It can dull the mind, like wine, making one insensitive to reality (Hos. This union is violated and defiled by adultery. (2) Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience, while most of the apostles addressed Gentiles. Indeed, in verse 16 Paul makes a statement of monumental importance. 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. We also see how the Lord made Pharaoh release His people. While illicit sexual union is a sin, those unions which violate a marriage are taken more seriously. New Century Version Chapter Parallel God delivered Israel, but many things had to be worked out of them. "If a man who has married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy. However, the plan of the Lord prevails. 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). 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. . This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man. For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh (Gen. 2:18-24). Marriage is sanctified in the degree to which a man and his wife have fellowship with one another. 4:4), and holding the marriage bed in honor, keeping the marriage bed undefiled (Heb. The word Exodus came from the Latin exodos and was adopted as the books title when the Bible was translated into Latin. After Joseph and his generation died, a new king arose over Egypt who was not familiar with Joseph (Exodus 1:6-8). Sanctification is then stressed, so that Israel must not practice the immorality of the Canaanites before them, lest they too be thrust from the land (vss. (3) The Jewish religious leaders felt smugly self-righteous because they did not practice this form of sin, but they were guilty of other, more subtle, sins, which were more socially acceptable. 5:18). And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you. In both cases, partaking of the forbidden fruit brings disastrous results. 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 . 25, 27, 28), thus resulting in expulsion from the land. Some died on the spot for murmuring and complaining about Moses (Numbers 16:33). 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. It is God who brought Adam and Eve together as husband and wife. 13:4) implies that not every sexual practice of the pagan world is permissible or beneficial for the Christian. The difference between John and me in this instance is that John believes everything should be used for the purpose it was made. Teenagers, culture is lying to you. Judaism condemned adultery and sexual immorality, as can be seen from John chapter 8. Sanctification, therefore, was the first test which God gave mankind, and it was this test which man failed. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. 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. Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lords servants, but he did not go down to his house (2 Samuel 11:1-13). Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? And the man said. 19:9). Prepare yourself. God created Eve and brought her to Adam for fellowship, to be his helper and his companion. The Bible speaks otherwise. This incident reveals several important truths: (1) Joseph knew he could not lie with this woman because she was the wife of another man. So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac;read more.and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abrahams son, the sister of Nebaioth. Virginity is thus looked upon as a stigma, from which one should rid oneself as quickly as possible. Anytime you hear the word exodus, it causes you to notice. This sexual union consummates and symbolizes the union of marriage. It is also significant that He taught divorce causes adultery, except in the case where the divorce was based upon previous adultery. 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. One can build up the other in those intimate areas of ones heart and life, but one can also do great damage in the intimate areas as well. him--perhaps to share his tent. Joseph suffered many things because of his brothers. Remember that God made it, and that all He made was good. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the. 19:6). As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people (Lev. The forbidden fruit was forbidden, not because of any evil characteristic of the fruit itself, but because God sanctified or set it apart. Just a few verses away from the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:1-3, Abram places the seed in jeopardy, at least from a human perspective: Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. It is crucial to study the book of Genesis to understand Exodus. Marriage's original intent was so that man would not be alone . michigan state coaching staff; Prior to education, she worked in local and national television news for 13 years including positions as an overnight news anchor, reporter, and assignments editor at two local network affiliate stations. Closely related to the union of a husband and his wife is the intimacy which they experience in marriage. Sometimes, people feel ready to make the big exodus from study to leadership, but they have not been released into ministry yet. He instructed his people to cast every male child born into the river (Exodus 1:22). Sanctification involves setting something apart for a special use. Throughout the Scriptures, both Old Testament (cf. This union involved the husband's leaving of his parents 42 and cleaving to his wife. 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. Her name. 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. There are many things and situations where people make an exodus. It is very important for me to be precise in what I say here. She has one stepson, Greg. Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright 2023, Christianity.com. Second, we move from an Old Testament dispensation (centered around the nation Israel) to a New Testament dispensation (centered around a predominantly Gentile church). 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. 