The Punishment for Adultery

Dee Brestin

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Sin looks good and our idols beckon ... but they bring us tremendous pain.

Let us be alert to our “Shy Lover,” and open ourselves to Him when He comes. He may quicken your Spirit through His Word. When that happens, slow down and worship. He may speak to you through artwork (for example, contemplate "Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery by Alessandro Turchi c. 1620s.)

Look at the passage from John 8, and if He quickens you, slow down and let it lead you into contemplative prayer. He may speak to you through gifts, as He did with a friend when she was at the farmer’s market—with a bag full of beautiful peaches for $2—slow down and lift your arms in thanks. He may speak to you through music—take times of quiet, and of music, so that He may come. He may speak to you through suffering, as He comes to comfort and speak His promises to your soul. Slow down, and walk with Him. Reflect upon how He came to you and how you responded.

BIBLE STUDY

Read Jeremiah 2:14-20, where God pleads with Israel (and with us) using the language of intervention, attempting to break through our denial. Sin looks good; our idols beckon — but they bring enormous pain.

What questions are asked in verse 14. The point?
What question is asked in verse 17? The point?
How does He plead in verse 19. What is the truth about our idols long-term?

SIN AS ADULTERY

In Jeremiah 2:20, God paints a word picture so vivid that translators are reticent to translate it literally. Dr. Tim Keller says that literally it should be:

On every high hill, and under every spreading tree, you spread your legs.

“God isn’t using this language to shock,” Keller says, “but to teach. There is an attraction going on at the spiritual level every bit as powerful as the sexual attraction at the physical level.” [Old Testament scholar] Derek Kidner, likewise, says that what some translators translate “bowed down” is better rendered “sprawled out,” as The New English Bible does:

Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill

and under every green tree,

like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers.

Adultery is a powerful word-picture for sin, for idolatry, because this language awakens us to the truth that sin is not breaking the rules but breaking God’s heart. It is getting into bed with other lovers — and of course He withdraws.

What is the picture in Jeremiah 2:20? (Find a similar picture in Jeremiah 3:2) How do these speak to you?

SIN AS ADDICTION

Jeremiah uses a disturbing word-picture...of an animal in heat who simply cannot be corralled, of camels in heat who have left tracks all over the desert, looking to mate.

Look at the tracks you’ve left behind in the valley.
How do you account for what is written in the desert dust-
Tracks of a camel in heat, running this way and that,
tracks of a wild donkey in rut,
Sniffing the wind for the slightest scent of sex.
Who could possibly corral her!
On the hunt for sex, sex, and more sex—
insatiable, indiscriminate, promiscuous. Jeremiah 2:23-24 (MSG)

Meditate on the above word-picture. What does it tell you about the attraction of sin?

Have you ever had experience with an animal in heat? If so, what did you learn?

When I was seven, our springer spaniel was going through her first heat. My parents, under the advice of the vet, had decided to wait to have her spayed until she was a year old. They did not, however, want her to have puppies. So when they were going out for a few hours, my older sisters and I got stern instructions from Dad: “Keep Chloe INSIDE. No matter how badly she wants out, DON’T, UNDER ANY CONDITIONS, LET HER OUT.” My sisters obeyed, but I “half-obeyed.” I felt sorry for her as she whimpered and pawed at the door, so I decided to take her to the second story porch which ran between my bedroom and the garage roof. There was a four foot railing and a long drop to the ground, so I was sure Chloe would be corralled. But when a male boxer appeared yipping below, Chloe became frantic: circling, crying, and suddenly clawing her way up the shingles on the garage roof. I grabbed her around the middle, trying to hold onto her, but she suddenly had Herculean strength. She squirmed out of my grasp and leapt from the roof to the driveway. Somehow she survived, mated, and bequeathed our family with a large litter of springer/boxer puppies.

We have an attraction to sin that is as strong as the sexual attraction. Let it in, and it develops a life of its own that is driven, dangerous, and destructive. When Cain would not repent of his jealousy, it grew, and he murdered his brother. When we do not flee temptation but flirt with it, then the beast is in, and we cry out with Paul:

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate (Romans 7:15)

I DO THE VERY THING I HATE

What do the Israelites say in Jeremiah 2:25?

Have you felt that way? Have you felt the bondage of addiction to an idol?

Once we have allowed our idols in, they have a hold over us as strong as the hold of drugs. They make us do what we do not want to do.

We are adulterers and adulteresses, we have given in to temptation, and it has slipped its chains over us.

Recognizing our “idolatry/adultery” is the first step. We have seen the beast. But how do we tame such a strong and determined animal that is prowling about in our hearts?

Often the approach in both the world and in the church is to scold ourselves, using the approach of the “law.” I’ve done it. I’ve slapped my own hand when I’ve reached for the chips, saying, “Bad Dee Dee.” I’ve scolded my heart when I’ve been tempted to sin—to exaggerate, to manipulate. No! You are a Christian! What I have found is that this may hold me back temporarily, but only temporarily. Idols cannot be removed — they must be replaced. If I want the Spirit of God to come to me, fill me, bathe me in His love—then I must get out of bed with my lovers and stay out.

I need something stronger. This is where we are headed—but I’ll give you a taste of it right now.

Instead of scolding our hearts, we must melt our hearts with the Gospel. The Gospel HAS THE POWER TO wither our idols, loosen their grasp, and transform us. WE MUST KEEP REMEMBERING HOW DANGEROUS SIN IS—IT CAUSED THE DEATH OF CHRIS—BUT HOW MUCH HE LOVES US—FOR HE DIED FOR US. THIS IS THE GOSPEL

Here’s something that may melt your heart...

THE PUNISHMENT FOR ADULTERY

It’s sobering, but in the Mosaic law adultery was a capital offense. Moses writes:

If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10)

This is how seriously God regards adultery. (This law became distorted by priests and religious leaders who would put only the woman to death but let the man go free. Hosea 4:14 speaks to this double standard and Jesus would not cooperate with it when they brought just the woman caught in adultery to Him in John 8.) Adultery, whether you are male or female, is regarded as a capital offense.

So, here is the dilemma...

God loves us, even though we have run to our idols, even though we are adulterers and adulteresses. He wants us back – yet the just punishment is that we be put to death. So what did He do? He took our sin. He took the punishment an adulterer deserves. He died in my place, paying the price for my adultery. Justice has been executed, so He can have me back. Despite my infidelities, He loves me. HE LOVES ME — I MUST TRUST THAT — AND LET HIM REPLACE MY IDOLS.

This is what we must speak to our souls. The Gospel. This will melt our hearts. I remember when one of you saw it and prayed:

Oh God, I am just like this adulteress and I don’t want to be anymore. I don’t want to get in bed with other lovers. Yet I am so grateful and confident that when I do you will pursue me! Oh God such love ravished out on a person like me, I can’t contain it…I can’t fathom it, but I can worship You…

So often we think of the “Gospel” as the ABC’s of Christianity—the way you get in. But the Gospel is the A-to-Z of Christianity. It is not only the way in, it’s everything. It’s the secret not only of overcoming our layers of bondage but of bringing us into an intimacy with Jesus that only a fraction of believers have known.

Reflect on the prayer above and then write a prayer of thanks to the Lord for paying for your adultery.

Taken from Dee Brestin's online Bible Study

Publisher

Women's Friendship Ministries

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