๐โ๏ธ๐๐Good as marriage is, neither God nor man forces people to marry. But once you have voluntarily chosen to marry and have tied the knot, you must sit up and faithfully carry out all your matrimonial duties. Devising dubious schemes to avoid fulfilling them turns you into a transgressor.
๐โ๏ธ๐๐๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ๐น๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐บ ๐จ๐ต ๐จ๐น๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ป๐ฌ๐น ๐จ๐ต๐ซ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฌ๐น ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐น๐ฌ๐จ๐ณ๐ด๐บ ๐ถ๐ญ ๐ด๐จ๐น๐น๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ
There is a Scripture that is in plain view in the Bible but which most people do not fully understand, and it is Hebrews 13:4:
๐โMarriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judgeโ (Hebrews 13:4).
๐This verse carries two messages. The first part declares marriage as honourable and the sexual life therein as pure, holy, and immaculate.
๐The second part makes it very clear that there is a Judge over the matrimonial realms and that He will bring matrimonial transgressors who break their marriage covenant to account. That Judge, it says, is GOD, and He will practically perform the functions of a Judge over those who break the sexual laws of married life.
๐โ๏ธ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป ๐ต๐ฌ๐ช๐ฌ๐บ๐บ๐จ๐น๐ฐ๐ณ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ญ๐ป๐ฌ๐น๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฌ
We will all do well to understand that that Scripture (Hebrews 13:4b) does not in any way suggest that the judgment of marital offenders will be in the hereafter or in eternity. It means that the divine axe could fall upon those breaking marriage laws right here on earth, just as it has happened to many already.
๐โ๏ธ๐๐๐ช๐น๐ฐ๐ฌ๐บ ๐ญ๐น๐ถ๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ๐น ๐ณ๐จ๐ต๐ซ๐บ
Recently, I read a post from a wife in a distant land crying out about being sexually starved by her husband. Here is part of what she wrote:
๐โWe don’t have any physical intimacy since the start; he only came close to me when he wanted to have kids.
๐โNow I have a high sexual drive and he feels nothing. I talked to him and he says that I should focus on working out, etc. And he’s on a path of spirituality, so he can’t get physically intimate, maybe for a few years.โ
๐Do you understand what this housewife said? Well, let me break it down:
(a) Right from the beginning of their marriage, her husband wasn’t interested in sex.
(b) He finally did when he wanted children.
(c) After the birth of the children, he went back into his cave of celibacy while the wife was left to burn with a high sex drive.
(d) She communicated her need for sexual intimacy, and he told her to go to the gym and do some workouts to overcome it.
(e) He told her he was pursuing spirituality and would not be available for sex for a few years!
๐งHow do you feel just reading this? If this long-suffering lady were your sister or daughter, how would you feel? How do you think that the God who instituted marriage feels about this brazen case of sexual abandonment and irresponsibility on the part of a husband?
๐โ๏ธ๐๐๐พ๐ฏ๐จ๐ป ๐ซ๐ถ ๐๐ถ๐ผ ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ญ ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฐ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐พ?
And what do you think of this man? It seems he only married the lady to give birth to a few children to bear his name. Period. He is not concerned about her sexual needs, rights, urges, desires, and appetite as a woman. To him, if her flaming libido results in her crashing into a public scandal, so be it; it is not his concern.
๐ชปAnd what godly form of spirituality requires a man to keep away from sexual intimacy with his wife for a few years, if not occultism, witchcraft, magic, sorcery, or mysticism? Christianity nowhere demands that kind of spirituality from any follower of Christ. So we can easily suspect this man to be a wizard or a personality of that kind.
๐โ๏ธ๐๐๐ฑ๐ผ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฌ๐ต๐ป ๐ฐ๐บ ๐ช๐ถ๐ด๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ!
Does God indeed judge matrimonial transgressors? Yes, He does.
(1) When Pharaoh took Abraham’s wife in Egypt, God plagued his entire household with great plagues (Genesis 12:17). That was judgment.
(2) When Abimelech took Abraham’s wife, God confronted him fiercely in a dream (Genesis 20:3).
(3) God pronounced the capital punishment of death on adulterers (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22).
(4) Er, the son of Judah and the grandson of Jacob, was killed by God because of his sexual transgression. Please read:
๐โAnd Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew himโ (Genesis 38:7).
๐What was his wickedness? It was in the order of the wickedness of Sodom (Genesis 13:13). It is believed that instead of natural sex, he practised anal sex, or sodomy, with his wife against her will. And so God killed him.
(5) His younger brother, Onan, who married his wife, Tamar, also walked in the path of sexual transgression (Genesis 38). How? By short-changing her during intimacy: he would perform only partially. For his sexual fraud, God killed him also!
(6) Sexual transgression is such a vile offence that God commanded in Numbers 5:11โ31 that if a man felt suspicious that his wife had committed infidelity, he should bring her before the priest for a spiritual exercise that would cause her belly to swell and her thighs to rot while she was still alive, if she were guilty. That is divine judgment. Please find time to read about it in Numbers 5:11โ31.
(7) King David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife secretly and murdered her husband secretly. God did not wait for the afterlife to judge him. He judged him openly. He faced heartbreak, suffering, humiliation, and shame.
(8) Another way God judges sexual transgressors is by allowing those involved to be caught in the very act (John 8:3โ4), leading to utter disgrace.
๐Some years ago, a married daughter of the President of an African country was secretly filmed by the young man with whom she was sleeping, and the video was uploaded on the internet for the whole world to see her total nakedness and shame! Men, including pastors, have been caught red-handed, stripped naked, videoed, and their videos uploaded on the internet, with their reputations ruined forever. These are divine judgments. Therefore, beware!
๐โ๏ธ๐๐๐ช๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ณ๐ผ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต
It’s a new season.
โ๏ธIf you have been committing sexual sins against your spouse, repent quickly and ask God’s pardon and forgiveness. If you do not, do not blame anyone when God’s promised judgment descends upon you like a heavy hammer! (Hebrews 13:4b).๐โ๏ธ
๐Happy New Month!!!๐
๐โฅ๏ธTonightโs Bedroom Assignment: Re-read this devotional together just before bedtime and discuss it with open and sincere hearts.
ย โ๏ธAltar Call: Jesus Christ is calling you! Come to Him today in genuine repentance. Believe in Him and be saved!
๐งชโ๏ธScientific Info To Boost Your Marriage:
๐ฌ”Going on an annual vacation together helps married couplesย boost romantic passion, increase relationship satisfaction, and improve physical intimacy by breaking daily routines and sparking shared, novel experiences.”๐ฌ
๐ขHALLELUJAH!
๐ทPRAISE THE LORD!