old covenant the sin offering was put to death on behalf of the sinner. This required the sinner to bring the sacrifice to the temple. Under the New Covenant, Jesus became our sacrifice, once and for all BUT we must still bring our sacrifice of a broken and a contrite heart before the throne of grace and ask for forgiveness!

Equally, if we sin wilfully we crucify Jesus again! Hebrews 6:1-8 states:

1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

3 And this we will do if God permits.

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God;

8 but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. (NKJ)

How many men and women who call themselves by the name of God, who style themselves with titles like "Reverend" and "Pastor", contrary to the Word of God, who have access to as many translations of the Bible as they want as well as access to diverse reference materials or who even publish such materials, are crucifying again the Son of God and putting Him to an open shame? It seems to me that there are far more than most men and women would like to believe. We may well find on the day of Judgment that God's books tell a different story of many whom we have regarded as pillars of the church.

Do not forget Matthew 7:21-29:

21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'

23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:

25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 "Now everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:

27 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,

29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (NKJ)

Today we see many who prophesy, cast out demons and do wonders in the name of Jesus, yet Jesus here declares that He will say to MANY that He NEVER KNEW THEM! Brothers and sisters, this is shattering scripture, but it is scripture nevertheless. As you read this book, can you say with certainty that you truly know the Lord and do the will of His Father or have you been preaching heresy and condemning God's children for seeking to live lives in accordance with scripture? I urge you to consider carefully what you have taught and applied in this area of doctrine and to determine whether you need to repent and turn from your wicked ways!

Consider Ezekial 18:30:

30 "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. (NKJ)

Consider also that many of the sins of Israel that Ezekial and others prophesied against were similar to the sins of the church today! Yet we have a new and better covenant!

12. ADULTERY AFTER JESUS CAME (UNDER THE NEW COVENANT)

There seems to be a widely held view that somehow Jesus did away with the penalty for adultery and that adultery is now something that can be confessed and repented of whereafter it goes away so that the couple concerned can continue their relationship if they are married in the sight of the church.

This is seemingly based upon John 8:1-11:

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.

3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

5 "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?"

6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."

8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"

11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." (NKJ)

Clearly Jesus told her to sin no more. Imagine the scene, the woman was caught in the act but the man was allowed to flee. Historical reports that I have read seem to suggest that the application of the scripture relating to stoning for adultery was seldom if ever practised in Jesus day. Caligula was emperor in Rome during Jesus life time and debauched living, not that different from the world today but perhaps more public, was widespread in Rome and Greece and throughout the "civilised" world. Accordingly it would seem that this woman had been living in a situation in which the likelihood of any serious natural consequences for her dalliance were unlikely. Suddenly she found herself facing death while her lover who was present (she was caught in the act) was seemingly permitted to flee and not persued.

Is it not possible that under those circumstances she came to a rapid and sincere repentance? Is it not possible that Jesus who knows our thoughts knew that she had truly repented?

Psalm 94:11 states:

11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile. (NKJ)

Matthew 9:4 states:

4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? (NKJ)

Is it not possible that Jesus was as much grieved by the great hypocrisy of those who "caught her in the act" and yet did not bring her lover with her to be stoned as Jesus might have been grieved by her sin?

Dare we construct a doctrine of universal indulgence of fornication from this one incident? Particularly when this passage is not included in all manuscripts? Refer footnotes in NIV and other translations. No doubt true repentance with a broken spirit and a contrite heart brings forgiveness but how can this be achieved when a man has put away "divorced" his wife because the church will not permit him to take a second wife?

Certainly we can deduce that if a person commits adultery, recognizes it as sin and turns from it asking God for forgiveness, they will receive that forgiveness and they can continue their lives without eternal consequences.

The experience of David, as outlined in section 11.j clearly demonstrates this. BUT David was living under the Mosaic covenant as a prophet! So has that much changed? Has God not always responded with mercy to a "broken spirit and a contrite heart?

Nevertheless, in the passage in John 8:11, Jesus clearly tells her to "go and sin no more." How can we suggest that a man can marry a "divorced" woman whose "divorce" God has not sanctioned, acknowledge that this is adultery and then tell her and her new "husband" that if they confess their sin after first intercourse from then on it will be in order? I have heard teachings to this effect! Is this not an abomination in the sight of God?

At the same time we must recognize that despite his sincere and abject repentance, David's family lived under the curse of his actions for generations, as portrayed in the Books of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Are we absolutely certain that this curse is cut off by Jesus' sacrifice?

The experience presented in the case history in section 81, page 207, clearly indicates that heartfelt repentance is not enough to cut off the consequences of adultery. There is far more spiritual "housekeeping" required to cut off the curse AND the consequences in this life - the one flesh bond must be severed by the Grace of God, soul ties must be cut, unGodly promises and vows must be renounced on both sides and cut off, restitution to the husband and family may be required, curses spoken against one must be cut off, demonic gateways must be closed and familiar spirits associated with the liaison must be cast out, all demons transferred between the parties must be dealt with. It is apparent from this testimony that this all requires great soul searching and seeking of God to identify all issues that must be cut off. In the case report this took years. The person who is the subject of the case history walked the road of recovering from adultery having been trapped by Satan's lies when backslidden many years ago. Six years after the event God was still showing him aspects of ignorance and spiritual consequences which were still not finally dealt with.

a. REVELATION 21:8 IS QUITE SPECIFIC : SEXUAL IMMORALITY LEADS TO A PART IN THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE

However, if they do NOT confess their sin and repent in this life, Revelation 21:1-8 is quite specific:

1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."

6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

7 "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (NKJ)

Other translations of Revelation 21:8 state:

King James Version:

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Revised Standard Version:

8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."

The words "sexually immoral" in the New King James Version, "whoremongers" in the King James Version and "fornicators" in the Revised Standard Version are all alternate interpretations of the word pornos Nestle's number 4205:

Thayer Defines 4205 pornos-

1) a man who prostitutes his body to another's lust for hire

2) a male prostitute

3) a man who indulges in unlawful sexual intercourse, a fornicator

The base word of 4205 referred to by Strong is 4097:

Thayer Defines 4097 piprasko-

1) to sell:

a) used of price, one into slavery

b) used of the master to whom one is sold as a slave

2) metaphorically:

a) sold under sin, entirely under the control of the love of sinning

b) used of one bribed to give himself up wholly to another's will

These words are seemingly closely allied with the word porneia which is translated "fornication" in Matthew 5:32 in the King James Version:

32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. (KJV)

The same word occurs in Matthew 19:9:

9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. (KJV)

Strong defines 4202 porneia (por-ni'-ah);

from 4203; harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively, idolatry:

KJV-- fornication.

