A.      The Ten Commandments gave Israel the basic practices that would preserve their nation, including their practices toward God (the first four commandments) and their practices toward one another (the last six commandments).

B.      In this lesson, we will consider the seventh commandment, which addresses the sanctity and holiness of marriage.

II.      THE COMMANDMENT TO ISRAEL: YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY

Exodus 20:14 – "You shall not commit adultery.”

A.      Marriage has always been a holy covenant made by God between one man and one woman.

                                                             1.      Marriage was instituted by God when he created woman as a helper suitable for man (Gen. 2:18-24).  God’s laws governing marriage are universal for all people and predate the Law of Moses as well as every other tradition and code of men.

                                                             2.      Notice Christ’s commentary on the marriage covenant in Matthew 19:4-6 – "And He answered and said, ‘Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.’”

B.      Adultery is a violation of the marriage covenant that was punishable by death in Israel under Moses’ Law.

                                                             1.      Adultery is the unlawful sexual union of a married person with another who is not his or her spouse.

a.       Such an act is a breach of the covenant of marriage because it violates the terms of the agreement.

i.         In terms of the husband and wife, adultery violates the trust between them.  It is a hurtful, unloving, and selfish act that destroys the marriage relationship.

ii.        In terms of respect for God’s law, adultery violates God’s allowance for sexual relations.  God only permits these relations between a husband and his wife.

b.       In the commission of such a sin, both persons involved are guilty of adultery.  The penalties for this sin apply equally to both persons.

                                                             2.      Any Israelite guilty of adultery was to be put to death.

a.       Notice Leviticus 20:10 – "If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”  (Also notice that vv. 10-21 address all sexual sins.)

b.       For this reason, the Law of Moses does not address divorce for the cause of adultery.  The penalty of death for adultery terminated the marriage, so it was not necessary to discuss divorce.

C.      The practice of adultery was one of the root causes of Israel’s problems.

                                                             1.      The foolishness and sinfulness of adultery brought plagues of problems on the people individually and nationally.

a.       The personal problems that arise from adultery are evident in the book of Proverbs (2:16-19; 5:1-23; 6:20-35; 7:6-27).

b.       The national problems caused by adultery can be seen in the examples of David and Israel.

i.         David’s adultery with Bathsheba led to rebellion, war, and division within his kingdom (2Sam. 11-12).

ii.        Adultery was one of the prominent sins of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Hos. 4:2), and it led to the following condition: "Therefore the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, and also the fish of the sea disappear” (Hos. 4:3).

                                                             2.      Israel’s greatest problem was spiritual adultery.

a.       God’s word often uses marriage as a figure of His union with Israel (Is. 54:5).

b.       Likewise, adultery is often used in God’s word as a figure of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God (Judg. 2:11, 17; 8:27, 33; 1Chron. 5:25; Ezek. 16; 23:30; Hos. 1-3).

i.         Notice Ezekiel 6:9 – "Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations.”

ii.        Also notice Hosea 1:2 – "When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, ‘Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD.’”

III.   THE MODERN APPLICATION

A.      Like the sin of murder, Jesus taught that the sin of adultery arises from a wicked condition within the heart.

                                                             1.      Jesus commented on this commandment, the heart, and the subject of divorce in Matthew 5:27-32.

a.       Notice verses 27-28 – "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

b.       The Jews had a problem of the heart.  They did not commit overt acts of adultery, but they harbored the lusts that led to adultery.  They also permitted unlawful divorces that facilitated adultery.  Yet in all of this, they remained unaware of the sins of their hearts.

                                                             2.      In Matthew 15:19, Jesus identified the source of adultery when He said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”

                                                             3.      If we want to be free from adultery, we must keep our hearts free from lusts that lead to adultery.

B.      Our nation is plagued with adultery, divorce, and the conditions that promote these evil practices.

                                                             1.      Where divorces abound, adultery abounds also.

a.       Adultery is the only cause for which a person may divorce and be permitted by God to marry again (Matt. 19:7-9).  Those who divorce for other causes and remarry commit adultery (Matt. 5:31-32; Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18; Rom. 7:3).

b.       This means that for every divorce and remarriage scenario, at least one act of adultery has been committed.

                                                             2.      In our nation, about half of all marriages end in divorce, and many people are remarried.  Needless to say, this is a climate of unbridled adultery that is destroying families and the nation.

                                                             3.      It is no wonder that Americans are so easily given to adultery and divorce, for the culture condones, promotes, and celebrates every kind of promiscuity and lewdness imaginable.  The moral barriers to adultery and divorce have been dissolved, and the lusts of the flesh are stirred up by a nonstop barrage of indecency, immodesty, and filth.

C.      Adulterers will be judged by God and excluded from His kingdom.

                                                             1.      Consider the fearful warning of Hebrews 13:4 – "Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”

                                                             2.      Notice that adulterers have no place in God’s kingdom – "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Cor. 6:9-10)

                                                             3.      Thankfully, adulterers and all sinners have one hope of salvation through repentance, obedience, and faith in Christ Jesus.  Notice 1Corinthians 6:11 – "Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

IV.    CONCLUSION

A.      Just like in Israel, there is a great spiritual lesson for us to learn from the seventh commandment.

                                                             1.      The lesson is that we must overcome the lusts of the world to be faithful to our spouses, faithful to our God, and faithful to our vows.

                                                             2.      Let us understand that the relationship between a husband and a wife is sanctified and holy, and it is figurative of Christ’s relationship with the church (Eph. 5:23-32).  How could we ever violate either of these sacred unions?

B.      In the next lesson, we will consider the eighth commandment – "You shall not steal.”