Hebrews 13:4 / Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
As usual, we want to get to the root of these words – why?So we can have a more intimate understanding of what was originally written.We must always remember that, no matter how good you think your translation of the Bible is, it is always just that – a TRANSLATION.I personally use the King James Version of the Bible, one of the most popular translations.Some modern translations have steered clear of certain themes that are central to understanding Christianity, such as blood and hell.King James refuses to do that – as a matter of fact, many Biblical scholars would debate that this translation is one of the most meaty translations available, word for word.YET – it is still only a translation.
Therefore we use tools, such as Strong’s Concordance, to discover the original meanings of the words, and get a better understanding of what the authors originally wrote.
Let’s begin with the word “marriage” (Hebrews 13:4) – it means “nuptials, marriage, wedding”. This should be self-explanatory.BUT – before we go any further, we must acknowledge that the Biblical model of marriage, which we uphold as God’s model for marriage, is between one man and one woman.In today’s society, they are trying to change this, and in turn, teach that it is morally acceptable for two men, or two women, to be married.According to the Bible, this is perversion.The marriage may be honored in the eyes of man, as are many other things – but in God’s eyes, it is sheer and utter abomination – He HATES it.As a matter of fact, when a nation descends into such moral depravity, God must bring judgment upon it.So we must understand that marriage – the joining of a man and woman in the sight of God – Biblically speaking, is solely between ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN.Anything else is a twisted version of holiness that the devil tries to feed us – when we buy into these lies, we subject ourselves to God’s judgment.
Continuing on, we look at the word “honourable” (Hebrews 13:4), which means “valuable, costly, honored, esteemed, beloved, dear, precious, had in reputation”.We can easily read that God’s value of marriage is VERY IMPORTANT!This was one of the first institutions that God created – we read about two accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 – the first alluding to the second, in a way.Let’s begin with Genesis 1:27-28:
“27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
We read in verse 28 – “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” – there can be no multiplication without a joining of a man and a woman.But, it appears that God had not yet given grounds for marriage – according to this scripture, a person could simply say that it is God’s will for a man and a woman to get together just for the sake of procreation.
It is important to remember a couple of things:
#1 – At this point, mankind was in spirit form.All male and female spirits were created in Genesis 1, but there were no earthly bodies until Genesis 2.This command went out to mankind, and became a part of who we are.It is obvious to see that mankind has a desire to procreate – it is like a built-in urge within our body.
#2 – God furthered our understanding of procreation being between a husband and a wife in Genesis 2, when Adam and Eve first met.God has a time to teach us things that we need to know.In Genesis 1, there was no written understanding of the future bonds of husband and wife.It may have been spoken to them, but it was not recorded in scripture for us to read.BUT – we do read it in Genesis 2.
So, if we only used one scripture to justify that God’s original plan was to let men and women sleep around, get pregnant and have lots of babies, we could almost get by with that with Genesis 1:27-28.HOWEVER, that would not be “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), knowing that God instituted marriage in Genesis 2.As a matter of fact, Adam even understood the principle – we read of his prophetic utterance in Genesis 2:24 – “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”These words proceeded forth from Adam, in the presence of Adam Female (later named Eve) and God.Some may debate that Adam and Eve were never married, but we plainly see the word “wife” in Genesis 2:24.Adam KNEW God’s will here – for man and woman to be joined, and in the eyes of God, they would be as one flesh.
Back to Genesis 1:27-28 – how do we know that even though in Genesis 2, God institutes the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman, we still cannot sleep with whoever we want to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth”?Well, there are two words that are prominent in the Bible – FORNICATION, and ADULTERY.Understanding these two words will help us to understand that God hates it when we decide to come together in any sexual union outside of marriage.Let’s discuss each word with the Biblical meanings, so we can get a better understanding of the words.
I found one word in the New Testament, translated from the Greek, “porneia”, which appears to me to be the mother-load of all Biblical definitions on the word.
FORNICATION (G4202) – “illicit sexual intercourse (adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, beastiality, incest), idolatry” – comes from (G4203) – “to prostitute one’s body to the lust of another, to give one’s self to unlawful sexual intercourse (to commit fornication), metaphorically to be given to idolatry, to worship idols (to permit one’s self to be drawn away by another to idolatry) – comes from (G4204) – “a woman who sells her body for sexual uses (a prostitute, a harlot, one who yields herself to defilement for the sake of gain) (any woman indulging in unlawful sexual intercourse, whether for gain or for lust), metaphorically an idolatress” – comes from (G4205) – “a man who prostitutes his body to another’s lust for hire, a male prostitute, a man who indulges in unlawful sexual intercourse, a fornicator” – akin to (G4097) – “to sell”
This is quite the load of definition!But we need to understand these things to really understand the idea of “fornication” – the idea of giving your body to someone who you are not married to, temporarily, for the sake of gain (financial, emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, etc).Any gain of this type is not in line with God’s will – it is totally about satisfying our lust outside of the marriage covenant.
