| 
Adultery/Fornication: What do the Scriptures Say?"You shall not commit adultery." Ex. 20:14 For most people this verse is clear in its meaning and does not need any clarification. To them, this verse is talking about physical (sexual) immorality, such as committed by a man or woman being married or single that has had or is having sexual intercourse with a man or woman that is not his or her husband or wife. The people that view this verse as physical immorality do not have a problem when someone says that adultery also refers to idolatry. Most people are aware that this verse has both a literal and a figurative meaning and that there are many verses throughout the old testament that prove that adultery can and does mean idolatry (spiritual unfaithfulness). There are those however who say that this verse is "only" speaking in a figurative manner and that our Elohim never intended it to apply to the human race in terms of physical immorality. They would have you believe that this verse only applies to the figurative meaning of "Idolatry." They state that Yahweh is talking about unfaithfulness, apostasy, in relationship to worshipping Him. They insinuate that if it does apply to physical immorality that it only applies to the woman. According to them, the most ancient Hebrew and Greek texts back up that notion. They say that in reference to the word fornication the same thing applies; it only means idolatry or the act of being unfaithful to Yahweh and Yahshua. Who is correct? Can we prove or decipher from the Scriptures which one of these two views is correct? Some people would have us buy many expensive books to decipher this topic, as they call it, "The True Meaning of Fornication." I believe that only with the Spirit of Yahweh and the most basic of biblical aids, it is possible to discover "what the Scriptures say about adultery and fornication." We will begin our study by looking at the verses that refer to idolatry, and then we will look collectively at the words adultery and fornication. IdolatryIn its most basic concept, idolatry refers to any form of unfaithfulness. Be it disobedience, the worshipping of idols, the love of money, etc. Anything that goes against Yahweh and Yahshua can be referred to idolatry. Idolatry is basically an action word, in grammar it is known as a verb. This word derives from the word idol. Idol is a noun because it usually refers to something tangible (something that you can see and touch). Idols are generally created by the hands of men and of course are worshipped by them. Thus idolatry is the action of worshipping idols. Let us look at just a few of the many verses in the Old Testament that support the idea just mentioned, noticing that Yahweh frowns against such practices. 4 Turn not to idols, or make for yourselves molten elohim: I am Yahweh your Elohim.
Lev. 19:4 1 You shall make no idols or graven image, neither stand up an image, neither shall you set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am Yahweh your Elohim.
Lev. 26:1 17 And you have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
Deut. 29:17
As you can see, Yahweh clearly dislikes idol worship. He dislikes it so much that He even went as far as to make sure that in His Commandments, in His first two, He clearly states that He is the only one to be worshipped. For these commandments say the following: 3 You shall have no other elohim before Me. 4 You shall not make any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 You shall not bow down to them, or serve them: for I Yahweh your Elohim am a jealous El, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; 6 And showing mercy to thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.
Ex. 20:3-6
We notice when we read carefully verses 4 and 5 one of the things is that it contains all of the qualities of the previous verses posted that referred to idolatry. So we can safely say that Yahweh would not have to repeat this commandment. We can safely say that when it comes to His commandments Yahweh does not have to repeat Himself at all, as this commandment says it all. Plainly put, this commandment says: Love Yahweh and do not worship idols! Plain and simple! Even a child can understand this commandment. Adultery/FornicationNow that we have clarified this commandment let us review the words adultery and fornication. Let's keep in mind that according to its definitions, these words can also mean idolatry (apostasy). Keep in mind that the reasons these words are used in many of these instances is because Yahweh personifies Himself as the Israelite's Husband. Notice the following verses that tell us that Yahweh sees Himself as a figurative Husband to the Israelites: 14 Turn, O backsliding children, says Yahweh; for I am married to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer. 3:14 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband to them, says Yahweh:
Jer. 31:32 5 For your Maker is your Husband; Yahweh of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The Elohim of the whole earth shall He be called.
Isa. 54:5
Understanding that Yahweh sees Himself as a figurative Husband to his people, let's move on and look at a couple verses that figuratively speak of His wife committing adultery/fornication (idolatry) against her Husband, that being Yahweh: 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer. 3:8-9 37 That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
Ezek. 23:37 11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.
