Thoughts on Scripture

Suggested Reading: Proverbs 2:16-22

God’s wisdom will not only protect us from the pitfalls in financial and occupational situations (as we read in preceding verses), but perhaps the greatest benefit of wisdom is that it will protect us from entering into relationships with unfaithful partners.

Some people appear to be inherently unfaithful. They don’t have loyalty towards anyone, except their own desires and ambitions. They will do whatever is needed to satisfy those desires. The fact that they may be hurting someone who loves them dearly does not deter them from being unfaithful.

Yes, adultery is the most obvious form of unfaithfulness. It has even received a more acceptable name –having an affair. It makes it more palatable to society –fashionable even. But to God it remains a stench that reaches up to high heaven. No matter what fashionable names we give our sins, it doesn’t change God’s view of it. Some things can just not be made acceptable with a name change. Would murder, for instance, be less of an offense if we give it another name? Would it be any less punishable by law to take the life of another’s father, mother, sister, brother or child? I seriously doubt that. Why is it then okay to kill someone else’s relationship? When our actions hurt people, we are hurting God directly, for we are all created in His image. That is why Jesus said that one of the two greatest laws is to love your neighbour as you would love yourself. How we treat people is of utmost importance to God.

Peter writes that God would not be inclined to answer the prayers of a man who does not treat his wife right. The term, which is often translated as “weaker vessel”, alludes not to a sense of being a lesser human being than a man, for the words just before that says, “treat her with respect”. Rather, there is an allusion to a vessel that is extremely fragile, extremely precious, and very costly and should be handled with the utmost tenderness (the allusion reminds one of something like fine bone china). A woman is, generally speaking, more emotionally vulnerable than a man. So God requires of a husband to handle her with tenderness and love. Transgressing this requirement may mean that such a man would not have his prayers answered.

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1 Peter 3:7).

This part of Proverbs 2 deals in great detail with the ways of an unfaithful woman. Jesus mainly addressed the unfaithfulness of men who commit adultery even with their eyes. He also showed great mercy to unfaithful women. The fact is that the gender is not the big issue. Adultery is wrong, whether a man or a woman commits it. However, the author also gives us a description of the results of being caught in the web of a woman who didn’t honour the marriage covenant. “Her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.” There is only destruction ahead when a young man finds himself ensnared in the grips of such a woman. She is not faithful to her husband. She will therefore not be faithful to anyone else for that matter. There are only heartaches ahead for all involved. Some well-publicized murder trials involve love triangles. They tell the grim story of what can happen when adultery is crowned king and deemed “fashionable.” No matter what the movies say, it is not right to sleep around. Someone wrote, “What’s popular isn’t always right and what’s right isn’t always popular!” The consequences can be fatal. King Solomon warned in Proverbs 6 concerning the wrath of a husband wronged, “Jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.” And all this besides the health risks of sleeping around. That’s another discussion all together.

Now, there are other ways in which we can be unfaithful to our partners, apart from adultery. When we are never available to listen to their needs, when we invalidate their emotions and write it off as meaningless nonsense, when we verbally or physically abuse or disrespect them in any way, we are also being unfaithful to the marriage covenant made before God.  A person, who breaks down their partner in the sight of their children, is doing more harm to the children than to the person against whom the attack is launched. The aim may be to hurt the partner, but more damage is being done to those whom they should be protecting.

This second chapter of Proverbs ends by saying that the unfaithful will be torn from the land. I see this as having two meanings. For one, they will never really get to enjoy life here on this earth and neither will they see the Eternal City and be in the presence of their Lord. Their loss is double. The book of the Bible ends with a stern warning that among others, the sexually immoral will not be with God. Instead they will be in that place where there is a fiery lake of burning sulphur (Revelation 21:8).

The Hebrew word which is translated as unfaithful in the NIV in Proverbs 2:22, is the word bâgad, which means to act treacherously, deceitfully and to offend others. Hence, God’s problem with the unfaithful in the land. They don’t love the truth and they consider cheating their way through life an acceptable way to live.

Please don’t take this to mean that everyone who has ever committed adultery or have been unfaithful in any way, shape or form will never enter God’s kingdom. This cannot be so, for David committed adultery with Bathsheba and God forgave him when he showed great remorse for what he has done. There is forgiveness if we repent of our sins. (See John 8 for a great example of how God forgives and shows mercy). Only God can see if our repentance is genuine, and therefore, only God can forgive us. None of us are perfect anyway, since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). There is forgiveness and mercy with our God. That is why He is greatly revered.

In conclusion I would like to say that we are privileged to have God’s wisdom available to us as protection against getting involved with the wrong people. However, I also see in these verses a mirror in which we can look to ensure that we ourselves never become the “wrong people” against whom others need to be warned. May our Lord have mercy on us and strengthen us to become the light which He has in mind for us to be.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Proverbs 2:16-22

16. It will save you also from the adulteress; from the wayward wife with her seductive words,

17. Who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. [U1]

18. for her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

19. None who go to her return and attain the paths of life.

20. Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21. for the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it;

22. but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful [U2] will be torn from it.

Related Articles

• The Moral Benefits of Wisdom (mythoughtsonscripture.wordpress.com)
• It is Stupid to Reject Wisdom (mythoughtsonscripture.wordpress.com)
• Integrity acts as a Guide through Life (christianweeklydevotional.wordpress.com)
• Lessons on God from Biblical Genre: Wisdom (biblicalpreaching.net)