PLEASE READ TO THE END!
Spiritual Adultery
Don Barber
When answering some questions about Christmas, Easter, pagan celebrations, these are some of the kind of responses you may get:
1.“God knows our hearts. Enjoying life is not sin, as long as our hearts are with God.”
* I’m reminded of the Jeremiah 17:9-10 passage…
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
2. “Jesus came to fulfill the law.”
* Yes He did…a very specific law. I’ll explain below.
3. “We are called to be new through the accepting of Christ as our salvation. As new, we should strive to be closer to Jesus.”
* I’d like to explain what you’ve accepted, what the terms of the agreement are, and how those in the agreement strive. I’ll explain that as well.
5. “I believe, after much prayer about it, that you can color Easter eggs, and have fun with it, as long as the heart is celebrating resurrection.”
* Again, after reading the scripture about the heart…we should confirm the matter based on two or three witnesses. Can we find these witnesses in the Word?
6. “I would never look down on or judge someone who decided they were not going to color eggs.”
* Me either and I’m glad you wouldn’t.
Ya know, every once and a while we’ll hear someone say something along the lines of, “Don’t judge me, didn’t Jesus say to judge not lest ye be judged?”
And I tell them He did! But I also remind them that ….and fifteen verses later Yeshua said, “Beware of false prophets who will come into your midst as wolves in sheep’s clothing. By their fruit you shall know them” (see Matthew 7:15 , 16 ).
So what is He saying? In Matthew 7:1 He says we’re not to judge for condemnation. In verse 15 however, we are instructed to judge for identification. If we only teach the Word, but don’t warn the flock about liars, deceivers, false doctrine, and the sin they are in…then we simply fatten people up for the kill. Part of the job of parenting and pastoring, part of the responsibility of any believer is to warn others they love.
We have two witnesses telling us “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12 & Proverbs 16:25).
So, before you decide the matter is case-closed, please keep reading and pray God will grant discernment and clarity.
Blessings on your studies! Let's dive into the word and found out!!
Spiritual Adultery - Let this Cup Pass from Me.
~The greatest love story (very rarely) ever told.~
Please hang with me here, I’m going to explain something that wow’d me big-time when I saw it. First, let’s establish a foundation.
God’s covenant was for everyone, just as we find here.
Genesis 17:1–9
1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am God Almighty;
Walk before Me, and be blameless.
2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you,
And I will multiply you exceedingly.”
3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a multitude of NATIONS.
5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I will make you the father of a multitude of NATIONS.
6 “I have made you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make NATIONS of you, and kings will come forth from you.
7 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
8 “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
Check out who these NATIONS are...as we use Strong’s lexicon looking at #1471.
NATIONS
1471 גֹּוי, גֹּויִם [gowy, rarely, goy /go•ee/] n pr m. Apparently from the same root as 1465; TWOT 326e; GK 1580 and 1582; 558 occurrences; AV translates as “nation” 374 times, “heathen” 143 times, “Gentiles” 30 times, and “people” 11 times. 1 nation, people. 1A nation, people. 1A1 usually of non-Hebrew people. 1A2 of descendants of Abraham. 1A3 of Israel. 1B of swarm of locusts, other animals (fig.). 1C Goyim? = “nations”. (Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon.)
Did you catch that last verse, verse 9 where it says...“Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. That’s a lot of people and spans ALL of time. Yup, even today. And in scripture we find those that are in covenant with, those that follow the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob are named by God Himself. He calls them “my people”. How about that? If you are in covenant you’re God’s people. Sadly, He also gave a name to the ones that reject His ways; He calls them “not my people”.
There are many verses to show what I’m talking about, but here's a few to get you thinking.
Leviticus 26:11-12
I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Now that I’ve provided a little background, let me jog your memory some on some of His people.
Basically God sets down the parameters of the covenant, the people (the ones who left Egypt…as well as the sojourners that joined along the way) agreed and from then on He refers to them as “My people”.
A problem arose right away… the people (although having good intentions) gave up HIS way, and worshipped God THEIR way. That’s spiritual adultery, something God hates. Long story short, as a penalty…God kept them from going into the promise land (Saved the two spies and the youngsters.).
