Easy Sex | Knowable Word

The Death of Immorality

September 16, 2013 By Peter Krol

Sexual freedom is an illusion, because immorality is not as pretty as it seems.

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
Her steps follow the path to Sheol;
She does not ponder the path of life;
Her ways wander, and she does not know it (Prov 5:4-6).

Last week, we saw that the “adulteress” is an image of all sexual immorality. Immorality has a sweet candy coating, but inside it’s a bitter pill (Prov 5:4). “Wormwood” is a plant with a bitter taste, and that’s what immorality is once you move past first impressions. I know a guy who works for a chemical company that works on both drugs and candy. He told me that the outer shell on an M&M is the same thing as the shell on an Advil. Next time you have the chance, I dare you to chew the Advil.

Immorality leads only to death (Prov 5:5). The last thing it has in mind is our good (Prov 5:6a). In fact, it’s not even aware of the harm it causes (Prov 5:6b). Immorality is full of passion, but it’s clueless and self-defeating, like a pimply freshman inviting the homecoming queen over for video gaming.

How does this apply? Sexual immorality promises life, but the wise know it really gives death. We ought to be ready, especially for the battle of words. We have to expose immorality’s sweet-talk. We must remind ourselves of the truth. We need to talk about it often with others, to warn them. We unhinge its power when we strip it of its secrecy.

In 2008, pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle shared some astonishing statistics about sexual immorality in America.

Pornography is a $60-billion a year annual industry globally. Twelve billion of that is spent by Americans…This is more money than is spent on pro-baseball, basketball and football combined…Over 200 porn films are made in the U.S. every week. That’s more than one an hour. Porn sites are 12 percent of all Internet sites. Porn is 25 percent of all search engine requests…Every second $3,000 is spent on porn in America. Twenty-eight thousand Internet users are viewing porn every second in America, and 372 Internet users every second in America are typing in words looking for more porn. Ninety percent of children between the ages of 8 and 16 have viewed porn online. The average child sees porn for the first time at age 11 online, usually inadvertently.

Death surrounds us, and it’s covered in pretty makeup and stage lighting. We must talk about it frankly yet graciously, for no one who indulges in it will go unharmed.

Appearances are Deceiving, Especially When Hormones are Involved

September 9, 2013 By Peter Krol

The cultural ideal of “sexual freedom” is an illusion. Don’t be fooled.

My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
Incline your ear to my understanding,
That you may keep discretion,
And your lips may guard knowledge.
For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
And her speech is smoother than oil (Prov 5:1-3)

Solomon begins Proverbs 5 with another reminder to listen to his wisdom (Prov 5:1). If we don’t passively receive and actively seek instruction in the sexual realm, we endanger our lives. Once we receive it through our ears, we ought to “keep discretion” (presumably in our hearts, as Prov 4:21 advises). Then it changes who we are, affecting what we do, especially with our “lips” (Prov 5:2). Our lips must guard knowledge because honey drips from the forbidden woman’s lips. Her speech is so smooth, it makes oil seem irritating, so we ought to be ready (Prov 5:3).

Daniel Lobo (2006), Creative Commons

Before continuing, let’s clarify who the “forbidden woman” is. Remember that Proverbs is a work of poetic wisdom literature. As poetry, it makes liberal use of imagery to evoke an emotional reaction, but, as wisdom literature, it assumes we’ll think hard about what we’re reading. Earlier in Proverbs, Solomon exaggerated the portraits of his characters: the bumbling gang of thieves (Prov 1:10-19), Lady Wisdom the mocking street preacher (Prov 1:20-33), the adulteress whose house sinks through the ground into the grave (Prov 2:16-19), and the sleep-deprived, ferocious evildoers (Prov 4:14-17).

Solomon paints such an exaggerated picture of his subject to strengthen his point. He takes a character type and vividly describes the worst-case scenario for that type, thus including all variations of explicitness and severity. For example, in describing the violent gang, Solomon critiques all who want to get more stuff at the expense of others (Prov 1:19). Through Wisdom’s speech, Solomon warns not only those who have already harmed themselves but also everyone who loves being simple (Prov 1:22). When he warns against joining ravenous evildoers, he warns us to avoid their highway, not just their particular rest stop. We shouldn’t risk even entering it (Prov 4:14).

Who then is the “forbidden woman” in Proverbs 5? She includes loose women who tire of their husbands, but she ultimately represents every enticement to sexual immorality that you and I, whether male or female, experience. Solomon is clear about this fact when he broadens his final applications to include not just adulterers, and not just sexually immoral people, but all “the wicked” who show “great folly” (Prov 5:22-23). Whatever your gender, age, or marital status, this chapter of Proverbs applies to you. In fact, this chapter can help if your temptation involves the opposite sex, the same sex, solo sex, or images on a computer monitor. The “forbidden woman” still drips her honey at you, and you had better watch out. Therefore, for the sake of clarity, I’ll use the word “immorality” in future posts to refer to the opponent Solomon has in mind.

The Illusion of Sexual Freedom

September 2, 2013 By Peter Krol

Sex is a polarizing concept. It began beautifully when husband and wife were naked and unashamed (Gen 2:25), but it went downhill when they decided to love themselves more than God or each other (Gen 3:5, 7, 12, 22). Ever since, we’ve been terribly confused.

joanneteh_32 (2009), Creative Commons

We need much wisdom to navigate between the proud lewdness of our culture and the traditional prudishness of Christians. Both sides represent a foolish oversimplification of what God intends sexuality to be, and the simple can get caught in the middle. And confusion multiplies when culture is prudish and Christians are lewd. Or when prudish Christians speak about sex as lewdly as the culture does. Or lewd Christians feign prudishness to fit in. How can the simple find their way?

In chapter 5 of Proverbs—which we’ll examine over the next few weeks—Solomon provides wisdom in the sexual realm. He suggests that not all is as it seems (Prov 5:1-6) and that the wrong choices have dire consequences (Prov 5:7-14). Utter unselfishness in the context of marital love is surprisingly intoxicating (Prov 5:15-20), and those who think they know satisfaction better than God does have sprung their own trap (Prov 5:21-23).

« Previous Page