There is probably no greater nor deeper pain that a person can inflict on another human…than the pain of betrayal…when you violate the trust of a loved one. Especially when it’s a person you are in ‘covenant’ with, like a spouse. And it doesn’t always have to be ‘physical’ either. Whenever we turn to others to meet a need in our personal life that was intended to be met by our covenant partner…it can oftentimes cause irrevocable and lasting damage. This should not come as a surprise to anyone.

We use the term ‘adultery’, and it is such a big ‘No-no’ that God included it when He gave us the Ten Commandments (#7). In fact when Jesus delivered His ‘sermon on the mount’, He specifically singled out that particular sin and went even further with what all it involved. You can read for yourself in Matt. 5:27-28.

That ‘act of betraying’ a spouse can, and has… provoked a wide range of emotional responses from the betrayed partner ranging from calloused indifference to intense rage that led to murder. Interestingly…there have been some court cases over the years when a person who carried out such violent action in response were given ‘reduced sentences’ if not dismissed all together because the courts recognized the person who was betrayed acted out in a ‘heat of passion’. While perhaps not verbally spoken, there was this underlying awareness that the betrayer ‘had it coming’.

Back in the OT under Mosaic law, adultery was such a serious offense that the person involved in committing this violation was to be stoned to death, publicly; and not just the betraying spouse…but the person they were committing the sin with also. The Pharisees who brought that woman ‘caught in the very act’ to Jesus to be stoned…somehow forgot to bring the man she was with, if you can believe that! (John 8:1-11).

While most are familiar with the term ‘adultery’ or even ‘emotional adultery’, have you ever considered what ‘spiritual adultery’ might entail? Paul touches on this very thing in Romans 7, using the law concerning marriage as a brilliant, if not perfect example (1-3). He points out there that if a wife is still married but then joins herself to another man…she shall be called an ‘adulteress’ (2). (Yes, that works both ways). Paul is not dealing with marriage counseling here either. He simply is suggesting that if we claim to be ‘married or joined to Christ’ (the ‘church is His bride we know Eph. 5:26-27)…yet our ‘old man’ is still alive and well…then that becomes a problem. What do we know about those who ‘belong to Christ’ based on what we read in Galatians 5:24? (I’m telling you, that verse will work on you, as well it should.)

Then, we read in James’s letter that doubled-minded ‘believers’ who still ‘love the world’ while professing to belong to Christ make themselves an ‘enemy of God’; and what term does James use to call out such people in verse 4, of chapter 4?

So having ‘set the table’ here with all this focus on pain and betrayal that results from adultery, isn’t it interesting how often God reminds us that He too…is a ‘jealous God’? Go revisit the first two commandments in Deut. 5:6-10, and take your time with it. Those would be from the same 10 Commandments that many Christians today believe need to be hung up in public school classrooms. Then go make a note of verse 2-3 in the opening chapter of the book of Nahum.

Oh, but that is all in the Old Testament and God is ‘not like that’ anymore, you say? When did God change? (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). But if you are more comfortable drawing insight and truth from the NT…then turn to 1 Corinthians 10 and read vs. 14-22. This takes us back to the ‘meat’ of this lesson concerning the sin of ‘idolatry’.

Just as John did in his closing letter from his first epistle (5:21), Paul also tells us to ‘flee from idolatry’ (10). He then goes right in to the partaking of the covenant meal at the table of communion before drawing a line of distinction between believers and non-believers. Look what he accuses the Gentiles of doing in vs. 20, how they offer sacrifices to ‘demons, and not to God’. And in the same breadth, makes it clearly known: “I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” For those who may be reluctant to acknowledge the existence of such ‘entities’, what else might Paul be referring to here? Sounds to me like ‘demons’ are ‘a thing’ to be reckoned with and to avoid altogether (Eph. 4:27; 6:12).

But read further down in chapter 10 there and underline the question Paul asks of us in vs. 21-22. “Do we want to provoke the Lord to jealousy?” This happens when we attempt to ‘drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons’. This would be a good time to ask the question: “So what do demons have to do with idols and idolatry?”

I’m glad you asked. What do you think is the underlying (an unseen element) that causes our hearts to ‘go astray’ and chase after ‘idols’? I would submit it’s the same thing that causes a spouse to stray and get involved with someone who is not their spouse – all those ‘good feelings’. In fact, those ‘feelings’ can be so strong and addictive, that when one yields to them, they will often admit to ‘feeling powerless’ against that ‘allure’ and it leads to sin (James 1:13-16). Think of all the songs that have been written trying to put into words what that betraying spouse was ‘feeling’…(How can something that seems so right …be so wrong?).

Do you remember what our definition of ‘idol’ boiled down to? It’s a ‘false god’. And what did God make loud clear and up front from His very first commandment? We are to ‘have no other gods before Him’.

Friends…we are not dealing with ‘flesh and blood’…if you want to get to the ‘root of the problem’ here (Eph. 6:12). We are dealing with ‘demon spirits’ that know how to ‘push those buttons and pull those chains in us’ when it comes to getting us to take our eyes off of God and pursue ‘sensual pleasures’ in order that we might gratify the lusts of the flesh and eyes’, not to mention the ‘pride of life’. What do you think that ‘door’ is for the enemy to ‘come in like a flood’ and to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’? (Isa. 59:19; 1 John 2:15-17; John 10:10).

Why do you think the very first thing the Spirit of God begins to do when we first come to Him…is to lead us to ‘put this old nature to death’ (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5-8). But when we fail to follow Jesus…and then we ‘give him (Satan) place’ …is it any wonder that things begin to spiral out of control in our lives? (Eph. 4:27; Matt. 12:43-45).

Yes…demons are ‘attached’ or ‘behind’ every idol that would draw our affections away from God. How do you think he successfully got Eve to take that first bite, back in the garden? (Gen. 3:1-5).

I read years ago, a comment by a marriage counselor who spent years working with couples whose marriages had been ‘broken’ by acts of betrayal and adultery. His statement was “There is no excuse for an affair, but there are reasons.” The same could be said about ‘idolatry’, and we will look further into that…tomorrow; Lord willing.