Lesson Fourteen

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT (1)

YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY

Burden to Impart:

God's original arrangement for men and women is seen in the creation. God prepared a wife for Adam and brought her to him and joined them together as husband and wife (Gen. 2:22; Matt. 19:6). Their union was to be permanent, breakable only by death (Rom. 7:2). Their commitment and loyalty to each other was to continue throughout the rest of their lives. As God is faithful and unchangeable in His commitment to His people, a husband and wife are to be faithful and loyal to each other.

Memory Verse:

"...What God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:6b).

Facts to Teach:

  1. What we read in Genesis chapters 1-2 reveals to us how God planned and arranged things for man, for sin did not yet come into the world and spoil everything. Everything God created for man was not only right, it was the best. It was very good" (1:31).
  2. God created one man and God prepared one woman especially for him. Not only did God prepare her for Adam, He Himself brought her to Adam and "yoked" them together (Gen. 2:18, 22; Matt. 19:6). Adam did not have to go looking for her, or try to convince or win her to be his bride. God Himself would look after Adam s need.
  3. God Himself established the marriage of Adam and Eve. Therefore, marriage was according to God's plan so that man could both fulfill God's purpose and also live a happy and satisfied life.
  4. God intended that Adam and Eve would live their entire lives together. They were to share everything together (both the good times and the trials also). They were to be committed to one another in an unbreakable bond. Love is called the "golden chain" that joins two people together when they get married. That chain is actually attached by God Himself and should never be broken by man.
  5. Marriage is a commitment of two people to one another in an exclusive way. It is the promise of a man to share his most intimate life and love with only one woman, his wife, from then on. Likewise for his wife.
  6. God blessed Adam and Eve after their "marriage" and told them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with their many children and descendents (Gen. 1:28). God wanted to see the couple He had put together in His wisdom, become a family.

(This lesson is to show God's proper arrangement for husband and wife in marriage. There is no need to mention adultery or divorce in this lesson. Try to save these matters for the following lesson.)