“The Sanctity of Marriage” (Exodus 20:14)

“The Sanctity of Marriage” (Exodus 20:14)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, July 1, 2018

“Do Not Commit Adultery” (Exod. 20:14)

1. What is the historical and cultural background for this command?

2. What is adultery?

a. Adultery is fundamentally a breach or violation of covenantal obligations. It is a breach of the marriage covenant, particularly by engaging in sexual relations with someone other than your spouse.
b. Other forms of inappropriate sexual actions (homosexuality, fornication, bestiality, pornography, self-gratification) would all be considered sexual sins in the OT, but they are not technically adultery.
c. Adultery is treated with special significance in the Scriptures, because it involves the severing of a covenantal marriage agreement between two individuals. It is considered a crime against people, the family, society, and against God.
d. In the Hebrew Bible, the prohibition against adultery is fundamentally designed to protect the sanctity of the family, which serves as the foundation for all of society.

3. How is this command applied in the Old Testament?

a. Adultery was a capital offense in OT Israel. Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22
b. Consensual sex between a betrothed woman and a man that she was not betrothed to was considered adultery and carried the death penalty (Deut 22:23–24).
c. Examples of adultery: David/Bathsheba in 2 Sam 11.
d. Adultery in wisdom literature: Proverbs carries repeated warnings about engaging in adultery and the lure of the adulterous woman.
e. Adultery is used metaphorically to refer to Israel’s unfaithful violation of their covenant with Yahweh. Their worship of false gods is typically referred to as an act of whoredom/adultery. It is a covenant breach where the covenant involved an exclusive, permanent relationship between two parties.

4. How is the command applied in the New Testament?

a. Little change in terms of ethics from OT to NT.
b. Adultery include sins of the heart (Matt 5:27–28; cf. Matthew 15:17–20).
c. Illegitimate divorce is considered adultery. Also, marrying someone who was illegitimately divorced is also considered adultery (Matt 5:31–32; Matt 19:1–9).
d. Adultery is also used metaphorically to represent idolatry/false worship in the NT. (James 4:4)

5. Conclusion

a. Adultery is a violation of life’s most important relationship.
b. Adultery is the destruction of a marriage, which results in the destruction of a family, which inevitably will erode the foundation of a society.
c. Adultery is a demonstration of a lack of faithfulness to one’s commitments and to the well-being of his or her closest human relationship. Unfaithfulness in the closest of relationships destroys faithfulness and integrity in all relationships.
d. It is a sin against God himself and a violation of his holy purity. It should never be named among God’s holy people.