The people “crossed over” (that’s what the word “Hebrew” means) and entered the promise land.
Flash forward -------> and the youngsters are in the promise land, have enjoyed winning a few battles (where God proved Himself strong) and things went well for around 40 years. God reminds them of their marriage contract (“I was like a husband to them”) and seemingly right away His bride started making requests (They wanted a king). As long as the request didn’t break the marriage vow (covenant), God gave them their desire.
The marriage starts to have problems…for the bride (Israel) went whoring after other gods. They cheated on their spouse, and as we know, the sin of adultery is grounds for divorce. After years of putting up with their cheating ways, with no sign of remorse or a repentant heart, God divorced His People and dispersed them into captivity (Deuteronomy 24:4, Jeremiah 3:6-15), in essence they became slaves all over again (slaves to their sin). These people are known as The Lost Tribes or Lost Sheep of Israel. They are in Diaspora, scattered to the four corners of the world (to the North, South, East, and West).
These people, they knew the law; Torah [Instructions in righteousness]…they knew they had a big problem. You see, REMARRIAGE is prohibited, this prevented God from taking them back no matter what. The people were desperate, they wanted salvation so bad they would do anything…including creating a way that seemed right unto them. And that’s just what they did. They remembered His ways, but they’d been away so long they’d grown accustomed to other kinds of worship…and finding it too hard to give up they blended the two. This mixture is not His Ways…it is the wrong way, it IS another gospel.
(BTW – I’m thinking Judaism was created by the dispersed people, those called NOT MY PEOPLE. For it has elements of the truth but retains elements of dogma. How interestingly familiar that is.)
Now, I’m going to fill you in on the “mystery” of the Gospel [GOOD NEWS]. The gospel - that just means good news. Remember I said the dispersed people could not be remarried? This left them no hope for rekindling a relationship with the one true God. They needed good news, but to them there wasn't any. There just wasn't a lawful way to return to the one true God.
But what if there was a way? One fantastic God-ordained way they could return to a rightful standing and be married again. A loop-hole if you will. That would be good news. Indeed, that would be great news! But how would this happen, how could God legally remarry these people and not become a lawbreaker Himself? Oh this is a big mystery...one that the Angels couldn't figure out.
Are you ready? Your about to hear the most incredible love story rarely told.
Here’s the loop-hole, it’s found in the following passage. And it starts out with a firm reminder…that is, you really need to know the law in order to understand what is going on. Although I left out a lot of the details, that’s why I laid the foundation needed to understand this passage.
Here we go...
1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
Not too hard to understand yet.
2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.
If your spouse dies…THAT law, the one that bound you together, you are released from. It just doesn't apply. How can it? It is legally void due to death. In other words, God’s People, they are bound to Him by law…“till death due us part”. Just like all widows, they now have the ability to marry again.
3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
I wish I could take the time to plug in the “woman at the well”, the “Seven Churches”, the Prodigals Son, and more…but this is already a bit long. Perhaps you’re already connecting the dots.
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another; to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
Again, you’re dead -----> to the particular law <----- a="" and="" are="" can="" continues...="" dead.="" dead="" died="" divorced="" freedom="" from="" fulfilled="" good="" guy.="" has="" have="" he="" is="" law="" marry.="" marry="" need="" news="" no="" now="" one="" prevented="" problem="" released="" remarriage.="" remarry.="" risen.="" slavery="" span="" spouse="" t="" that="" the="" this="" to="" wait="" want="" who="" you="">
(Bonus: He also broke the curse of original sin…you know, the one found in Romans 8:2.)
Oh, I almost forgot something that is most fascinating and indeed glorious. Remember I mentioned the “law of jealousy? Oh my, wait till you see what that’s all about.
Ok, “His People”… became “not His people” due to spiritual adultery. That’s the charge. And when you’re charged with breaking a law, there’s a penalty. This whole adultery business, it’s all about the law of jealousy. We know the charge, now let’s go to the law and find the detailed ramifications. It’s found in Numbers 5, starting in verse 11.
The Adultery Test
11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him,
13 and a man has intercourse with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is undetected, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act,
14 if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself,
15 the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, a reminder of iniquity.
16 ‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before the LORD,
17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.
