18:24-30; 20:22-26). There is no explanation for this name change, but the title "priest of Midian" accompanies both names, and he is called Moses' father-in-law, so it is safe to assume this was the same man. 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, . He is a purist in that regardI am not. 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. 4:1-5). New Century Version Chapter Parallel Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. From the very beginning of creation, to commit adultery was to violate the sanctity of sex in marriage. 19-23). As fans of the show will remember, they lost their unborn . Should your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine. Dr. Smith has freelanced for the Tri-State Defendernewspaper and Contempora magazine. What I would say is this; if the slave viewed his marriage as sacred, and held it in high regard, then a provision to sustain his marriage is set forth here in this text: the slave can renounce his "freedom" and remain a slave to his master, and in so . Just as God placed the forbidden fruit in sight and within the reach of Adam and Eve, so the forbidden fruit of sexual immorality is visible and available. 13:4) implies that not every sexual practice of the pagan world is permissible or beneficial for the Christian. Great were the consequences. He responded, Ill bet youve been using that Stanley wood chisel to scrape gaskets off of automobile engines again.. The implications of the sanctity of sex and marriage are the subject of this lesson. Her duty of marriage.--Rather, her right of cohabitation. If you have been following global events, the people of Ukraine are making an exodus because the Russians have invaded their country. We know that God is not a man that He should lie nor a son of man that He should change His mind (Numbers 23:19). They become one in spirit, and sexually they become one in physical union. Not to mention, the Israelites were a faithful people who believed in God. 5:27-32). The Bible speaks otherwise. I honestly don't think I'll ever be the same. 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). And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. This incident reveals several important truths: (1) Joseph knew he could not lie with this woman because she was the wife of another man. In Ephesians chapter 5 Paul focuses on the relationship between the Christian husband and wife, and the way it portrays an important spiritual truth to the world: So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. Furthermore, He may even appear to be lenient on those guilty of immorality. Furthermore, there must be a distinction drawn between what is personally permissible and what is detrimental to others (cf. Sexual sin is also related to religious apostasy (cf. After Joseph died, the children of Israel were numerous, a great nation. To John, a wood chisel is to be sanctifiedset apart for use only on wood. What is it that makes sexual purity so important to the New Testament saint, who is not an Israelite, but a member of the church, the body of Christ? Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Marriage, by Gods decree, is sanctified, it is a relationship that is set apart and restricted. Exodus 2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. Just as no man can have two masters, neither can one have two unionsone with Christ, and another with a harlot. He joined the first man and the first woman together in marriage. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. Abraham marries Keturah, who couldn't have been a daughter of Israel as Israel, Abraham's grandson was yet to have been born. 1 Corinthians 7:1-6 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 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. I would further suggest that these four areas (there are probably others, too) provide the glue which holds a marriage together. Not only did his master not give him authority over his wife, he could not have done so. There is usually a large number of people making an exodus. Abraham, and his seed, is set apart from the rest of mankind, and through Him Messiah will come and will bring blessing and salvation to all nations. This union involved the husbands leaving of his parents42 and cleaving to his wife. Exodos means leave, and the book of Exodus tells how the nation of Israel left Egypt. He did not permit man to use it. When we consider what does Exodus mean? we reach the books core theme. In both cases, the forbidden fruit is very desirable. Harlotry, wine, and new wine take away the understanding. Who knows better how to hurt his mate than the one who has the most intimate knowledge of her? Exodus 20:1-26 ESV / 16 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful. The covenant which God made with Israel on Mt. For this reason it says, Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you (Eph. For starters, we need to get the nature of marriage right. Most Americans seem to think that human sexuality is to be used in the same way I use my Stanley chiselthe more uses to which it can be put, the better. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you. 12:13; Ps. Nevertheless, the rest of the Pentateuch (the Pentateuch is the five books of the Old Testament, written by Moses) provides us with a great deal of detail concerning sexual sins, and the various forms of punishment required by each. Let us work at growth in each of these areas. And I will destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, These are my wages Which my lovers have given me. And I will make them a forest, And the beasts of the field will devour them (Hos. 6-8). Pauls words in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 go much farther, showing the implications of a Christians sexual union with a harlot. 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. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the . And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery (Matt. 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. When God brought man and woman together as husband and wife, He commanded them to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:27-28). Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? What Is the Meaning of Psalm 91 and Why Is it Popular? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Does the Bible Mention What to Give Up for Lent? Sanctification is one of the great principles of the Bible, whether in the Old or the New Testament. Shaun and Lea exchanged their first kiss in a Season 3 episode of The Good Doctor. There is a saying that success is when preparation meets opportunity. (3) Joseph understood that, more than anything else, adultery was a sin against God. Think about this carefully, for it is of the greatest importance. As we established, Exodus means to leave or depart. 4:3-8). I know you all will understand my book hangover and all the emotions swirling through me after finishing it. and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth. We will discover in our lesson that marriage and sex were also sanctified by God. 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). Shall I not punish these people, declares the LORD, And on a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? (Jer. 19:6). This is not one of the high points in Abrams life. Moses knew he had a big job because Israel was no longer just one family. That is a topic for another article. It is crucial to study the book of Genesis to understand Exodus. Deuteronomy 22When a man accuses his wife of not being a virgin at the time they were married, the parents can show her (blood-stained) garment as proof of her purity. Adultery mocks the union of a man and his wife, and the God who joined them together. First, we move from a Jewish to a Gentile culture. Some have attempted to show that the sin committed in the Garden of Eden was a sexual sin. 19:12-13, 23-24). God is God, and He can manage timelines as well. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! (2) The sanctity of marriage. I find it interesting that the fruit of this tree of knowledge of good and evil was good, like everything else God created (cf. John 3:16-17). So David sent and inquired about the woman. James 1:13-15). From what we have already learned in Genesis, it is apparent that the Israelites understood what adultery was and that it was sin. The consequences of either guilt or innocence are spelled out (vss. The word exodus literally means "the road out". What Is the Significance of Not the Letter but of the Spirit? The New Testament portrays a very similar picture. Based on the Hebrew Bible, intermarriage was quite frequent in early Israelite society. This union involved the husband's leaving of his parents 42 and cleaving to his wife. Thus, one should be careful not to think or say that since adultery is a sin against a marriage, it has also, de facto, terminated the marriage. 5:22-33). There were many things that Israel had to learn during this process. 5:1-14). The epidemic of sexual immorality is, I believe, the result of a failure to understand or appreciate the sanctity of sex and of marriage. One of the most important lessons was deliverance would only come from God. When we sanctify sex, it is because we value it highly, not because we disdain it as something of little worth. 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.. 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. Finally, we shall attempt to distill the biblical teaching into a few guiding and governing principles. In other words, what is it that makes a marriage distinct, unique, sanctified? (5) Though David had many wives, he was willing to take the one wife that Uriah possessed. The Scriptures frankly tell us that sexual sin can be the source of other sins. These three texts provide us with the essence of our Lords teaching on adultery and sexual immorality. shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? At times we are tempted to think that what God has called clean is really unclean (as was the case with Peter; cf. Let us briefly summarize this revelation. The sanctity of sex in marriage clearly calls for the sanctity of sex before marriage. When Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the state of the war. I do, however, believe that the first sin is similar to that of adultery, and thus very instructive. Some of this may be cultural, but I think the primary reason is that in those days especially (and in other cultures still today) the woman is under the authority of her parents, and her parents authority over her is simply transferred to her husband. We also see how the Lord made Pharaoh release His people. Shaun ( Freddie Highmore) and Lea ( Paige Spara) started out as neighbors. I started reading the series three days ago and devoured it! 20:22-27). 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. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 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. Thus, because Israel practiced the same sins as the Canaanites, who lived in the land before them, they were thrust forth from the land, just as their predecessors, and just as God had warned: Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. 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. If the Seventh Commandment teaches the sanctity of marriage, it also teaches the sanctity of sex, for it is only in marriage that the pleasure and product (children) are to be experienced. The Book of Exodus (Exodus 2:5) does not give a name to Pharaoh's daughter, or to her father; she is referred to in Hebrew as simply the Bat-Paroh (Hebrew: ), a Hebrew phrase that literally translates to "daughter of Pharaoh."The Book of Jubilees (Jubilees 47:5) and Josephus both name her as Thermouthis (Greek: ), also transliterated as Tharmuth and . It is also significant that He taught divorce causes adultery, except in the case where the divorce was based upon previous adultery. Gen. 39:9; 2 Sam. 2. Pharaoh also instructed the midwives to kill the male children during birth but spare the female children (Exodus 1:15-16). The marriage union which God established, God also sanctified. God did send Moses and protected him from all of the death decrees that the Pharoah had implemented to keep them down (Exodus 3-10). Some scholars estimate that if we factored in those groups and other factors, there would have been as many as 3 million Israelites exiting Egypt. It was Gods will to use Joseph as a forerunner to prepare the children of Israel for what was next (Genesis 45:7-9). 