Proverbs 7:12
"She is now in the streets, now in the squares, and lurks by every corner"
Solomon wants to educate young people to the ways of the world in this section of the proverb. When a young man comes across an adulteress who is willing to break her marriage vows for the illicit pleasure of being with him, he feels that this is special, that he is special, and that she is special. Solomon is trying to strip that myth out of his and her mind.
He is not the long-lost love of this woman's mind; there will be others. She is not special; she is just responding to the age-old temptation. Everywhere people go there are people who are like this and who will get caught up in a moment of lust if given the opportunity.
When people are about to commit adultery, they begin to believe a myth that their relationship is special. This love is so different that it does not have to obey the standard rules of morality. This love is something that cannot be denied. That is a fabrication of lust. It is not special; this kind of cheap lust is everywhere. Breaking your marriage vows is never a good thing. God is not ever calling you to be unfaithful.
Notice that Solomon says she is in the streets, now in the squares, and lurks by every corner. He is not saying that this particular woman is in all of these places. But this kind of opportunity with this kind of woman is in all of these places. If you are dumb enough to advertise by the way you act, talk, dress, and flirt with members of the opposite sex, you can find people who will break their commitment to marriage for an adulteress affair with you. Solomon is saying these people are everywhere. It is not special. It is not a one-time love.
The movies and television have tried to play up the idea of love at first sight. This is the idea that you can look at a person and so totally fall in love with them and know they are the perfect person for you and that they love you in a deep and lasting way. That is not possible in one look. You can feel lust for their beauty in one look and want to believe that the other things are true. But this idea of love at first sight cannot tell you what type of virtue they have; how much they love the Lord; whether they will make a great wife and mother or a great husband and father. The steamy fantasy of "I have got to have you" is real but it is not usually love; it is almost always lust. Real love takes time to flower and develop.
Love is meeting needs, pursuing, and pleasing the other person whom God has selected for you. If you are married, God has already selected that person for you. This person is your mate. If you allow your head to be turned by the beauty or personality or sensuality of a different person, it is not love but lust and you should head in the opposite direction.
Let me say it again – it is not a special love that you cannot deny yourself. It is lust that you could find in any place you go. The New Testament says: Flee youthful lusts; flee immorality, every other sin which a man commits is outside the body but immorality is in the body.
Do not believe that you have just stumbled across the special one that you missed when you were getting married. There are people everywhere who shout that they are available by the places they visit; the way they dress; the provocative things that they say; the types of activities that they get involved with; the way they look at people; the way they touch people. Do not fall for this "specialness" myth.
Solomon is screaming: She is everywhere; it is not special!
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz