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Volume 73,
Issue 9
In His Fear A Parable to Warn the Young Men About the Power of Enticement of the Sin of Immorality (2) Rev. denHartod is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Chursh in Redlands, California. It would be good if the reader of this article would open his Bible to Proverbs 7 and read it again. The harlot portrayed in Proverbs 7 could not possibly more accurately picture the impudent immoral women that are so common in our modern day world. These women are glamorized by the world. They are the heroines of our modern day hedonistic society. They have made an "art" out of the business of enticing men into sin. Their dress, their whole demeanor, is geared for this. They are the women featured in popular pornographic magazines and seen on highway billboards. They are the movie stars of the cinema, produced to entertain sinful men of the world.Their ever more daring display of immorality is calculated to captivate the attention of men and arouse their sinful passions in more and more powerful ways. Images of these women are constantly being flashed across the television screen to seduce the unwary viewer. They display their bodies in outrageous swim wear on American beaches to be gawked at by lustful men, many of whom have their wives and families with them. Men's clubs where these women perform are called "gentlemen's clubs." Images of these women in, suggestive poses are used to advertise almost every product under the sun. The women who practice this evil profession are some of the highest paid "professionals" in our day. They are also among the common people. They are everywhere in our society. To our godless society these are respectable and popular women. How shockingly prevalent all of this is in our modern day society. But these women are the total opposites of the holy beauty and modesty which the Lord requires of godly women. God has given the beautiful sexual aspect of the nature of both men and women to be used in the holy bond of marriage- for the expression of exclusive, intimate love and faithfulness of husband and wife for one another. The wife is to devote herself completely to pleasing her husband and living faithfully with him. The harlot described in Proverbs 7 does the very opposite. She violates her marriage vows. She corrupts the God-given gift of her feminine nature for lust and enticement, for selfish glory and aggrandizement. She is after every attractive man she may meet in society, even though she is already married. She uses her womanly nature to bring about destruction of those who fall prey to her temptation. We have considered already much of the vivid description of Proverbs 7 which tells us how these women laden with lust entice young, foolish men. We are warned by all of this description to avoid the adulterous woman at all cost. When the foolish young man in the parable follows the dangerous path warned against in Proverbs 7, he will come to a situation in which the temptation to gross sin will become so powerful and overwhelming that no one would be abIe to resist. The fault lies with the foolish young man who went to the place of temptation in the world. He allowed himself to be overcome by the powerful sin of lust that resides in every man's nature. The harlot has described the pleasure of sin in an irresistibly graphic way. She has invited the young man to her marriage bed in her own home. There seems to be a bit of hesitation yet on the part of the young man in the parable. The evil woman of the parable works to allay any fears that the young man she is trying to entice might still have. "For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey. He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed" (Prov. 7:19, 20). The one last thing that might still deter some from falling into gross sin is the fear of being "caught in the act." Should the woman's husband come home unexpectedly, his fury may be dangerous and have disastrous consequences. Even the world will sometimes be deterred by the fear and shame of being found out. So the adulteress must by all means allay this fear. She must give the young man the assurance that "it is safe" to commit sin with her. For the Christian, however, this is the lowest form of deterrent. The fear of God in our heart must be the mighty deterrent that keeps us from great sin. Our greatest concern must be that God sees and knows all that we do. The holy God of heaven hates the sin of fornication and adultery. If we love this God, we will strive against every temptation to this sin. One final powerful form of enticement by the adulterous woman will persuade the foolish young man to engage in sin with her. "With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him" (Prov. 7:21). The most powerful of all appeals to this sin is the appeal to man's pride. The world and the devil know this very well. Tell the young man that he is strong and handsome, tell him that he is so manly, tell him that he is so very desirable. Women find him attractive. Sexual prowess and adventurism are considered by the world to be the marks of the real man. The appeal to this proud, sinful passion will be the final temptation that the foolish young man will not be able to resist. There can be no more vivid spiritual and psychological description of the power of this sin than the description of this parable. It is true to life in our world today. What the world, however, always tries to hide is the inevitable consequences of this sin for the life of man. Our society has reaped the bitter consequences of it already in this life. Much of the wretchedness of betrayal in marriage and broken homes and abandoned children comes from this sin. This sin brings in its wake psychological misery and hurt that is incalculable for men and women who are married and violate the trust that marriage requires. Children of marriages caught in the caldron of wickedness