Thayer defines 4202 porneia-:

1) illicit sexual intercourse

a) adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals, etc.

b) sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18

c) sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11,12

2) metaphorically, the worship of idols; used of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols

Note that sexual intimacy between women, referred to today as "lesbianism" is not explicitly defined or prohibited anywhere in scripture, despite the commentary in Thayers definition above, refer also section 62.d, page 181.

Appendix L, page 273 lists all scriptures which contain the word "porneia" in order to give readers a better understanding of the scope of the word, note the distribution between sexual immorality and spiritual unfaithfulness. I believe that the Lord has also shown me that porneia includes continuous spiritual unfaithfulness or idolatry or betrayal over an extended period by a spouse with a refusal to repent or deliberate returning to that sin. As evidenced in the case history presented in section 81, page 207, the Lord extends considerable grace to the offending spouse to give them time to come to repentence before permitting divorce. This may relate to conditions such as a spouse who is a psychopath, an alcoholic, a person who physically abuses the other spouse and similar traits associated with intense demonic oppression corresponding to effectively spiritual idolatry on the part of the offender. It seems that God's blessing for divorce may only come when the offending spouse has either reached a point where they are beyond redemption or have renounced their salvation.

We must remember that, while one is married to such a spouse one is afforded an opportunity to die to self and to learn how to become more Christ like. It is probably easier to store up treasure in heaven when in such a marriage than it is in a luke warm marriage to another believer where you are not making any real effort to serve God.

Thus we see that divorce is only permitted in the event of adultery, sexual abominations, persistent idolatry and betrayal. It is NOT permitted because a man takes a second wife!

b. IF JESUS RELAXED THE LAW ON ADULTERY WHY DID JOHN THE BAPTIST DIE?

Consider Mark 6:16-27:

16 But when Herod heard, he said, "This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!"

17 For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her.

18 For John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."

19 Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not;

20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.

21 Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee.

22 And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you."

23 He also swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom."

24 So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!"

25 Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."

26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.

27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, (NKJ)

This same incident is recorded in Matthew 14:1-12. Can there be any doubt that John opposed adultery with absolute conviction? Surely if the current doctrine had applied he would just have told Herod confess his sin and he could carry on living with Herodias. Surely if Jesus was in the process of changing the law He would have sent a message to John to tell him about the change? No! We must accept that the Word of God has NOT changed with regard to adultery. If John the Baptist was prepared to die rather than compromise, then surely so should we?

c. CONCLUSION : A WOMAN WHO HAS SEX WITH MORE THAN ONE MAN WHILE THE FIRST IS ALIVE IS DEFINED AS AN ADULTERESS AND A HARLOT EXCEPT IN EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES

There cannot be much doubt that adulterers and adulteresses, who are referred to elsewhere as harlots and so forth, fall into the category of "sexually immoral". Accordingly, I have not doubt that we must accept that any person who is an unrepentant (either did not know or refused to repent) adulteress, in other words ANY WOMAN WHO HAS HAD SEX EVEN ONCE WITH MORE THAN ONE MAN over her life time, other than:

i. A widow.

or

ii. A divorcee whom God has released to divorce AND to remarry and who has been formally divorced.

or

iii. A woman who was a harlot and who has come to full and sincere revelation of her sin, confession thereof AND repentance AND whom God has released to marry.

will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone WHETHER THEY CLAIM TO BE BORN AGAIN OR NOT!

Likewise, ANY MAN WHO HAS HAD SEX EVEN ONCE WITH EVEN ONE SUCH WOMAN and who has not come to recognition of their sin, confession of that sin before God and sincere repentance of that sin, will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone!

d. THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF "PASTORS"

Matthew 23:8-13 states:

8 "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.

9 "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

10 "And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.

11 "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 "And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. (NKJ)

Notwithstanding Jesus' injunction to call no man Rabbi or Teacher, Christian leaders insist on appropriating the title "Pastor" or "Reverend" or "Father" to themselves. They fail to distinguish between the office of pastor or teacher and converting that into a title. No one would consider calling themselves "Bookkeeper Smith", they know that bookkeeper is a job description. Likewise, pastor is a job description.

Having set themselves up in this position, sadly many seem to lose sight of Jesus commadment that we should regard ourselves as servants to our brethren. They then take it upon themselves to pronounce on issues of doctrine, to decide whether a couple are suitable marriage material or not, to decide whether a divorce is sanctioned by God, to decide whether a woman who is not a virgin is free in the sight of God to marry and to prescribe and pronounce on many other issues.

It is important to recognize that every individual is accountable before God for their own sin. Accordingly, while a pastor who wrongly counsels that a couple are free to marry will be accountable for his sin, the individuals will still be called to account on the day of judgement and, as best I can determine, if they have committed adultery by following their pastor's advice they will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone. The pastor is also likely to be found on the Day of Judgement to have added to or taken away from the Word of God and to have lied to the couple, albeit in ignorance.

Remember also that Matthew 23 continues in verses 14-39 to state:

14 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'

17 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

18 "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'

19 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

20 "Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.

21 "He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.

22 "And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

24 "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.

26 "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

28 "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

30 "and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'

31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

32 "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.

33 "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

34 "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,

35 "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

36 "Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

38 "See! Your house is left to you desolate;

39 "for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" (NKJ)

How sure are we that these words do not apply in great measure to many leaders in the church today? A close reading of The Final Quest, indicates that they apply far more than most would like to believe. Now is the time for all who call themselves by the name of Christ to carefully examine themselves in the mirror of the Word of God to determine their spiritual state.

e. JUDGEMENT REVISITED

Some people are of the opinion that these people will not burn for eternity but certainly there seems to be scripture to suggest that they will spend eternity in an extremely unpleasant place. On the other hand, from the report of Joyner in the "Final Quest" it does appear that there is a possibility that a person who truly trusts God by faith for salvation through the name of Jesus may just be saved into heaven with no treasure and possibly having gone through a particularly dreadful judgment experience but it does not seem worth gambling on this when there are so many explicit scriptures to indicate that there is quite possibly another fate which truly is worse than death.

Luke 16:18-31 reports:

18 "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.

20 "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,

21 "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.

23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'

25 "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.

26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'

27 "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house,

28 'for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'

29 "Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'

30 "And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'

31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'" (NKJ)

Is it not an interesting juxtaposition that verse 18 speaks of divorce and adultery and the story of Lazarus starts the next verse? Is it not possible that God is seeking to tell us something here?

Jude 1:7 states:

7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (NKJ)

Hebrews 6:2 states:

2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. (NKJ)

Can there be any doubt that this eternal judgment is eternal fire? Whatever the exact form may be it is undoubtedly torment and suffering.

NOTE IN PARTICULAR that the voice that speaks the words reported in Revelation 21:1-8 cited on page 47, identifies Himself in verse 21:6 as the "Alpha and Omega", this is no less that Jesus Himself speaking!