18 ‘The priest shall then have the woman stand before the LORD and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and place the grain offering of memorial in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse.
19 ‘The priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, being under the authority of your husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse;
20 if you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you”
21 (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people by the LORD’S making your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell;
22 and this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh waste away.” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.”
23 ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness.
24 ‘Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness.
25 ‘The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar;
26 and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.
27 ‘When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.
28 ‘But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive children.
29 ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself,
30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest shall apply all this law to her.
31 ‘Moreover, the man will be free from guilt, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’ ”
(Nu 5:11–31)
This really is a fascinating portion of scripture to me; let’s take notice of a few things….
* Verse 14, “if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself,
Now put that in light of our relationship with God.
“for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 6:15)…“for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 4:14).
* Verse 12, this is where the spouse trespassed against her husband. Remember the definition of sin? You know, it’s the transgression/trespassing of the law (1 John 3:4).
12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, (Breaks the law/marriage vow/covenant.) Ouch!
And we recall the law presents a blessing and a curse. It is in verse 27 we see the curse of the adulterer.
27 ‘When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.
Take note of verse 17 where “the priest takes holy water in an earthen vessel, presumably drawn from the laver of cleansing, and holy dust, from the ground of the tabernacle, which is then placed in the water.” Sounds reminiscent of mankind, formed of dust and water (2 Cor. 4:7).
Then in verse 18 we see the woman’s hair let loose, uncovered (exposed, naked) before God. Could this be symbolic of being removed from the representation and protection of her husband (1 Cor 11).
Let’s reread a little.
24 ‘Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness.
25 ‘The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar;
26 and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.
27 ‘When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.
(I’d like to elaborate and tie in Deuteronomy 29:14–29 and Exodus 32:30-35 to connect this to spiritual adultery…but this is already a bit long. Please take a look and notice the words “blotted out”. Oh my, there’s lots of scripture to share on this…maybe another time.)
A quick look at Col 2:14 and we see the immense love our creator has for us. It is here we see our former spouse (God made flesh) has “canceled (blotted) out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us (If we broke one, we broke them all), which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross”.
Just in case you didn’t catch it…
WE…are the adulterous bride. Our bridegroom took the cup of the jealousy on our behalf. What love beyond measure He has.
Our spouse (God/Yeshua our Messiah)…
Divorced us due to infidelity (whoring after other Gods)…
Took the punishment thereof (the cup of jealousy)…
Died as a result of (nailing the laws of marriage/remarriage to the tree.)…
Rose again (now eligible for remarriage)…
Read Matthew 20:22-23; 26:39, 42; John 18:11.
Is THAT not fantastic! Glory to He, our Messiah! He is our Kinsman Redeemer - the only one that can restore us to a rightful standing before our creator.
(Want to know how that works, just ask.)
Now, back to those NATIONS.
I know many believe the Old Testament doesn't apply to them anymore, but after reading thus far…you may want to pray about and reconsider your thinking. I mean, you don’t want to be a part of a nation or a church that is practicing spiritual adultery would you?
(Need a little more?
We can follow up on this topic a bit more by the study of Jeremiah 9:15; 23:14-15. Take care to study Psalm 69 with special noting of verse 21, 22-28. Then cross reference Ps. 69:28 to Ex 32:32, 33; Rev 3:5.)
I realize I may have introduced you to a part of scripture that is foreign to you. So before I let you go, let me give you a few more things to think about.
I’ve told you about The Lost Tribes of Israel, and their lawless ways. Yet God loved them so much He sent His only Son for them. Yeshua tells us Himself, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mt 15:24). Isn’t that interesting? It’s also interesting that Paul’s ministry was to reach these people as well?
So I ask you, is it possible you’re in the genealogy of the lost sheep/tribes? Do you need to be grafted in (cross over) to Israel? Or are you grafted in, but don’t know what that’s about yet?
(I’ll explain how that all works, if you’d like.) The truth is, you’re one or the other.
Spiritual Adultery is the mixing of pagan ways with His ways. It is the very reason He bled and died.
All these years later and it’s still going on…only His people are desensitized to it. It is the very reason I speak up on the subject…and you should too.
