What is the meaning of the words of the immoral woman written on the book of Proverbs 7:17 to 20?

Bible Gateway passage: Proverbs 7:17-20 - Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

“16 I have spread my couch with rugs and cushions of tapestry, with striped sheets of fine linen of Egypt. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; let us console and delight ourselves with love. 19 For the man is not at home; he is gone on a long journey; 20 He has taken a bag of money with him and will come home at the day appointed [at the full moon].”

Clearly this passage about a naive young man who is lured into bed by a wayward/brash/loud/rebellious and “persuasive” married woman of “fair speech” is a warning against immorality and adultery. But there is much more to these verses. Romans 15:4 says of the Old Testament:

“Everything written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us strength to go on. They encourage us and give us hope.”

There are layers of meaning to the entire Old Testament (God's word,) including Proverbs 7, especially as it concerns believers in Christ today. Psalm 92 says of the Lord God:

“5 What mighty miracles and Your power at work, just to name a few.

Depths of purpose and layers of meaning

saturate everything You do.

6 Such amazing mysteries found within every miracle

that nearly everyone seems to miss.

Those with no discernment can never really discover

the deep and glorious secrets hidden in your ways.”

God’s ways are infinitely higher than man’s. For instance, Romans 5:20 says:

“The law was given so that sin would increase. But where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more.”

In man’s reckoning, the law was given for man to keep so that sin would decrease but God’s word says following the law is how sin has dominion (Romans 6:14.) Without His discernment, one cannot see how God’s grace increased even more where sin increased - this is revealed to us in the account of Peter’s denial of Christ and subsequent restoration to glory. Peter broke the Ninth Commandment (You shall not bear false witness….) Unlike Judas who committed a similar sin of betrayal, pridefully turned to the law (human striving at restitution) to make himself right with God and got devoured by our adversary the devil, Peter humbled himself under the mighty hand of God; he waited on God’s Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) for restoration. He ended up being given the charge of feeding Christ’s sheep and preaching a sermon where 3000 people got saved- right in the presence of those who made him so fearful that he lied about his relationship with Christ. That’s how “where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more.” Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. He saves from sins and causes us to live right.

Discernment is a gift of Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Christ Himself shows us how to have discernment to discover the deep and glorious secrets hidden in God's word, including Proverbs 7. Recall those two disciples (Cleopas and his companion) on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24? They were sad because they felt that all hope was lost since Jesus had been crucified. They did not recognize the Lord Jesus as the one who walked with them on the way. Here's what Christ did as they went:

"27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures."

That same evening, the two disciples went to Jerusalem to share their experience of Christ with the other disciples. Jesus appeared to them there; check out what He did in verse 45 (MSG)-

“He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way.”

There was no New Testament at this time. Christ taught His disciples about Himself from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is filled with faith pictures (typology) of our Saviour Jesus Christ and our salvation in Him. Christ teaches us to read the Old Testament by bringing Him out of ALL the Scriptures. In one of the most popular passages of the New Testament -John 3:14-17. Christ Himself made a reference to Himself in the Old Testament:

the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness for the salvation of the Israelites is a picture of Christ lifted up to save the world from sin and death- to cause us to “not perish but have eternal life.”

1 Corinthians 15:56-57 says: “56 The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. 57 But let us give thanks to God! He gives us the victory because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.”

The serpent's sting that was producing symptoms that led to the death of some of the Israelites represents the sinner/old nature that all mankind inherited from Adam- “By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19.

The law gives sin its power. Trying to keep the law in order to be godly or “not perish but have eternal life" has the same effect as the Israelites that were bitten by snakes rushing off to save themselves from the deathly effects of the snake sting within them aka acts of sin that lead to death. Bear in mind that Christ Himself made this typology concerning our salvation in Him. We are saved from the sin nature (snake sting) which makes man able to produce symptoms of acts of sin that lead to death through utter dependence on Him, putting no confidence in human effort aka arm of flesh.

