Proverbs 07

Lesson 7 of 28

THE ADULTEROUS WIFE , Proverbs Chapter 7

We have seen that the father warned his son against strange women and especially against the sin of adultery. In Proverbs Chapter 7, -

1. Proverbs 7:1-5 – first, he again appealed to his son to hear him and accept wisdom,
2. Proverbs 7:6-23 - he warned his son against a married woman, who strongly desires another man,
3. Proverbs 7:24-27 - he commanded all his sons to hear him and keep away from such a woman.

1. THE WISE SON, Proverbs 7:1-5

Proverbs 7:1-3 - My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 3 Bind them upon thy fingers; write them upon the table o f thine heart. - The father asked him to keep his words and his commands if he wanted a good life. He should store up Gods law which is more precious than his own eyes. He should keep Gods words very near at all times and remember them in his heart, - Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: Proverbs 3:3.

Proverbs 7:4-5 - Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. - A young man should consider Wisdom as a sister or relative, one who loves him and is always ready to help him. Wisdom is like a pure woman, - Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her
voice in the streets: Proverbs 1:20; Doth not wisdom cry? And understanding put forth her voice? Proverbs 8:1, and will keep you from falling into the trap of the stranger who makes you think you are very important, - With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. Proverbs 7:21, To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Proverbs 2:16, To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Proverbs 6:24.

2. THE WOMAN WITH STRONG, EVIL DESIRES , Proverbs 7:6-23

Now the father told his son about an actual experience which might have happened many times. A young man was simple and foolish; the wife was clever and sinful.

Proverbs 7:6 - For at the window of my house I looked through my casement: - The father was looking out of his window and watching people on the street.

Proverbs 7:7 - And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, - There were many simple young people without experience and one was very foolish.

Proverbs 7:8-9 - Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, in the ev ening, in the black and dark night: - This young man knew the woman and walked up and down near her house for over an hour, from sunset until the night was quite dark. He was ready to be tempted. God hates sin and He will never lead us to a place of temptation, - And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:13.

But in time of temptation He will surely make a way of escape, - There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13. Joseph ran away from a sinful woman but in Proverbs 7 the young fool kept walking around her house.

Proverbs 7:10-12 - And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and subtil of heart. 11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) - Before long the woman met him, dressed like a prostitute. The father could not see her very well from his window because it was dark, so she must have been well known in that part of the city. She was clever, a fast talker, always wanting her own way. She liked to walk around the streets and hang around corners more than to stay at home. She always seemed to be looking for a man.

Proverbs 7:13 - So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, - This night she found one, he was hoping to meet her, but he did not have to make any suggestions. She took hold of him and kissed him with a hard face and started to speak.

Proverbs 7:14-15 - I have peace offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to m eet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. - She pretended to be very religious. She had earlier made a vow and that very day she had taken her sacrifice to the priest. According to the law, most of the meat was to be eaten by the person who offered it, along with members of the family and other guests. But it all had to be eaten within two days or it must be burned up, - But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten: Leviticus 7:16. So she told this young man that she wanted him to come into her house and have a feast. God especially hates sacrifices or religious activities which are used to cover up sin; - The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? Proverbs 21:27; And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron. For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord. And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. 2 Samuel 15:7-10.

Bathsheba was “purified” from her uncleanness, - And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. 2 Samuel 11:4 and the priests were careful to keep a holy day while they condemned Christ to die, - Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover. John 18:28.

Proverbs 7:16-17 - I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. - She wanted something more than just eating a meal with her victim. She said that her bed was ready. She had made it looking
beautiful and smelling very nice. Proverbs 7:18 - Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. - Then she made a direct proposal to go to bed together for the night. She called it love but God
calls it sin.

Proverbs 7:19-20 - For the good man is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. - The young man still held back because he was afraid of the woman’s husband, - For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. Proverbs 6:34. So she told him her husband was away on a long business trip and would not be back for several days.

Proverbs 7:21 - With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. - She forced him to go in with her but all she had was clever words.

Amnon was stronger than his sister and he forced her into sin, - Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her. 2 Samuel 13:14. This young man gave in to a woman’s words of flattery, - That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. Proverbs 7:5.

Proverbs 7:22-23 - He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. - So he followed her. He was like an ox about to be killed. He was a fool, like a bird or animal falling into a trap. The hunter will shoot an arrow to kill his victim. Sin may suddenly bring a terrible disease with great pain in the body.

We know that God will surely punish the sinner. This woman probably thought she was clever, successful and satisfied, - Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness. Proverbs 30:20.

God will surely punish all such persons. The sinful woman is a picture of the false church which forsakes Christ, her true Husband, and lives in pleasure with what is false, - With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Revelation 17:2; And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: Revelation 17:4.

3. COMMAND TO SONS, Proverbs 7:24-27

Proverbs 7:24-25 - Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. 25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways; go not astray in her paths. - Solomon wanted all his children to be wise and to pay attention to what he was saying. We must be careful about our thoughts and hearts, - Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life Proverbs 4:23; and not walk in the ways of the sinful woman.

Proverbs 7:26-27 - For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. - Many men have been hurt by the sin of adultery, for example, Reuben, - And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: Genesis 35:22; Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. Genesis 49:4; it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 1 Corinthians 5:1.

Death is the end of the way. Death is one of God’s methods of keeping His church clean; - For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 1 Corinthians 11:30; where sleep means death. For the sinner it means the second death.