Thursday, November 26, 2015

Proverbs 7: Take It From Solomon

It doesn't take long reading through the Proverbs to find that Solomon maintains a particular interest in discouraging adultery among his audience.

You may think that's pretty rich coming from a man who had 700 wives and 300 concubines!  Yet Solomon's repeated urgings on honoring the vows of marriage and warnings against infidelity seem genuine and heartfelt.  How does a man like that relate to the concept of one man, one woman marriage?  Intriguingly, rather than disdain it or disregard it, his view of traditional marriage and morality is quite high.  He argues strenuously that men respect the boundaries that they are supposed to have toward married women.

Perhaps Solomon learned about the evils of adultery through the lessons of his father David.  Although their continued relationship eventually led to Solomon's own existence, the initial adulterous encounter between David and Bathsheba had grave consequences for not only Bathsheba's husband Uriah, but also for four of David's own children.  David suffered again and again as a grieving father when the evil he had perpetuated was visited back upon his own household.

Was Solomon so resolutely against adultery because of David's experience?  I don't know, but certainly Solomon understood as an eyewitness what destruction adultery can wreak in a man's life.  The voice of wisdom in this matter ought to be respected, Solomon says.  His conclusion?  "And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.  Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, for many are those she has laid low, and numerous are her victims.  Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death" (vs. 24-27).

Take it from Solomon: Adultery leads to disastrous consequences.

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