Title: Love for my wife
[Min Byeong-seok’s exposition of Proverbs] 12 Love for his wife (Text: Proverbs 5:15-23)
Proverbs 5 in today's text can be said that the content of the appetizer is the secret to a happy family. And the essence of the secret comes out in two words. One is to abstain from fornication, and the other is to love and sympathize with your wife. These two are essential life guidelines that must be fulfilled in order to achieve harmony and happiness in our family.
In the Bible, there are many teachings and warnings about family problems. It shows that the position of the family is just as important in life. In the ten commandments given to Moses, the seventh commandment was, “You shall not commit adultery.” The 10 Commandments are the same basic laws as our constitution today, and there are practical criminal laws that are given to those who violate them, which are expressed as laws. How, then, is the punishment of the Law for adulterers revealed? Leviticus 20:10 declares, “Whoever commits adultery with another man’s wife, whoever commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, must put to death the adulterer and the adulteress.”
1. Why is adultery a sin?
So, let's take a moment to understand why fornication or adultery is such a cursed crime.
First, fornication destroys families. Even Jesus did not allow divorce for any reason, but he tells us that if there is any connection with fornication, divorce is possible. God has clearly drawn the line between men and women. Therefore, he condemned the law so that anyone except married couples should never cross that line. Because committing adultery, whether male or female, is a betrayal that destroys the union of one body and is an act of trampling upon the basic order of the family, God has declared such a severe punishment for this. The breakdown of the family is a way for the whole family to fall into the trap of unhappiness and further destroys the social order. The collapse of the family is the collapse of society. If the seed of misfortune is conceived as a result of fornication, the child will be born as a cursed human being, and this will destroy the purity of the family and the family lineage.
Hosea married a prostitute. As a result, the children conceived by his wives were not consistently called their own children.
When sexual morality breaks down in human society, that society becomes an animal society. Married life is free and unrestricted for each other, but any act that crosses the couple's line becomes a terrifying crime. God's judgment will fall first on the adulterous people, and on the adulterous society. So was the case with Sodom and Gomorrah. Even though many Christians commit adultery in secret, God exposes them to the world. You know Pompeii, which was destroyed in one day on August 24, 1970 by the eruption of Volcano Vesbio. What is revealed in the various ruins unearthed in this city is that it was a city of extreme lewdness.
Because fornication is a sin that directly defiles us, it is a sin that defiles the temple of God. So God warns us that He will judge such a person. Because the sin of fornication is so important, the Lord warned us not to approach fornication by saying, “Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Christians must overcome the temptation to fornication with wisdom. Please see the words in verse 7. He said, “Therefore, my sons, listen to me, and do not forsake the words of my mouth, but keep your way far from him.” We must overcome these sins with the word of God's mouth and depart from that path. Once a person falls into sexual immorality, it is not difficult to turn back. He teaches us in verse 3 on how terrible the temptation of a whore is. Her lips drip honey, and her mouth is slippery than oil. But those things are only for a little while, and the fornicators will eat the fruit. Please see verse 4. “The latter are bitter as wormwood and sharp as a two-edged sword, and their feet go down to their limbs, and their steps go down to the grave.”
When we read Joseph's account in Genesis, we can see how terrifying the harlot's trap is. Potiphar's wife winked at Joseph and tempted him to sleep with him every day. Who, like Joseph, would not be tempted by this kind of temptation from a stalwart man in a house of slavery to his beautiful wife? But one day, Joseph resisted the woman holding her clothes and forcing her to lie down and ran away. This became a snare and he was imprisoned for attempted rape, but God exalted him and brought him out of the prison and made him prime minister of Egypt.
2. True happiness in the family
Verses 15-19 tell us about the love for a wife and the true happiness of the family. It is natural for a man to love a woman and a woman to long for a man because it is God's creation work. This is a sacred instinct given for the joy of marriage, human reproduction, family happiness, and the survival of human society. In order to satisfy this instinct in humans, God created a pair by combining a man and a woman to form one body.
Therefore, man must satisfy the instinctive desires given to man within this law set by God, and if he crosses the boundaries of this law, he will be judged by God.
Please see verse 15 of the text. ‘Drink from your well, and drink from your spring.’ The word well or spring here refers to your wife. Just as water is indispensable to humans, the husband drinks from his wife the water of life that satisfies the needs of life. ‘The water that flows from your spring signifies the feminine charm of your wife. Husbands are forbidden to commit sexual immorality with other women, but for their own wives, they are commanded to drink flowing water from their wives. The husband who doesn't like this water must be one of those people who have lost his affection and have gone into boredom or are looking for other springs. A husband who drinks this water to his heart's content and a wife who can let him drink this water as much as he wants is a blessed couple, and it can be said that such a family is a blessed family overflowing with God's blessings.
And like the words in verse 16, couples who enjoy these blessings do not pour out the fountain of this blessing. This refers to living a life satisfied with each other's affection while keeping each other's fidelity through trust between the couple. Verse 17 says, “Let the water be with you alone.” A wife is always the monopoly of one husband. His husband is the only one who should enjoy joy and happiness as a wife. The husband must always monopolize the love of his wife, and the wife must give her love, purity, and fidelity exclusively for her husband. This is not greed or excessive coercion, but it is the first condition to build a happy family.
Verses 18-19 show the husband's affection for his wife's love. He said, “Let your fountain be blessed.” Husband tells his wife to bless him. It is to make you feel the happiness of life as a wife. Neither a man nor a woman can lead a happy life with only economic conditions. Love must follow one another.
So what is the way to make a wife happy?
(1) He said, “Rejoice in the wife of your youth.” A man should be happy only with his wife. Husbands should always rejoice with only their wives, with the heart that there will always be a woman who goes beyond their own wives. This is what makes a wife happy. Husbands should always love their wives and look at them in a loving way. If you think lovingly and look at it with that kind of heart and thought, you look really lovely. However, if you look at it with hateful eyes and look at it with an unwelcome heart, you become an object that you hate to see and you become unlovable. How would you describe your wife if she looks lovely? ‘He is like a lovely doe and a beautiful female deer’ Do you believe?
(2) The next thing that makes his wife happy is that a husband will always keep his wife in his arms? Did I say here? He was told to be satisfied with just being in the arms of his wife. He said that he should not covet another woman, but only be satisfied with his wife's bosom for the rest of his life. A wife with a husband like this cannot be a woman living a happy life.
(3) Next time, if you want to make your wife happy, you should always love her. It means to be grateful for the love, devotion, and purity that a wife gives to her, and to always miss her, to be close to her, and to be with her. A woman who has such a husband should know that she is a blessed person.
Our home is the only sanctuary on our life's pilgrimage. Social happiness begins with family happiness. A family's misery is what makes the society we live in sick, heartless, and unhappy. And the love of the couple is the foundation for the happiness of the family. Even if the times change, my family must never deviate from the Word of God. In order to establish a happy family that is pleasing to God, we must reject fornication and keep chastity in our homes. Godly descendants and family blessings come to such a family. God is bestowing His blessings on such a family without limits.
Couples should understand each other and unite in love to create their own happiness and family blessings. In order to establish such a family, it is necessary to pay attention to God's wisdom, listen to God's understanding, and maintain self-discipline.
Conclusion: Do you think your family is running happily on this basis? I bless you in the name of the Lord that these blessings may come to your home in full through your life that loves God.