Verse for the Day, 3 September 2014.

Exodus 20:14, “You shall not commit adultery.”

As with the previous commandment, we can all readily see the importance, need and relevance of this commandment. We live in a time where marital faithfulness appears to be at an all-time low, and promiscuity is encouraged in society and by the media. Therefore this commandment is highly relevant to our time.

Why did God give this command?

We shall look at five reasons.

God gave this command because of how and when marriage was instituted. It is of vital importance that we remember that marriage is not man-made, man did not invent or institute marriage. Marriage was created and instituted by God. Furthermore we need to remember that God undertook this work when the world was still in perfection, thus marriage was created as something holy and pleasing unto God, and should always remain holy and pleasing to Him. If we remove these two truths from marriage we rip the heart, we remove the core and we undermine the foundation of marriage. In fact we see the evidence of this very reality all around us, mankind has sought to remove God from marriage, but in doing so it has only led to compromise, sin, distress, divorce, misery and untold suffering. Marriage is created by God, it was created in perfection, as something which was holy and pleasing to Him and should always remain as such.

God gave this command because of the design and purpose that He gave to marriage. It is God’s design and purpose for marriage that a man and a woman should come together in love for God and in love for one another, pledging their life-long commitment to each other in the bond of marriage. Marriage is a covenant, it is a three way covenant between husband, wife and God. The husband pledges his commitment to his wife, the wife pledges her commitment to her husband, and then together as husband and wife they pledge to commitment themselves and their marriage to God. God’s design, purpose and desire for marriage is that this covenant is upheld and that the husband and wife faithfully carry out the God ordained roles within the context of marriage. Where there is faithfulness to God, faithfulness to our spouses and a willing obedience of God’s design for marriage and the distinct roles that He has given to us, then there will be a prosperous and happy marriage. When we remove God from marriage and are more concerned with ourselves, living in selfishness, it will lead to the breakdown of our marriage.

God gave this commandment because of the uniqueness of marriage and the covenant between husband and wife. In the context of marriage a husband and wife share themselves, their lives, their love and their bodies with each other in a completely unique manner. So deep, unique and exclusive is this sharing with our spouse, that we do not share ourselves in this manner with any other person. God designed and desires for us to only ever express this love and share ourselves in this manner with our spouse and no other. Thus when a spouse does commit adultery it violates this unique expression of love, it violates the bond and covenant of marriage, it defiles that which is meant to be holy, pure and pleasing unto God. It is precisely because of this deep and unique love that makes adultery so painful for the spouse that has been sinned against. The pain caused by knowing that your spouse has shared what was meant to be exclusive to your marriage, with someone else, thus is it no longer exclusive or unique.

God gave this commandment for the protection of marriage and for the protection of the family. The people of Israel were about to go into the Promised Land, and would be surrounded by other nations and people groups that lived contrary to God’s ways. They were nations beset with sexually promiscuity, sex-cults, and marriage was not held in high regard. Tragically, man in his sinfulness, has become most perverse, and God knows the temptation, selfishness, greed, pride, jealousy and lust that resides in every heart. God also knows the great amount of pain and suffering that comes as a result of this, especially in the context of marriage. God desires for the people of Israel to be different from the nations around them, to display to the world what God’s design and purpose for marriage is, and the great joy that is found in it. God desires for the people of Israel to be faithful, faithful to Him and faithful to their spouses and families. Therefore through this command God seeks to impress upon them the importance, the sacredness and the uniqueness of marriage. He wants them and us to hold marriage in the very highest regard.

We can easily see that this commandment is one of love and life. God loves marriage, God blesses marriage. God want us to love marriage and uphold marriage. When we follow God’s pattern for marriage and seek to remain faithful to the covenant we made on our wedding day, we are lead to a deeper and richer understanding and experience of both love and life. This then has a positive impact upon our children, who learn from us what faithfulness to God and each other looks like. The children are loved and raised in the God ordained manner and thus the whole family knows and enjoys a deeper and richer understanding of love and life. This in turn has a positive national impact. Where there are strong families, families that are faithful to God and to each other, obeying God, it will lead to a strong nation, marked by its uniqueness and faithfulness. This is a command of love and life.

Heavenly Father, how we thank You for the wonderful blessing of marriage, which You created for us to know and enjoy. We pray that You will impress upon our hearts the purity and uniqueness of marriage. Increase in our hearts today, our love for You, our love for purity and holiness, our love for our spouses and our love for our families. May we seek to glorify You in our marriages, through our faithfulness. Amen.