(2) Sexual impurity defiles both the persons involved and the land. Note these points of contrast: (1) Uriahs military devotion in the front lines of battle is contrasted with Davids complacency, who never even makes it to the battle. The Egyptians worshipped gods created by their ancestors, but the Israelites kept their faith. (NIV) Exodus 22:16-17, which seems to be a restating of the same law, sheds some light on this passage: If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife. The difference between John and me in this instance is that John believes everything should be used for the purpose it was made. v. 24). Uncovering the nakedness of a relative is prohibited (vss. The incidents in chapters 34 and 38 indicate that the Law of Moses only codified what was already understood to be wrong. And, of course, the ultimate example of fear and perfect love working together is Jesus Christ. (3) Joseph understood that, more than anything else, adultery was a sin against God. Understanding marriage as a covenant which establishes between husband and wife a "partnership of the whole life" in which they "mutually hand over and accept each other" (see Code of Canon Law, c. 1055 and c. 1057) can greatly enrich our appreciation of this special union that is: (a) sacred in the plan of God; (b) permanent, faithful . And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen. 12:2-3). If someone were to say there was a mass exodus across state lines, it is safe to assume that many people crossed the state lines. In Genesis chapter 12 further revelation about mans salvation is given as the benefits brought about by human (and ultimately divine) seed: And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you; And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. He responded, Ill bet youve been using that Stanley wood chisel to scrape gaskets off of automobile engines again.. First, since the sanctity of sex reflects its value, its beauty, its goodness, let us never think of sex as something dirty and defiling. Viewed from a contemporary secular perspective, sexual pleasure restricted only to marriage is a tragic waste, a failure to make full use of ones sexual potential, and thus to deprive oneself of a great deal of sexual pleasure. I understand that possessing ones vessel in sanctification and honor (1 Thes. We can be disgruntled about what is happening with our pastor or whoever our leader is. I find it interesting that the fruit of this tree of knowledge of good and evil was good, like everything else God created (cf. Bible Answer: Marriage between people of different races occurs every day in spite of the conflicts that occur between nations and different interest groups. It means a lot of people quit and left. Exodus is not used casually. 15:19). Just as God had clearly forbidden the partaking of the forbidden fruit in the garden, so He has clearly forbidden the fruit of sexual impurity. Fornication is also applied symbolically in the Bible to the sins of idolatry and apostasy, or the abandoning of God. The epidemic of sexual immorality is, I believe, the result of a failure to understand or appreciate the sanctity of sex and of marriage. Exodus 20:1-26 ESV / 16 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful. There are many things and situations where people make an exodus. This incident reveals several important truths: (1) Joseph knew he could not lie with this woman because she was the wife of another man. Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. also 1 Tim. Exodus 2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. The word Exodus came from the Latin exodos and was adopted as the book's title when the Bible was translated into Latin. 4:4), and holding the marriage bed in honor, keeping the marriage bed undefiled (Heb. Verse Concepts . Get a first look at Shaun and Lea's wedding on. So now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.. He did not permit man to use it. He had promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation (Genesis 17). (3) The sanctity of sex. An exodus of people left the company means the same thing. What Is the Meaning of Psalm 91 and Why Is it Popular? When the first sin was committed by partaking of the forbidden fruit God pronounced punishments which were appropriate to each party involved, as well as the consequences for all mankind. Her name. My people consult their wooden idol, and the diviners wand informs them; For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, And they have played the harlot, departing from their God (Hos. The main focus of Exodus is to describe Gods deliverance of Israel and how He made them a great nation (The KJV Study Bible, Barbour Publishing, 2011). It is no wonder, then, that Eve was attracted to the forbidden fruit: When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate (Gen. 3:6). Published by at February 16, 2022. The Israelites performed the same physical act of worship (obeisance) towards Yahveh and King David, as it is written, 1 Chr. The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. And, Paul says, it involves for Timothy the fleeing of youthful lusts, which surely include illicit sexual passions and conduct. The dubious distinction for the most well-known case of adultery would have to go to David, who sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah: Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. Exodus 34:16 - and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. God created Eve and brought her to Adam for fellowship, to be his helper and his companion. They become one in spirit, and sexually they become one in physical union. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for virgins." If the passages don't mean that a woman has to marry her rapist, then what do they mean? 8-10). He can never divorce her as long as he lives. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. I also believe that humans will not stop the plan of God. May it never be! Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 13:4). Every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. We would thus expect him to wage war on the marital union, for it is through marital union that the seed will be preserved and the promised seed will come. Genesis 31:38-40 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten, Philippians 4:11,12 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content, Exodus 4:20-25 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand, Exodus 18:2-6 Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, . At times we are tempted to think that what God has called clean is really unclean (as was the case with Peter; cf. And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am pregnant. Then David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. So Joab sent Uriah to David. Joseph ended up in Egypt away from his family and did not understand until decades later when his brothers came to Egypt why all these events occurred (Genesis 50:20). The second layer of application relates to the church. Numbers 5A test is given to determine whether or not a wife has been unfaithful to her husband. Shaun ( Freddie Highmore) and Lea ( Paige Spara) started out as neighbors. The children of Israel had become a threat, for the Egyptians might not control them. This union is violated and defiled by adultery. 20:6). The dictionary highlights this when it points out the Biblical origin of the word (Merriam-Websters.com, 2022). When Moses was born (Exodus 2), he escaped this fate and became an instrument God used to deliver the children of Israel. And the LORD GOD fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those who are His, and, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness. Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. The book of Exodus not only tells some of the Bibles most famous events, but the word means something that sums up the books entire message. When we thus honor marriage, we will see to it that the marriage bed, the blessing of sexual union, remains undefiled by sexual union outside of that marriage, which profanes. Exodus 22:16-17 "If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife. When our Lord commented on this text He said, Consequently they are no more two, but one flesh. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 Paul says that the will of God is for us to be sanctified. When we are willing to do whatever it takes to avoid a sin, we will likely take the steps necessary to avoid it. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. There are other instances of sexual immorality in Genesis, but let us turn our attention to the bright light of Josephs character, in contrast to that of his close relatives.43 Joseph was a young man, with all of the sexual desires of any other healthy male. When God had created a mate for all of His other creatures, He looked upon Adam in his solitude and said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him (Gen. 2:18). Reproduction. Judaism condemned adultery and sexual immorality, as can be seen from John chapter 8. There is a saying that success is when preparation meets opportunity. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. 4:3-8). I did something which would make you cringe. But if they marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. For starters, we need to get the nature of marriage right. Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. 2:16-22). For a Christian to engage in sexual intercourse with a harlot puts two unions in conflict: his union with Christ and his union with a harlot. This is not one of the high points in Abrams life. and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth. And one said, Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion. The nation Israel is kept apart from other nations by her time in Egypt, and in the plagues, the Israelites are distinguished from the Egyptians. Leviticus 18 and 20 emphasize the defiling nature of adultery, and warn that the practice of such sins will defile the land and will result in expulsion from the land, just as the Canaanites were expelled (cf. It is against the backdrop of Israels history as described in Genesis that the Seventh Commandment is given to the Israelites: You shall not commit adultery (Exod. Marriage, by Gods decree, is sanctified, it is a relationship that is set apart and restricted. 25, 27, 28), thus resulting in expulsion from the land. This is a point which the prophets of the Old Testament will take up and greatly expand upon in later times. You may wonder what wood chisels have to do with the Seventh Commandment. 5:15-20). I will also put an end to all her gaiety, Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festal assemblies. (It is better for society that a man only think of murder than it is for him to take a life.) As for a man or a woman, if there is a medium or a spiritist among them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them (Lev. At other times, we are tempted to call clean what God has called unclean. One of the most important decisions the Christian can make is to rightly distinguish between the holy and the unholythe see what God has sanctified and what He has not. He is a purist in that regardI am not. Hands and eyes are involved as precipitating causes of immorality, however. We also see how the Lord made Pharaoh release His people. If you have been following global events, the people of Ukraine are making an exodus because the Russians have invaded their country. Some people seem to disdain sex in marriage as much as the Bible disdains it outside of marriage. Moses knew he had a big job because Israel was no longer just one family. In fact, it wasnt bad, in and of itself. Exodos means leave, and the book of Exodus tells how the nation of Israel left Egypt. Throughout the Scriptures, both Old Testament (cf. In short, there has been both a leaving and a cleaving, a separation and a union. Our Lord is teaching us that we must, unlike our culture, take sexual sin most seriously. Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you (Gen. 12:10-13). 2. The assumption here is that the divorce is obtained in order to marry another, or that it will ultimately result in marriage to another. In order to do this, Christians must be holy, sanctified, just as God is holy (1 Peter 1:14-16). The Old Testament prophets take up the themes already developed in the Pentateuch. Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 6:15-20). 's season finale. The first is that the sanctity of marriage not only demands that we not defile the union in any way, including adultery, but that we actively seek to enhance the marriage. The sanctity of sex in marriage clearly calls for the sanctity of sex before marriage. For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner? In these verses the sin of David is contrasted against the backdrop of the devotion and discipline of Uriah. First, we move from a Jewish to a Gentile culture. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God? And it came about as she spoke to Joseph day after day, that he did not listen to her to lie beside her, or be with her (Gen. 39:7-10). Shaun and Lea got engaged in the Season 4 finale. her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage shall he not diminish, Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not, Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular, To scrape off, to shave, remove, lessen, withhold, Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular, Flesh, as living, for, food, food of any kind, kindred by blood, Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular, Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, OT Law: Exodus 21:10 If he takes another wife to himself (Exo. Does the Bible Mention What to Give Up for Lent? [ESV] The ESV here provides a textual note on before, saying "or besides ." And indeed, many translations use that phrasing. Fellowship. But it is also referred to regularly in later Bible books. As a matter of fact, my differences with John over the proper use of a wood chisel have a great deal to do with the commandment, You shall not commit adultery. The principle underlying this commandment is that of the sanctity of marriage. He had to mature in Egypt away from his family. (1) Jesus teaches here that it is not enough to keep the Law in its letter, but must also keep it in spirit. Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them. The answer to the question is in Exodus 22:17 - the woman does NOT have to marry a . 6-18), as well as illicit intercourse (vss. Anytime you hear the word exodus, it causes you to notice. (1) Jesus had come to bear the penalty for sinners, and thus He did not come to condemn anyone, but to offer salvation to all (cf. The New Testament portrays a very similar picture. More than this, it was very desirable: And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9). But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. Pagan religion often intermingled sexual immorality with its worship. We therefore would expect to find some very specific revelation on the subject of adultery and sexual sin in the epistles. Mohar is the cash gift the groom gives the bride, as Eliezer, Abraham 's servant, gave "precious things" to Laban, Rebecca 's father, and as Jacob gave seven years of service for the hand of Rachel.The great sage and the ketubah's most important . The Bible says God is near the brokenhearted (Psalms 34:18). When we consider what does Exodus mean? we reach the books core theme. How tragic it is to see young people seduced (philosophically and physically), so that they will share that most treasured gift with those who cannot even be named or numbered. New American Standard Bible Chapter Parallel Exodus 21:10 (NAS) "If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. Ex). The marriage union which God established, God also sanctified. Joseph suffered many things because of his brothers. As I see it, the issue in Exodus 21 is two-fold, involving not only marriage, but slavery. The difference between John and myself over the use of a wood chisel is also a matter of sanctification. 19:6). Exodus 22:16-17 "If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife. It Is So Painful to Care: How Do I Conquer Apathy? Some have attempted to show that the sin committed in the Garden of Eden was a sexual sin. You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. Since marriage matters to God, it should matter to believers too. To play out her role as Gods priestly nation, Israel had to be separate, sanctified, different from the surrounding nations. Let us work at growth in each of these areas. 19:9). Judgment awaits this nation, which is likened to a harlot. As we established, Exodus means to leave or depart. Their numbers threatened the new Pharaoh. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. Sometime later, Moses was married to Zipporah, the daughter of Reuel, the priest of Midian ( Exodus 2:16-22 ). And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king. Will God forgive me for losing hope and the will to live? Prov. Jesus did not have nearly as much to say about adultery and sexual immorality as did the apostles. You must understand how Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37). Sanctification involves setting something apart for a special use. In a divine vision, God said to Peter, What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy (Acts 10:15).