We who believe in Jesus are saved from the serpent's sting of death that is sin, the law that strengthens sin (1 Corinthians 15:56,) their deathly effects (Titus 2:14) and have eternal life the same way the Israelites that were bitten by snakes were made whole and got to have life: utter trust and dependence on Christ with absolutely no running around trying to do things (law-keeping) that we think will make God like us in order to “not perish but have everlasting life.” No dependence on human effort/strength (law-keeping) in the bid to attain godliness like Eve did. When your believing in Jesus is right, right living will follow.

So where is Christ and our salvation in Him in Proverbs 7 and in fact the entire Book of Proverbs? The Book of Proverbs consistently speaks of two kinds of women:

• The wise woman/Lady Wisdom and
• The adulteress/immoral/promiscuous/ foolish woman

Both women speak a parable of two religious systems or doctrines in the church. The “wise/virtuous woman” doctrine is filled with Wisdom- Christ Himself who is Grace-personified. She is the true church- the bride of Christ. She remains faithful to her Husband. All of her children (the fruit of godliness that those who follow her get to bear) are as a result of her union with her Husband-Jesus Christ.

The “strange woman/adulteress” doctrine partially or totally abandons her Husband and tries to bear fruit (godliness) outside her union with Him. Proverbs 2 says of her and what Wisdom (Jesus Christ) does to save from her:“Proverbs 2:16 (TPT)-

“Only wisdom can save you from the flattery of the promiscuous woman—she’s such a smooth-talking seductress! 17 She left her husband and has forgotten her wedding vows.”

This “strange/adulterous woman” religious system or doctrine is very alluring and her teaching very attractive to many churchgoers because it promotes the seemingly good thing of trying to live a godly life or be godly (like God) by human strength aka obeying the law in order to be right with God. Notice the man that went astray had to be persuaded into yielding to the immoral woman's amorous antics. He had no idea that following this woman would cost him his life: Proverbs 7:

“21 With her many persuasions she caused him to yield;

With her flattering lips she seduced him. 22 Suddenly he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter [not knowing the outcome], Or as one in stocks going to the correction [to be given] to a fool, 23 Until an arrow pierced his liver [with a mortal wound]; Like a bird fluttering straight into the net, He did not know that it would cost him his life.”

The Passion Translation of verses 13-15 says:

“She wrapped her arms around the senseless young man

and held him tight—

she enticed him with kisses that seemed so right.”

This way that leads to death but seems very right to many churchgoers is dependence on human effort at attaining godliness, just as it seemed right to Eve who was also deceived into following that false but very alluring false doctrine of trying to be godly by human effort (obeying the law in order to be godly,) afterall, what is bad in striving for godliness with all of our might? But like the naive man's experience with the adulteress in Proverbs 7, its end is the way of death- Proverbs 14:12-

“There is a way that seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.”

1 Corinthians 1:30 says of God our heavenly Father in Christ- “But of Him you are inChrist Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—”

Recall Proverbs 2 tells us only He (Wisdom) can save from the clutches of this “strange woman/adulteress" false doctrine - Proverbs 2:16 (TPT)-

“Only wisdom can save you from the flattery of the promiscuous woman—she’s such a smooth-talking seductress! 17 She left her husband and has forgotten her wedding vows.”

God's word is very clear about what this strange woman/adulteress doctrine is. See Romans 7:1-4:

"1 Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? 2 For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3 So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries. 4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. 5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.”

"What does this mean? Recall the old nature is the sin nature that all of Adam’s seed inherited from Adam by default? Before we became born-again aka a new creation in Christ having Him as our Righteousness, we were married to Mr. Law where nothing we did could ever make us righteous in God’s sight or worthy of life. The letter kills. We were all condemned to die when we were in a relationship with the Law. Then Christ who is Grace-personified found us. He died for us and as us. As believers in Christ, we are DEAD to Mr. Law and are now MARRIED to Mr. Grace. Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:

“God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone.”

Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 tells us the effect of being married to Grace: “He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”

Remember in Christ we are not under Law but under Grace: "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14. God’s word is saying in Romans 7:1-4 above that getting back under our ex-husband (Mr. Law) for anything at all while claiming to be married to to Mr. Grace is ADULTERY.

This is the definition of the adulteress in Proverbs 7: a part-Law and part-Grace mixture doctrine that is “neither cold nor hot.” Trying to bear the fruit of godliness through the Law yet professing to be in union with Christ who is Grace-personified. Claiming to be made righteous by the obedience of Christ yet counting on human effort-driven activities to get one into God’s good books and enter heaven’s realm.

Thought to clarify that law-keeping is anything at all that one does in order to be godly, righteous, to make God have a good opinion of him or in order to “not perish but have everlasting life.” Christ finished this work at the cross. Only in the Beloved are we accepted. And this does not mean that we who believe are free to wallow in sins as antichrist pastors love to imply. When your believing is right- married to Christ and utterly dependent on Him to cause us to bear fruit to God, right living will follow.

It does not matter whether one is using the law as "guiding principles for morality" or for "moral excellence" or "as a reference point for good and evil" like the tree of same name or for whatever: it is adultery to sustain ANY kind of relationship with Mr. Law while claiming marriage to Christ who is Grace-personified.

Verse 1 says "Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living?"

But ministers in the religious system of the strange woman/adulteress say you who have died to the power of the law should apply it in your daily living and use it to achieve godliness and moral excellence.

Worse, those who hold the belief that Christians have to maintain a relationship with the Law in order to be morally upright imply that our Husband Jesus Christ, Grace-personified, whom they have forsaken for the strange woman (mixture/adulterous doctrine) cannot cause we His bride to bear the fruit of godliness and moral excellence! Such are saying that we need to go under our ex-husband Mr. Law in order to bear the fruit of godliness (be like God) and to be able to live a life of moral excellence since Christ (Grace-personified) has none to give us! No friend! Never! Beware of Satanic ministers who follow and preach this horrid strange woman's adultery that Satan first preached to Eve in Eden. Christ Himself IS godliness andmoral excellence! Believer, 1 Peter 2:3 tells us of our Husband Jesus Christ:

"By His divine power the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of the One who called us by His own honor and glory.”

Everything we need for a life of moral excellence we have under Grace. Believer, we don't need to go and be having an illicit relationship with Mr. Law aka following the mixture/adulteress doctrine like the man in Proverbs 7 in order to get guiding principles for life and godliness when we are married to the Author and Giver of godliness and moral excellence! Law and Grace cannot mix. We have everything we need for life and godliness in our Saviour Jesus Christ to whom we are married. In Christ, under Grace, we are DEAD to the Law. Romans 7:6 says:

"Now, however, we are free from the Law, because we died to that which once held us prisoners."

Also see Romans 7:4-6 for a description of the person who is following the “strange woman/adulteress” doctrine: professing Christ (Grace) yet having an illicit relationship with the Law in order to bear the fruit of godliness:

"4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. 5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit."

Notice that the one with the old nature is the one who is still under the power of the law. He is yet to be released from the law. He might profess Christ, but he is committing adultery by trying to serve God and become godly or more eligible for God’s saving Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) by obeying the letter of the law. But false doctrine teachers interpret “When we were controlled by our old nature” as desiring to commit sins with reckless abandon! Not so. The one with the old nature strives to get right with God and escape His wrath by keeping the law thus rejecting God's gift of righteousness that Christ died that we might freely have. He is too proud to receive this free gift and like pre-denial Peter who ended up denying Christ copiously, deceives himself into thinking that some sins are beneath him because God has not let him get tempted beyond what he can bear (1 Corinthians 10:12-13.) He does not believe that he has been made right with God- perfectly righteous- through the blood of Jesus as Romans 5:9 says of how God sees all who believe in Jesus-

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

In summary, believers in Christ, the adulteress in the Book of Proverbs is a religious system or false doctrine that is being taught in many places of worship. This false doctrine is alluring and attractive to many like the adulteress in Proverbs 7 because it enables its followers put themselves on a false pedestal of (self)righteousness from which they can look down to condemn helpless sinners who are in need of Christ who saves from sins. This false doctrine never points you to Christ our Wisdom from God for salvation. It points you to what you must do by your own will-power (arm of flesh) in order to be godly, just as Satan did with Eve, removing one’s focus from our Husband Jesus Christ who is the Tree of Life.

