by 
The End of the Seductress is death.
For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life– Proverbs 2:18-19
The first part of this verse talks about her house—and where going to her house leads. In order to get the full force of this verse, I want you to think about what it means for the man to end up at the house of the Seductress.
The Starting Point
Like all sin, the starting point and the ending point are (most often) a long ways apart. What do I mean?
Sin starts in the heart. It starts in the mind. It starts with a decision, and involves a series of decisions. Very rarely does someone find temptation and decide to sin all in the same time frame.
For example, the man that steals rarely ends up walking into a store, finding something he wants and then decides to take it. Some plan their theft days in advance. Some think about the fact that they’re low on food and need to provide for their family—so they think about what they would do if they had the opportunity.
Sin grows and festers. By the time the man decides to go to the house of the Seductress many decisions have already been made—this is simply the last one.
The Decisions
He’s already decided many things:
- He’s decided that it’s ok to talk with a married woman.
- He’s allowed himself to become emotionally involved with her.
- He’s decided that the physical pleasure she offers is something that he will accept.
- He’s decided to be an affront to her spouse by taking what is rightfully his.
What’s I’m not saying is that he’s consciously thought through all of these things, but that his actions are making statements about these things.
Specifically, because he was not prepared beforehand, and because he had not decided the opposite in these cases, he was open to either option. This was his first mistake.
The Weight of These Decisions
When the Bible speaks of going to the dead, there are two aspects to consider.
The Physical
First is the Physical Death. In Old Testament law the punishment for adultery1 was death. Both for the seductress and for the man. This speaks to the inevitability of the discovery of the affair.
The fact is that nothing is truly secret, and that we should be sure our sin will find us out.
The Spiritual
Following the Seductress to her house, and making all those decisions, speaks volumes about the inner man. The man that made those decisions is saying a lot about what he believes about God.
What I’m not saying is whether a man that has physical relations with a Seductress is a child of God, but I am saying that he is not acting like a new man in Christ, but like the old man, that is dead in sin.
What do I Do?
Make the decisions early. Think through what you believe, rather than letting your feelings lead you. Know where the boundaries are in your relationships, and avoid friendships with the opposite sex outside your marriage.
And definitely don’t find yourself inside a house with a man/woman that is not your husband/wife alone!
- Having physical relations with someone else’s spouse, in this case, the Married Seductress. [↩]
I always love the story in scripture of the woman caught in adultery who Jesus sticks up for. He allows for redemption of a seductress (and, I’m sure, the man she was with) with a change of heart. So, I wonder if you could follow up the last post of the Seductress series with a post for those who may currently be living wrongly, but would like redemption.
AGs last blog post..Update on Kaleo
@AG: That is an interesting idea. Man, you just like giving me more work/topics to post on, don’t ya?
I do what I can. Wouldn’t want you to get bored with blogging or anything. 🙂
AGs last blog post..Update on Kaleo
When my husband and I surrendered to ministry and he to one day becoming a pastor, I warned him about this very thing. He’s so naive about things of the world. I warned him that there would be women in the future who would come to him for counseling needs and develop a deep emotional attachment to him simply because he listened to them. I told him he needed to have a very good system in place the day he steps into a pulpit when it comes to counseling. He was amazed. He couldn’t believe that women would fall for a pastor simply because he was there to minister to them (see what I mean about naive?). I think most Christians know better than to put themselves in positions where they will be physically tempted, but I think many Christians have dealt with and/or are dealing with emotional commitments to someone other than their spouse. It’s so important to pray for the protection of Christian marriages, especially those where one or both partners are involved in ministry where emotional bonds are often made.
Rachels last blog post..Praying for Your Children
You’re so right, Rachel. My dad was a pastor for a long time and is a counselor still. He always keeps the door open when counseling and quite frequently asks my mom to sit in on the sessions if it’s a woman or a couple he’s counseling.
AGs last blog post..Update on Kaleo
@AG: I highly doubt I’d get bored, and yet I have only a limited amount of time and I’m preaching the next two Sundays– so I hope not to disappoint you, but we’ll see if I can get to your requests (both here and on WK).
As for your father, he is following the same advice I was given in college about counseling. I was taught to always make sure that there was a woman in the building (if not in the room) and that the door should always be open. The other thing our professor said was that I should avoid counseling couples unless both were present. There’s not much you can do with only one member of a couple.
@Rachel: Guys can be blind about this, especially when they’re in love with one woman– in this case, you. The problem is that when any two people talk deeply about their hopes, dreams, etc. it draws them together. That’s one of the reasons I’m careful not to talk about things I haven’t talked with my wife about with other people– especially other women.
The worst is if we talk about our wife/husband with someone of the opposite sex in a complaining way, or pointing out their faults. This is something that needs to be avoided at all costs. If anything, mentioning you spouse frequently in positive statements would be called for.