SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 5:27-32

GOLDEN TEXT:  Exodus 20:14

1. Who was it that verbally spoke to Moses and the children of Israel? (Exodus 20:1). Did the Lord God bring Israel out of bondage? (Exodus 20:2). What did God do to keep the children of Israel free from bondage? He gave them His Ten Commandments.

2. Does God’s Seventh Commandment command people not to commit adultery? (Exodus 20:14, Deuteronomy 5:18). What does the word "adultery" mean? Note: "Adultery" is defined as: "voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband."

3. Under the Old Covenant, what was the penalty for: Committing adultery with your neighbor’s wife? (Leviticus 20:10.) Having sexual relations with your father’s wife? (Verse 11.) Having sexual relations with your daughter-in-law? (Verse 12.) Having homosexual relations with someone of your same gender? (Verse 13.) Marriage to a daughter and her mother? (Verse 14.) Having sexual relations with an animal? (Verses 15-16.)

4. Under the Old Covenant, what was the penalty for: A new wife claiming to be a virgin but not a virgin? (Deuteronomy 22:20-21.) Adultery with a married woman? (Verse 22.) Adultery with an engaged woman in the city? (Verses 23-24.) Adultery with an engaged woman in the field? (Verses 25-26.)

5. Is God’s Law a lamp and a light to a righteous way of life? (Proverbs 6:23.) If you keep the Seventh Commandment: Will you keep away from the evil woman with a flattering tongue? (Verse 24.) Will you not lust after her beauty and not be allured by her eyelids? (Verse 25.) Will you have to worry about the cost of a harlot or making love to another man’s wife which will cost you everything? (Verse 26.) Is breaking the Seventh Commandment: Like playing with fire? (Verses 27-28.) Will the adulterer suffer the consequences? (Verse 29.) Will the adulterer suffer more than a thief? (Verses 30-32.) Does an adulterer lack understanding? (Verse 32.)

6. What does the Bible say about polygamy and concubines? Did Solomon have seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines? (1 Kings 11:1-3.) What did all of these women do to Solomon? (Verse 3.) Did Abraham’s wife Sarai give her handmaid Hagar to Abraham to birth a child for her? (Genesis 16:1-6.) What was the outcome of this decision? (Verses 5-6.) How many wives and concubines did Jacob have? (Genesis 29:18-30.) How many wives and concubines did David have? (2 Samuel 2:2, 5:13.)

Note: When it talks about polygamy in the Bible the results did not turn out very well. It is difficult to have more than one woman in a household.

7. Did God think it was good for man to be alone? (Genesis 2:18.) Did God make a helper for him? (Verses 18-22.) What did God make woman from? (Verse 22.) Why was she called woman? (Verse 23.) What is a man to do before being joined to his wife? (Verse 24.) What does the man and his wife become? (Verse 24.) When God created Adam and Eve, did He tell them to be fruitful and multiply? (Genesis 1:26-28.)

Note: This is the beginning of the marriage institution and God ordained it between a man and a woman and He told them to have children. It is God’s idea to be one flesh with one man and one woman for life.

8. What does the marriage institution picture spiritually? Are wives to be submissive to their husbands as to the Lord? (Ephesians 5:22.) Are husbands to be the head of the wife as Christ is head of the Church? (Verse 23.) Are husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it? (Verse 25.) Did Christ say that a man was to leave his parents and be joined to his wife and the two of them would become one flesh? (Verse 31.) What does the marriage institution picture spiritually? (Verse 32.)

9. What was the apostle Paul’s admonition to Timothy in regards to serving in the New Testament Church as a bishop or a deacon? (1 Timothy 3:2, 12.)

10. Did God enter into a marriage covenant with ancient Israel? (Ezekiel 16:1-4, 8.) Why did God divorce ancient Israel? (Jeremiah 3:8.)

11. Did God allow the ancient Israelites to divorce? (Deuteronomy 24:1.) Notice the word: "uncleanness" which is referring to sexual uncleanness, fornication, in other words, she had sex with another man. Was the woman permitted to remarry after the divorce of a sexual sin? (Verse 2.) If another divorce occurs or that husband dies, is the former husband allowed to remarry the woman? (Verses 3-4.)

Note: The first husband is not allowed to remarry the woman, this is to prevent bed-hopping. This law was to help stabilize marriage and society. God wanted people to settle down in their marital relationships.

12. Did Jesus discuss the Seventh Commandment in the Sermon on the Mount? (Matthew 5:27.) Did He amplify it from the physical act of adultery to the spiritual plane of lusting in the mind? (Verse 28.) Are we to take Jesus’ command here seriously? (Verses 29-30.) What is the only grounds that Jesus gives for a valid divorce so as to not commit adultery? (Verses 31-32.) Note: Jesus is referring back to Deuteronomy 24:1-4.

13. What was the reason that Jesus told the Pharisees that Moses allowed divorce? (Matthew 19:3-8.) Did Jesus say that from the beginning it was not so? (Verse 8.) And again, what is the only reason for a valid divorce without committing adultery? (Verse 9.)

14. Are Christians to flee fornication and sexual immorality? (1 Corinthians 6:18.) Will a whoremonger or fornicator be permitted in the kingdom of God? (Ephesians 5:5.)

In Conclusion: God’s Seventh Commandment commands us not to commit adultery. Jesus amplified this commandment in that we are not to lust after a member of the opposite sex. Keeping the Seventh Commandment shows that we love our mates and want to keep our families together. Are you willing to obey the Seventh Commandment?

Golden Text: (Exodus 20:14 NKJV) "You shall not commit adultery.

1.) (Exodus 20:1-2 NKJV) And God spoke all these words, saying: {2} "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

2.) (Exodus 20:13 NKJV) "You shall not murder."

(Deuteronomy 5:18 NKJV) 'You shall not commit adultery.

3.) (Leviticus 20:10-16 NKJV) 'The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. {11} 'The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. {12} 'If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. {13} 'If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. {14} 'If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. {15} 'If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. {16} 'If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

4.) (Deuteronomy 22:20-26 NKJV) "But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, {21} "then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house. So you shall put away the evil from among you. {22} "If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die; the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel. {23} "If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, {24} "then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you. {25} "But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. {26} "But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter.

5.) (Proverbs 6:20-32 NKJV) My son, keep your father's command, And do not forsake the law of your mother. {21} Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck. {22} When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you. {23} For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, {24} To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress. {25} Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids. {26} For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. {27} Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? {28} Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared? {29} So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent. {30} People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. {31} Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house. {32} Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.

6.) (1 Kings 11:1-3 NKJV) But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; {2} from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love. {3} And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

(Genesis 16:1-6 NKJV) Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. {2} So Sarai said to Abram, "See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her." And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. {3} Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. {4} So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. {5} Then Sarai said to Abram, "My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me." {6} So Abram said to Sarai, "Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please." And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.

(Genesis 29:18-30 NKJV) Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter." {19} And Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me." {20} So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her. {21} Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her." {22} And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. {23} Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. {24} And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. {25} So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?" {26} And Laban said, "It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. {27} "Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years." {28} Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. {29} And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. {30} Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.

(2 Samuel 2:2 NKJV) So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.

(2 Samuel 5:13 NKJV) And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron. Also more sons and daughters were born to David.

7.) (Genesis 2:18-24 NKJV) And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." {19} Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. {20} So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. {21} And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. {22} Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. {23} And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." {24} Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

(Genesis 1:26-28 NKJV) Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." {27} So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. {28} Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

8.) (Ephesians 5:22-33 NKJV) Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. {23} For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. {24} Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. {25} Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, {26} that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, {27} that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. {28} So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. {29} For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. {30} For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. {31} "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." {32} This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. {33} Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

9.) (1 Timothy 3:2 NKJV) A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;

(1 Timothy 3:12 NKJV) Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

10. (Ezekiel 16:1-4 NKJV) Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, {2} "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, {3} "and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: "Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. {4} "As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.

(Ezekiel 16:8 NKJV) "When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine," says the Lord GOD.

(Jeremiah 3:8 NKJV) "Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.

11.) (Deuteronomy 24:1-4 NKJV) "When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, {2} "when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man's wife, {3} "if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, {4} "then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

12.) (Matthew 5:27-32 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' {28} "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. {29} "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. {30} "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

{31} "Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' {32} "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

13.) (Matthew 19:3-10 NKJV) The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" {4} And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' {5} "and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? {6} "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." {7} They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" {8} He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. {9} "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." {10} His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."

14.) (1 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV) Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

(Ephesians 5:5 KJV) For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.