We should not lust in our hearts after the beauty of the prostitute.
(Proverbs 6: 20-35)
When I post my meditation centered on Proverbs 6:16-19 under the title ‘Seven sins that God hates’ on my personal Facebook, a pastor replied, ‘This reminded me the seven reasons a husband can kick out his wife in the Joseon Dynasty era. So I tried to browse the Internet to find out those seven reasons and I found out that this was prevalent in China, Korea and other countries with the Confucian culture. The seven reasons are: (1) Because she is not obedient to her mother-in-law, (2) Because she has no son, (3) Because she is lustful, (4) Because she is jealous, (5) Because she has bad disease, (6) Because she talks too much, (7) Because she steals (Internet). Although I don’t completely agree with these seven reasons why the husbands can cast their wives out of, that is, divorce, I thought about the third reason “Because she is lustful” because the Bible also speaks about divorce when a husband or a wife has committed adultery (Mt. 5:32). I read an article saying that Korea was voted for the world's most sexual sins (Internet). According to the BBC Worldwide Sex Evil Survey Report by the seven felonies, Australia is the most sinful country in the world. Here, the seven felonies are seven kinds of traditional criminal offenses: pride, jealousy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust. Australia has been voted the most sinful country in the world with scores of three major crimes: lust, greed, and pride. The United States was ranked number one crime sector in gluttony, Iceland for pride and sloth, Mexico for greed and Korea for lust.
According to Proverbs 6:25, King Solomon says: “Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.” He is exhorting us to do this: 'Do not lust the beauty of the prostitute. Don’t let her obscene eyes to captivate your heart.' Based on this exhortation, I want to think about Proverbs 6:20-35 and receive lessons from God.
First, what is the beauty of the prostitute?
It is "outward adornment". Look at 1 Peter 3:3 – “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.” The beauty of the prostitute is that she looks beautiful with her braided hair, wearing gold jewelry and fine clothes and her appearance is beautiful, so men feel attraction to her. Since she decorates her outward adornment flashily, her outward appearance is enough to attract those men who are driven by the lust of eyes. I saw Internet news before that talked about some mothers in Cameroon, the westernmost country of the continent of Africa, who solder their daughters’ breasts in order not to be raped and be pregnant. And the reason why the mothers do that their own daughters is because when the men see the girls’ breasts their sexual desire is being stimulated and they tend to have sexual imagination (Internet). According to the data from the International Association of Cosmetic Surgery (ISAPS), the "breast augmentation" comes after "liposuction" in the frequency of many kinds of plastic surgery (Internet). This is what King Solomon said in Proverbs 5:20 – “Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife?” The men must rejoice in the wife of their youth, be satisfied her breasts always and always be captivated by her love (vv. 18-19). However, the prostitute seduces the men, especially those who are not satisfied with their wives, with her own appearance and make them to embrace the bosom of the adulteress (v. 20). In addition to her appearance, the lips of an adulteress drip honey (v. 3) in which her smooth tongue (6:24) and her seductive words (2:16) is very tempting. Her tongue is very successful in attracting and seducing men. In particular, her tongue is very successful in seducing the simple who lacks judgment (7:7) and the married men who are not considering their wives as loving does, graceful deer and satisfied with their wives’ breasts (5:19). In addition to her appearance and tongue, the adulteress woman attracts many men's hearts and fall into temptation with her eyes (6:25). How do her eyes tempt the men's hearts? She does so with her flirting eyes (Walvoord). How many men are being tempted by the voluptuous eyes of the prostitute?
This is what King Solomon said in Proverbs 31:30 – “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” He said that the beauty of a woman who does not fear God is vanity. In other words, the beauty of the woman who does not fear God vanishes like smoke (Ps. 37:20). Thus, this is what Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 3:4 – “Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.” In the sight of God, the beauty of a woman is her “inner self” and never her outer appearance. The beauty of the outer person will be for a moment and will be perishable, but the beauty of the inner person is not perishable. Peter is exhorting the women to pursue this unfading beauty of the gentle and quite spirit. Why is Peter encouraging this? It is because it is great worth in God’s sight (v.4).
