"For her house sinks down to death and her tracks lead to the dead"
It is terribly hard to get young men to realize that they cannot give full vent to their sexual desires. Young men are at the height of their interest in sexuality and yet if they give into these pressures, they will destroy a great deal of their potential in life.
Solomon says if you go after wisdom, you will avoid entering into the house that sinks down to the dead. He uses this vivid imagery of a sinking house that once you enter it you will not escape as it drops deeper and deeper. This is very similar to the dark and depressing imagery that was in the song by The Animals called “The House of the Rising Sun.” The young man screams from this house: Mothers tell your sons; don't do the things that I have done. He is trapped in this brothel by his own sexual desires to which he has given full vent.
This tempting diversion captures so many young promising men who could make a real difference in the world. They need to learn wisdom or they too will enter the house that leads to death.
I was so encouraged the other day to talk with a young man who is taking the necessary biblical precautions to guard his heart from pornography and sexual conquest. He has entered into an accountability group with another young man, and they are learning the biblical solutions to lustful temptations. We lose too many young men – especially in our day – to the sexualized culture around us.
sinks
This is an interesting Hebrew word suahwhich means bows down, submits, humble toward. Solomon chooses a very interesting word to convey the idea that this woman's activities actually submit to direction from the great alienator: death. What does death do but separates body from soul. This woman and her actions separate people from their life.
The translators use the words sinks downto suggest a passive result of her actions, but rather it is an active submission to destruction that is pictured here. She is an active place of death. The activities of the adulteress is the origin of much damage, destruction, and alienation within the society. A man pursues what he wants and destroys much of what he really needs in its pursuit.
tracks
This is the Hebrew word magalwhich means track. She has a well-worn track, and it doesn't go to paradise as it is often advertised. Instead it goes to the place of the departed spirits. Solomon is saying that you can see where her path leads; it goes to death. He is trying to point out the difference in the pathways of wisdom and foolishness. One is looking for and receiving life. The other is selfish and impulsive and receives the penalty of its greed and self-centeredness – separation from everyone and everything that means anything.
dead
This is an interesting Hebrew word repaimwhich means the departed spirits, the ghosts of the dead, the shades. This was a synonym for the place of the dead or the spirits of the dead.
It is important to warn young men not to follow after the easy sexual conquest. It is important to tell them that while this young lady looks new and nice and pleasurable, this scenario has been played out many times before. The story of adultery, fornication, and the sexualized life always ends badly. Don't fall for this. Choose wisely. Wait to fall in love with a real woman who can satisfy you and all the aspects of your being. She will be worth waiting for. Remember, if you don't wait, you probably will never meet the woman who could have been your soul mate.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz