Please stand if you're able for the reading of the word of Almighty God. We'll read a few passages. Romans chapter 7 concerning the law of marriage. Then we'll turn back to Genesis and read a few verses there as well. Here now the reading of God's holy word. Romans 7 verse 1. Know ye not brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, How that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she is free from the law, or from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Now please turn back to Genesis chapter six, page six of your pew Bibles. Genesis chapter six, we'll read verses one through five. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair. And they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, my spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh, yet his days shall be 120 years. There were giants in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the sons of men, or excuse me, the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bear children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this holy law of marriage. We pray as we consider the words of God, as you spoke to us through your prophet Moses, and through the apostles, and through the other prophets, that we would hear the voice of Jesus Christ and believe that we might grow in our knowledge of the truth. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. We've been considering the book of Romans, and in chapter 7, there in verses 2 through 4, we have a specific dealing with the law of marriage. And now we're continuing looking at the law of marriage, specifically in the patriarchal time in the book of Genesis, concerning those men that God called to rule over his people, specifically men like Noah and Abraham, heroes of the faith. and we're considering today patriarchs and polygamists. Turn back to Genesis chapter 4. We're going to look at a couple of verses in Genesis chapter 4 concerning the line of Cain, those cursed by God. We'll read verses 17 through 19, and then verses 23 and 24 of chapter 4 of Genesis. Genesis 4, 17. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bear Enoch, and he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Irad, and Irad begat Mehujael, and Mehujael begat Methuzael, and Methuzael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives, the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other Zillah. Now look down there at verse 23. And Lamech said unto his wives, Ada and Zillah, hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. Here we have Cain's line. You recall, Cain is a wicked man. Cain has been excluded for the murder of his brother from the fellowship of the godly. He's been sent out to be on his own, to fend for himself with a mark from God placed upon him to preserve his worthless life. God in his mercy gave him a mark that anyone who would kill him, find him and kill him because he deserved to die as a murderer, that they would be avenged sevenfold. So God protected him to preserve the line of Cain in his great mercy. But notice here, verse 17, even among the wicked, it says Cain knew his wife. Cain had one wife, as we saw last week from Genesis 2, 18 through 25. The man and the woman, those two become one flesh. That's the original created order. One man, one woman, one flesh. That's it. That's what Cain did. He had one wife. He also came together as one flesh and had children. But notice down through his descendants, the original order of creation did not stay very long. You have Cain, you have Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, Methuselah, and Lamech. So the sixth from Cain. Now, what does he do? Verse 19, he took unto him two wives. Is that what God said? Did he say that they three shall become one flesh? He said two, one flesh. And actually he said to leave, and you remember that word cleave? It means to draw someone near to you, to have new affections and new loyalties. They too shall be one flesh. The man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife, one wife. one loyalty, one new home, what in the world is Lamech doing? He's acting against the light of nature, the original order that God had created, which his ancestor Cain faithfully observed. So he is a wicked man. He is ungodly. Notice verse 23. Though he was unnatural, he says unto his wives, Ada and Zillah. There isn't a third, there isn't a fourth, there isn't a 17th or a 235th. He doesn't have a harem in other words. He has two wives. Though he is wicked, yet he is restrained. This is how wickedness goes. It breaks out little by little until it gets to the full blossom of evil. Here it has not reached that stage yet. Here he has two wives. No harem of multiplied wives, but still the monstrosity of three coming together as one flesh instead of two. He says in verse 23 to his wives, boasting, I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt. Notice he has unbounded desires, desire for revenge in particular. He was hurt by someone. And what did he give in return for that hurt? Did he wound him? Did he wound the man? No, he killed him. He killed a young man just for hurting him. That's the model on which he lives. He is as a beast, you might say, a brute. He escalates violence with more violence. What does the law of God teach us? Should we escalate violence with more violence? No. Our Lord says to turn the other cheek. What does that mean? Bring the level of violence down. Don't bring the level of violence up. Seek to undo the wickedness of men. That is not the spirit of Lamech. And notice what else Lamech says in verse 24. