Proverbs 6.23-26
“For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life.”
If only evil were always ugly, life would be simpler. If only everything were color-coded to make it obvious, if only there were warning labels on all the poisons in the world. But in the fallen world danger and disaster can be attractive. “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11: 14). The enemy is attractive, and he is a liar. He wants to seduce into playing with fire.
The next three verses divide the “foreign” woman into two classes: the prostitute and the married woman. Illicit relationships with either will cost the son, but the latter will be much worse than the former in terms of consequences.
A prostitute will cost money, but a relationship with another man’s wife may well cost the son his life, which is what Solomon warns in vv. 34–35. The prostitute is seeking a financial transaction; the adulteress is seeking a relational transaction. The prostitutes wants money from the man; the adulteress wants more. Much more. Both scenarios bring nothing good to the man who commits these acts with these women and will only bring shame and destruction to him.
Movies, TV shows, and trashy novels have long told lurid stories of illicit affairs and adultery. There is a good chance that in your circle of friends this situation has happened … secret affair, broken marriage, fractured family, confused and hurt children, angry spouse, nasty legal battle, fight for money and kids.
It’s the inevitable, bitter fruit of adultery. And not just “sexual” adultery. It is true also for spiritual adultery.
Proverbs 6.27-29
“Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished.”
Proverbs paints a vivid picture here, and it warns us not to play with fire. But what do we tend to do? We fool ourselves into thinking we are in control, and so we play with fire just a little. We get as close to the line as we can without crossing it … then, boom! … our clothes are on fire, our feet are scorched, and we realize that we really were not in control.
It’s a timeless principle: If you play with fire, you will get burned. Do not mess around with any kind of sexual sin. Stay far away from it!
Keeping with the metaphor of fire, it is instructional that the most serious burns are sometimes painless. This is because with deep burns the nerves are killed, and the physiological mechanism that tells our brain we’re hurt is gone. This is a very dangerous place to be.
The same thing can happen spiritually. Our heart can become hardened and calloused. We can resist and grieve the Holy Spirit to the point that what once caused pain (conviction) and told us something was wrong doesn’t register anymore. Someone will say, “Hey, you’re standing on hot coals!” and we respond with a “No I’m not – I’m fine – it doesn’t even hurt.”
Proverbs reminds us, this is the path to destruction. One more time: Don’t play with fire!