How convenient!We can decide to sleep with whoever we want, whenever we want, without any of the effects of marriage.No need to commit to helping one another in time of need, supporting one another, cherishing one another – this is only about satisfying our carnal needs.And it is inherently selfish, as well as evil.
Some may say that if two people decide to sleep together and end up staying together, then that is the same as marriage.But the Bible teaches us that marriage is a covenant, and a man and wife should have no problem entering into a covenant with one another, if they want the benefits that come with marriage.
In short, fornication is a very selfish act, totally built upon satisfying ourselves regardless of the will of God, and it brings judgment in our lives.So let’s continue on with “adultery” to understand what it means biblically.
ADULTERY (G3431) – “to commit adultery with, have unlawful intercourse with another’s wife” – comes from (G3432) – “an adulterer, one who is faithless toward God, ungodly”
In short, the difference between adultery and fornication is that in adultery is invading the marriage covenant between a husband and a wife.I believe that adultery is a worse crime – you have not only defiled your body by sleeping with someone you are not in covenant with, but you have defiled the covenant of two who are joined, because you had to fill up your lusts.
And in this day and age where people are so easily emotionally wounded and look outside the marriage covenant for temporary satisfaction, adultery runs rampant.And we fail to realize the destruction we allow to enter into our marriage – divorce, emotional fraud, selfishness, betrayal, lies…the list goes on.
And the same for fornication - God gave us the gift of virginity, so that when we finally become married, we can share our bodies with someone we truly love.That experience will be a monumental experience for a husband and wife who are engaging in union for the first time.However, if we decide to throw away that gift to satisfy a temporary lust, we are actually robbing ourselves of a wonderful experience that we could have had later.
Enough about adultery and fornication – I hope we can discern that anyone who would even dare try and say sex outside of marriage is according to the will of God would be subject to explain why God is so aggressively against fornication and adultery – in deed and in thought.We are called out of this world – not that we physically leave the world, but that we are to choose to obey God, rather than the ways of the world.
Let’s continue with Hebrews 13:4 – the word “bed” (Hebrews 13:4) simply means “a couch, cohabitation, the male sperm, chambering, conceive” and it comes from a word that means “to lie outstretched, to be appointed, to lay”.This is simple enough – the word “marriage bed” simply refers to the place where the man and woman choose to join in union.Outside of marriage, the man and woman DEFILE themselves in the act – within marriage, the husband and wife are SANCTIFIEDby God as ONE FLESH – therefore, there is no defilement – the act of union between a husband and wife is UNDEFILED.
The word “undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4) means “unsoiled, pure” and it comes from a compound word which means “un-“ and “to sully or taint, contaminate”.In other words, the effects of defilement – in lamen’s terms, to make dirty – do not happen.God honors the union of the husband and the wife – it is their gift to share with one another.
We did a pretty in-depth definition of “fornication” and “adultery” – therefore, I am not going to get deeper into the words “whoremongers” and “adulterers”.I think we can see the idea that those who sleep together outside of the marriage covenant are clearly out of the will of God.
The word “judge” (Hebrews 13:4) means “to distinguish, to decide, to try, to condemn, to punish, etc.”God will bring righteous judgment upon anyone who decides to continue in sexual sin – in this life, and in the next.God’s desire is that we would repent, and come into a closer walk with Him.Therefore, He amply warns us of the consequences of our actions, to lead us in repentance.Without the fear of God, we will not be led into righteousness.We must have a healthy, holy fear of God to lead us in our walk with Him – otherwise, we will be more willing to be led of our lusts, which lead us into destruction.
To finish this lesson, I would like to post a section from 1 Corinthians 7, verses 1-5.Paul is teaching the church the value of the union of marriage according to God.We must realize that he often preached to people who were married for years, and even had more than one wife.But he began to make the paths straight, by preaching according to the will of God.It is God’s Word that will help set out feet upon the straight paths.
1 Corinthians 7:1-5
1Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
3Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
4The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
5Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
In short, when you give yourself to another in marriage, you belong to that person – and they belong to you.If both partners see it in this light, they will be careful so as not to abuse the other, understanding that the other has power over them as well.And Paul teaches that a husband and a wife must render due benevolence to one another – in other words, within the bonds of marriage, it is the will of God for the husband and the wife to come together, to avoid being overcome by the temptation of the devil.
In short, I hope that we can see that it is God’s will for us to marry, if we wish to be intimate with someone.There is so much more that we can discuss on this subject, but that will be for another time.God bless!