Shortly thereafter, in verses 22:18 and 19 we are specifically cautioned not to add to or take away from anything written in "this book". Revelation 22:16-20 states:

16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;

19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

20 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (NKJ)

It certainly seems to me that we should not contemplate suggesting that someone who commits adultery will not have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone.

f. CRITICAL CONCLUSION : UNREPENTED ADULTERY WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY LEAD TO A PART IN THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE IF NOT ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD IN HELL

It seems to me that it is impossible to conclude other than that adultery carries the severest possible penalty, the second death and a part in the lake of fire and brimstone, potentially for eternity.

13. IS IT TRUE THAT, ONCE CONFESSED, ADULTERY IS NO LONGER ADULTERY?

There are teachings to the effect that if you marry a divorced woman you are committing adultery but if you confess your sin and repent of it, it is not adultery thereafter.

Matthew 19:9 in the King James Version states:

9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. (KJV)

Clearly, unless a woman is divorced with the blessing of Yahweh and, by implication, is the innocent party in the sight of God, and has a certificate of divorce as discussed in section 23, page 87, any man having intercourse with her will be committing adultery.

If she is not divorced with Yahweh's blessing then every time a man has intercourse with her they are committing adultery, it does not matter if they have a certificate from the state or the church, they are still committing adultery. Jesus Himself made this quite clear.

If they confess and repent after every sexual encounter then that is wilful sin and Hebrews 10:23-31 is quite explicit about the consequences of that:

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

26 For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

28 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

30 For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The Lord will judge His people."

31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (NKJ)

It does not seem to me that there can be any uncertainty about the outcome of this conduct. As you study the discussion on the one flesh bond and related supernatural forces designed by God to make marriage work, as discussed in section 43, page 127 you will come to realize just how powerful God's plan for marriage is, just how effectively Satan has corrupted it and just how great the opportunity is that awaits you to make marriage work with your existing marriage partner or partners (those who have wives because God has not acknowledged your divorce, amongst others).

The reality is that there is much that we do not understand about Godly marriage if putting away ("divorce") is to be avoided and if we recognize that a harsh, legalistic approach will not work. This thinking is developed progressively in the rest of this book.

14. GOD'S DEFINITION OF SEXUAL SIN

Leviticus 18:1-30 provides a comprehensive statement of God's definition of sexual sin:

1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'I am the LORD your God.

3 'According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances.

4 'You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the LORD your God.

5 'You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

6 'None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the LORD.

7 'The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

8 'The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness.

9 'The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover.

10 'The nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness.

11 'The nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, begotten by your father-- she is your sister-- you shall not uncover her nakedness.

12 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is near of kin to your father.

13 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is near of kin to your mother.

14 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.

15 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law-- she is your son's wife-- you shall not uncover her nakedness.

16 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness.

17 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness.

18 'Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.

19 'Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is in her customary impurity.

20 'Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, to defile yourself with her.

21 'And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.

22 'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

23 'Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

24 'Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.

25 'For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.

26 'You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you

27 'for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled),

28 'lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

29 'For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

30 'Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God.'" (NKJ)

Strong defines the word "nakedness" in the above scriptures as follows:

6172 `ervah (er-vaw');

from 6168; nudity, literally (especially the pudenda) or figuratively (disgrace, blemish):

KJV-- nakedness, shame, unclean (-ness).

Brown-Driver-Briggs defines 6172 `ervah-

nakedness, nudity, shame, pudenda, genitalia

a) pudenda (implying shameful exposure)

b) nakedness of a thing, indecency, improper behavior

c) exposed, undefended (figurative)

Thus "nakedness" is not only the sexual act as indicated by certain translations, it is the observance of the sexual organs of the people referred to. Surely this must extend to sexual intercourse AS WELL!

It is fairly widely reported that the sacrifices to Molech were a way of getting rid of unwanted children. Surely abortion must be just such an abomination? The question which I believe that every person who calls themselves by the name of Christ and claims to believe in the Bible must ask themselves is "How many abortions result from pregnancies fathered by men who are already married to other women and believe that they are not permitted to take a second wife? Is it not likely that the false doctrine of monogamy plays a substantial role in the level of abortion?

The above passages from Leviticus are EXTREMELY robust when it comes to stating God's opinion of these sins. He repeatedly states that it is for these sins that He visited Judgement on Egypt and that He is driving the people out of Canaan. It appears also that these were the same sins which resulted in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet many of these sins are openly portrayed and practised in the world today!

Note that verse 9 refers to "the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother", this is worded this way in order to accommodate a daughter of ANOTHER WIFE!

Surely if The Lord does not define a man having more than one wife amongst this schedule of sexual sin as sin, then it is almost certainly NOT sin? Furthermore for man to add a form of marriage (a man having more than one wife), which so many scriptures clearly indicate God approves of, to this list of sexual sin must surely be an abomination in the sight of God!?

This text is more or less duplicated in Leviticus 20:1-27:

1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: 'Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.

3 'I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name.

4 'And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him,

5 'then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.

6 'And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

7 'Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.

8 'And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

9 'For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.

10 'The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.

11 'The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.

12 'If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them.

13 'If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.

14 'If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you.

15 'If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.

16 'If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

17 'If a man takes his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness. He shall bear his guilt.

18 'If a man lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from their people.

19 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister nor of your father's sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt.

20 'If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21 'If a man takes his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless.

22 'You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out.

23 'And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them.

24 'But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.

25 'You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.

26 'And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

27 'A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.'" (NKJ)

Note the close association between sexual immorality and spiritual immorality, note that the same terms are applied to both - harlotry, prostitute, fornication, adultery, relating back to the term porneia used by Jesus with respect to grounds for divorce!

It is important to note that again there is nothing to prohibit a man having more than one wife BUT he is enjoined NOT to have intercourse with a woman during menstruation. Again, consider the curses for disobedience listed in Deuteronomy 28-30 in Appendix S, page 280 and discussed in more detail in section 11.k, page 44. Remember that while Jesus became a curse for us we must still confess our sin's and repent for His sacrifice to take effect. If we do not know the book of the Law, how will we know our sins?

It may also be relevant to note that Leviticus 20:13 relating to homosexuality expressly states "If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them." This verse does not address sexual intimacy between women as many Christians would assert and there are no other verses that I have been able to find which do. At best we can say that the Bible is silent with regard to sexual intimacy between the wives of one man while it would probably be possible to develop a reasonable scriptural argument against intimacy between women who were not the wives of one man. Again I am not seeking to be contentious, I am simply stating what the Word of God says and DOES NOT SAY. If we cannot find the scripture to support our prejudices then it is time that we have the integrity to state that they are personal prejudices and NOT attribute them to the word of God! Surely if we fear God and His judgment we will not do such a thing?

