A “Crust of Bread”!

Proverbs 6 goes back to the warning against sexual sin.  Let’s read verses 24-29:

 24 To keep you from the evil woman,
From the flattering tongue of a seductress.  25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.  26 For by means of a harlot
A man is reduced to a crust of bread;
And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.  27  Can a man take fire to his bosom,
And his clothes not be burned?  28 Can one walk on hot coals,
And his feet not be seared?  29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

The imagery here is so powerful, so compelling…because the damage done via sexual sin is so powerful and compelling.  The man is warned against being drawn to the evil woman.  Note:  These proverbs that deal with sexual sin are written from a male perspective but please don’t think that God thinks that sexual sin is always the “woman’s fault”.  That is not true at all.  However, in a broad fashion, the man is the one who is usually drawn away visually and so the Bible is accurate in its reflection of what appeals to a man.

What strikes me about this passage is verse 26:  “By the means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread”.  This could mean that all of his resources have gone to pay for the harlot so he has nothing left but bread, or the meaning could be that the damage done by the sexual sin reduces him to the level (or value) of a crust of bread.  Then verses 27-29 remind the reader that there will be consequences.  Most often these consequences are not immediate but they will come.  These warnings in Proverbs are so timely for our culture today, saturated with innuendo and sexual promiscuity.  Please take the wise counsel of the writer of Proverbs and stay away!

In wisdom,
Eric

Share

Leave a Reply