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 that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. When we consider what does Exodus mean? we reach the books core theme. The Scriptures frankly tell us that sexual sin can be the source of other sins. but the scene where Cecilia says goodbye to Sean in Exodus literally broke me. So David sent and inquired about the woman. The Mohar.The funds, called mohar, are so important that this clause is called ikkar ketubahthe basic part of the ketubah, or simply the ketubah. In the Book of 1 Corinthians he focuses on illicit sexual union and its relationship to the believers union with Christ: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? That is a topic for another article. I believe that the sexual union of Adam and Eve consummated their marital union, and thus there is implied here a sanctity of both the marriage and the sexual relationship of Adam and Eve. 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. 7:3-5). 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. This intimacy can be both constructive and destructive. The Bible seems to teach that this union is not severed by anything but death, anything including divorce. 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. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. The king of Egypt was still determined to kill the male children. 18:24-30; 20:22-26). The text says: Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.". Our culture protests that Christians disdain and demean sex, that we have little appreciation for it. Sin entered the human race and human history, and the consequences are evident all about us. Our sanctification cannot be expressed or realized apart from a radical change in our sexual conductthat is, a radical change in the way we conduct ourselves sexually, as contrasted with our former conduct and that of the pagan world around us. 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? Pharaoh also instructed the midwives to kill the male children during birth but spare the female children (Exodus 1:15-16). Uncovering the nakedness of a relative is prohibited (vss. [ESV] The ESV here provides a textual note on before, saying "or besides ." And indeed, many translations use that phrasing. 12:13; Ps. There were many things that Israel had to learn during this process. The important thing to note here is that God also promised salvation through the seed of the woman in the midst of the curse pronounced on Satan: And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you will bruise him on the heel (Gen. 3:15). and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion. I have heard it cruelly stated or implied that had a mate satisfied his or her partner in marriage, adultery would have been prevented. (2) The sanctity of marriage. When God brought man and woman together as husband and wife, He commanded them to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:27-28). 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. God was faithful to his promise that Abrahams descendants would number the stars in the sky (Genesis 26:4). Adultery mocks the union of a man and his wife, and the God who joined them together. We must start by praying for them, seeking what God will do. Marriage, in Josephs understanding, was an exclusive relationship. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Let those who would consider divorce an option carefully ponder the implications of their actions in accordance with our Lords words here. 43 In Genesis chapter 34, Dinah is apparently forcibly raped by Shechem, a deed to which Jacobs sons violently reacted as an abomination (cf. Satan made great promises about the benefits of partaking of the fruit of that tree, but he failed to tell all. Reproduction. 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. Specifically, I am referring to what Paul has written in the Book of Ephesians, which especially relates to sexual impurity: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. When we leave the gospels of the New Testament and come to the epistles, there is a change which we should recognize and appreciate. Shaun ( Freddie Highmore) and Lea ( Paige Spara) started out as neighbors. But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you (for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); so that the land may not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you. 34:7). It did not look bad, it did not taste bad. He joined the first man and the first woman together in marriage. 20:14; Deut. Smith lives and resides in Memphis, Tennessee. He did not permit man to use it. First, we move from a Jewish to a Gentile culture. Israel remained in the wilderness for forty years. I do, however, believe that the first sin is similar to that of adultery, and thus very instructive. . By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing. Then David said to Uriah, Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 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. For the land has become defiled, therefore I have visited its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. As I see it, the issue in Exodus 21 is two-fold, involving not only marriage, but slavery. 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. Our culture does not value sex, it thinks of it as very common, so common that virtual strangers will share lifes most intimate treasure. Jesus did not have nearly as much to say about adultery and sexual immorality as did the apostles. He is a purist in that regardI am not. We need only look at men like David and Solomon, who had so many wives they couldnt keep up with them, but still sought after more (such as David sought Bathsheba). Finally, we shall attempt to distill the biblical teaching into a few guiding and governing principles. 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. 19-23). They were oppressive to the Israelites and made them create bricks. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 4:1ff.,), intimacy and fellowship, and reproduction (evangelism, fruit bearing) are discussed in the context of ones personal walk with the Lord or with the corporate union of believers in the body of Christ. 6:15-20). 2:16-22). In these verses the sin of David is contrasted against the backdrop of the devotion and discipline of Uriah. 's season finale. Furthermore, there must be a distinction drawn between what is personally permissible and what is detrimental to others (cf. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. 1 In Exodus 20:3, we read: You shall have no other gods before me. 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.