Proverbs 6:27-35
He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. (v. 32) I think that pretty much sums it up. As we have said before, adultery is called out here as particularly dangerous. I suspect that is because Solomon is addressing his son as a young man whose raging hormones could make him more vulnerable to sexual temptation. But that is only a guess. Regardless of the original context of its writing, Proverbs stands as Holy Scripture, so I certainly don’t want to suggest anything along the lines of saying, “Well, that’s good advice for a supercharged young man, but I’m past that, so I don’t need to pay attention…” We all need to pay attention, especially as our culture increasing normalizes sexual immorality.
That said, some of you may not face any particular temptation toward adultery, so these admonitions may seem somewhat disconnected from you. In that case, we should also remember that adultery can serve as a metaphor for any sin. Substitute “sin” for “adultery” in verse 32, and it still makes perfect sense. (But the particular earthly consequences — like a highly jealous and vengeful neighbor [Pr. 6:34] — might differ…)
Carol and I were chatting this morning about this adultery passage. We agreed that society has become quite lax about fornication, cohabitation, same-sex issues, etc., but we still have problems with extramarital affairs, especially those that end in divorce and/or break up a family. It’s nice to see that some standards still apply. And sad for how far we’ve diverted from where God would have us.