The lesson of the ring

In the previous post, I had concluded with the note of how sacred God views on marriage are, based on the story of Abraham. I however had only highlighted one event in which Abraham deceived someone into believing that Sarah was not his wife out of fear of dying (Genesis 20). It is important to note that the second incident in which he once again deceived a ruler; occurs after God had reaffirmed His promise to them and changed their names. Which is something I too can relate to where God tells me something and then a situation arises in which I do not question the validity of His word, but am blind sighted by this temporarily situation or trial. This is why we need to be just constantly be soaked in God, His word, His presence and just seeking Him in all things.  This time around it is King Abimelech, the king of Gear who has been misled. On this specific occurrence, God does not send plagues against the kingdom, but appears to the king through a dream and declares the penalty for having taken another man’s wife would be the death of him and all that was his. However the king disputes God’s verdict to be unfair and  that he was innocent as he was a victim of deception; in which case God gives him the chance to rectify this by returning Sarah to her husband.  This is one of the extreme cases where God truly shows that He will not accept adultery, even when one party is being deceived; to the extent that He would warn a man through his dreams and even make a whole household barren. This should show just how profound of an offense it is to defile another man’s wife. Since God, didn’t even withhold His hand from David, who was favored by God and had been famous for being a man after God’s very own heart. We see that in 2 Samuel chapters 11-12, where David had an affair with Bath-sheba, Uriah’s wife; we see David choosing to simply discard the fact that she is married and gratifies himself with her. There is no deception going on here and the laws had already been passed down by God through Moses, so he was well aware that his actions were going against God’s will. However he still seeked to gratify his momentary desires, although he had his own wives. This is a situation very common in the modern day, in fact so common that people no longer view it as a serious offence; besides you can just have an open marriage many believe where you are both in a marriage yet have agreed to date other people and gratify yourselves with them as you see fit. This is the day and age we live in; where you are seem old fashioned and uptight if you are trying to persevere the sacredness and purity of marriage. We may not be living in a period in time where people were stoned as a result of adultery; however the standards of God for a marriage have not altered. God was against taking another man’s wife in the days of Abraham, was still against it in the days of David, was still against it at the birth of the New Testament and is still against it now. However God does introduce an open door to those who fall into this sin, be it through flirting, desiring, thinking or even acting upon these lusts of attraction; God offers a door, Christ is the doorway we can be brought back to the Father by.

To evaluate, in the case of the pharaoh the consequence of taking another man’s wife were plagues, in the case of the king it was barrenness and the penalty of death for him and all who were under his household. Now in the case of David, God uncovered his affair through pregnancy, which then lead to David trying to conceal his secret with trying to get Uriah to sleep with his wife so they could pretend that he was the father of the child, however God reveals all hidden things and brings them forth to the light (Luke8:17), thus this fails. David does not loose heart though; he then decides to take the man’s life and then marries her. That is the hidden trap of sin, it does not just end with a figurative “one glass of wine”, and one sin can easily become a lifestyle. As adultery doesn’t just begin and end at hello, but starts with kindness, masks itself as trying to be there for someone, then grows into daily chats, which then grows to flirting and then ends with cloths on the floor. While at other times, it’s the hello and straight to the deed, none the less once the thoughts and desires are entertained the rest can easily become a blur. We are therefore called to flee sin and not look through the window at it as she washes, watch the way it walks or invite it into our homes for private chats, nor enjoy seductive conversations with it (1 Corinthians 6:18). Believe it or not God does give us the laws for our own benefit, He knows just how weak we can be and just how easily we can yield to sin, thus do not even write a goodbye note, just flee for your life, because it is a matter of life and death.

Back to David, he has displeased God, should God simply overlook this sin as it was David, God anointed David, who committed this one sin, which quickly became sins? What is God to do? God pardons his sin, however not without consequence; the reason being that David’s sin was not just against Uriah, but more greatly against God as he had disgraced the very name of God he was called by (we too as believers are called by this very name, we don’t simply represent ourselves but God). Thus the consequence is the death of the child who is the result of the sin; to summarize God being the merciful God that He is, who remembers and hears the cries of His people when the repent with honest hearts, He restores (Leviticus 26:40-46,Deuteronomy 30). He takes away the plagues in Egypt, He heals the king and removes the barrenness, and blesses David and Beth-sheba (Uriah’s wife), with another son who was loved by God.  Just as Christ forgave the woman caught in adultery, He is able to forgive us today, however the woman was told to “sin no more”. There needs to be that clear line and division from before you sought after the forgiveness of God and after you received it; it is insulting to God to seek forgiveness and then to only go back to the very sin.

 

In essence, the Lord God wants to bless us, but let us not be deceived we cannot expect the blessings of God and want to hold onto disobedience and dishonor. We need to either let go of the hand of God and live out or days in sin or let go of sin and hold onto God with everything we have and all that we are. God and the clemency is there, it has been established through Christ it has been proven and completed we just need to love Him through Christ in the Holy Spirit beyond our own desires.