Category Archives: Suffering / Adversity

Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Consequences of Sin, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Marriage

Let Your Wife Be a Fountain of Blessing

God uses Proverbs 5 to provide a crystal clear and stern warning for men who are in the midst of adultery or considering adultery. This scripture serves as a  warning also for immoral women who would participate in adultery. Finally, God reminds us to enjoy His gift of sex within the context of a godly marriage between a man and a woman… let your wife be a fountain of blessing to you.

5 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
    listen carefully to my wise counsel.
2 Then you will show discernment,
    and your lips will express what you’ve learned.
3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey,
    and her mouth is smoother than oil.
4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison,
    as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.[a]
6 For she cares nothing about the path to life.
    She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.

7 So now, my sons, listen to me.
    Never stray from what I am about to say:
8 Stay away from her!
    Don’t go near the door of her house!
9 If you do, you will lose your honor
    and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.
10 Strangers will consume your wealth,
    and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
11 In the end you will groan in anguish
    when disease consumes your body.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?
    Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
    and now I must face public disgrace.”

15 Drink water from your own well—
    share your love only with your wife.[b]
16 Why spill the water of your springs in the streets,
    having sex with just anyone?[c]
17 You should reserve it for yourselves.
    Never share it with strangers.

18 Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.
    Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 She is a loving deer, a graceful doe.
    Let her breasts satisfy you always.
    May you always be captivated by her love.
20 Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman,
    or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?

21 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.

Self control and discipline are essential elements for a Christian life. We must know God’s word and be prepared to follow it. We must make decisions ahead of time, before times of temptation, to decide how we will respond. Will we subject ourselves to situations that lead to temptation, or flee from temptation as Joseph did in Genesis 39:10-12.

10 She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 12 She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.

Joseph honored God by holding to godly wisdom and values.  He was not worried about being subtle in refusing temptation. He wanted to resist temptation and quickly. He took decisive action.

God also reminds us in Proverbs 5 that we should absolutely enjoy sex within the context of a godly marriage.  After all, God created it as a wonderful part of relationship of man and wife as the two become one.

For those of you who may be in the midst of adultery and maybe only now realize how wrong it is… stop. Stop the immoral behavior immediately. Repent of your sin before God and your spouse. Run from it and never return.

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Consequences of Sin, Obeying God, Pride

Why Did God Confuse People With Different Languages?

God made it clear in the beginning to Adam and Eve and again to Noah and his sons after the great flood that He wanted them to have many children, grow God’s people, and spread across the earth to govern it.

[Genesis 1:28] 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

[Genesis 9:1] 9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.

It is not hard to imaging that in both cases, as God’s people were growing in size, they still spoke a common language as they were derived from a single family and thus culture. This common language had potential to be a powerful asset in accomplishing God’s purposes.

Unfortunately, as we learn in Genesis 11:1-8, the people came to a point in time where they decided they had a better plan than God. They wanted to stay together in one place and thus set about building a great city for themselves. They had become prideful and arrogant, leading to ignoring or outright rejecting God and His instruction.  Thus God intervened to humble them.

11 At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia[a] and settled there.

3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel,[b] because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.

It was not God’s intent to force people to have different language, but rather His response to their arrogance and failure to follow His instructions.  How glorious it is when we decide to obey God and follow His plans. We do not have better plans than He does. When we think we have better plans, we often start down a difficult path that leads us further from God and the good plans He had in mind for us.

Challenge yourself to submit to God’s will and God’s plans over your own desires.

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