2 Chron. 21:11 17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
Isa. 23:17
Notice that in all of these verses Yahweh is accusing His people of committing adultery/fornication because they went after other elohim (idols). In some cases they even went as far as to sacrifice their children for these idols. As we can plainly see, when Yahweh wants to teach us about something very serious He relates it in a way that we can understand. It is no different when parents try to teach their children about something difficult and they use words and concepts that are easy for them to understand. Here Yahweh, the Father, is teaching His children (us) a very serious topic, using words and concepts that we can understand. Why does He think that we can understand this concept? Very simple, because he clearly told us in one of His Ten Commandments, that we should not commit adultery: 14 You shall not commit adultery.
Ex. 20:14
Some people would have you believe that in this verse He is only talking about idolatry. The question I would have for them is, "Why would Yahweh have to repeat Himself when He already told us not commit idolatry in the Second Commandment?" The fact is that Yahweh does not have to repeat Himself and in this verse he is clearly talking about the literal (physical) sense of adultery. Why is Yahweh so adamant about us not committing adultery? The act of adultery (like fornication) is the only sin that is committed inside the body. All of the other sins are committed outside of the body. Adultery is the only sin in which people exchange, the bodily fluids (blood and semen) by which life is given. In a sense people are playing with creation! When people commit adultery it disrupts the perfect order (marriage) that Yahweh has ordained from the beginning. It corrupts the seed of the husband by raising the possibilities that she (his wife) may get pregnant from another man causing damage to the marriage and thus disrupting the order of Yahweh. In women, having more then one sexual partner can often lead to cervical cancer and other diseases. The causes of adultery are far reaching and can influence generation after generation. It causes social disruptions; divorce thus ruining families. Adultery will always lead to the breaking of other Commandments because people that commit adultery usually have to lie about it as they don't do it in the open, they do it in secret! In terms of the commandments that apply to men, this is one of the most serious because you can never undo it. A person can stop lying, they can begin to keep the Sabbath and they can stop coveting, etc. But no matter what, they can never undo this sin. Certainly this sin can be and is forgiven but a person that has committed adultery and/or fornication cannot go back to that person and take it all back. This sin is so serious that Yahshua himself said something very important regarding this sin: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Matt. 5:28
Yahshua clearly sees and knows the ramifications of this sin and that is why he says that one must not even to lust after another person. He goes unto explain how serious it is by saying: 29 And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it away from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into Gahena.
Matt. 5:29
Anybody can see by these two verses that adultery is very serious, probably even more serious than the act of fornication because as we understand it, it is the act of two unmarried people having sexual intercourse. If those two young people get married and stay faithful to each other for the rest of their lives, then it is no longer fornication. But when two young unmarried people have sexual intercourse with other people time after time, then it is just like committing adultery. So the act of committing adultery is very serious. Anyone that teaches otherwise does not have the Spirit of Yahweh within them. They are the sons of the devil, for only the devil would minimize the seriousness of this sin. So, did the people of Israel understand that Ex. 20:14 speaks about the physical aspect of adultery or did they think as some people would have us believe that this verse only refers to idolatry (apostasy)? Well, looking at some verses and noticing the context in which they are written, we will see that the Israelites understood exactly what I am saying. That Ex. 20:14 refers not to idolatry but adultery, as in the physical aspect. Notice this verse: 10 And the man that commits adultery with another man's wife, even he that commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Lev. 20:10
Apostasy here? Nope, the real deal! These people would have been put to death, not because of idolatry, but because a man (married/single) had sexual intercourse with another man's wife. Here are a few more verses that by context we can tell that they are referring to the physical aspects of adultery: 23 Because they have committed villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, says Yahweh.
Jer. 29:23 32 But as a wife that commits adultery, which takes strangers instead of her husband!
Ezek. 16:32 32 But who ever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding: he that does it destroys his own soul.
Prov. 6:32 9 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Ba'al, and walk after other elohim who you don't know;
Jer. 7:9
How serious then do the Israelites take adultery, the physical aspect? We are told in Judges 19 and 20 that some of the Benjamites committed adultery and killed the wife of a Levite. He then cut her into twelve pieces and sent her to the twelve tribes of Israel. When the Israelites heard what had happened to the man's wife, they all assembled together, prayed to Yahweh, and He sent them to kill all of the Benjamites. Only about six hundred survived when they ran away and hid. The Israelites killed them because they knew that the act of adultery had not only defiled the land, but because of that sin, their welfare was also in question. If they did not act, the sin would also be on their heads and they would certainly be held accountable. So after praying to Yahweh they did what they were told. Adultery/Fornication not in New Testament?The same people that attempt to minimize the seriousness of the act of adultery would also have us believe that neither fornication nor adultery are found in the New Testament. They say that adultery and fornication are not in the New Testament as we understand it; the physical aspect. They go even to the point of saying that every time you see the word adultery or fornication in the New Testament it really means apostasy. Notice how they interpret the following verse: the Scriptures
Matt.19:9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unfaithfulness, and marries another, commits adultery." their interpretation
Matt.19:9 But I say to you both man and woman that leaves the assembly for reasons other than idolatry (false worship) have become apostate.
