verse XXVIII – Go and sin no more.   

Protecting marriage. 

Two words in Hebrew: לֹא תִנְאָף. Four words in English, “Do not commit adultery.” Again we consider a short verse with enormous meaning, Exodus 20:14. The seventh commandment can be viewed as an extension of the sixth commandment, as to break the seventh commandment is a failure to protect our neighbor from injury. This conclusion is perhaps reached, in part, from the fact that once guilt has been established, the guilty party, or parties, were subject to the same penalty as those guilty of murder: death. Why so severe? The ethical norm of this command is to protect the sanctity of relational intimacy: it is a command to protect marriage, and therefore, society.

From the beginning.  

Why is this so important to the Lord? Here, we look to the creation. Marriage is a creation ordinance. When the Lord fashioned human beings in His image, He designed male and female to join together, to be fruitful and multiply. 

In Genesis 2:24 we read, “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” Yeshua/Jesus, teaching on of the union of marriage, makes this comment in Matthew 19:6, drawing our attention back to Genesis 2:24, “So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.” 

Breaking covenant. 

Breaking the seventh commandment breaks the covenant between the husband and the wife; thus damaging the foundation of all human relationships: covenant. The Lord God relates to us, as human beings, covenantally; the marriage covenant is meant to mirror the exclusive relationship between God and His people – another dimension of the imaging of man after the covenant Lord. 

We find, then, that the breaking of the marriage covenant disrupts not only the relationship between husband and wife, but also between man and God; and undermining of the family erodes the foundation of civilization. 

The language. 

What is the meaning of לֹא תִנְאָף? The parent root of תִנְאָף, is נאף, which within the marriage covenant means to perform voluntary violation of the marriage bed; in a religious covenant it means to apostatize. Proverbs 6:32 says, “He who commits adultery with a woman lacks heart; He who does it destroys his own life.”  

There is more to this command than first appears. Rabbi Dr. joseph Hertz digs deep, “This Commandment against infidelity warns husband and wife alike against profaning the sacred Covenant of Marriage. It involves the prohibition of immoral speech, immodest conduct, or association with persons who scoff at the sacredness of purity.” In the Apostolic Scriptures, Yeshua indicates that the seventh commandment is more than just a guard against the physical act of adultery, but it is also to be a guardian of the heart.

What’s inside. 

Matthew 5:27-28 reads, “You have heard it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone looking at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” 

The instruction of Messiah addresses commitment, relationship, and how we guard the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Man is prone to look for loopholes in law, or in ethical and spiritual principle. Adultery is a matter of the heart, the fruit of its condition. One can commit adultery and never touch another human being, while still believing they are faithful. The legalist will naturally look for the borderline, the boundary that they cannot cross – while looking beyond the line itself to what is desired. Scripture, when we look at the entire corpus of the canon, regards sin primarily as a condition, and secondarily as an action. The legalist looks for the best way to gratify their craving, while keeping their apparently spotless record before others intact. This is a self-righteous attitude, missing the condition, focused only on the action. 

Guarding.

Again, Yeshua is helping us to see the deeper meaning of guarding our hearts, and keeping us from reaching out and taking what is not ours, potentially destroying the life of someone else. Consider the words of the apostle James in 1:14-16, “But each one is enticed when he is drawn away by his own desires and trapped. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it has been accomplished, brings forth death. Do not go astray, my beloved brothers.”

The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is required in the seventh commandment? Answer. The seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own and our neighbor’s chastity, in heart, speech, and behavior.”

Avoid the appearance. 

From this we learn that flirtation should be avoided with those other than your spouse. Flirtation is widely accepted, even within the Body of Messiah, but it’s not kosher. We should also guard our eyes from being drawn into enticement, as Billy Graham once said regarding wanton looks, “Its not the first look, but the second, third and so on.” We must avoid placing ourselves in compromising positions, attempting, as much as possible, to avoid the appearance of impropriety. 

Remember forgiveness. 

I would be remiss to conclude this subject without touching on the subject of forgiveness. As I have presented elsewhere, adultery is not the unpardonable sin, it will be forgiven when confessed. It is a terrible sin with far reaching implications, but it is forgivable sin nonetheless. The forgiven, blood washed adulterer did not sin himself (or herself) out of the kingdom of God. Yet, their actions may have caused issues needing years of healing and repair. Still, as with all sinners receiving the grace and mercy of the Lord, those forgiven the sin of adultery must heed the words of Yeshua, “Go and sin no more” (Jn. 8:11). 

Your pardon is assured, you sin is forgiven, whenever or however this sin happened, as Jesus paid it all. 