Deuteronomy 27:14-26 further addresses the subject of sexual sin and lists those forms of sexual sin which are specifically cursed:

14 "And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel:

15 'Cursed is the one who makes any carved or molded image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen!'

16 'Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

17 'Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's landmark.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

18 'Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

19 'Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

20 'Cursed is the one who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's bed.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

21 'Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

22 'Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

23 'Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

24 'Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

25 'Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

26 'Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' (NKJ)

It is important to note that incest is listed together with bestiallity.

15. JUST HOW SERIOUSLY DOES GOD VIEW SEXUAL SIN?

This section addresses a passage of scripture, Judges chapters 19 to 21, which contains some principles which most modern Christians are likely to find difficult. However, if we believe that God does not change (Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; (NKJ)) and that the word of God will not pass away (Jesus says in Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (NKJ)), we must consider the application of these scriptures.

a. THE OBLIGATION TO HOSPITALITY

Judges 19:1-21:

1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

2 But his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four whole months.

3 Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him.

4 Now his father-in-law, the young woman's father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there.

5 Then it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in the morning, and he stood to depart; but the young woman's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way."

6 So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman's father said to the man, "Please be content to stay all night, and let your heart be merry."

7 And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him; so he lodged there again.

8 Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the young woman's father said, "Please refresh your heart." So they delayed until afternoon; and both of them ate.

9 And when the man stood to depart-- he and his concubine and his servant-- his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said to him, "Look, the day is now drawing toward evening; please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow go your way early, so that you may get home."

10 However, the man was not willing to spend that night; so he rose and departed, and came to opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). With him were the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with him.

11 They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, "Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it."

12 But his master said to him, "We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on to Gibeah."

13 So he said to his servant, "Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah."

14 And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

15 They turned aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in the open square of the city, for no one would take them into his house to spend the night.

16 Just then an old man came in from his work in the field at evening, who also was from the mountains of Ephraim; he was staying in Gibeah, whereas the men of the place were Benjamites.

17 And when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the open square of the city; and the old man said, "Where are you going, and where do you come from?"

18 So he said to him, "We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote mountains of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; now I am going to the house of the LORD. But there is no one who will take me into his house,

19 "although we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything."

20 And the old man said, "Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be my responsibility; only do not spend the night in the open square."

21 So he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank. (NKJ)

We see here the application of the scriptural obligation of hospitality to strangers referred to in Matthew 25:31-46:

31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.

32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

33 "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;

36 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?

38 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?

39 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'

40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 'for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;

43 'I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'

44 "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'

45 "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'

46 "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (NKJ)

b. HOMOSEXUAL RAPE IS MORE SERIOUS THAN HETEROSEXUAL RAPE

Judges chapter 19:22-24:

22 As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!"

23 But the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this outrage.

24 "Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man's concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!"

We see that rape of a woman is viewed as less serious than homosexual rape. Today homosexual sin is regarded as acceptable by the world and even by some in the church. No apparent distinction is drawn between homosexual rape and heterosexual rape. This observation does not in any way diminish the seriousness of heterosexual rape, it only makes the point that it appears from these scriptures that homosexual rape is viewed by God as being EVEN MORE SERIOUS than heterosexual rape!

c. THE SIN COMMITTED - RAPE AND CONSEQUENTIAL MURDER

Judges chapter 19:25-28:

25 But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go.

26 Then the woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, till it was light.

27 When her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold.

28 And he said to her, "Get up and let us be going." But there was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to his place.

The sin of the men of Gibeah was firstly to seek homosexual rape, then to gang rape the concubine, thirdly that this led to her death. We see in chapter 20, verse 4 below that this was regarded as murder, even though the woman died as a consequence of the rape and was still alive at the end of the rape.

d. THE RESPONSE OF THE LEVITE AND OF ISRAEL

Judges chapter 19:29 - 20:11:

29 When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

30 And so it was that all who saw it said, "No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!"

JUDGES CHAPTER 20

1 So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.

2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword.

3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the children of Israel said, "Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?"

4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "My concubine and I went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night.

5 "And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died.

6 "So I took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel.

7 "Look! All of you are children of Israel; give your advice and counsel here and now!"

8 So all the people arose as one man, saying, "None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house;

9 "but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up against it by lot.

10 "We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel."

11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.

We see that this one instance of intended homosexual rape, the actual gang rape and the death of the rape victim was seen as sufficient cause for 400,000 men of Israel to gather at one place in order to give effect to the scriptural provisions for dealing with homosexuality, rape and murder. The relevant scriptures are as follows:

i. THE PENALTY FOR ADULTERY IS DEATH

Deuteronomy 22:22 deals with adultery:

22 "If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die-- the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel. (NKJ)

In the case cited above, the men who raped the concubine knew that she was married and that they would therefore be committing adultery.

ii. THE PENALTY FOR RAPE IS DEATH

Deuteronomy 22:25-27 deals with rape:

25 "But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.

26 "But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbour and kills him, even so is this matter.

27 "For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her. (NKJ)

It seems reasonable to conclude that in the case under consideration the case of the concubine who was taken by overwhelming force would be comparable to the young woman in the countryside. The crime was rape and the death penalty is laid down by scripture.

iii. THE PENALTY FOR MURDER IS DEATH

Numbers 35:16-21 deals with murder:

16 'But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

17 'And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

18 'Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

19 'The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.

20 'If he pushes him out of hatred or, while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies,

21 'or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. (NKJ)

The death penalty applies for murder and it is to be administered by a person who is termed the "avenger of blood" who is apparently any member of the community who witnessed the murder or has some family or other tie with the victim which confers on him the responsibility for avenging the death of the victim.

iv. THE PENALTY FOR HOMOSEXUALITY IS DEATH

Leviticus 20:13 deals with homosexuality:

13 'If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. (NKJ)

While there is no indication of a penalty for homosexual intent, in this case the intent would appear to indicate a level of perversion among the men of Gibeah which was extreme.

v. CONCLUSION : SCRIPTURE REQUIRED THE DEATH PENALTY FOR THE MEN OF GIBEAH

There can be no doubt that scripture required the death penalty for the men of Gibeah who raped the concubine and, since the number of men involved was more than the Levite on his own could oppose and since the other men of the city had not acted to oppose the sin, it required that the people of Israel collectively assemble in order to execute judgement.

e. THE RESPONSE OF BENJAMIN

Judges chapter 20:12-16 reports the response of the tribe of Benjamin:

12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What is this wickedness that has occurred among you?

13 "Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!" But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel.

14 Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel.

15 And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men.

16 Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair's breadth and not miss.

