Scripture Union Daily Guide 14th February 2021 – Sexual Purity
Today’s Devotional; Scripture Union Daily Guide for Today 14th February 2021. May you be blessed as you read on.
TOPIC: SEXUAL PURITY
OPENING PRAYER: Plant my steps in the sure promises of your word today, dear Lord.
SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 22:13-30
13If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her, dislikes her 14and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” 15then the young woman,s father and mother shall bring to the town elders at the gate proof that she was a virgin. 16Her father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. 17Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin., But here is the proof of my daughter,s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, 18and the elders shall take the man and punish him. 19They shall fine him a hundred shekelsof silver and give them to the young woman,s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives. 20If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman,s virginity can be found, 21she shall be brought to the door of her father,s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father,s house. You must purge the evil from among you. 22If a man is found sleeping with another man,s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. 23If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death?the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man,s wife. You must purge the evil from among you. 25But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. 26Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, 27for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed, there was no one to rescue her. 28If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29he shall pay her father fifty shekelsof silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives. 30A man is not to marry his father,s wife; he must not dishonor his father,s bed.
Question(s) for Reflection:
• Is there any command for me to obey?
TODAY’S OUTLINE: SCRIPTURE UNION DAILY GUIDE 14TH FEBRUARY 2021
Israelites who have been chosen by God to reflect His love and holiness must observe the highest standards of morality in sexual matters. The passage makes it clear that 1. Sexual intercourse is approved only between married couples – (Heb 13: 4). Any extra-marital relationship is forbidden. 2. In most cases where an unlawful relationship develops between a man and a woman, the two are to be held responsible.
3. Decency is expected when a man interrelates with a woman. 4. Sexual intercourse is forbidden between relatives. Notice how God values virginity and hates an unmarried girl getting pregnant in her parents’ house. The strict penalties prescribed show how God views the offences. Even though morality does not attract the death penalty in our law courts today, many men and women have passed the death sentence on themselves with sexual sin.
This is reflected in the number of people suffering and dying from sexually transmitted diseases. The world may be trying to dodge the issue by promoting the so-called ‘safe sex’, but God’s standard remains the only guarantee against such death. We shall therefore be wise to enlist God’s help to keep us pure and so enable us to decisively deal with lust any moment it shows up. What should be our attitude towards sexual immorality and why (1 Cor. 6: 15 – 20 cf. 1 Cor. 3: 16 – 17)?
Practice/Word Application
• And so what? Whatever may be happening around us, God expects His children to remain sexually pure. Are you?
• Any new insight or reinforcement of what you already know?
Closing Prayer:
• Pray for the moral life of our nation and the church as well.
• Pray for the activities of interdenominational Christian fellowships – OF NC, ACF etc. – in their ministry to foreigners
Offer a prayer of faith in line with Daniel 6:27 (nlt) – 27. He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
Bible In One Year: Isa. 59-61; Mark 14:1-26
Thank you for reading Today’s Scripture Union Daily Guide 14th February 2021 – Sexual Purity. God bless you!
Scripture Union Daily Guide 13th February 2021 – Care For Others