The seventh commandment, like the sixth, is very short and to the point. Gods plan for marriage from the beginning, from Genesis chapter 2, is one man and one woman for life. But because man is fallen and seeks to pervert Gods perfect order of things, He has to state these commandments that should be obvious. And because of our fallen nature mankind has taken these commandments that God has given us and seeks to discredit them. We don't want to follow the commandments that the Lord has given us because then we can't do what our sinful flesh wants to do. So we have taken these commandments and said that they're out of date, or just flat out wrong. God says "You shall have no other gods before me." and "You shall make no graven images." And man says we need to "coexist," and that as long as we're sincere it doesn't matter who we follow. God says "You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain." And man uses the Lords name in a flippant way without even thinking twice about what they're saying. Gods says "You shall not murder." And man says "If the baby is inconvenient kill it. After all it's your body. There's nothing wrong with killing people as long as they're not born yet." And now we come to the seventh commandment and God says "You shall not commit adultery." And yet adultery is celebrated in our country. It comes up in our movies and television shows and we're indoctrinated with the idea that if your not having your desires satisfied where you are you just need to move on to the next person. Married people are told that if your spouse is not fulfilling your desires, it's okay to move on to someone else who will. And they're encouraged, in very subtle ways sometimes, to commit adultery. Single men and women are taught that it's okay to fornicate. You need to fulfill your desires. If you think it will make you happy, do it. This is the society that we live in, and this kind of living goes absolutely against the Word of God. God created marriage, and He designed it perfectly, and man has come in and completely perverted Gods perfect design.
Adultery is harmful to the individual, both psychologically and physically. It is destructive to the family because it destroys that oneness that a husband and wife share according to Gods perfect design. And it's harmful to a society. In Proverbs chapter 6 adultery is described as a fire. Proverbs 6:27-29 says - "Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished." And we read in verses 32-33 - "The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out." Paul goes along with this same idea in 1 Corinthians 6:18 where he says - "Flee immorality. Every sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body."
God is very serious about this sin of adultery. According to the law, anyone who committed adultery was to be put to death, either stoned or burned, depending on the circumstances. This isn't a joke to God. If we lived according to the Old Testament laws in our country today we would have rock piles all over the place because adultery is so prevalent in our land. In Hebrews 13:4 God says - "Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge."
Now, having said all that, when we look into the Scripture to see how God defines adultery we're even worse off than we thought. The dictionary defines adultery like this - "voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse." But this is what the Lord Jesus says about adultery in Matthew 5:27-28 - "You have heard that it was said, ‘ You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." That cuts right to the heart of the matter. According to Gods perfect standard we are all deserving of being stoned to death for adultery. The Lord looks at things on an entirely different level than we do. His ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts. Man looks at the outward appearance, man sees the sins when they manifest themselves in our members, but the Lord looks on the heart. God sees the origin of the sin. Jesus says in Matthew 15:19 - "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders." You or I may never physically commit adultery or fornication with another person, but according to God, to look on someone with lust is just as bad.
According to the Scriptures, there is yet another aspect to this commandment, and that is committing adultery against God. This is something that the people of Israel were guilty of time and time again. This what the book of Hosea is all about. The prophet Hosea's life was a picture of the Lords relationship with Israel. The Lord told Hosea to take to Himself a wife of harlotry, and that's what he did. And, of course, she was unfaithful to him. She became involved with other men and eventually sold herself into slavery. But Hosea, in his love for his unfaithful wife sought her, and bought her back. What a beautiful picture of Gods relationship with Israel. And not only with Israel, but with us as well. The Bible says in James 4:4 - "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." Friendship with the world, a love for the world equals adultery against God. I'm guilty of that. But just like Hosea, when I look for satisfaction somewhere other than Christ He seeks me like a lost sheep. He restores my soul. He reminds me that He purchased me, He redeemed me and He loves me in spite of my unfaithfulness. 2 Timothy 2:13 says - "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."
In John chapter 8 we're told of a time when a woman was brought to Jesus having been caught in the act of adultery. This is what we read in verses 3-5 - "And the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman; what do You say?" The passage goes on to say that they asked Him this to test Him, in order that they might have grounds for an accusation against Him. But they were right. According to the law such a woman should be stoned. But then again, David and Bathsheba should have been stoned as well. But in His love and mercy, the Lord covered their sin. But just because they were forgiven doesn't mean that there were no consequences for their sin. There are always consequences for sin. We pretend like there's not, and we find out that there are. There were all sorts of problems in Davids family from this point on, and it can all be traced back to his sin of committing adultery with Bathsheba. But anyway, back to the woman in John chapter 8, according to the law she should have been stoned, and the scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus "What then do You say?" Jesus answers them in verse 7 by saying - "He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone." What a perfect response! Christ knew the hearts of her accusers. He made them think about their own sin, and having answered in that way the crowd became speechless and began to leave one by one. We read in verses 10-11 - "And straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" And she said, "No one Lord." And Jesus said "Neither do I condemn you; go your way and sin no more.""
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