Sex before Marriage – The Seventh Commandment

Sex before Marriage

The Seventh Commandment

God’s Law discouraged premarital sex.

Exodus 22:16, 17

“If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to be married and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins.”

Deuteronomy 22:28, 29

“If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.”

Under the Law of God, premarital sex was to lead to marriage, contingent on the permission of the woman’s father. If the father refused to accept the young man who had lain with his daughter, then a fine was to be paid which would be equal to the normal dowry for a marriage.

These statutes seem designed to discourage the kind of premarital sexual activity which is so widespread in our society today. Illicit sex must lead either to marriage or a fine. Either way, a young man living in a community where these statutes were faithfully enforced would think twice about having sex with an unmarried woman.

God’s intention for sex is that it be reserved for marriage. He designed His Law to enforce that intention and to discourage profligate and premarital sexual relations.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.