8-28-11 / The Marriage Bed Undefiled
Hebrews 13:4 / Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
As usual, we want to get to the root of these words – why? So we can have a more intimate understanding of what was originally written. We must always remember that, no matter how good you think your translation of the Bible is, it is always just that – a TRANSLATION. I personally use the King James Version of the Bible, one of the most popular translations. Some modern translations have steered clear of certain themes that are central to understanding Christianity, such as blood and hell. King James refuses to do that – as a matter of fact, many Biblical scholars would debate that this translation is one of the most meaty translations available, word for word. YET – it is still only a translation.
Therefore we use tools, such as Strong’s Concordance, to discover the original meanings of the words, and get a better understanding of what the authors originally wrote.
Let’s begin with the word “marriage” (Hebrews 13:4) – it means “nuptials, marriage, wedding”. This should be self-explanatory. BUT – before we go any further, we must acknowledge that the Biblical model of marriage, which we uphold as God’s model for marriage, is between one man and one woman. In today’s society, they are trying to change this, and in turn, teach that it is morally acceptable for two men, or two women, to be married. According to the Bible, this is perversion. The marriage may be honored in the eyes of man, as are many other things – but in God’s eyes, it is sheer and utter abomination – He HATES it. As a matter of fact, when a nation descends into such moral depravity, God must bring judgment upon it. So we must understand that marriage – the joining of a man and woman in the sight of God – Biblically speaking, is solely between ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN. Anything else is a twisted version of holiness that the devil tries to feed us – when we buy into these lies, we subject ourselves to God’s judgment.
Continuing on, we look at the word “honourable” (Hebrews 13:4), which means “valuable, costly, honored, esteemed, beloved, dear, precious, had in reputation”. We can easily read that God’s value of marriage is VERY IMPORTANT! This was one of the first institutions that God created – we read about two accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 – the first alluding to the second, in a way. Let’s begin with Genesis 1:27-28:
“27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
We read in verse 28 – “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” – there can be no multiplication without a joining of a man and a woman. But, it appears that God had not yet given grounds for marriage – according to this scripture, a person could simply say that it is God’s will for a man and a woman to get together just for the sake of procreation.
It is important to remember a couple of things:
#1 – At this point, mankind was in spirit form. All male and female spirits were created in Genesis 1, but there were no earthly bodies until Genesis 2. This command went out to mankind, and became a part of who we are. It is obvious to see that mankind has a desire to procreate – it is like a built-in urge within our body.
#2 – God furthered our understanding of procreation being between a husband and a wife in Genesis 2, when Adam and Eve first met. God has a time to teach us things that we need to know. In Genesis 1, there was no written understanding of the future bonds of husband and wife. It may have been spoken to them, but it was not recorded in scripture for us to read. BUT – we do read it in Genesis 2.
So, if we only used one scripture to justify that God’s original plan was to let men and women sleep around, get pregnant and have lots of babies, we could almost get by with that with Genesis 1:27-28. HOWEVER, that would not be “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), knowing that God instituted marriage in Genesis 2. As a matter of fact, Adam even understood the principle – we read of his prophetic utterance in Genesis 2:24 – “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” These words proceeded forth from Adam, in the presence of Adam Female (later named Eve) and God. Some may debate that Adam and Eve were never married, but we plainly see the word “wife” in Genesis 2:24. Adam KNEW God’s will here – for man and woman to be joined, and in the eyes of God, they would be as one flesh.
Back to Genesis 1:27-28 – how do we know that even though in Genesis 2, God institutes the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman, we still cannot sleep with whoever we want to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth”? Well, there are two words that are prominent in the Bible – FORNICATION, and ADULTERY. Understanding these two words will help us to understand that God hates it when we decide to come together in any sexual union outside of marriage. Let’s discuss each word with the Biblical meanings, so we can get a better understanding of the words.
I found one word in the New Testament, translated from the Greek, “porneia”, which appears to me to be the mother-load of all Biblical definitions on the word.
FORNICATION (G4202) – “illicit sexual intercourse (adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, beastiality, incest), idolatry” – comes from (G4203) – “to prostitute one’s body to the lust of another, to give one’s self to unlawful sexual intercourse (to commit fornication), metaphorically to be given to idolatry, to worship idols (to permit one’s self to be drawn away by another to idolatry) – comes from (G4204) – “a woman who sells her body for sexual uses (a prostitute, a harlot, one who yields herself to defilement for the sake of gain) (any woman indulging in unlawful sexual intercourse, whether for gain or for lust), metaphorically an idolatress” – comes from (G4205) – “a man who prostitutes his body to another’s lust for hire, a male prostitute, a man who indulges in unlawful sexual intercourse, a fornicator” – akin to (G4097) – “to sell”
This is quite the load of definition! But we need to understand these things to really understand the idea of “fornication” – the idea of giving your body to someone who you are not married to, temporarily, for the sake of gain (financial, emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, etc). Any gain of this type is not in line with God’s will – it is totally about satisfying our lust outside of the marriage covenant.