Instead of executing judgment themselves or handing the offenders over to Israel to be judged and sentenced, Benjamin takes the part of the rapists thereby making themselves also guilty by association. Of necessity, in order to honour scripture Israel would have to act in unity to overcome Benjamin or else compromise on the judgment required by scripture.

f. THE RESPONSE OF ISRAEL AND GOD TO BENJAMIN AND THE OUTCOME OF THE FIRST BATTLE

Judges chapter 20:17-21:

17 Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

18 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, "Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?" The LORD said, "Judah first!"

19 So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.

20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah.

21 Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites.

In response to Benjamin's sin, rather than saying "the blood be on your hands", the Israelites prepare to go to war. However, before they go to war they go to ask God if they should go and the Lord tell's them to go to war. We thus see that God required the judgement's laid down in scripture to be executed. However, Benjamin kill twenty two thousand Israelites.

g. THE RESPONSE OF ISRAEL AND GOD TO THE OUTCOME OF THE FIRST BATTLE; THE SECOND BATTLE

Judges chapter 20:22-25:

22 And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day.

23 Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, "Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Go up against him."

24 So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day.

25 And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the sword.

Having suffered the loss of twenty two thousand men, Israel remains resolved to execute judgment and return to ask the Lord if they should go up again. He instructs them to go up again and a further eighteen thousand are slain. It is notable that having lost 22,000 men Israel still is resolved to execute judgment on a group of men for the rape and murder of ONE woman. Is this not a far cry to the attitude of the world and the church today to the rape or murder of one person?

Surely if this degree of respect for the Word of God prevailed today we would not see anything approaching the levels of rape and murder that we see in our society today?

h. THE RESPONSE OF ISRAEL AND GOD TO THE OUTCOME OF THE SECOND BATTLE; THE THIRD BATTLE

Judges chapter 20:26-48:

26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

27 So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, "Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?" And the LORD said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand."

29 Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah.

30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times.

31 So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

32 And the children of Benjamin said, "They are struck down before us, as at first." But the children of Israel said, "Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways."

33 So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel's men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba.

34 And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them.

35 The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel. And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites; all these drew the sword.

36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites, because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah.

37 And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah; the men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword.

38 Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city,

39 whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel. For they said, "Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle."

40 But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven.

41 And when the men of Israel turned back, the men of Benjamin panicked, for they saw that disaster had come upon them.

42 Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them, and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst.

43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them, and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east

44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell; all these were men of valor.

45 Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon; and they cut down five thousand of them on the highways. Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Gidom, and killed two thousand of them.

46 So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword; all these were men of valor.

47 But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months.

48 And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword-- from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to.

We see that after losing 40,000 men Israel returns to ask the Lord whether to continue with the battle. This time they fast and offer sin offerings and peace offerings first. From this we can conclude that the reason that they failed in the first two battles was because of unconfessed sin amongst the people of Israel. The Lord again tells them to go up and this time they succeed, still losing another 30 men in the process.

We should consider carefully the resolve of the men of Israel to honour the Word of God and to execute judgment that, even though 40,000 had been killed they were still prepared to go into battle again. It seems inconceivable that today any part of our society would even begin to consider the need for righteousness to be so important as to suffer such a great loss in response to one gang rape! How little we understand the Lord's standards of righteousness!

i. THE IMPORTANCE OF OATH'S AND VOWS

Judges chapter 21:1-25:

1 Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, "None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife."

2 Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly,

3 and said, "O LORD God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?"

4 So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

5 The children of Israel said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the LORD?" For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death."

6 And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, "One tribe is cut off from Israel today.

7 "What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives?"

8 And they said, "What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD?" And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly.

9 For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there.

10 So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children.

11 "And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately."

12 So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them.

14 So Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found enough for them.

15 And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?"

17 And they said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel.

18 "However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, 'Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.'"

19 Then they said, "In fact, there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."

20 Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, "Go, lie in wait in the vineyards,

21 "and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin.

22 "Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, 'Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.'"

23 And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them.

24 So the children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they went out from there, every man to his inheritance.

25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (NKJ)

From this passage we discover that the men of Israel, having taken an oath concerning any person who did not come up to assist with executing judgement, execute that oath on Jabesh Gilead utterly destroying the town. We further see that despite grieving for Benjamin that the six hundred survivors do not have wives, Israel is not prepared to relax their oath concerning giving wives to Benjamin. We see hear a respect for honouring a man's word which is all but lost in our community today. We also see that there is a recognition that the punishment for failing to keep one's word is from God.

j. TAKING OF WIVES

From the above passage we also see the application of some other scriptural principles. Firstly, Deuteronomy 22:28-29 states:

28 "If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out,

29 "then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days. (NKJ)

Exodus 22:16-17 states:

16 "If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife.

17 "If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins. (NKJ)

Since Deuteronomy 22:28-29 deals with sexual intercourse with a virgin by force and Exodus 22:16-17 deals with seduction of a virgin it would appear that the girl's father is entitled to refuse his daughter to the man who has taken seized her. This appears to be the principle applied with regard to the virgins of Shiloh.

Again these passages raise some issues which are very different to modern teachings. Firstly we see that there was no courtship, there was no discussion about whether the couple were well suited to another or whether they were life partners. They were paired off, apparently without material choice and were regarded by all of Israel as being married. There is no indication of any possibility that those marriages would not work. This is a far cry from the attitudes to experimental sex and virginity that characterized most of the world today and which are not materially opposed by much of the Christian church.

k. THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CHURCH IN THE END OF THE AGE

These scriptures should be interpreted against Ezekial 33:8-9:

8 "When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.

9 "Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. (NKJ)

Surely every person who has a Bible and certainly every person who reads their Bible should consider the possibility that they are called to be watchmen to the world in which we live. Surely, if we fail to recognize the import of scriptures such as those considered in this document we place ourselves at risk of finding the blood of those who perish for eternity upon our own heads at the day of judgment!

Surely it is time for those who call themselves by the name of Christ to become serious about opposing homosexuality and warning homosexuals of the eternal consequences of their sin. Likewise, they should become serious about demanding the death penalty for murder and rape. Surely, insofar as the Christian church fails to do this the blood will be collectively on the heads of the church and there is much judgment in store in the final tribulation for those who do not take their part in opposing unscriptural conduct in our society?

16. LUST AND ADULTERY OF THE HEART

Matthew 5:27-30 states:

27 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'

28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

29 "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

30 "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (NKJ)

Clearly a man who lusts after a woman is committing adultery in his heart. In other words, he is sinning in his heart against God.

a. LUST IS COVETOUSNESS AND IS SIN

Exodus 20:17 states:

17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." (NKJ)

It is important to note that, as explained in section 39, page 112 which discusses the Hebrew and Greek words to describe a woman and a wife and determines that there is no distinction in scripture since all adult women were either married, widows or harlots. It is further explained in section 63, page 183 which discussed the age at which women married in scripture. Thus Jesus was not introducing a new commandment in Matthew 5:28 but only restating the tenth commandment.