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold, I am greater than my ancestor Cain. I'm the top dog. And God who said sevenfold vengeance for Cain, I'm so important to God that he's going to say seventy and sevenfold. You see how daring he is? How highly he thinks of himself, how presumptuous and God-defying he is. He takes his two wives, he slays a young man in his unbounded brute-type lust, and here he dares God and dares any man, come against me, see what happens. God will strike down seventy and seven of yours if you come after me. You see how wicked he is? These are the vices that go along with polygamy, with man violating the order of nature. Why do you think God records his wickedness? To tell us something, these people who violate the orders of God created into the nature of the world are God haters. Lamech was such a man, my revenge will be greater than my ancestor Cain. Note then that though for a time the city of man maintained some kind of semblance of God's order of nature, yet eventually their civil virtues fall aside, don't they? the Roman Republic, they had civil virtues, they had a honorable and just system of government. What did it become within a couple hundred years? Well, triumvirate came first, then the dictatorship of one, Julius Caesar, then it becomes lawless and violent spread and circuses within, you know, 250 years. Civil virtue, heathen virtue, can go for a little while. Cain has one wife. He marries her and bears children. She bears children for him, of course. But you have this order of God observed by the heathen, but it doesn't really last, does it? It doesn't last very long. Another doctrine here. Polygamy is a brutish vice. A brute is a beast that does not have reason. God in reason says your loyalty should be to this one woman. Leave your father and mother, cleave to your wife, dwell together with her, hold fast to her. He says no, I want more. I don't want just one wife, I want two. Polygamy is a brutish vice. What do you see in a bull or in some kind of boar or some animal? You think they're gonna be content with one? No, because they're ruled by their lusts. So polygamy is a brutish vice where the order of nature is cast off. The one man and one wife with one new house united in one flesh, that's not good enough for the brute. This rebukes then the fornicator, the adulterer, the polygamist, the evolutionary psychologist who says, well, you just got to sow your seed far and wide. This is all social construct about marriage. No, it's the order of nature. And you wicked ungodly people who spit in the face of God say we can live like beasts. No, you can't. God will avenge his quarrel. God will judge the wicked whoremongers and adulterers. Does God love them and have a wonderful plan for their life? No. Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Let us then keep to God's order. Let us work toward special grace, not merely civil grace, civil virtue, that outward manifestation of obedience to God. God wants the heart, and that's the only thing that lasts long term. If men are renewed from the inside out, not just the outside of the cup and the platter being cleansed, but Jesus said, get rid of the dead men's bones inside, and then you'll be clean every wit. Let us work towards special grace in ourselves and in our children, lest we descend in our children down into lawlessness of the sons of Cain. And where is our nation right now? Right exactly here, perhaps worse off, abandoning the order of nature quicker than you could imagine. Let's look then at chapter six again. Verse 2 says that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. Now, who are these sons of God? Some people believe, based on other texts, that it is the angels. Now the context of this is about man, isn't it? Man's corruption, man's wickedness, man's foolish choices, and God's judgment against who? The angels? No, against man, and man's sin. Now, let's turn over to Exodus 4, concerning what it means to be the sons of God. Exodus 4, page 64 of your Pew Bibles, 6-4. concerning the sons of God. We'll read there from verses 22 through 23. Here's what God says Moses is to say to Pharaoh. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son. even my firstborn. And I say unto thee, let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. Here notice, who is God's firstborn? Israel. It's obvious. The people that he has adopted, he accounts them as his son. In fact, as his firstborn. And he's so committed to this idea, that if Pharaoh refuses to let his firstborn son go, what will God do? Well, it's an ironic judgment, isn't it? You don't let my firstborn son go, I destroy your firstborn son. So Israel is the son of God in this way. Not in the sense of our Lord Jesus Christ, but certainly in this way. Deuteronomy chapter 14, page 216. God willing, we'll look at this in our scripture reading in two weeks. Deuteronomy 14. concerning the holiness of the people of God. Verse 1, the Lord says this, Ye are the children of the Lord your God. Ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. And the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the earth. What is it then to be the children of God? Well, he says, those that God has chosen, those that God has sanctified, those that God has set apart for himself and said, you're special, you're mine, you're holy, Who then were these sons of God back in Genesis 6? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? The people that God had chosen. Whom had He rejected? The line of Cain. The sons of Adam in his fallen state. And these over here whom God has chosen, what do they do? Let's turn back there and look at it again. What do these sons of God live like? Do they live as a holy, chosen people? Sanctified by the Lord? Set apart for His purposes? Is that how they're living? Sadly, no. The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. Do you think they consulted God about this? That's the point, isn't it? They chose these women. They saw that they were fair. They used their eyes, listen, not their mind. When they chose a wife, they used their eyes, not their mind. The Geneva Bible says, having more respect for their beauty and worldly considerations than for their manners and godliness. Those church girls are like sticks in the mud. They're godly, sure, but man, look at these girls over here. I like that. The word there used as fair is tov. The