Marriage Bed Undefiled

The Ten Commandments, #7

In this series of articles on the Ten Commandments (as recorded in Exodus 20:1-17) we have been examining each of the commandments along with it’s New Testament equivalent. So far the only one of the Ten Commandments lacking a New Testament counterpart is the fourth commandment which says to "keep the Sabbath." Let’s look this week at the seventh commandment as we continue our study of God’s Word together.

The seventh commandment says "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). This commandment demanded that one show respect for his neighbor’s marriage and his own. Like many of the other commandments, the punishment for violating this was death (Leviticus 20:10), a serious punishment for a serious crime against the home, which, as we noticed already, is the foundation of every society.

Adultery is defined by God as sexual intimacy between a married person and someone other than their lawful mate. This sin, like so many others, begins in the mind (Matthew 5:28) and ultimately manifest itself in a physical way. The New Testament is replete with commandments regarding marriage in general and more specifically the purity of the marriage bed, "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" (Hebrews 13:4, emphasis added).

In Genesis 1-2 God created woman for man and when He presents Eve to Adam we see the beginning of the institution of marriage. This first marriage consisted of one man and one woman who were joined by God, for life. This was the union in which the sexual desires God created in both Adam and Eve could be fulfilled perfectly.

In the Gospel accounts we have a record of people asking Jesus about divorce. To answer their questions Jesus took them all the way back to Adam and Eve to remind them (and us) of the seriousness and permanency of the marriage union.

When Jesus said ‘What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matthew 19:6), He meant it! God’s marriage law, as our loving Savior expressed it, is strict, but it is strict for a reason. God has forbidden adultery to protect the family. Unfortunately, our society ignores what God has spoken concerning marriage. In spite of Jesus words, people divorce every day because of "irreconcilable differences."

The truth is, when divorce occurs it is always the result of sin. Jesus gave only one reason for divorce and that is sexual unfaithfulness (Matthew 19:9-10). When divorce occurs either one is guilty of sexual infidelity or of violating Jesus’ prohibition against putting asunder what God has joined! At times both spouses may be guilty but there is no such thing as a sin-free divorce.

Bill Heldman's Blog » Blog Archive » The Marriage Bed is Undefiled

I want to make a broader point here, because I want to write some other posts that hinge on this notion: Things that God gave to us in the natural—i.e. the love of a woman for a man and vice-versa and the marriage of the two, and commensurate sexual pleasure between the two—is a perfectly natural, acceptable, organic thing. God gave us those things