Consider also Deuteronomy 5:1-22:

1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.

2 "The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

3 "The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.

4 "The LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire.

5 "I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said:

6 'I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

7 'You shall have no other gods before Me.

8 'You shall not make for yourself any carved image-- any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

10 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

11 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

12 'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.

13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall not do any work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you.

15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

16 'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

17 'You shall not murder.

18 'You shall not commit adultery.

19 'You shall not steal.

20 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

21 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'

22 "These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. (NKJ)

We thus see that lust and coveting of a woman (a neigbours wife), together with all other forms of lust and covetousness are expressly forbidden by God in the Ten Commandments, written by God Himself on tablets of stone. Yet our whole societies approach to marriage place inordinate emphasis on the physical appearance of the object of affection.

b. LUST IN OUR SOCIETY AS THE BASIS FOR SELECTING MARRIAGE PARTNERS

Young men and women place much of their emphasis on how "good looking" a member of the opposite sex is and hence how desireable that person is. It seems to me that this is nothing short of lust. In fact, it is my contention that objective consideration of the entire process of courtship practiced in our society and, by implication, endorsed by the church is largely driven by lust.

If a young person without the knowledge, experience and wisdom to evaluate the personallity, etc of a member of the opposite sex is left to select a marriage partner themselves they are inevitably going to rely on what they can see and therefore make a mistake. Thus, when the church tells young people that they are "too young to marry", they are effectively saying that they are too young to choose. In this regard they are entirely correct. As discussed in section 57, page 167 on betrothal, the scriptural way of betrothal was for the parents of the man and woman to arrange the match taking account of social standing, etc. In fact, the match was likely to be between cousins or children of neighbours in the same village. In other words, between children of families who had known each other for years and where the parents had observed the development of one anothers children and identified which children were suited to one another. Conversely, when the Holy Spirit makes the match, He looks on the heart, 1 Samuel 16:7 states:

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (NKJ)

2 Corinthians 4:18 states:

18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (NKJ)

Thus, by changing God's principles of marriage and forcing young people to make their own choice of marriage partner and then forcing them to wait to an age greater than scripturally required the church creates a recipe for marital disaster and THEN seeks to counsel it's victims on how to select a marriage partner and to make marriages work!

c. LUST AS OPPOSED TO LOVE

Other scriptures on lust include Proverbs 6:23-26:

23 For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

24 To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress.

25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids.

26 For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. (NKJ)

Proverbs 11:6 states:

6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust. (NKJ)

Romans 13:8-14 states:

8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (NKJ)

Can there be any doubt that lust in all it's forms is a major sin AND a major stumbling block in the lives of the world and the church today.

Consider also that the approach of the world to selecting marriage partners on appearance must, inevitably, give rise to a situation where, once the "beloved" is no longer so physically attractive or when they demonstrate some of the inevitable foibles of human personallity they are deemed to no longer be the appropriate marriage partner. This is a key message in much, if not all, of what is presented under the guise of "love" on television, in magazines and in books. Surely then it is no wonder that men and women turn to pornography.

If we consider God's definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. (NKJ)

How different this is from the thing that the world calls love today which is surely nothing more than lust?! Surely the church must look to itself to determine how it has contributed to this apalling situation through the false doctrines addressed in this book.

d. LUST, PORNOGRAPHY AND FASHION

Consider also Proverbs 23:7:

7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you. (NKJ)

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he - as he lusts through pornography or the distorted approach to life portrayed on television, so is he or so he becomes - an adulterer. The author can confirm this from first hand experience and it is only by the Grace and Mercy of God that I am alive today to write this book. Lust is indeed one of Satan's most subtle and destructive lies - that it is O.K. to look (and to lust) and that this will not harm you!

Consider also Ezekial 24:15-18:

15 Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

16 "Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.

17 "Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man's bread of sorrow."

18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded. (NKJ)

Here we clearly see that the Lord refers to Ezekials wife as the desire of his eyes. In other words, it is not wrong for a man to desire his wife or wives. God has created womans body, her breasts and her private parts to be attractive to her husband BUT ONLY to her husband. As indicated in section 9.d, page 26, the female sexual organ IS the sign of the marriage covenant!

Since, in Bible times it would appear to be entirely unheard of for a woman to expose herself in a bikini or bathing costume in a place where a man other than her husband could see her it appears reasonable to conclude that the Lord intended man to be aroused by the appearance of his wife's nakedness in private. If this is indeed so then we should not be unduly surprised that men are stimulated by scantily clad women, whether in the flesh or in pictures. In particular, we should realise that clothing that hugs the breasts or pubic area to all intents and purposes exposes the naked body. Tightly fitting bathing costumes where the outline or shadow of the nipples or where the form of the Mons Venus (female pubic mound) and sometimes even the cleft or folds of the vulva are clearly visible are certainly at the very least causing men to stumble and potentially asking for trouble and almost certainly an affront to our Holy and Righteous God!

On the one hand, wives may have an obligation to display their bodies in a pleasing fashion for their husbands in the privacy of the marriage chamber, consider Esther, discussed in section 54.e, page 154. On the other hand, ALL women should dress modestly in public. Insofar as this is unlikely to happen as a generally rule in our present society, those who call themselves by the name of Christ would do well to exercise discretion with regard to where they go and what they watch.

e. LUST AND THE DRESS OF YOUNG WOMEN

Careful consideration of the contents of the preceeding sections together with the discussion on virginity and one night stands in section 17, page 75 should cause all readers to realize that it is extremely unwise for any young woman (age twelve or older) to dress "immodestly", in other words in clothes which reveal their breasts or mons relatively explicitly. While it is possibly not practical for a young woman to dress in clothes as modest as those worn by women in certain Middle Eastern countries, even today, it would seem that a good maxim would be to ensure that they are dressed materially more modestly than those with whom they associate. The objective should be not to cause some man to stumble and also, CRITICALLY, not to inadvertantly cause a situation to arise in which their virginity is taken through lust, provoked by their dress.

f. LUST, PORNOGRAPHY AND ENFORCED MONOGAMY

By the same token, when a man has the capacity to love more than one woman and is prevented from doing so, is it not inevitable that he will turn to lust and pornography to satisfy a deep down desire in his soul for covenant relationship with more than one woman? Is it not incredible how far the church has permitted Satan to totally corrupt God's plans for the marriage relationship between man and woman?