same word God uses at the beginning of His creation. Everything He made was tov. It was good. It was pleasant. It served its purpose. Oh, look at them. They're pleasant. God made them that way. God gave them that beauty. Oh, how beautiful they are. It's the workmanship of God. I remember a fornicator years ago would look with adulterous eyes at women, and he'd say, well, God made them that way. That's what these guys are saying. God made them that way. They're good. They're fair. They're beautiful. They don't respect the law of God in their manners. They don't fear the Lord. But, you know, they sure look good. And God made them that way. I can justify it in my head. And then they take whatever they chose. Now remember, animals like Lamech are moved by their lust. Whatever they want, they go for it. That's what a beast does, doesn't he? You get your bull out there, does he wait to get married before he starts acting like he's married, so to speak? No. He just goes for it. I got this, I'm going. That's how these men are. Now these are the sons of God. These are the ones sanctified, adopted, set apart for the Lord, now acting like Lamech. God chose them, and they chose these wicked women. They were moved by their senses, by their appetites, by their lust. Their lusts ruled them. How does God respond? When the children of God, when the sons of God depart from His ways in marriage, the Lord doesn't have a lot of tolerance for that, you'll notice. Verse 3, the Lord said, my spirit shall not always strive with man, that's the word Adam, those who are like their fallen father Adam. for that he also is flesh. Now this word basar means the flesh of an animal or of a beast. He's just a body. He acts like he's just his body. He doesn't act like a reasonable creature created in God's image, subject to God's law. No, he's just flesh. Yet his days shall be in 120 years. That's when the flood comes. 120 years. Okay. So God says He's not going to strive with these fleshly sons of God. They're just bodies. They don't act like they even have a spiritual side to them at all. They don't act reasonably, morally, holily, justly, or goodly. No. Notice what else? Verse 4. There were giants in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, what happened? Did things get better? The same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. First we have the giants, the Nephilim, tall in stature, imposing figures, weren't they? And then, after that, you have these other children descended from the sons of God and the daughters of men, these mighty men, this word means those great ones, the giborim in Hebrew, those great and mighty men who usurped dominion over others, as the Geneva notes say, and degenerated from that simplicity in which their fathers lived. Every man governing himself, doing his own things. The sons of Cain had to build cities because of their bad conscience, but the rest dwelt in tents. They were simple guys. And now what happens? You got men ruling over everyone else, telling everybody else what to do. Depravity increases. Lawlessness is on the rise. I note then this doctrine. The visible church, the sons of God, is the bulwark that God has built to hold back the corruption of mankind. God says, I have a dam to build to hold these waters back. And that is my sons, chosen by me, sanctified by me, marked out as a holy people. And if they start to crack, what happens to the floods? This keeps on coming, pushes through. Hole in the wall pushes through. And that's what happens here. If the sons of God degenerate, with regard to choices of marriage, the entire social fabric comes unraveled. Their very descendants become the ruin of that society. The sons of God, those set apart by the Lord. This serves as a rebuke to the unbridled lusts of men, to prioritizing as if you were an animal, Men, boys, choose wisely. If you choose based off of what you see rather than what God says, you're in serious trouble and you put the rest of us at risk. Did you see that? Violence everywhere, why? Because the sons of God decided it wasn't important to marry well. That's serious. Everybody suffers because of that. an exhortation then based upon this girls and ladies charm is deceitful and beauty is vain the scripture says if you are beautiful if you're good and God made you that way Do not be deceived by it. Do not give in to the spirit of pride and of vanity. Rather, develop the character and manners which are the glory of the female sex. Remember, that's what the Geneva notes said. They looked at these women and they saw worldly or external considerations, not what's important, their manners and their godliness. They did not look to that. God says that ladies are to be of a meek and a quiet spirit. They're to humbly serve their husbands, being willing to submit themselves unto their own husbands, serving others, the law of kindness is upon their lips. This will draw genuinely godly men toward you and it will repel the wicked who just want the looks, that's all they want. Boys and men. Let us not be brutish in our priorities. Do not make what you see more important than the substance of things. Boys, when you grow to manhood and you want to choose a wife, consider carefully, is she godly? Does she show respect to her mother and to her father? Does she follow orders? Is she of a meek and a quiet disposition? Or is she just beautiful and so you'll overlook all the flaws? That's what the sons of God did, and that's what destroyed that generation. Let us then all pray for the character and the godliness of our children. We have an interest in every child that surrounds us, especially those with whom we have close contact here in this church. Let us pray that the boys and the girls would grow to be pillars in the house of God, as etched marble the scripture says. Let us pray that they will be holy unto the Lord. Let us ourselves as parents and as adults set an example of self-control. That's what's the problem here, isn't it? They can't control their desires. They can't rule over what they see with their eyes. So what should we show them? Self-control. Godly priorities. Not making excuses, oh God, but they are told Lord, just like you said at the beginning, they're good, they're pleasant, that's an excuse, but they're wicked. So don't make excuses. Make the right choice. Make the right call. Don't say, well, they're good as God made them, so it's all right. We as authorities, we must not make excuses for our own beastly desires, for our own sloth or disobedience to the Lord. We must do God's will, seek His kingdom, and be devoted to it without exception. And when we fall, we must confess it and acknowledge it. Let us also pray and work toward holy marriages. In our families, as fathers, we have a responsibility for our daughters to see that they are married well. Let us do so. And in the churches around us and the broader community, let us pray and work toward godly marriages. Turn over to Genesis chapter 11, please. Verses 29 and 30. concerning the patriarch Abram. Genesis 11 verse 29, And Abram and Nahor took them wives, and the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren, she had no child. Here we see Abram and Nahor take them wives. Now this is very interesting, it's the same verb used back in chapter 6, when the sons of God took them wives of all that they chose. It's the ordinary language of scripture that a man takes a wife, that a woman is given in marriage. We'll see this in more detail throughout the Bible. But here notice, this is the order. They take wives, both Abram and his brother Nahor. Notice also it says, Sarah was barren, she had no child. Now if you read in the Old Testament especially, but even in the New, where it says something twice, it means the same thing and it's said in two different ways, you can say, God's trying to get my attention with raising his voice. It's an emphatic form of expression. She was barren, okay? She had no child. Doesn't that mean the same thing? Yes. Therefore God is trying to get our attention about something. Because God's going to do something wonderful in this marriage. So he's getting your attention at the beginning of her history to tell you something important about her. But I note then this doctrine. Marriage is not annulled or destroyed due to barrenness. The two become one flesh and ordinarily that produces children. But God says she was still his wife. Okay? Just because she was barren does not mean he could divorce her. That somehow the marriage was off because she couldn't put kids into the family. Marriage is not annulled or destroyed due to barrenness. There are people in time past and perhaps even in our day who make an ongoing marriage contingent on the fruitfulness of the woman. Well, she can't have kids or he can't give me kids. That's it, we're done. That's not how God thinks about it. Now those who presume to make themselves barren are daring and presumptuous. It is God who opens the womb. It is God who closes the womb. If you try to close your own womb, then who are you trying to be? God. You're trying to play God by closing your own womb. But the scriptures recognize there is a providential circumstance wherein God afflicts a woman with barrenness. Sarah was such a woman. Let us then retain those of us who are married or who will be married. Let us retain this truth before us. William Gouge in his book on domestical duty says this concerning Sarah and Rebecca. He says, on these grounds, many saints who have been barren have married, and their practice therein not disallowed, nor their marriage is dissolved. For though procreation of children be one end of marriage, yet it is not the only end. And so inviolable is the marriage bond that though it be made for children's sake, yet for want of children, it may not be broken. So in other words, marriage, God says he's made the two into one. Who are you to pull them apart just because God said she can't have kids? No, you can't do that. Please turn over to chapter 12 of the same book. Genesis 12 verse 11. We'll read an extended passage here and just focus on a couple of the verses. We'll start at verse 11. Genesis 12, 11. And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold, now I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon. Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife. And they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee. And it came to pass that when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he entreated Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen and he asses and men servants and maid servants and she asses and camels. And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, what is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidst thou she is my sister? So I might have taken her to me to wife. Now therefore behold thy wife, take her and go thy way. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away and his wife and all that he had." Notice here, Abram says to his wife, Sarai, lie. I want you to do something that God says and that nature teaches me is wrong. God says don't bear false witness. Your truth that you speak with the tongue should be the truth that resides in your mind. You should not say something that you know is false. But he tells her to do that. Why? So that it can be well with me for your sake. I want you to sin to improve my condition. Now remember, God told Abram, get thee out of thy country and thy father's house, come to a land that I will show thee. Has Abraham been showed or Abram been showed the land yet? Yes. God said, this is the land that I will give to your seed in verse 7 of chapter 12. So he already knows this is the land God has called me to. This is the one we will inherit. And then what happens? Well, there's a famine. There's a famine in the land of Canaan. So what does Abram do? He retreats. He runs out of the land. And then when he retreats, does he deal with all of his troubles? No, he gets danger, doesn't he? So first is a hardship. He chooses to retreat. The retreat leads to danger. The danger leads him to fear. The fear causes him to require his wife to lie to save his own skin. Do you see this? Do you see how it's downward in its tendency? I note then this doctrine. The husband's authority is to be used for God's glory and the good of his inferiors, but sin weakens and compromises such authority. Is he protecting his wife, would you say? No. He's protecting himself. He's exposing his wife. The exact opposite. And when we as husbands sin, when we compromise what we know to be true, we lose moral authority. now there is what we call formal authority and there is real authority formal authority is this person has this office and therefore I must respect them because of that office now that's real that's true and God requires that we respect the formal authorities in our lives real authority is Does the behavior, the words, the deeds, the choices, the priorities, the affections of this authority, does that match what God says they're supposed to be and do? And that's not ever the case for any human authority perfectly. There may be sincere striving after, there may be growing in those things, but there will always be failures by human authorities, which is why God says you still must honor the authorities that be, even if they're not perfect. Peter says, if your husband is disobedient to the word, wives, you still have to submit to your husbands. Even if he's a jerk, he still has the form of authority. He won't listen to God. You still have to obey him, okay? But when you are in authority, you can bolster your authority by being the sort of person you should, or you can tear down your authority by being what you ought not to be. Abram is tearing down his authority. Abram is causing his wife to sin, requiring that she choose, shall I lie and do what is displeasing to God, or shall I obey my husband and do what is pleasing to him? Don't put your wife or anyone under your authority in that position. Please either obey me or sin. Give me a break. Don't put people in that position. And Abram does that very thing. This is a rebuke to any in authority who would encourage, reward, or set an example of unbelief in God's promises or disobedience to his commands. That's what Abram's doing. I don't believe your promise, God. This is the land you designed, but I'm not staying here. I got to go. I got worldly considerations to think about. Do you know Where they picked up Hagar? In Egypt. How did they get to Egypt? Because Abram didn't believe that he should stay in that land. What kind of pleasant outcomes came from having Hagar in the family? None. Nothing but ruin and destruction. Nothing but violence and bloodshed. And guess what else happened when they went into Egypt? Do you know Lot chose to go to Sodom? Because it looked like Egypt. And he went down with Abram into Egypt under Abram's authority and leadership as his nephew. He goes there with Abram and then he sees the land of Sodom and Gomorrah and he follows Abram's example. I'm going to consider a worldly good over spiritual good because everybody knew the men of Sodom were wicked before God. But Lot said, looks like Zoam, looks like Egypt. I'm going that way. Nothing good. comes when those in authority encourage, reward, or set an example of unbelief or disobedience. Husbands, let us use our authority to build up the people of God under our authority rather than tear them down. Let us be an example of faith and obedience. Let us never require lies or evil doing of those under us to say, well, if you want to please me, you got to sin. I'm saying, get off of God's team, go on the devil's. You want to be on my team, you got to be a little devil. That's what you're telling him. That's evil. Let us never do such things. Now notice, of course, verse 14 of chapter 12, how do the Egyptians look at her? Oh, wow. She's hot. She's pretty. Wow. She's fair. They're surface men. So they look at her and that's exactly what they do. They act like beasts. lawless wild beasts, and here you have the harem. They're taking her in in order to have her line up with the rest of the women who are in that wing of the house. It's called a harem. This is the expansive evil that goes on as I talked about earlier. It starts with two with Lamech, it ends up with these massive harems. Boys and men do not be spiritual Egyptians. Do not be as the wild beast ruled by its senses and urges and appetites. The lust of the eyes rules the Egyptians. Do not be like them. Do not be ruled by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh or the pride of life. Do not be as the swine fatted for the slaughter. Notice what God does in verse 17. The Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. God hates adultery. God curses adultery. And in order to preserve Sarai from being in that position, He makes it abundantly impossible for anyone to commit adultery with her. The marriage bed is indeed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. And then notice verse 19, Pharaoh speaking to God's holy prophet. Why saidst thou she is my sister? So I might have taken her to me to wife. Now therefore behold thy wife, take her and go thy way. He had a natural heathen conscience, didn't he? He knew that you lied to me, Abram, and said she was your sister. She's actually your wife. You want me to commit adultery with her? You see that? Though sunk in his brutish lust, yet he still had the divine law written upon his heart that says, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Pharaoh. You see how wicked we would be if we commit adultery worse than a heathen king? The law merely written on his heart, we have it on pages of our Bible, describing the evil of adultery and the judgment of those who practice it. What can we say then of those who have no restraint, who do whatever their wanton desires indicate? and thus far the explanation of God's word concerning patriarchs and polygamists. Let's pray.