created by this great evil in our society are scarred for life and often in later life perpetuate the sins of their fathers and mothers and reap ever increasing misery and wretchedness. The spiritual and psychological hurt this evil causes has led some even to suicide. But Proverbs 7 tells us of even worse consequences. "He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life" (Prov. 7:22 and 23). The Bible does not call the young man who follows after this sin a "playboy." Adultery is not the proof of manhood but the proof of one's great foolishness and shameful-weakness. Proverbs 7 does not glamorize the prowess of the foolish young man. It does not glory over his ability to conquer many women and "score" with one after the other. It says concerning this young man that he is as an ox going to the slaughter. That is what he truly is in spite of all the world's esteem of him. The ox is one of the most stupid of all animals. Sometimes the ox is stubborn and will not move. But when he is prodded he will suddenly run headlong to his own destruction. A fitting symbol it is, in this passage of Scripture. The consequences of this sin will follow not merely for those who get caught at it. It is undoubtedly true that there are many who do not get caught. Some seem to be able to escape the consequences of this sin in this life even though they live openly and brazenly in it. For others the consequence of their evil life is obvious. As much as the world vehemently denies the association between a life of immorality and AIDS, the connection is obvious. Proverbs 7 does not speak merely about the natural consequences that will follow for some from engaging in this great evil, while others will be able to avoid them. Proverbs 7 speaks of the fearful judgment of God. God's Word gives this final warning: "Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death." There is no doubt about this consequence because it comes as the sure judgment of God. None will be able finally to escape it. God's judgment on this sin is death and hell. There can be no stronger warning uttered than this. It is not a warning given only to the world in general. This is a warning addressed particularly to covenant youth. In the world in which we live, covenant young men are in great danger of being enticed by the adulterous woman. This warning is charged with the love of a father for his children: "O ye children!" This loving warning must be earnestly and repeatedly sounded by parents to their young people and by the church to the covenant youth growing up in her midst. There is forgiveness for this vile sin at the cross of Jesus Christ. Those who have fallen into it are urged to flee to the cross in sorrow and shame and repentance to find the mercy of God and His forgiveness. This is the only way of escape from, the sure and dreadful and final consequences of this sin. Let none hesitate for even one moment. Let none continue in this --" vile sin that is so abominable to the Lord. Let the sinner flee to the cross of Christ Jesus for deliverance from the awful judgment of this sin. The mercy of God is greater even than this terrible sin. The blood of Christ can and does wash away this sin also. The penitent adulterer finds forgiveness and mercy with God - but only the penitent one, not those who continue in this sin. There is deliverance through the power of the grace and Holy Spirit of God from the great evil of the enticement of this sin and from the deep falls that result from it. Those who have gone in the way of this sin and become a slave and captive to it must realize that there is no other power than the power of God's grace that can deliver us from this sin that has destroyed so "many strong men." Without the grace of God the young men will only be led deeper and deeper into a sin that will end in death. The truly strong man who is pleasing to God and brings glory to His name is the one who steadfastly resists the many temptations to this sin. The wise, godly young man does not flirt with temptation in the imagination that he is strong enough to avoid a fall into sin. The truly strong young man, spiritually strong by the grace of God, steadfastly avoids every temptation to this sin in his life. The Word of God extols such a man. Great strength is needed. God alone can and does give it. God's Word sets before covenant youth and all of us the wisdom of God. The law of God teaches us the perfect wisdom of God. The law of God has been given to us to guard us and to keep us from every evil way, also the evil way of this sin. The commandments of the Lord are good. Keeping the law of God and resisting the temptations of sin with God's grace and Spirit in our hearts is the greatest wisdom and will bring the great reward of God's favor and blessing on our life. There is great wisdom in avoiding even the beginning of the temptation to this sin in our life. We must do this for the salvation of our souls. This means that we must shun and flee from the many enticements of our modern media, and the world of entertainment. We must not allow the spirit of the age in which we live to desensitize us to the seriousness of this sin. We must know our own sinful nature and the power of the temptation of the world to appeal to this sinful nature and the great danger for all of us that we might fall into this sin. How greatly God has blessed us with His Word in the church and by giving us His holy law. How blessed; are those who have the grace and Spirit of God in their hearts to follow this law and keep its perfect wisdom. The book of Proverbs calls the Christian young man to rejoice in the wife of his youth, living in sexual love exclusively with her. Those who are not married are to keep themselves pure and holy because our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Doing this by God's grace will bring lasting joy and happiness that the world does not know. |
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