The Seventh Commandment

The seventh commandment-

Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Lev 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Pro 6:32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.


Adultery- breaking wedlock.

(Webster's-)
1. Violation of the marriage bed; a crime, or a civil injury, which introduces, or may introduce, into a family, a spurious offspring.
2. In a scriptural sense, all manner of lewdness or unchastity, as in the seventh commandment.

Marriage is a commitment - a husband towards a wife, a wife towards a husband. When one makes that commitment they have taken a vow.
Symbolically God's people are the bride, and our Savior is the groom. A commitment is made between God and His people, between the people of God and their God.

A covenant is made.

The law of God is a covenant between God and His people.

Typically when a man and woman marry they do so with much more than just the mere 'I do's.' They say things about honoring, about having no others, about loving no matter what. People taking these vows do so with the intent on keeping them, with the intent that they are true, that they are real, that they are to never be broken. Of course with any truth there is a possibly perversion of that truth. Not all who take those vows are doing so in truth. Some marry when they don't even love each other, but they're doing it for other reasons. They are making that commitment not out of love but maybe out of a sense of responsibility, or even selfishly for gain.

Once that commitment is made it is MEANT to be kept, yes?

Once God's people agreed to the covenant between God and them that covenant was meant to be kept, yes?

When a commitment, when a covenant is broken adultery has occurred. Way too many people believe that adultery is simply a married person having physical marital relations with someone other than their spouse and that's it. But honestly you can be an adulterer in a marriage without ever touching another person. You can break those vows of marriage in many, many ways. When we restrict our belief of adultery to just marital relation violations, then we are losing sight of so much more God was trying to convey to us in this commandment.

Let's read a bit from Jeremiah who talks about adultery in a sense other than the typical.

Jer 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Jer 3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer 3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

Israel committing adultery. God's chosen.

Jer 5:7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.

God's people choosing to break the covenant, to seek other gods after God took care of them.

Read more, read this slowly- thoroughly.

Jer 7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 7:2 Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.
Jer 7:3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
Jer 7:4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
Jer 7:5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
Jer 7:6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
Jer 7:7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
Jer 7:8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
Jer 7:9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
Jer 7:10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
Jer 7:11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
Jer 7:12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
Jer 7:13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
Jer 7:14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
Jer 7:15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
Jer 7:16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
Jer 7:17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Jer 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Jer 7:19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
Jer 7:20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
Jer 7:21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
Jer 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
Jer 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Jer 7:24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Jer 7:25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
Jer 7:26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
Jer 7:27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
Jer 7:28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
Jer 7:29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
Jer 7:30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
Jer 7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
Jer 7:32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
Jer 7:33 And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
Jer 7:34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

Covenants, vows, commitments- these are things that are meant to NEVER be broken.

As sinners we have a propensity towards the flesh, towards Satan. When Adam and Eve broke the covenant between them and God they opened a door to sin that made us forever there after prone towards sinning. Our flesh nature is strong, very, very strong and God knew (and knows) this. Yet God did not give up on us but rather made a way for us to overcome. We have a spiritual nature that gives us a power of choice. We all - just like Adam and Eve- must choose God. Every single one of us much choose, we must uphold the covenant with God through our Savior Jesus Christ.

No matter what anyone tries to tell you- we have to choose and choose daily to be faithful to God. We cannot commit adultery in any sense of the word - between each other or between God and us.

If we do commit adultery we are breaking one of God's commandments just as we do when we break any other of the nine.

Tell me- did Christ do away with this commandment? No. Just like He didn't do away with ANY of the commandments. Christ remained faithful to God, He fulfilled this aspect of the commandment just as He fulfilled them all. Christ also did not as a human being succumb to physical adultery with any married woman. Before you scoff at that you have to realize that Christ was tempted in ALL ways just as we are, only He remained sinless.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

If we do break any of God's commandments we need to repent, to seek to repent, to forsake, to ask forgiveness, to GO AND SIN NO MORE.

So many people believe things are black and white in life as they look at each others lives, but in truth they are mostly shades of gray. We think we can discern the sin in other's lives but all too often we can't not really because we aren't even willing to look at the sin in our own lives.

Remember this--

Joh 8:1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
Joh 8:2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
Joh 8:3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
Joh 8:4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
Joh 8:5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
Joh 8:6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
Joh 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
Joh 8:8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Joh 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
Joh 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
Joh 8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Did this make it okay to commit adultery? No. The woman was to go and SIN NO MORE. What this did was tell all those accusing her that they too had sins, many, many sins in their lives that would warrant even death and yet there they stood accusing rather than being accused. They could seek forgiveness but this woman wasn't given this opportunity they would rather kill her. Jesus made them look into their own sinfilled lives and feel the weight of that sin- to understand that they, just like that woman were guilty of transgressing God's law.


Please Lord help us to know and understand the truth in Your amazing laws of love. Help us to know that when we obey we are obeying the dictates of love in its purest form. Help us to realize that we are allowing Christ to be formed in us as we live as He lived- and He committed no sin, He obeyed all the commandments every single one as an example to us. We are to obey out of love, live in love for God and our fellowman. Please Lord God, help us…help us do all that we are called to do in Your love.


Amen.