A Heinous Crime that Warrants the Death Penalty
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” – Ex. 20:14
Have you ever committed adultery? Maybe not. Even if you haven’t, your friends and acquaintances likely have committed adultery. Everyone needs to know about this dangerous and deadly sin! For, marriage is a sacred bond that was legally authored by God, and therefore it is justly protected by Heaven. Those who secretly or openly interfere with other people’s marriages through the sin of adultery need to know that justice will be served. It is inescapable! Speaking of this, it was written,
“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” – Heb. 13:4
A reckless pursuit of sex in total disregard for marriage would make you a condemned whoremonger in the sight of God (whoremonger = one who practices lewdness). Even though adultery isn’t considered a crime in the democratic governments of the free world nowadays, adultery was lawfully punished by the death penalty in the Kingdom of God of the Old Testament. Why? Because it is a “heinous crime” in the sight of God (Job 31:11).
“And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” - Lev 20:10
Committing this sin even one time is a disastrous mistake. It was prohibited by law because it hurts the Person of God. It was punished by the death penalty because it simply cannot be tolerated. Herein, the Moral Law depicts the personality of the Moral One. Stop and think about this! Adultery pains the holy heart of God so much that such men and women were deemed unworthy of life itself! God, the Creator, who is pleased to give men life, is so appalled at this sin and remorseful over those who commit it, that He unapologetically demanded that they would be put to death.
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” – Matt. 5:27-28
Many religious people can honestly say that they would never commit adultery. You know who I am talking about. These people proudly affirm that they would never engage in sexual activity with another man or woman in physical presence outside of wedlock. Nevertheless, these noble people of society are not hereby justified. Much to their surprise, they may still end-up being condemned by God as an adulterer on Judgment Day! Why? Lust. The inward desire is all that it takes. According to Matthew 5:27-28, you can be an adulterer at heart without ever committing the heinous act outwardly. Are you guilty? Have you ever looked with lust upon a man or woman outside of marriage? Do you look with lust? This is a heart issue (Mark 7:20-23). Don’t take it lightly. Don’t be deceived! God will judge you as a serial adulterer for the lustful thoughts of your heart.
“Be not deceived: neither fornicators…nor adulterers…shall inherit the Kingdom of God.” – 1 Cor. 6:9-10
Fearfully, it is better to have no eyes at all, than to be lustful with your eyes. This is a cursed condition of heart and mind, to have “eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin…” (2 Pet. 2:14). Hell exists to rid the earth of such people! Emphasizing this, Jesus said, “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:” (Mark 9:47). Think about it! God, the Creator of the eye, could wish that He had never given men eyes at all, if and when men impenitently choose to use their eyes for adultery. Even so, the next time you find yourself starring at the painted face of a promiscuous woman, you should feel like you are looking into the face of death itself! This is the shocking reality.
“Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.” - Pro 6:23-26
“She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.” – Prov. 23:28
This is God's honest truth. This should change your point of view (Prov. 6:32). Sexual predators are on the prowl everywhere! They are actively hunting, and you are the prey. This is your everyday environment in real life as you go about your day. Things are even worse in cyberspace! Shameless women who flaunt themselves immodestly, and regularly engage in fornication or adultery, are the sexual predators of society that the world praises. Meanwhile, modern-day harlots prostitute their bodies online in a multibillion dollar industry of adult entertainment called Pornography. Looking into or through the window of cyberspace is a quick path of secrecy to the virtual fornications and adulteries of internet whorehouses.
“For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on Hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.” – Prov. 5:3-6
“So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him…I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.” - Pro 7:13, 16-21
“For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to Hell, going down to the chambers of death.” – Prov. 7:26-27
The next time a woman’s mouth, lips, and eyelids attract your attention, you should feel that your soul is in grave danger. She will catch you if she can! Whether by the scent of her perfume or the flattery of her words, she hopes you will ignore your conscience and scorn the judgment of God in the Bible. This is an emergency situation! The Seductress is a ruthless serial killer who murders her houseguests and buries their bodies in the yard. The sharp point of a two-edged sword in the gut would get anyone’s attention! Right? Albeit, countless strong men have been slain by her because they disregarded the danger. Casual indifference in such circumstances will prove fatal. Come morning time, the Seductress will wipe her mouth as though she had done no evil. She will dress-up and go out again to allure someone else into another night of barbaric excitement. One after another her unsuspecting guests end-up populating Hell.
“Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.” – Prov. 30:20
“Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:” – Prov. 5:8
“For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.” - Pro 2:16, 18-19
“But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of Hell.” - Prov 9:18
Now is the time to reconsider your choice of lifestyle if you are actively engaged in the sin of adultery, whether it be inwardly or outwardly, committed in physical presence or cyberspace. Adulterers and Adulteresses are dark creatures of the night that deserve to go to Hell (Job 24:15-17; Jn. 3:19-20)! There is another path (Matt. 7:13-14). However, few men and women ever heed the call from God to repent. They refuse to acknowledge the bitterness and destruction of their way of life. They blindly stagger onward. Why? Maybe it’s because holiness, modesty, chastity, purity, fidelity, and loyalty aren’t popular virtues among ladies (1 Jn. 2:15-16). Sadly, the men are even worse! For, we live in an “adulterous and sinful generation” that is ashamed of the Word of God (Mk. 8:38). Therefore, you are going to have to make a choice (Prov. 1:29). Choose life (Ezek. 33:11)! Otherwise, like all the rest, you will die without understanding.
“And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.” – Prov. 5:20-23