Proverbs 7:18-20 (ESV)
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.
The father continues to recount what he witnessed between the young man lacking sense and the adulteress. Because the young man was unguarded and lacking discernment, the adulteress quickly overtook him by appealing to his desires. She presented the opportunity as irresistible, something too good to pass up. Yet what appeared attractive was a trap. He was being pursued, manipulated, and deceived. She had no concern for him. She was driven by her own sinful desires.
She now openly invites him into sexual sin. “Come,” she says. “Let us take our fill of love till morning.” “Let us delight ourselves with love.” Her words promise fullness, pleasure, and satisfaction. The language even echoes the joy and intimacy described in the Song of Solomon, where love is rightly expressed within marriage. But here it is twisted. She takes something God designed for covenant faithfulness and uses it to entice him into covenant breaking. She appeals to a legitimate desire but directs it toward an illegitimate end.
She then works to remove any sense of danger. She says her husband is away on a long journey. He has taken money with him. He will not return until the full moon. In other words, there is time. There is privacy. There is no risk of being caught. She presents sin as safe and without consequence. Not that it is right, but that it is hidden.
But she cannot be trusted. She has already proven herself unfaithful. If she has broken her marriage covenant, why would she suddenly be truthful with him? She is skilled in deception and determined to get what she wants. The young man is nothing to her. He is simply the next opportunity.
This is a clear picture of how sin works. It promises pleasure. It minimizes risk. It hides the consequences. It speaks with confidence and urgency. And it always lies. Just as in Genesis 3, the enemy assured Eve that she would not surely die. Sin still makes the same claim. It tells us that disobedience will satisfy and that nothing will happen. What sin are you treating as safe because it seems hidden? What desire, even a good one, are you tempted to fulfill outside of God’s design? Do not negotiate with sin. Do not linger near it. Call it what it is. Turn from it. Run to Christ, who not only forgives sin but frees us from its power. The wise see through sin’s lies and do not give in.