How convenient! We can decide to sleep with whoever we want, whenever we want, without any of the effects of marriage. No need to commit to helping one another in time of need, supporting one another, cherishing one another – this is only about satisfying our carnal needs. And it is inherently selfish, as well as evil.
Some may say that if two people decide to sleep together and end up staying together, then that is the same as marriage. But the Bible teaches us that marriage is a covenant, and a man and wife should have no problem entering into a covenant with one another, if they want the benefits that come with marriage.
In short, fornication is a very selfish act, totally built upon satisfying ourselves regardless of the will of God, and it brings judgment in our lives. So let’s continue on with “adultery” to understand what it means biblically.
ADULTERY (G3431) – “to commit adultery with, have unlawful intercourse with another’s wife” – comes from (G3432) – “an adulterer, one who is faithless toward God, ungodly”
In short, the difference between adultery and fornication is that in adultery is invading the marriage covenant between a husband and a wife. I believe that adultery is a worse crime – you have not only defiled your body by sleeping with someone you are not in covenant with, but you have defiled the covenant of two who are joined, because you had to fill up your lusts.
And in this day and age where people are so easily emotionally wounded and look outside the marriage covenant for temporary satisfaction, adultery runs rampant. And we fail to realize the destruction we allow to enter into our marriage – divorce, emotional fraud, selfishness, betrayal, lies…the list goes on.
And the same for fornication - God gave us the gift of virginity, so that when we finally become married, we can share our bodies with someone we truly love. That experience will be a monumental experience for a husband and wife who are engaging in union for the first time. However, if we decide to throw away that gift to satisfy a temporary lust, we are actually robbing ourselves of a wonderful experience that we could have had later.
Enough about adultery and fornication – I hope we can discern that anyone who would even dare try and say sex outside of marriage is according to the will of God would be subject to explain why God is so aggressively against fornication and adultery – in deed and in thought. We are called out of this world – not that we physically leave the world, but that we are to choose to obey God, rather than the ways of the world.
Let’s continue with Hebrews 13:4 – the word “bed” (Hebrews 13:4) simply means “a couch, cohabitation, the male sperm, chambering, conceive” and it comes from a word that means “to lie outstretched, to be appointed, to lay”. This is simple enough – the word “marriage bed” simply refers to the place where the man and woman choose to join in union. Outside of marriage, the man and woman DEFILE themselves in the act – within marriage, the husband and wife are SANCTIFIED by God as ONE FLESH – therefore, there is no defilement – the act of union between a husband and wife is UNDEFILED.
The word “undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4) means “unsoiled, pure” and it comes from a compound word which means “un-“ and “to sully or taint, contaminate”. In other words, the effects of defilement – in lamen’s terms, to make dirty – do not happen. God honors the union of the husband and the wife – it is their gift to share with one another.
We did a pretty in-depth definition of “fornication” and “adultery” – therefore, I am not going to get deeper into the words “whoremongers” and “adulterers”. I think we can see the idea that those who sleep together outside of the marriage covenant are clearly out of the will of God.
The word “judge” (Hebrews 13:4) means “to distinguish, to decide, to try, to condemn, to punish, etc.” God will bring righteous judgment upon anyone who decides to continue in sexual sin – in this life, and in the next. God’s desire is that we would repent, and come into a closer walk with Him. Therefore, He amply warns us of the consequences of our actions, to lead us in repentance. Without the fear of God, we will not be led into righteousness. We must have a healthy, holy fear of God to lead us in our walk with Him – otherwise, we will be more willing to be led of our lusts, which lead us into destruction.
To finish this lesson, I would like to post a section from 1 Corinthians 7, verses 1-5. Paul is teaching the church the value of the union of marriage according to God. We must realize that he often preached to people who were married for years, and even had more than one wife. But he began to make the paths straight, by preaching according to the will of God. It is God’s Word that will help set out feet upon the straight paths.
1 Corinthians 7:1-5
1Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
3Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
4The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
5Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
In short, when you give yourself to another in marriage, you belong to that person – and they belong to you. If both partners see it in this light, they will be careful so as not to abuse the other, understanding that the other has power over them as well. And Paul teaches that a husband and a wife must render due benevolence to one another – in other words, within the bonds of marriage, it is the will of God for the husband and the wife to come together, to avoid being overcome by the temptation of the devil.
In short, I hope that we can see that it is God’s will for us to marry, if we wish to be intimate with someone. There is so much more that we can discuss on this subject, but that will be for another time. God bless!