The woman who is great worth in God’s sight and who is praised by God is the woman who fears God and the daughters of God who seek inner beauty that will not perish. Therefore, the daughters of God, whose appearance seems to be good by others [Ex. Queen Vashti (Esth. 1:11)], should not trust their own beauty and use their fame to become a prostitute (Ezek. 16:15) and commit sins against God. Of course, the sons of God should not fall into the temptation of such woman who believes in her own beauty and commit adultery. We must keep in mind that the beauty of such woman is vanity (Prov. 31:30).
Second, why shouldn’t we lust in our heart after the beauty of the prostitute?
Look at Proverbs 6:26 – “for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.” What does it mean? It means that when we fall into a temptation of the immoral woman (v. 24) and let the beauty of the prostitute to captivate us with her eyes (v. 26) we are finally going to bankrupt and lose our lives (Park Yoon-sun). How many men are searching for the beauty of the prostitute and dating her so that they are squandering their wealth? Look at Proverbs 29:3 – “A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.” I remember talking to the tow truck driver who came to tow my broken car. He told me that when he met many pretty women after divorce, they usually kept on asking to buy stuffs for them. He said that those women dated him because of money. So I kind of suggested him to remarry and have his own family instead of keep on meeting many women and keep on buying stuffs for them. When we look at Proverbs 6:29-31, King Solomon said that the sin of him sleeping with another man’s wife is greater sin than the sin of stealing and “if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.” What does it mean? It means that in order to pay for the sins of adultery, all the wealth of his house will be given. That’s how great the price of paying the sin of sexual unfaithfulness is. What should we do?
Now many men (and women) are playing with love. In other words, many men and women are scooping fire into their lap and walking on hot coals (vv. 27-28). As King Solomon said, no man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned and walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched (vv. 27-28). In a word, many men and women are committing adultery outside of their marriage. This is what King Solomon said about those who are committing adultery outside of their marriage: “But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away.” When we commit the sin of adultery, we will not only find wounds, disgrace and our reproach will not be blotted out but also we will be ruined. And when a man commits adultery to another man's wife, jealousy will arouse her husband’s fury and her husband will not spare in the day of vengeance and will not accept any ransom though the man gives him many gifts (vv. 34-35). What should we do?
Lastly, what should we do in order not to lust in our heart after the beauty of the prostitute?
Look at Proverbs 6:20-24: “My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.” In order for us not to lust in our hearts after the beauty of the prostitute, we must desire the word of God in our hearts. That’s why King Solomon exhorts us to always keep the commands and the laws of God and write them on the tablet of our hearts (3:1-3; 7:1-3). The reason is because the Word of God will not only guide us and watch over us, but will also speak to us (6:22). In other words, God's commands are a lamp that guides us, and it protects us from the forces of darkness. They are “the corrections of discipline” which are the way to life (v. 23). Therefore, we must not leave the God’s commands and laws but keep them in our hearts and obey them. Then, that Word of God will keep us from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife (v. 24). What should we do? We should not desire worldly beauty in our hearts. According to Isaiah 53:2, the Bible says that the Messiah “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” But it seems that we Christians, like the worldly people, are pursuing the beauty that appeals to the people in this world. Although Apostle Peter said “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight,” we are not pursuing the inner beauty that is of great worth in God’s sight (1 Pet. 3:3-4). What is beauty in the sight of God? And we must seek and pursue the beauty of God in order not to seek the beauty of the prostitute in our hearts.
When I think of the beauty of God, I remember Psalm 27:4 – “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” As I live in the desert-like world, one thing I ask of the Lord is that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life so that I may gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and seek him in his temple. With this desperate hope, while living on this earth, not only that I seek the beauty of God, but I want to manifest His beauty. Now the question is what is God’s beauty? I want to humbly receive the Word Isiah 35:1-2: “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.” The life of seeking the beauty of God is the life that desires and pursues the glory of God. When we live for the glory of God in this desert-like world, we can manifest God’s beauty. I hope and pray that we humble ourselves and do the will of God and obey His Word until we die, so that we can live for His glory and manifest the beauty of God in this world.