The context of this verse tells us that Yahshua is speaking about relationships and not about an assembly and/or idolatry. Looking very close at the following verses one can decipher that they are in fact speaking about the physical aspects. Remember how serious the ramifications of this sin really are, and how important it is for the people of Yahweh to remain both physically and spiritually clean. Notice what 1 Cor. 6:19-20 says about staying pure: 19 What? you know not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of Elohim, and you are not your own? 20 For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify Yahweh in your body, and in your spirit, which are His.
Understanding that your body is a temple unto Yahweh and that we are to remain unpolluted, let us review the following verses:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Acts 15:20 1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
1 Cor. 5:1 13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but Elohim shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for Yahweh; and Yahweh for the body.
1 Cor. 6:13 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body.
1 Cor. 6:18
The act of fornication/adultery can take away our salvation and that is why we are told to run away from it. 2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
1 Cor 7:2 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
1 Cor 10:8
This verse refers to Numbers 25:1-9 in which the Israelite's were having immoral sex while worshipping Baal Peor. 21 And lest, when I come again, my Elohim will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
2 Cor 12:21
The context in this verse tells us that Paul is referring to the physical aspects because there are no mention of idols or anything of that sort. The sin of adultery/fornication was as common then as it is this day. Notice however that there is room for change, for Paul is encouraging repentance. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:19-20
It is obvious and contrary to some people's notion that we don't have fornication and/or adultery in the New Testament. Verses 19 and 20 prove them wrong because if you notice, in these two verses we have all three! 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becomes saints;
Eph 5:3
Why must we remain clean and undefiled? If we are fornicating and/or committing adultery, why must we repent and ask for forgiveness? The following verse speaks plainly the reasons: 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Messiah and of Elohim.
Eph 5:5
Stop Committing Adultery!If you look at a married woman or man with lust, you are committing adultery. If you look at pornography either through magazines, television, or the Internet, or any other means, you are committing adultery. If you are in the faith and you are doing all of those things you will not be in Yahweh's Kingdom! You will not have eternal life! You will be judged harsher for the fact that you know better and that you are continuing in your sin. Chances are that you are hurting not just your wife or husband but your children as well. Not to mention the children and/or husband/wife of the other person. If all you do is look at pornography and you think that you are not hurting anyone, you are wrong! Chances are that you are hurting your family and probably most importantly you are sacrificing yourself to Satan, so you are hurting yourself. Satan is feeding you the poison and you are willingly swallowing it. Let's face it whether you want to admit it or not if you are committing adultery/fornication, Satan is your father: 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
John 8:44
All hope is not lost. Although it may be difficult to overcome these kind of sins, primarily because they are of the flesh, one has to focus on the Spirit of Yahweh through Yahshua the Messiah. One has to overcome the flesh with the Spirit and glorify the Spirit with the Flesh. One can do this through constant prayer, anointing, reading the Scriptures, separation from those things that causes one to stumble, and separation from those people that are causing these kinds of sins. For in Yahshua there is hope as he tells us in John 14:6 and in John 10:9: 6 Yahshua said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by Me. 9 I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
SummaryAs we have seen we don't need very expensive books to determine what the Scriptures say about adultery and fornication. With the Sprit of Yahweh and the Word that He provided (the Scriptures), it is very easy to see that Yahweh wants us to be clean from fornication and adultery, both the physical and the spiritual (apostasy). He wants us to devote our entire life to Him. If we are married than we honor Him by staying faithful to our spouses; thus we keep in line with the marriage covenant that He ordained from the beginning. If we are not married then we need to keep ourselves pure until we do get married, unless we decide not to get married. If we are committing these sins then we repent and sin no more! We are to be a peculiar people, one that do not entangle themselves with the ways of the world. Our ethical and moral values are much higher than the world's because they come directly from above. Every step that we take, every breath that we take and every thought that we have, must be mastered to Messiah Yahshua. Only through Him will we have the ability to overcome and succeed. I pray that we will all overcome! Halleluyah! by Hector Castillo | 
