Replacing Stolen Women

[MarvelousMarvin]

Proverbs 6:30-31 NKJV People do not despise a thief If he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. (31) Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.

This passage got me to thinking...

Satan stole my first woman. She believed his lies about the grass being greener in another man's pasture, and in a way, that was partially true. She married a lawyer who has a lot of green stuff in the bank.

So here's the question: would it be using this passage out of context to say that I should have seven women in her place?

I am undecided, but lean toward thinking it would be out of context. That is because women are a gift from God that are to be loved and cherished, not property to be traded in any manner.

And a woman given to me by Satan might not be a good thing!

But if those women are rescued from Satan's clutches because of the sacrifice made by Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, that might be different...

 

[Dr. K.R. Allen]

I would take the sevenfold not to be a carry over to an exact replication of what was lost. In other words, if someone stole a lawn mower from our shed we would not use this verse to justify us having seven given back to us. Of course God in his sovereignty could do that but the point of the text I believe here is that if we suffer loss God will give back to more than what we lost in some way or another.

We have to keep in mind the historical grammatical literary rule. The books of Proverbs is wisdom literature. These are general principles. Thus we look to find the principle behind the factual statement. Thus, by that rule of genre analysis we look for principles and not precise one to one replications.

 

[DiscussingTheTopic]

30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32 But a man who commits adultery has no sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.

30Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

31But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

32But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

Context the NIV and KJV uses the word "but" in verse 32 (Although we know NIV 1984 probably used the word "but" improperly elsewhere as I posted before)

For stealing pay back sevenfold, except for the other exceptions where different proportions or rules are used

For adultery death instead of repayment

A dead man cannot earn seven wives to repay the one

 

[steve]

would you really want 7 more like the one that got stolen?

 

[Mark C]

would you really want 7 more like the one that got stolen?

The point of Isaiah 4:1-2 is that there will come a time when many women who have allowed themselves to be deceived by the 'prince of this world' will wake up to that evil and return to YHVH and His instruction. Only then are they able to "return" to the house, and say in true repentance to a man who is able to cover them in His Name, "I eat my own food and wear my own clothing...but let me take on your name, to remove my reproach."

They key is that they will have to return first to Him, in obedience, before they are ready for anything else.

 

[CecilW]

PolyDoc:

My suggestion would be to forget about numbers. They're irrelevant and can be hurtful.

Do you want a wife to feel as though she's a number, and you've got a card to fill up, like those cards you can get to hold quarters from all 50 states? "I've got Alaska and Hawaii and Oregon and Washington, but I'm still looking for California"? Or worse! "I've got Irish, and Italian, and Korean and Ashante, but I'm still looking for a Phillipina,a Bulgarian, and a Native American to fill out my bed, um, card"!!!?

When men are really focussed on "the next", this tends to be what the current wife or wives feel like. NOT good!

Much better to be content where we are, and focused on finishing strong, and thankful for whatever God unfolds for us as we go along.

 

[MarvelousMarvin]

Steve said:

would you really want 7 more like the one that got stolen?

Did I not say:

And a woman given to me by Satan might not be a good thing!

And, of course, upon further reflection...

When I married my first woman, I did not spend one moment in prayer about whether or not that marriage was within God's Will. Even though we both professed to be Christians, even to the point of being very faithful in attending church and giving tithes and offerings, our lives did not show any real level of commitment to the Lord.

After I became a true Christian (I think I have talked about that a little bit in other threads) she became increasingly hostile toward me and my attempts to lead my family, even refusing to participate in any kind of family devotions. It was less than seven years after that when she left, as soon as our youngest daughter was in college.

The way she acted, even before I really surrendered completely to my Lord and Savior but more so after, maybe she was Satan's all along and he just took back what was already his!

Thankfully, both of my daughters are serving the Lord, and are married to ministers. My 8 grand-kids are being raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord by parents who love each other, love their kids, and, above all else, love the Lord. Because of God's help, I must have done something right.

Besides all that, the woman I have now is 70 times the woman that my first one ever dreamed of being! And she loves the Lord more than I do, if that is possible.

 

[steve]

Steve said:

would you really want 7 more like the one that got stolen?

Did I not say:

And a woman given to me by Satan might not be a good thing!

.

dude, you missed the "emoticon modifier"

would you really want 7 more like the one that got stolen?

the wink is to indicate that it is all in fun

 

[Mark C]

But is was STILL an interesting observation, steve...

 

[steve]

But is was STILL an interesting observation, steve...

thanx for getting it, i try to appeal to multiple levels of intelligence and humour at the same time. it makes it so delicious
sometimes my stuff is so obscure that no one seemingly gets it.

 

[nicola]

"And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." Matt 29:19

I believe you have more coming to you PolyDoc....just hold on

 

[Curtis]

This scriptural ordinance is obligatory on the thief specifically and in my mind is meant to provide a disincentive on stealing as well as guideline in the event of it happening. I would consider it entirely inapplicable in the more complex relational context that you mentioned.