Shalom. Be well.

verse XXVII – When you pray.  

In the secret place. 

In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, as he is ministering in the Holy Place before the morning sacrifice at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Gabriel announces, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard. And your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John” (Lk. 1:13).

Zechariah had prayed for a child. He and his wife Elizabeth were childless in their marriage – a sign in Jewish culture of that day of that something was wrong with the couple, they had some secret sin which caused blessing to be withheld.  

Zechariah’s prayer would have been from his heart before the Lord – in a secret place; a prayer that most certainly extended past their natural means of childbearing. The angel appeared. The message arrived. He was informed that his prayer had been heard while he was alone in the Holy Place – but the Lord rewarded him, and Elizabeth, openly through the miraculous birth of John, later known as the Baptist.

Why is prayer done?

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! But you, when you pray, go into your inner room; and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you” (Matt. 6:5-6).  

As considered previously, Yeshua/Jesus is teaching us that prayer is to be done for the glory of the Lord Himself. It is not to cause people to admire us, be in awe of us, or for us to gain a reputation of godliness or holiness. If you notice, Yeshua, in the Sermon on the Mount, often taught by referencing the example of those Pharisees who were hypocritical in their observance and religious practice. The hypocrite loves to pray, but their reward is not from God, but men. 

In private? 

What does Yeshua mean when he says, “go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father”? Is prayer only to be done in the privacy of our own home? While I am a believer in the inerrancy of the Bible and its literal meaning, we still must carefully consider and seek to understand what the Lord is saying to us through it.

Think of these words, “go into your room.” Much of the world’s population, then as now, live in very crowded, small one room houses. I have visited pastors around the world who live with their wife, and in many cases, several children, in a space as small as 8’ x 8’. Are they able to go into a private room? What about Yeshua, He was not a homeowner, as He said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

In the Gospel’s, we frequently find Yeshua going out to the lonely places to pray; those places where He would not be disturbed – often in the middle of the night. Why is this more desirable? After all, we are directed to pray together, for each other, and we are commanded to assemble; are we not to pray during those times? Of course we are, but we need intimacy. 

I am one who believes in speaking to the Lord at all times, as often as I am able. In my case, as I drive, when I’m working outside, as I hike or run, as I study and write, and as I wait. Yet, there is nothing like being able quiet myself and speak to my Father in Heaven: away from it all. My favorite place to do this is in nature. What are the benefits?

1. Privacy in prayer: this is a personal audience with the Lord God.
2. Immediacy with God: I often find that in these private times of prayer that the Lord speaks to my heart the answers that I need, or that He gives me clarity of thought on an issue.
3. Intimacy: which allows for development of relationship.
4. Intercession: the opportunity to pray and intercede on behalf of others before the Lord.
5. Presence: hidden from the world, we are able to more readily discern His Presence surrounding us. 

Why then? 

Messiah is using a room, a quiet out of the way place, as an example of the privacy, intimacy, and intention we should have in prayer. Shut out the interruptions. Be away from prying eyes. Speak to your Father in the secret place, from the secret place. More often than not, we will find Him there waiting for our arrival. He is not looking at how we are doing it, but seeing in the secret place of the heart, why we are doing it. The essence of prayer isn’t to speak many words, or to lift up a voice in tongues, but to seek the Father. He asks us to see His face, to seek intimacy with Him; and our heart should draw us into that wondrous reality. 

Psalm 91:1-2 says so beautifully, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, Who abides under the shadow of the Almighty, He is saying of the Lord, ‘My refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!’” King David wrote, “I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

The Privilege. 

It takes time and faith to develop the awareness and surety of faith that the Lord is ever with us – this is the fruit of those quiet times of speaking to our Father. Messiah gives us this command, and asks that we spend time with Him. Such a privilege. 

Zechariah asked in the secret place, his prayer was affirmed there, and then he was rewarded openly to the glory of the Lord. He was not looking for reward. He was not looking for the respect of men. He was seeking his Father. 

The hypocrites reward is fame. The disciple of Messiah does not lose his reward because it is not given by men, with their ever changing sensibilities; but by the Father who does not change. 

Prayer is trusting in the Father’s care. It is trusting in His love. It is believing His Word. Ultimately, it is learning to say to the Sovereign Lord, “Thy will be done.” When we can honestly, from the secret place of the heart, pray “thy will be done” we will see what appears miraculous, but in reality is the presence of the Father in heaven. 

What reward are you looking for? 

Are you looking for the reward, acclaim, respect, or privilege of men? Or the everlasting reward of the Father? Our answer depends on who or what we are attached to.  

Shalom. Be well.