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. As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, The lewdness of your prostitution On the hills in the field, I have seen your abominations. (Prov. (3) The sanctity of sex. The second layer of application relates to the church. The Bible says, Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needed not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). If you look at Exodus 1:5, you will see that seventy souls had come out of Jacob and arrived in Egypt with Joseph. Kill everyone - even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.". Now when they told David, saying, Uriah did not go down to his house, David said to Uriah, Have you not come from a journey? The foundation for the sanctity of marriage and sex is laid early in the Book of Genesis, where we read of the first marriage. For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body (1 Cor. Mount Sinai, from which God spoke to Moses and the Israelites, was sanctified, set apart. 22-33), the important point to recognize here is that the relationship of a Christian husband and wife is to be a reflection of the relationship of Jesus Christ to His church. In both cases, partaking of the forbidden fruit brings disastrous results. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? Israels sexual conduct set them apart from the Egyptians and the Canaanites. Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. According to Matthew 19:9, if one divorces and marries another (except for the divorce based on the immorality of the other partner) that person commits adultery. Fornication is also applied symbolically in the Bible to the sins of idolatry and apostasy, or the abandoning of God. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification (1 Thess. Judah marries Shu'a the Canaanite. Such could be the conclusion one would reach from a reading of John chapter 4, where Jesus spoke to the immoral woman at the well, or of John chapter 8, where Jesus refused to cast stones at the woman caught in the very act of adultery. (2) Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience, while most of the apostles addressed Gentiles. Let those who have already divorced and remarried remember that divorce and immorality (as all other sins save unbelief) is not an unpardonable sin. Reproduction. The opposite is true. Dr. Sandra Hamer Smith is a Christian and wife to Sylvester Smith. The sanctity of marriage is indicated by the statement in Genesis 2:24, that a man must leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. Lots of exceptions to the rule. It did not look bad, it did not taste bad. This is a point which the prophets of the Old Testament will take up and greatly expand upon in later times. 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. This sexual union consummates and symbolizes the union of marriage. The word Exodus came from the Latin exodos and was adopted as the books title when the Bible was translated into Latin. We must begin by taking the Bible literally, and thus we acknowledge that any act of adultery must be avoided. Women, why do keep your silver in a special place, bringing it out only for special occasions? (2) We can see by Josephs words that adultery was not only wrong, but that he understood it to be sin. This was now accomplished. It means a lot of people quit and left. Exodus is not used casually. Lev. Published by at February 16, 2022. I will also put an end to all her gaiety, Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festal assemblies. 42 One may wonder why only the husband is to leave his father and mother, and not the wife. Verse Concepts . It's been a long road, but on . (1) The principle of sanctification. In my opinion, the rampant sexual immorality of our day is not primarily the result of greater temptation, of increased sexual desire, of greater opportunity, or even of the availability of the pill and abortion. It is about friendship first and foremost. Numbers 5A test is given to determine whether or not a wife has been unfaithful to her husband. He joined the first man and the first woman together in marriage. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. 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. Third, we must beware of that teaching (either by direct statement or by inference, or by silence) which holds that any and every sexual pleasure can be enjoyed by a married couple behind closed doors. The Israelites themselves were set apart from the Egyptians and from all other nations. Why Did Pharaoh Tell Joseph to Enjoy the 'Fat of the Land'? For a while, Shaun was dating Dr. Carly Lever (Jasika Nicole), a pathologist. 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? Leviticus 20Israel is not to play the harlot by consulting mediums or spiritists, but they are to consecrate themselves to the God of Israel, who sanctifies them (vss. Thus, in the gospels we see how our Lord pressed beyond the actual act of adultery to the attitudinal sins of adultery: You have heard that it was said, YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; but I say to you, that every one who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. Sexual intercourse with a harlot, contrary to popular thought, is no casual matter, it is a union as well. Indeed, in verse 16 Paul makes a statement of monumental importance. It marks out yet another way in which the marriage is sanctified. Community answers are sorted based on votes. Then David said to Uriah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. And Uriah went out of the kings house, and a present from the king was sent out after him. 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. 51:4) and New, adultery is, first and foremost, a sin against God. The differences between holy and unholy, clean and unclean are crucial. Away from his family, perhaps never again to return to his own people, how easy it would have been for him to succumb to the advances of his masters wife: And it came about after these events that his masters wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. But he refused and said to his masters wife, Behold, with me around, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. Why should I pardon you? Marriage is defined in Scripture as a covenant before God, joining a man and a woman together for their lives ( Genesis 2:24 ). 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. Taken as a whole, I believe that the above passages convey several vitally important truths, which we must pause to underscore: (1) Adultery is a more serious sexual sin because it is a violation of a marriage. Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart (2 Tim.