THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Deuteronomy: Moses' Great Appeal For Israel To Obey God For Blessing

Part V: Specific Treaty Stipulations Of The Great King, Deuteronomy 12-26

O. Living In Conservation Of The Creator's Order Of Sexual Purity

(Deuteronomy 22:13-30 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

Sexual immorality is rampant in today's world, a fact that we can readily document (as follows):

(1) The November 2013 AARP magazine, p. 70-72 ran Joe Queenan's article, "Men Who Don't Cheat" that reported around 22% of married men and 15% of married women in America have cheated on their spouses, and that though only 6% of the public views cheating as acceptable and 64% of Americans call it "unforgiveable."

(2) However, leaders in our Western culture often set low moral standards for the rest of the people:

(a) Americans observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day last Monday for Dr. King's work in civil rights, but Jeff Stone in his article, "Martin Luther King Cheated On His Wife & Other Lesser-Known Facts About The Civil Rights Leader For MKL Day," ibtimes.com, January 21, 2013 held that "King's right-hand man, Ralph Abernathy, wrote in his 1989 autobiography that the staff 'all understood and believed in the biblical prohibition against sex outside marriage. It was just that he [Dr. King] had a particularly difficult time with that temptation.'" (brackets ours)

(b) Immorality has all too often afflicted religious leaders, too: in addition to the numerous clergy sex abuse scandals, Nick Squire's January 18, 2014 article, "Nun gives birth to baby named after Pope" on telegraph.co.uk told how "(a) nun who was rushed to hospital complaining of acute stomach pains has given birth to a baby boy . . . The convent's mother superior, Sister Ermina, said, 'It seems she was not able to resist temptation.'"

(c) Romain Hatchuel, himself a native Frenchman, wrote in his op-ed, "The Other Kind of Unfaithful French President," Ibid., January 18-19, 2014, p. A11, of "French President Francois Hollande's . . . affair with French actress Julie Gayet, betraying his official [unwed] partner, Valerie Trierweiler." Mr. Hatchuel observed, "France hasn't been led by a reliable family man for at least 40 years now . . ." (brackets ours)

(3) Some cases are tragic: Allan Massie's report (Ibid., "Sleeping With the Enemy," p. C6) on Nicholas Shakespeare's book, Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France, told how his Aunt was caught in France when it was quickly overrun by the Nazis in 1940. To stay alive as a British woman in occupied Paris, she had affairs with Nazi collaborators, a "story of a resourceful and damaged woman" in "a time of troubles."

Need: Accordingly, we ask, "With today's world greatly lacking in sexual morals, how does God want us to live?!"

I. When Deuteronomy 22:13-30 was written, Israel faced exposure to the Canaanites who were known for their lurid forms and abundance of immoral actions, cf. Leviticus 18:1-30.

II. Thus, Deuteronomy 22:13-30 built on the Creator's IDEAL of a monogamous, heterosexual, permanent marriage (Genesis 2:24) in setting BOUNDARIES for SEXUAL CONDUCT in order to PRESERVE the INSTITUTION of MARRIAGE in Israel AMID EVEN LIFE'S COMPLICATING CIRCUMSTANCES:

A. If a man had taken a woman as a wife with the belief that he had acquired a virgin only to suspect her as having had premarital sex in violation of his dowry agreement with the bride's father, and he formally charged her on the issue, her father or mother were to produce the "blood-stained garment or a bedsheet from the wedding night" that was typically used to prove virginity as evidence of her innocence in court, Deut. 22:13-17; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 302. If this evidence proved the charge was false, the husband was beaten and fined "double the original bride-price" of 100 shekels of silver to protect the reputation of the bride and her parents, and the husband was not allowed to divorce his wife for the rest of his life, Deut. 22:18-19; Ibid.

B. Yet, if the bride was found guilty of premarital sex, she was executed at the door of her parents' home by the men of the city for promiscuity and for misleading her husband and her parents, Deut. 22:20-21 NIV; Ibid.

C. Since betrothal was then "considered as equally binding as marriage" (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Deut. 22:23), if a man cohabited with a betrothed woman, both were to be executed for adultery, Deut. 22:22.

D. If a betrothed woman was raped in a city where her voice could be easily heard, she with the offender were to be executed as guilty of adultery since she could have cried out for help but had not done so, Deut. 22:23-24.

E. Yet, if a betrothed woman was raped in the country where her cries could not be heard, she was presumed innocent and the offender alone was executed, Deut. 22:25-27. The woman could then marry in full honor.