Also recall the verses that we are addressing here: Proverbs 7-

16 I have spread my couch with rugs and cushions of tapestry, with striped sheets of fine linen of Egypt. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; let us console and delight ourselves with love. 19 For the man is not at home; he is gone on a long journey; 20 He has taken a bag of money with him and will come home at the day appointed [at the full moon].”

In ancient Egypt, linen was the cloth of choice for embalming the dead. Before embalming, the linen would be treated with preservatives, chiefly myrrh. the naive guy in Proverbs 7 had no idea that getting into bed with the adulteress (for us today, following that “neither cold nor hot” false doctrine that advocates being partly under Law and partly under Grace) is tantamount to being embalmed alive- a living hell before death takes over.

Many fight for this adulterous mixture of part-Law and part-Grace/neither cold nor hot doctrine and even persecute the wise woman that builds her house (the church that has Wisdom who is Christ Himself) for believing as she does. Recall Proverbs 14:1 says:

"The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her hands."

See the Contemporary English Version: "A woman’s family is held together by her wisdom, but it can be destroyed by her foolishness."

Followers of the strange woman/adulteress “neither cold nor hot" doctrine are the foolish. Simply put, they are the ones who depend on their arm of flesh (human effort at obedience) to be godly/bear fruit and to merit God's gift of “not perish but have eternal life” in Christ Jesus. Such claim to be married to Christ but still go under another (Law) to bear the fruit of godly perfection. We see an example of "the foolish"in God's word to the Christians in Galatia:

"You foolish Galatians! Who put a spell on you? Before your very eyes you had a clear description of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross! 2 Tell me this one thing: did you receive God's Spirit by doing what the Law requires or by hearing the gospel and believing it? 3 How can you be so foolish! You began by God's Spirit; do you now want to finish by your own power? 4 Did all your experience mean nothing at all? Surely it meant something! 5 Does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you because you do what the Law requires or because you hear the gospel and believe it?" Galatians 3:1-5.

Remember the Gospel that Christ Himself preached in John 3? We who believe in Jesus are saved from the sting of death that is sin and the law that strengthens sin (1 Corinthians 15:56,) their deathly effects (Titus 2:14) and have eternal life the same way the Israelites that were bitten by snakes were made whole and got to have life: utter trust and dependence on Christ with absolutely no running around trying to do things (law-keeping) that we think will make God like us in order to “not perish but have everlasting life.” No dependence on human effort/strength (law-keeping) in the bid to attain godliness like Eve did. When your believing in Jesus is right, right living will follow.

Beloved of God. Never trust yourself or put any confidence in the flesh (what you think you can do to earn righteous points before God) as the strange/adulteress/promiscuous/immoral woman doctrine leads many to do. Of ourselves, we don't even know where our next breath will come from! Trust in the one of whom it is written in Daniel 5:23-

"...God who holds your life-breath in His hand and who controls the whole course of your life."

Proverbs 2 tells us to depend on Christ our Wisdom from God: “To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; 17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. 18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.” 19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.”

The Strange/Immoral/Adulteress/Promiscous woman in the different Bible versions are translated from the Hebrew word Zur which encompasses all of these interpretations and much more 2114a. zur -- to be a stranger.

Beloved of God, trust in Christ our Wisdom from God with all your heart. Don't rely on what you think you know. Tell Him every detail of your life. Then, He will direct your path (Proverbs 3:5-6,) away from the paths of the adulteress/strange woman doctrine that leads to death.

