Proverbs 7:1-23
I Thessalonians 4:1-8
In Homer’s Odyssey, the Sirens were gorgeous, but dangerous creatures, who lived on rocky islands in the Aegean Sea. From the waist down fish, from the waist up strikingly beautiful women, the Sirens sang spellbindingly beautiful songs that would lure passing sailors to their deaths. As they sang, sailors couldn’t resist the temptation and flung themselves over the sides of the ship to swim toward the enchanting voices, only to be dashed to death upon the jagged rocks that surrounded islands.
A couple hundred years before Homer composed the Odyssey, a man named Solomon penned the Proverbs. In chapter 7, he blares out a warning to resist the temptation of the sirens:
Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes. Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family. Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.
While I was at the window of my house, looking through the curtain, I saw some naive young men, and one in particular who lacked common sense. He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman, strolling down the path by her house. It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell. The woman approached him, seductively dressed and sly of heart. She was the brash, rebellious type, never content to stay at home. She is often in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner. She threw her arms around him and kissed him, and with a brazen look she said, “I’ve just made my peace offerings and fulfilled my vows. You’re the one I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are! My bed is spread with beautiful blankets, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen. I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses, for my husband is not home. He’s away on a long trip. He has taken a wallet full of money with him and won’t return until later this month. “So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap, awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life. (Proverbs 7:1-23).
Now having heard Solomon’s warning, would like to venture a guess as to what commands he was referring to? “Thou shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14)
And “Thou shall not covet. Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” (Exodus 20:17).
Homer, Solomon; does the great Apostle Paul have anything he’d like to add?
Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor; not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. (I Thessalonians 4:1-8).
Next month we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong saying, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Most people aren’t aware that as he was climbing back in the lunar lander, Neal quipped to himself, “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.” Many at NASA thought it was a remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in the Russian space program. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong, but he would just smile. Until 1995, while answering questions in Tampa, he finally talked about it. In 1938 he was a kid playing baseball in his backyard in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He chased a ball which landed near an open window of the Gorsky’s. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, 8-year-old Armstrong heard his neighbor, Mrs. Gorsky, shouting at Mr. Gorsky: “Sex? You’ll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!” 1
The almost 3,000-year-old image of the seductive sirens luring their victims to their deaths upon the rocks is as illustrative today as it was in Homer’s time.
+ Read More
Recent Comments