By the same token, a wife in a monogamous marriage whose husband has been created to be polygynous, should not really be surprised if her husband turns to lust and pornography to satisfy his need. It is perhaps possible that a wife in a monogamous marriage could make a particular effort to meet all her husbands needs but, as discussed with regard to Isaiah 4:1 in section 55, page 157, since every woman is different and no one woman will meet all the needs of a polygynous husband, this is likely to prove to be a futile effort destined to fail. It would therefore appear that woman who insist on forcing their husbands to remain monogamous should accept that lust and pornography are likely to be an inevitable consequence AND that they will then become partners in the sin of their husbands.

How much better it would be if such a man were free to take an additional wife in order to more fully meet all his needs for companionship, intellectual interchange, spiritual interaction in worship and service to God, help with the business of his family and his household and his sexual needs. It seems apparent to me that most of these needs can be met by women outside a monogamous marriage BUT that inevitably this will result in sexual attraction. In all sincerity I must say to you that it appears to me that Yahweh God did NOT intend ANY of these needs to be met outside marriage!

Of necessity I must say to any woman who reads this, who is in a monogamous marriage and whose husband is in bondage to pornography and lust - ask YOURSELF the question, to what extent are YOU responsible for his sin and the resulting inner turmoil which curses his daily existence?

17. ONE NIGHT STANDS

Some years ago when, in my office as a prophet of God, I was sent to the leadership of a church where the pastor had been found out as having had a sexual relationship with one of the young woman in the congregation. I was required by the Lord to tell the leadership that instead of demanding that the pastor terminate the relationship they were to require him to take her as his second wife. Remarks were made to me to the effect that a protracted sexual relationship should be treated differently to a "one night stand". It was implied that somehow a "one night stand" could be tolerated but a long term relationship could not!

However, Deuteronomy 22:23-30 deals with this quite clearly:

23 "If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her,

24 "then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you.

25 "But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.

26 "But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter.

27 "For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.

28 "If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out,

29 "then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her [put her away] all his days.

30 "A man shall not take his father's wife, nor uncover his father's bed. (NKJ)

Surely verses 28 and 29 deal with a so-called "one night stand" quite clearly, even where the girl does not consent. The man must pay restitution and he may not divorce her all his days. Surely that is a simple message, there is no such thing as "sex before marriage", there is no such thing as experimenting to find the right partner. It is either marriage or it is fornication. There is nothing unclear about this. Yet, in order to support Satan's false doctrine of enforced monogamy men and women in the church have created a false marriage rite in order to permit women who are not virgins to marry men who do not know the difference and both can go to HELL or at the very least have a part in the lake of fire and brimstone. Is this not an appalling abomination?

I pray that by now you will have no doubt about the truth and that you will be starting to recognize the enormous eternal consequences of this false doctrine. There are millions, if not billions, of souls in Hell and millions, if not billions, of others who have a part in the lake of fire and brimstone as a consequence of this lie. Furthermore millions, if not billions, of lives have been destroyed in this life. Hundreds of millions, if not billions, of others including Moslems and Jews, knowing the truth about marriage have been totally persuaded that so-called Christianity is of the devil and, on this score, they have been ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!

a. A "ONE NIGHT STAND" WITH A VIRGIN IS MARRIAGE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD!

Supplementing this scripture, Exodus 22:16-17 states:

16 "If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife.

17 "If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins. (NKJ)

So here we see that in the case of so-called "consenting adults" a one night stand still constitutes marriage but with the caveat that the father could object which, it might be argued, could apply also to Deuteronomy 22:28-29.

b. A FATHER CAN ANNUL A CLANDESTINE UNION THE DAY HE HEARS OF IT

This must be read in conjunction with Numbers 30:1-16:

1 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded:

2 "If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

3 "Or if a woman vows a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by some agreement while in her father's house in her youth,

4 "and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand.

5 "But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will release her, because her father overruled her.

6 "But if indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself,

7 "and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand.

8 "But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she vowed and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the LORD will release her.

9 "Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.

10 "If she vowed in her husband's house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath,

11 "and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand.

12 "But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and the LORD will forgive her.

13 "Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void.

14 "Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them.

15 "But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt."

16 These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter in her youth in her father's house. (NKJ)

It is clear that the father has the prerogative to overrule his daughter making a truly unwise match on the day that he hears that she has had sex with her lover, not a day later.

Note also that in the scripture above, the father bears her guilt. In other words, this is not something to be taken lightly, it seems that the father will be judged for the daughter's sin as though he was the guilty party! Is this not a direct shadow of our husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, dying to take our sin that we might live! Again the imagery is powerful! How can we persist with our false doctrines concerning "one night stands" when Jesus has died to set us free from our sin!

c. VIRGINITY LOST IN A ONE NIGHT STAND PRECLUDES MARRIAGE

Exodus 22:16-17, cited above is unclear whether that woman could subsequently remarry.

The fact that the man who took her virginity must pay the bride price would appear to indicate that the young woman would not be eligible to marry again. Keep in mind that, in the context of the above passages from Deuteronomy 22, if the thing is not found out and the man who took her by force does not marry her, the girl may never marry. The same applies to the girl who was enticed in Exodus 22.

Deuteronomy 22:13-21, cited in section 8, page 19 states:

13 "If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her,

14 "and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, 'I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,'

...........

20 "But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman,

21 "then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house; so you shall put away the evil from among you.

Clearly a woman who has been involved in a "one night stand" will not pass this test. Keep in mind that once the seal of virginity is broken there is no way that any other man can know for certain whether the woman is free to marry or not. Accordingly, in principle, it would appear that any father who refused to permit his daughter to marry the man who had seduced her would do so knowing that he (the father) would have to support his daughter for the rest of her days.

d. JUDAH AND TAMAR AS AN EXAMPLE OF A "ONE NIGHT STAND"

The case of Judah and Tamar provides useful confirmation of these conclusions:

Genesis 38:6-30 reports:

6 Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

7 But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD killed him.

8 And Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother."

9 But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.

10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD; therefore He killed him also.

11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house till my son Shelah is grown." For he said, "Lest he also die as his brothers did." And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

12 Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah's wife, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

13 And it was told Tamar, saying, "Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."

14 So she took off her widow's garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.

15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.

16 Then he turned to her by the way, and said, "Please let me come in to you"; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?"

17 And he said, "I will send you a young goat from the flock." So she said, "Will you give me a pledge till you send it?"

18 Then he said, "What pledge shall I give you?" So she said, "Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand." Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

19 So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand, but he did not find her.

21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, "Where is the harlot who was openly by the roadside?" And they said, "There was no harlot in this place."

22 And he returned to Judah and said, "I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place."

23 Then Judah said, "Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her."

24 And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry." So Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned!"

25 When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, "By the man to whom these belong, I am with child." And she said, "Please determine whose these are-- the signet and cord, and staff."

26 So Judah acknowledged them and said, "She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son." And he never knew her again.

27 Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb.

