by Tammy Phillips
May 21, 2021
Please don’t run away because of title or verse. Read to the end.
“You shall not commit adultery.” (Deuteronomy 5:18)
Obviously, this encouragement is a little different. I have told the Lord that I would write what He wanted me to write, even if I did not understand. I have no idea where this is going but here we go.
If you are thinking about it, STOP. If you are thinking about it, do not do it.
The five words what make up Deuteronomy 5:18 is one Hebrew word, nā’ap̄. I have always understood that it meant be faithful to your husband or wife and to the marriage bed. It absolutely means remain faithful.
One of the wisest men who ever lived, King Solomon, said it like this:
Drink water from your own cistern and running water from your own well. 16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? 17 Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. 18 Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your youth. 19 [As a] loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love. 20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, and be embraced in the arms of a seductress? (Proverbs 5:15-20 NKJV)
Wow! Well, I have learned something this morning. Adultery also, has another meaning. In scripture, it means idolatry, or apostasy from the true God. It means turning your back on God and being unfaithful to Him.
“And I said, after she had done all these [things], ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. “Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear but went and played the harlot also. 9 “So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the LORD. (Jeremiah 3:7-10 NKJV)
Do not be seduced by the sweet words of any woman, man, food, drink, drug or anything that will entice you to turn aside from God.
For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth [is] smoother than oil; 4 But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell 20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, and be embraced in the arms of a seductress? (Proverbs 5:3-5, 20 NKJV)
I enCOURAGE you DON’T DO IT! “Remove your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house.” (Proverbs 5:8 NKJV). Don’t even get close to the temptation that would draw you away from your spouse, but more importantly, your God. Don’t be the one when your flesh and body are almost consumed that will say, “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! 13 I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!” (Proverbs 5:8, 12-13 NKJV)
DON’T DO IT!
“Most people who follow unlawful pleasures, think they can give them up whenever they please; but sin repeated becomes customary; custom soon engenders habit; and habit in the end assumes the form of necessity; the man becomes bound with his own cords, and so is led captive by the devil at his will.” -Clarke
DON’T DO IT!
“For the ways of man [are] before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths. 22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked [man], And he is caught in the cords of his sin. 23 He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.” (Proverbs 5: 21-23 NKJV)
And if you need further clarity, like I did…
“For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. 22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. 23 He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.” (Proverbs 5:21-23 NLT)
DON’T DO IT. Don’t be unfaithful to God. Don’t turn your back on Him and what He has called you to, faithfulness to Him and your spouse.
Sadly, in the end, this odd encouragement was for me. I had been very faithful on my food journey, but I took a detour at my son’s wedding. It is time to get back on the highway. It is time to eat the right way. It is time for me to be faithful to God in my eating. I hear the Lord in my spirit saying, “Don’t do it.” Where do you need to be faithful? Where do your hear the Lord saying, “Don’t do it?”
PS…My husband lovingly and encouragingly told me the same thing this week. I think I will follow the instruction of both wise men in my life.
Complete in Him 