The seventh commandment in the Bible is found in Exodus 20:14, “You shall not commit adultery.” Adultery is sexual intimacy before, after, or outside of covenant marriage between one man and one woman. God regarded marriage as sacred. Therefore, adultery in the Bible was taken very seriously, as well as it should be today. In the Bible, the adulterer could be put to death. Leviticus 20:10 says, “The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” Dealing with adultery was so intense because it was to be an example of how believers dealt with the seriousness of their relationship with the Lord. There are different forms of adultery in addition to physical adultery. If a Christian turns his or her affections away from the Lord and onto something else, it is considered spiritual adultery. When someone turns their interests from their spouse to another, without acting on it physically, this is emotional adultery. This often leads to physical adultery; in fact, physical adultery rarely happens without emotional adultery first being present. Therefore, married couples should do everything possible to protect their relationships. Christians should also do whatever is necessary to protect their relationships with their Savior and Lord.