The question is…Are you following another gospel, one that’s placed you headlong into Spiritual Adultery?
I’ve sure given you enough info to find out.
Wait, just one more thing.
The Gospel. Gospel means Good News, and the Good News is…There is a way to be restored to a rightful standing before your creator/husband. And since we’ve been talking about the Gentiles, let’s look at Ephesians 3:6 with the phrase “mystery” in it.
It reads, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body” (Remember the NATIONS that came from Abram, the ones that became His People/Bride?), and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus (betrothal) through the gospel.
Yes, due to the death and resurrection of the Son of God, the divorced-exiled-Not His People-Gentiles can be His People (again), and can now partake in the coming marriage supper we read of in Revelation.
Revelation 19:6-9
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said[a] to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
“What a day of rejoicing that will be!” Pretty sure.
After explaining this to a sister, she wrote me: "Don, I want you to know first and foremost, I appreciate you taking the time to write all of that. I believe that came from the right place, and your voice is obviously used by God. I think it is wonderful that you are listening. I know what you are meaning by spiritual adultery. What I was getting at, is that yes, the Gospel is the good news. That means that our salvation comes from accepting Christ, not by our works or obeying the law, as they had to before Christ coming to fulfill that law. We are incapable of being righteous in and of ourselves. We have proven that over, and over again. That is why Jesus had to take the wrath of our sin upon Him. Now, that does not mean we can go around all willy nilly, doing whatever we please. I believe you are correct, that if we are celebrating a pagan belief, and teaching it, it is sin, spiritual adultery, and we would be false prophets. I also believe, though that being of the right heart, we can color eggs, and have the Easter bunny visit without it being that way. Meaning, if we are not celebrating those things, they mean nothing other than fun, but we are celebrating Easter as resurrection Sunday, celebrating the fact that Christ defeated death and rose of the 3rd day, our hearts would be in the right place, and God would know that."
I responded:
If we hold fast that…
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living” (2 Ti 3:16)
And we are to be a good Berean.
What is so special about a Berean?…
“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. (Ac 17:11)
(What were the Bereans examining?
The words that would become the New Testament. Of course the New Testament wasn't written yet, so the scripture they used was the Old Testament. And if these new teachings went against the Old Testament, they would be proven false.)
And we know God does not change (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, James 1:17)
Then with confidence we know…
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1–2)
So if the Word is God and God doesn’t change, neither does the Word. The Word, scripture, can be our EVERLASTING benchmark.
And since…
9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
10 “I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.
11 “As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,
So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly;
In the midst of his days it will forsake him,
And in the end he will be a fool.” (Je 17:9–11).
Therefore, we must understand our heart/feelings can’t be trusted. If we follow them, we WILL be led astray. And since our creator will be searching it, we’ve got to audit ourselves.
We need to:
a) be sure our ways match His.
b) make sure deeds are aligned with His and are edifying to the body.
Why?
a) Because He will “give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.”
b) We could be storing counterfeit heavenly rewards.
(One more thing to note. The Holy Sprit WILL NOT guide us in a way that is contrary to the Word/His Way.)
Now, I’m led to believe I am speaking to a believer….so I’m not talking about salvation, and neither is this passage. It all has to do with what you’re going to do AFTER redemption. You know, “working out your salvation with fear and trembling” (that doesn't say TOWARD your salvation).
Are we left to our own devices, to our deceptive heart?
Or, is it possible the creator of heaven and earth has also created instructions for His people to follow, so they represent Him well as His ambassador and be – dare I say - set apart?
That leads us right back to the everlasting benchmark, His words, the instructions. It is there we find out how He hates the deeds of the heathen pagan ways (mixing the Holy with the Profane). If you are redeemed, you are the HOLY in this, and the pagan items…they are the Profane. We are charged with removing this leaven from our house/person.
THAT is why we should be passionate about lovingly sharing this news to our brother. This is critical info, for is the very reason His People become Not His People. We CAN NOT replace His benchmark with our own. Really, that’s the bottom line.
So I’m asking you to reevaluate your position, audit what you've held to be true. Please check me - see if what I’m telling you is true, that His word is everlasting, that “there is nothing new under the sun”, and this is one of them.
Blessings in your studies,
Don
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