Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Grace and Peace Episode 52
Presbyterian Church of Easton
September 26, 2021
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2
Heidelberg Catechism
108Q. What does the seventh commandment teach us?
A. That God condemns all unchastity, and that therefore we should thoroughly detest it and live decent and chaste lives, within or outside of the holy state of marriage.
Deuteronomy 5:18 “You shall not commit adultery.”
The seventh commandment prohibits adultery. Adultery happens whenever a married person has consensual sex with someone other than his or her spouse. The biblical punishment for adultery was death. Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.”
The seventh commandment also applies when a couple is betrothed but not yet married. Deuteronomy 22:23 “If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.”
An exception to the seventh commandment was rape. Deuteronomy 22:25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. 26 Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death.
So from the very beginning, God has brought a man and a woman together to form one flesh, a new human life. God blessed his people with sons and daughters that would carry on the work of the family. And all God required was faithfulness to him and to each other. The covenant of marriage was modeled on the covenant between God and his people. Just as God blesses his people and receives faithfulness, so do married couples bless each other and must remain faithful to each other. Adultery is a breach of the marital covenant God established and therefore an offense against God. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the covenant of marriage. Just as you love us and we love you, you have given us marriage so that a husband and wife may love each other and the family they produce. Help us to always keep this marriage covenant sacred never violating it with sex outside of marriage. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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