28 And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, "This one came out first."

29 Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, "How did you break through? This breach be upon you!" Therefore his name was called Perez.

30 Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called Zerah. (NKJ)

Here we see that Judah had promised Tamar his widowed daughter-in-law that she would marry his third son when that son was old enough. However, he broke his vow. Since Tamar had no hope of marrying any other man but Judah's son, it appears that she took the desperate step of posing as a harlot in order to trap Judah and secure a covering for herself in her old age.

The key principle contained in this scripture is that, while the Word of God prevents a man from marrying his daughter-in-law, Judah, once he realised that he had had intercourse with Tamar accepted responsibility for her FOR LIFE! This principle is confirmed in the case of Jacob and Leah discussed in section 59, page 173. How different our society would be today if every many who had intercourse with a woman who was a virgin or a widow understood AND ACCEPTED that he was responsible for her wellbeing for life, even if he was drunk or she had intercourse with him while he slept or under false pretences!

e. THE APPARENT DILEMA OF SAMSON'S NIGHT WITH A HARLOT

Judges 16:1-4 reports:

1 Then Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.

2 When the Gazites were told, "Samson has come here!" they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, "In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him."

3 And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

4 Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. (NKJ)

Here we see Samson, a Judge of Israel, dedicated to God before His birth, anointed as a deliverer of Israel, with supernatural strength imparted by the Spirit of God, going in to a harlot, despite all that scripture says about adultery. Yet, when he left the Spirit of God had not left him. One almost get's the impression that God was not particularly concerned with Samson's sin.

However, remember that God is longsuffering. Numbers 14:18 states:

18 'The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.' (NKJ)

We see here that the Lord IS longsuffering BUT he no means clears the guilty

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18. IMPLICATIONS OF THE NEW COVENANT

It certainly seems to be the case under the Mosaic covenant that a woman who has lost her virginity, other than a widow of known origin or a divorcee where the divorce resulted from the sin of the husband, who is not a virgin, could never marry.

Under the New Covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ we are faced with the very real possibility of women coming to salvation having been sexually promiscuous previously. I do not think that there is any doubt that provided she is made aware of her sin and truly repents, she WILL be forgiven. Our experience in ministry however indicates that the Lord will still require her to be faithful to the man she was married to a the time she came to salvation. Whether this is the man who took her virginity or the man she is legally married to is something that only the Lord can determine, on a case by case basis. We have ministered to a woman, married to an unbeliever, who the Lord clearly led to divorce and then showed her that she had been seduced under hypnosis over twenty years ago by a man who was now a believer and who was still, in the sight of God, her husband. In other words, she had been legally married in the eyes of the church and the state but living in adultery in the sight of God for over twenty years AND had borne a child to the man she had called her husband.

As one comes to fully appreciate the enormous implications of this one instance, one must truly acknowledge that His ways are not our ways. Isaiah 55:6-9 states:

6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.

9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. (NKJ)

On the other hand, we have ministered to other women, some of whom have been trapped in sexual sin and fornication for years after coming to salvation, some as a consequence of demonic oppression and blood line curses carried into the New Life as a consequence of inadequate ministry and deliverance when they made a committment, others simply out of ignorance of the principles set out in this document. It is truly alarming to discover how many deeply committed Christians really do not know the virginity is sacred and that sex equates to marriage. They find themselves in bondage, repeatedly trapped by their sexual needs and often by unsaved men who take advantage of their desperate need for sexual fulfillment in an agony of conviction and repentance followed by further sin. In such cases, once presented with the true scriptural facts and brought to true repentance our Lord extends bountiful mercy and grace.

On one occasion we ministered to a woman in her mid-twenties who had been sexually abused by a close relation at the age of fourteen and who had been in a variety of sexual relationships ever since. As she confessed her sins, repented, received forgiveness and prayed for the cutting off of all one-flesh bonds, person by person, (refer section 43, page 127) she had a vision in which God showed her that he had restored her virginity. Sadly, with no Christian man willing to extend his covering to her, (refer section 51, page 140) she fell back a few weeks later into a sexual relationship with an unbeliever. What her standing in the sight of God is today, I do not know, I do know that I was subsequently greatly convicted of my hardness of heart in not being willing to stand in the gap for her and take her as my wife!

In any case where a man is considering taking a woman who is not physically a virgin as his wife I would counsel careful prayer. This would be particularly important in our present social situation as it would be quite likely that the father tacitly accepted that there was a sexual relationship for some time before he confronted it and it seems clear to me that this is not the intent of this scripture.

19. MODERN COURTSHIP, PETTING AND THE LIKE BEFORE MARRIAGE WERE NOT ENVISAGED BY GOD

Clearly the above scriptures, taken with other comments elsewhere suggest that any significant form of dating or courtship as we know it today was NOT envisaged by Yahweh when He created mankind! Certainly any form of kissing or heavy petting would seem to be reserved for the wedding night. Not because He is unjust but because He intended that pleasure to be reserved for the marriage bed and He did NOT intend men and women to wait for years after they reached scripturally marriageable age for "mister right" or "miss right" or their "soul mate" or "life partner" to come along.

20. THE LORD'S TRUE INTENTION : MARRIAGE IS DESIGNED TO WORK

Can we other than conclude that the Lord's true intention for marriage was that he guaranteed it to work, as long as husband and wife were both believers and were both in submission to the TRUE Word of God.

He intended a woman to marry a man who was available and, in broad terms, suitable within the contraints of the requirements set out elsewhere in scripture, in particular that they should both be believers. Other than this, as long as they both understood that marriage was for life, that there was no performance pressure, that lust was not a consideration and that, should the relationship be incomplete, the husband was free to take additional wives, Yahweh, in His wisdom had provided the one flesh bond, soul ties and other spiritual functions to ensure that the marriage would work! Surely there are grounds in these scriptures to warrant a radical rethink in doctrine in virtually every area of teaching concerning marriage and relations between men and women in the body of Christ?

21. CRITICAL CONCLUSION : GOD'S DEFINITION OF ADULTERY ACCEPTS THAT A MAN MAY HAVE MORE THAN ONE WIFE BUT REQUIRES THAT A WOMAN MAY HAVE SEX WITH ONLY ONE MAN

I sincerely pray that after you have read the preceeding chapter you will have no doubt that scripture permits a man to have more than one wife and that adultery is sexual intercourse with a woman who is not a virgin unless God has explictly released her to marry another man as an act of Grace.

If you still have reservations, I pray that the following chapters will resolve your doubts. If you doubt the massive impact of adultery on the life of an individual in this life, section 81, page 207, presents a case history of a man who was trapped into adultery. It provides a chilling perspective on the long term consequences of adultery, even after repentance and truly demonstrates that adultery is indeed a sin against your own body.

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