WHOREMONGER, UNCLEAN, COVETOUS, IDOLATER
Wednesday – February 8, 2017
Wow, Wednesday, hump day, is upon us. In our obedience much will be accomplished for the Kingdom of God today. Do not be looking for the physical evidence, acknowledge the progress made by faith being thankful to God for the privilege to have a role in His Kingdom as a family member.
Ephesians 5:1-5 (KJV)
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Remember how this chapter started: Ephesians 5:1 “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;” Just another reminder that Paul is talking to the Church, not the people shacked up down the street who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior. He is talking to us, the children of God. As we move into Ephesians 5:5 Paul is talking about the whoremonger, unclean person, covetous man, and idolaters among us. Do you know these people at your Church? The Apostle Paul is telling us that they are among us and perhaps we are one.
A whoremonger is generally thought of as a male prostitute, a fornicator, one who prostitutes themselves for gain and may be associated with being effeminate and I suppose by extension homosexual (The Complete Word Study Dictionary – New Testament). The physical is obvious so do not forget to think about this on the spiritual level. We commonly prostitute ourselves to another person to gain favor. It is a transaction not a reflection of the true sentiment of our heart. Noah Webster’s 1828 edition of the American Dictionary of the English Language defines ‘whoremonger’ as follows: “One who practices lewdness.” We do not commonly use the word ‘lewd’ or ‘lewdness’ commonly today so let’s take a look at this so we not miss out on what Paul is communicating to us. Synonyms for lewdness are; coarseness, filthiness, vulgarity, profanity, uncouthness, vileness, unwholesomeness, rudeness, immorality, smut, obscenity, grubbiness or offensiveness. Don’t get your hackles up but we have all (male and female alike) been whoremongers at one time or another but hopefully not now as you read this. If we are prostituting ourselves let’s repent and stop now. Obviously if it is physical stop but I am focused on being a spiritual whoremonger. Sometimes this is called ‘brown nosing’.
Next we come to the issue of uncleanness which is the second time the Apostle Paul is mentioning this within a few verses. Then and today this relates to homosexuality. We hear a lot of talk today about the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) agenda and has even been advanced by the heavy hand of government. Consider the following passage and how this is being played out in our society daily. This is a wickedness almost without comparison. The practices of the LGBT persons attempts to nullify and are a violation of the earliest mandates of God to be fruitful and multiply. Have you noticed how just about every TV series has a homosexual situation that is always displayed in a good light, frequently with a child involved like they produced that child.
Romans 1:24-27 (KJV)
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Leviticus 18:22 (KJV)
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Homosexuality was not allowed to exist among the ancient Hebrews neither can it be allowed to be a part of the Church today. That is not to say a homosexual cannot be saved but it is to say that they cannot remain homosexual after a period of proper teaching. Now, what about the covetous man? As you know the forbidding of covetousness is Number Ten of the big ten.
Exodus 20:17 (KJV)
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
To covet is a verb meaning to take pleasure in, to desire, to lust, to covet, to be desirable, to desire passionately, to desire intensely such as a neighbor’s house, wife, or other assets like silver or gold or the fields and lands of others, to envy or taking pleasure in committing spiritual fornication (The Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament). Synonyms of covet include: envy, jealousy, desire, greedy, avaricious, acquisitive, however the antonym is generous. That last piece of information really casts a lot of light on covetousness in that a generous person is probably not covetous whereas a tight, miserly, or overly frugal person is likely to be covetous. I will pick-up with the admonition not to be an idolater tomorrow.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