Isaiah 53:11 tells us that Christ suffered and died to make us godly (be like God.) Followers of this “strange woman/adulteress” false doctrine claim to be for Christ, but they have locked Christ out of their church with their seemingly good but deathly human effort-driven attempts at attaining godliness, thus rejecting their Husband Jesus Christ andc and going under another (Law-keeping aka dependence on human strength) in their bid to bear the fruit of righteousness. See Christ's counsel to followers of this “adulteress" two husbands-having religious system in some churches in Revelation 3-

15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.””

Followers of the strange woman/adulteress doctrine really think that they are on the path to life with all of their striving to bear fruit to God or attain righteousness/right-standing with God through their human attempts at being godly. Such are obeying the law in order to make God like and consider them for His blessings that He freely-gives to all who put no confidence in the flesh (human strength) but utterly depend on Christ as their Righteousness and Strength. I too was there for donkey years until Grace (Christ Himself is Grace -Titus 2:11) found me; He is still knocking on every closed door. Such do not know that they need white garments (God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ;) that their (self)righteous garments (law-keeping and works done to get right with God) are like "a menstrual rag" in God's sight: Isaiah 64:6-

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

Some misinterpret being "hot" as burning for Christ by obeying the Ten Commandments and doing good things to show that they have works- works that are like a menstrual rag in God's sight. This way, the other extreme of being "cold" would mean living a hedonistic lifestyle and not caring about Christ. But Christ said "I could wish you were cold or hot." Why would Christ want anyone to live a careless, hedonistic life?

Believers, Christ is saying He wants the church to be free from this strange/adulterous woman doctrine. He would rather we were either totally under His compassionate Grace (hot) where we get to have the Lord as our Righteousness and Strength and thus live in triumph over sin and death (Romans 5:16-17) as well as enjoy the full benefits of our Lord's goodness; or totally under the stone-cold and dispassionate Law (cold) which kills at the slightest whiff of imperfection and where we see that we can never, ever merit/earn an iota of righteousness for salvation by our puny works, and thus be driven to His saving Grace-

“19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3.

In Christ, we are not under Law but under Grace where sin has no power over us -

“For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace.” Roman 6:14.

But “strange woman/adulteress” doctrine religious leaders preach this verse in reverse. Some try to compartmentalize the law into moral law/oral law/ceremonial law. Not so. The law is a whole and just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (a picture of the law - see this in Romans 7:8-12) which has many parts, eating of any part of it kills- whether moral, oral or ceremonial or the one with which man privately judges himself in his heart (see Romans 2:12-15.)

In Revelation 3:20, Christ our Wisdom from God is right now addressing every follower of the Proverbs 2:16 “strange woman/adulteress” religious system-

"Behold, I stand at the door [of the church] and continually knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him), and he with Me." 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

This message was written to a CHURCH. Did you notice that Christ is knocking on the door of the church in verse 20 and not a brothel or a club for sinners? We tend to think that this verse refers to people who have no heart for God and are just sinning as they like but these ones are not even in the church! The letter is for people inside the church- adulterers claiming to be Christians- who have locked Christ outside. Believer, by Grace, let's not be found here.

The strange/adulterous/immoral/promiscuous woman in Proverbs is that horrid antichrist doctrine that promotes dependence on human strength (law-keeping) at attaining righteousness or getting right with God. It's followers might profess Christ but they reject His gift of righteousness and depend on their own righteousnesses from works of the Law and their good deeds to get right with God and enjoy His freely-given (Romans 8:32) blessings in Christ. See the effect of following this false doctrine in Galatians 5:4-

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace."

Such respond to God's saving Grace (Christ Himself!) with statements like:

"Yes we are saved by Grace and justified by faith but we still have to keep the law as guiding principles for maintaining morality."

As if Grace (Christ our Wisdom from God) lacks the ability to cause us to bear the fruit of morality and godliness! Believer, by Grace, let's beware of such teachers and their false doctrine adultery which is typified by the immoral/strange/promiscuous/foolish/lazy woman throughout the book of Proverbs.