Page 154 - Push Back

Exodus 22:16-17
And if a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and lies with her, he must pay a dowry for her
to be his wife.

Under the covenant of the Law, only one man could ever go beyond the veil in the Temple and
enter the Holy of Holies. This man was the High Priest. When the High Priest died, another High
Priest would be appointed, and then only he could enter beyond the veil. This limitation of one
living man having access to go beyond the veil is mirrored in the relationship Yahweh has
established between a man and his wife. The apostle Paul speaks of it in this way.

Romans 7:2-3
For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband
dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then if, while her husband is living,
she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free
from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.

The woman’s body is most holy. Only one man may enter her body, that man being her husband.
As long as the woman’s husband is living, no other man may engage in sexual union with her. To
do so is an egregious violation of the will of Yahweh. The woman is committing adultery if she
allows another man to enter into sexual union with her as long as her husband is living. It matters
not whether the woman gets a divorce. The commandment of Christ is that if a woman leaves her
husband, she must remain single, or be restored to her husband.

I Corinthians 7:10-11
But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her
husband (but if she does leave, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband)...

Yahweh desires holy union among His creation. The word “holy” (kadosh in the Hebrew
language of the Old Testament, and hagios in the Greek language of the New Testament) bears
the meaning of “something declared clean, set apart as sacred.” Such is the will of Yahweh for
the bodily union of the man and woman. It is to be preserved in purity and viewed s holy.

Under the covenant of the Law, the penalty for adultery (violating the holy physical union of a
man and his wife) and the penalty for idolatry (violating the holy spiritual union between man
and God) were the same. They were both punishable by death. The judgment of God, that those
who defiled either the holy physical union, or the holy spiritual union, were worthy of death,
reveals the seriousness of the matter.

Under the New Covenant, there has been NO alteration of the way in which Yahweh views
violations of holy union. The difference between the Old and New Covenant is that there is now
forgiveness of sin through the atoning blood of Christ. With very tragic consequences, many
Christians are confusing forgiveness with the idea of acceptance. Neither idolatry, adultery, or
any other violation of holy union, have become acceptable in Yahweh’s sight. The apostle Paul
reproves such errant thinking among believers.