Deuteronomy 22:13-19
13 “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her 14 and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. 16 And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; 17 and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel.
These verses speak to the importance of purity and virginity. Virginity is not something to be embarrassed about, but something to be proud of. To the Israelites it was like a badge of honor, a sign of your purity. That is why it was so wrong to falsely accuse someone of not being a virgin. In today's modern, promiscuous culture we tend to make fun of virgins as being losers, but we need to see virginity from God's perspective. There is something wonderful about the innocence, faithfulness and delayed gratification of virginity. When we lose our virginity we lose an innocence that can never be replaced. When we cause someone else to inappropriately lose their virginity we are damaging their souls. In this situation we have put our own desires above the good of the other person, and thus sinned against them.
Lord, help me to appreciate and protect innocence and virginity.
13 “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her 14 and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. 16 And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; 17 and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel.
These verses speak to the importance of purity and virginity. Virginity is not something to be embarrassed about, but something to be proud of. To the Israelites it was like a badge of honor, a sign of your purity. That is why it was so wrong to falsely accuse someone of not being a virgin. In today's modern, promiscuous culture we tend to make fun of virgins as being losers, but we need to see virginity from God's perspective. There is something wonderful about the innocence, faithfulness and delayed gratification of virginity. When we lose our virginity we lose an innocence that can never be replaced. When we cause someone else to inappropriately lose their virginity we are damaging their souls. In this situation we have put our own desires above the good of the other person, and thus sinned against them.
Lord, help me to appreciate and protect innocence and virginity.