F. If a man forcibly ("lay hold, seized, captured," tapas, B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 1074-1075; Deut. 22:28b) raped a maid who was not betrothed, since such a violation would cause the maid to lose her value for a marital dowry and sabotage her marital future, instead of executing the offender, the offender had to pay the maid's father a dowry of 50 shekels of silver (cf. Deut. 22:19) for her to be his wife, and he could never divorce her, but he had to care for her for the rest of his life, Deut. 22:28-29. This directive both inhibited men from forcibly raping maids and secured the future welfare of a violated maid, Ibid., p. 303.

G. Deuteronomy 22:30 prohibited a man from marrying his stepmother after his father had died, for such a union even then would be considered incestuous according to Leviticus 18:8; Ibid.

III. However, such moral standards are often not heeded in our post-1960s-sexual-revolution era, and many think they are too strict for us even to be ABLE to keep today. However, Scripture offers the solution:

A. When anyone trusts in Christ for salvation from sin and hell (John 3:16), one of the many positional blessings given to him is God's gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, 1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 8:9b.

B. If the believer relies on the indwelling Holy Spirit for personal behavior control, he avoids committing all forms of sexual sin, both physical and mental (cf. Galatians 5:16, 19 NIV, ESV with Matthew 5:27-28).

C. If a believer realizes he does not have the gift of celibacy (cf. 1 Cor. 7:7), that he needs to marry to avoid needless temptations (1 Cor. 7:8-9), he should marry, but marry only a believer, 1 Cor. 7:39; 2 Cor. 6:14.

D. Nevertheless, in all issues of sexual morality, those GOD holds MOST RESPONSIBLE to take the LEAD in INFLUENCING SOCIETY unto MORAL PURITY are the MEN, Proverbs 30:18-19 (as follows):

1. Proverbs 30:18-19 is a "numerical saying" where the formula x + (x+1) exists, the final entity (x+1) being the most important or culminating idea of the entire saying, Ibid., Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 970,

2. Thus, this numerical saying teaches that in wooing and lovemaking, at the initial level of eye contact (the eagle in the air looking for prey, Proverbs 30:18-19a), at the secondary level of touch (the serpent moving on a rock, Proverbs 30:18, 19b) and at the deepest level of cohabitation (the ship moving upon and partly through the seas, Proverbs 30:18, 19c), men have influential advantage over women (Proverbs 30:19d).

3. Also, the word "man" in Prov. 30:18 KJV is geber (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1193), a "male at the height of his powers," Theol. Wrdbk. of the O. T., v. I, p. 148) while "maid" is 'almah (Ibid., Kittel), "a young woman, one of whose characteristics is virginity," Ibid., Theol. Wrdbk. of the O. T., v. II, p. 672. Thus, men being considered equipped with their male drives have a divinely created influential advantage over women in wooing and lovemaking, so God holds the men most responsible for influencing good morals in society.

Lesson: God directed that Israel maintain sexual purity by avoiding premarital sex and keeping sexual expression solely for Biblical marriage, with MEN being the MOST responsible to lead in upholding sexual morality in society due to their God-given influential advantage over women in the wooing and lovemaking processes. Today with the provision of the Holy Spirit, this all is achieved by faith in Christ followed by a life of reliance on the Holy Spirit.

Application: May we (1) trust in Christ for salvation and God's gift of the Holy Spirit, John 3:16; Romans 8:9b. (2) Then, may we rely on the Holy Spirit by faith for the power to stay morally upright in thought and deed (Gal. 5:16, 19 with Matt. 5:27-28), and may we (3) men take the responsible lead to uphold morality wherever we live!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . .)

It is essential that on the sensitive subject of sexual morality that we provide a closing illustration that is both discreet and informative, and we have one in the life of Joseph.

Genesis 39 tells how Joseph was repeatedly secretly propositioned by the wife of his master, Potiphar, to have an affair with her, Genesis 39:7. Joseph faced unavoidable daily exposure to her advances due to his position as his master's slave, so Potiphar's wife took advantage of this fact to try to seduce him. Every day he kept refusing her advances, so finally she grabbed his clothes in making her proposal, Genesis 39:7-12a.

Joseph as the man in this moral crisis properly biblically assumed the responsible leadership -- he left his garment in the woman's hand and fled out of the house! He clearly realized it was too tempting for him to fall into immorality were he even to try to struggle physically against a seductive woman, Genesis 39:12b with 1 Corinthians 6:18. Potiphar's wife was furious at Joseph's rejection of her advance, so she slandered him to her husband, Potiphar, and Joseph went to prison falsely charged with attempting to rape the woman, Genesis 39:14-15, 20. However, God rewarded Joseph, causing that very unjust imprisonment to lead to his honorable rule over Egypt, Genesis 40:1-42:41.

May we like Joseph trust in God, which, in our era means to trust in Christ as Savior from sin. Then, may we rely on the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God to assume the proper attitude and conduct relative to human sexuality, and so live morally upright lives before God and man.