Hugh Hefner is dead

Hugh Hefner, aged 91, died Wednesday, Sept. 29 in Los Angeles. Hefner spearheaded the sexual revolution in America. America today is reaping the devastating whirlwind of the culture he promoted. When he founded Playboy magazine in 1953 America was a very different place than it is today. The Bible presents a very different path than the one chosen by Hugh Hefner.

Scripture does not blush when it talks about intimacy in the God-given context of marriage. Proverbs 5 is perhaps the best springboard for understanding sexual purity. It is not enough to say, “Stop and run.” We must also know what we are to do with the passions God has given to us.

Proverbs 5 contains the metaphor of a cistern. “Drink water from your own cistern, and fresh water from your own well” (verse 15). A cistern was an underground chamber for storing water. They were precious commodities in ancient Israel. The picture was that in a dry and arid climate, a person could quench their thirst by going to the cool, fresh, delicious water of their own cistern any time they were thirsty. You could be refreshed any time you wanted!

Proverbs 5 lays out a blueprint for sexual purity. The chapter divides into two sections. Verses 1 to 14 teach the devastating consequences of sexual sin. Verses 15 to 22 teach the importance of marital fidelity.

Verses 7 and 8 read, “Now then, my sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house.” The context is avoiding the immoral person. This is the Joseph principle — run! As Joseph ran from temptation we must do the same.

Sin brings a bitter aftermath. Solomon in verses 10 to 14 warned of the consequences of sexual sin. He said, “Lest you give your vigor to others, and your years to the cruel one.” Sexual sin brings a loss of dignity and respect. “Lest strangers be filled with your strength, and your hard earned goods go to the house of an alien” (verse 10). It is expensive! Resources will be wasted. Fortune magazine reported that when Hugh Hefner died, “….the legendary magazine founder had a surprisingly low net worth, with little to his name besides that roof over his head” (Fortune magazine, Sept. 29, 2017).

Verse 11 continues, “And you groan at the latter end, when your flesh and body are consumed.” Intimacy demands the commitment of marriage. The consequences are physical as well as social and spiritual. “And you say, ‘How I have hated instruction! And my heart spurned reproof! And I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to my instructors!’” The picture is one of remorse. The wages of sin is death. Verse 14 continues, “I was almost in utter ruin in the midst of the assembly and the congregation.” Sin brings public disgrace.

Verses 1 to 14 teach to avoid the wrong person. Verses 15 to 22 focus upon the right person. The Bible says, “Drink water from your own cistern, and fresh water from your own well. Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be yours alone, and not for strangers with you” (verses 15-17). The idea here is the exclusiveness of a man and woman for each other in a marriage relationship.

Verse 21 says, “For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths.” God is omniscient- He knows everything. God is omnipresent- He is everywhere. God sees and knows everything. The Book of Acts warns, “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man (Christ Jesus) Whom He has appointed, having furnished proof by raising Him from the dead” (19:30-31).

Hugh Hefner is dead. He has moved on to his reward. It’s not too late for you and me. This life is short. We must focus on eternity and turn to Jesus today.

Ethan Hansen is the pastor of Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake.