Exodus 20:14
"You shall not commit adultery."
The original Hebrew word that was translated as “adultary” is the word “naaph” (נאף). It means to apostitise, to break wedlock with your spouse, to break the commitment and oath / covenant.
From the former two commandments we know that Hebrew can also be written in paleo language / pictographs / pictures. The picture “naaph” creates is the following: Adultery takes your life (nun - “n”) and your strength (aleph - “a”) and it scatters it (pey - “f”). In other words, there is no life left!
You can’t “gift” something to someone that’s already given away.
There are 5 major types of adultery:
Physical Adultery
Adultery of the Mind
Object Adultery
Emotional Adultery
Spiritual Adultery
Physical Adultery is the one we are most accustomed to when we think about the word “adultery.” It’s when you are physically involved with someone who is not your spouse.
When you are involved in physical adultery, you put yourself (wants, desires, etc.) above the oath / covenant that you have freely agreed to and you take your own life (seed) and scatter it!
It brings forth only one thing and that’s destruction! According to Lev 20:10 - those who are caught in adultery’s live should be taken because they destroy the Image of God on earth. Scripture says that those people will not enter the Kingdom of God.
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 we read “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 homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
In Exodus 22:16 we see “If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife.”
Abba’s law truely thinks of everything! Sin always have consequences.
In Proverbs 6:25-29 we read “Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.”
You cannot play with fire and expect not to be burnt. Adultery will always burn you. No one is winning where adultery is involved.
Adultery of the Mind as we read in Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Lust is the thershold for adultery!
When you open the door for adultery in your mind, you open the door for physical adultery.
Object Adultery is when your live only evolves around you and your passions. It’s when your own priorities takes first place in your life.
The fourth type of adultery is Emotional Adultery. That’s when there’s frequent contact between parties when they are not together. When people frequently firstly share any kind of news with someone other than their spouses. When people are constantly thinking about someone other than their spouse - even when it’s masked with good intentions to help, etc. When a spouse feel understood by someone who is not their spouse, better than feeling understood by their spouse. Another sure sign is the sharing of unappropriate information, time, etc. And a common one is the unfair comparison of other people to your spouse. Keeping secrets or withholding information from spouses is also incluced in emotional adultery.
Last but definitely not least of the five types of adultery is Spiritual Adultery. That is when we don’t do what our Bridegroom (Yeshua) desires for us to do. When we live outside of His will and instructions - we are commiting spiritual adultery.
In Jeremiah 3:8 we read “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.”
From this Scripture we know that God divorced Israel - He gave them what they wanted. He divorced them because they didn’t keep His commandments. The commandments was the “ketubah” / marriage contract between God and the Israelites.
The Israel that’s referred to in this Scripture is the northern kingdom that was ruled by Ephraim. As we see in the same verse that Judah is mentioned. Judah was the ruler of the southern kingdom and consisted of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and half of Manasseh. The norther kingdom consisted of the other sons of Jacob (whom God renamed Israel.) Throughout Scripture we see the southern kingdom being referred to as Judah and the northern kingdom as Ephraim / Israel.
From this verse we also see the fact that the religious concept of “once saved, always saved” is nonsense and unbiblical!
God saved Israel, yet they choose to not obey His instructions and then God divorced them. Israel left God many times! We only have to read the first few books of the Bible to see that they time and time again turned away from God.
The entire 1 John 5 is such a powerful chapter,but let’s look at verse 2-3: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”
As born-again believers, doing things for our spouses should be something that we want to do - because we love them! When we love someone, it is easy to do things that they like and value or asks from us. It applies to our spouses but also to our relationship with Abba. If we truly love Him, it won’t be hard for us to follow His instructions.
In Romans 8:6-8 we read “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
It’s not about abiding in Him and worshipping with the flesh - but to do so in Spirit and in Truth! We have to lay down our fleshly desires if we really want to love God. Our flesh would always place our own desires as first priority. If we desire to place Him first, we have to lay our flesh down.
In Revelations 3:15-16 we read “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
We have to realise that we cannot afford to be lukewarm in our lives. As long as we remain lukewarm, we are doing damage to God’s Kingdom here on earth.
The Hebrew word for “faithfulness” is the word “aman” (אמן). The word “amen” is derived from “aman.” It means to build up, support, nurse the child, to move to the right hand - to strength and bring into position of authority, to make things permanent. In other words, it creates this idea of fostering the relationship we stand in. To act in such a way that it will be to the benefit of the relationship you are standing in.
Just like we know for a marriage to survive, we have to feed the fire to keep it burning. It we stop feeding it or throw dirt on it - the fire will die out. It also applies to our walk with the Lord!
The Holy Spirit can re-ignite the fire if we are willing to turn back to the covenant Abba designed for us!
7th Commandment (The blog you are reading now)
8th Commandment - scheduled for 13 December 2023
9th Commandment - scheduled for 20 December 2023
10th Commandment - scheduled for 27 December 2023