Working Mischief in the World

Working Mischief in the World

Every morning, I spend some time in the Word. I have been reading through Ecclesiastes and came across this verse: “And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her” (Ecclesiastes 7:26). This piqued my interest so I looked this verse up in the commentaries. This is what Pulpit Commentary had to say about it.

“And I find more bitter than death the woman. Tracing men’s folly and madness to their source, he finds that they arise generally from the seductions of the female sex. Beginning with Adam, woman has continued to work mischief in the world. ‘Of the woman came the beginning of sin,’ says Siracides, ‘and through her we all die’ (Ecclus. 25:24); it was owing to her that the punishment of death was inflicted on the human race. If Solomon himself were speaking, he had indeed a bitter experience of the sin and misery into which women lead their victims (see 1 Kings 11:1, 4, 11).”

The seductions of the female sex. I understand the influence women hold over men and the way they continue to work mischief in the world (and the Pulpit Commentary was written in the 1800s!). We read about a woman who “flatters with her words” (Proverbs 2:16), “forsakes the guide of her youth” and “forgets the covenant of her God” (Proverbs 2:17), “her house inclines unto death” and “her paths unto the dead” (Proverbs 2:18), and “none that go unto her returns” (Proverbs 2:19). Proverbs is filled with warnings about women who lead men down the path of destruction through their seduction and we are seeing it happening all around us today.

Women, even Christian women, are forsaking the guide of their youth and forgetting the covenant of their God in mass numbers today by initiating divorce in 80 per cent of the marriages today. This is a path to destruction for her, her husband, her children, her grandchildren, and even her great grandchildren. Many men don’t want to get married anymore because of this and the fact that divorce laws (no fault divorce) favors the women over the men. This is tragic in so many ways!

The media promotes lascivious lifestyles and women continue to be entertained by them. Take The Bachelor, for instance. Women who are practically naked and making out with the same man while drinking alcohol the entire time in order to lose their inhibitions. Feasting on this garbage and going to the public schools and universities create women who are spoken of by King Solomon many thousands of years ago. And they aren’t learning biblical womanhood anywhere, no, not even in the churches or the women’s Bible studies.

As someone wrote, “You are the books you read, the movies you watch, the music you listen to, the people you spend time with, the conversations you engage in. Choose wisely what you feed your mind.” We are commanded to dwell on the true and the pure in Philippians 4:8 and to walk with the wise in Proverbs 13:20.

Think of the verses that show the influence women have in their marriages and in their homes. “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands” (Proverbs 14:1). Yes, there are evil men who tear their homes down but in general, the Bible is exactly right. We can build our homes up by being cheerful, kind, grateful, gentle, modest, and faithful until death do us part or tear them down by being moody, unkind, thankless, harsh, immodest, unfaithful, and divorce the husband of our youth.

We are also told that a wife may win her disobedient husband without the word by her behavior (1 Peter 3:1). A woman with a meek and quiet spirit who doesn’t argue and isn’t contentious with her husband will more than likely draw her disobedient or good husband to herself rather than push him away. This is the recipe for a good, strong marriage that can last a lifetime.

Use this influence for good and not for evil, women. Do not try to seduce men by the clothing you wear or by your behavior and allow God’s Spirit and His Word to change you into a virtuous woman instead.

“If, for instance, the Book of Proverbs paints the adulteress and the harlot in the soberest, most appalling colors, the same book affords us such a sketch of the virtuous matron as is unequaled for vigor, truth, and high appreciation. And if, as in our present chapter, Koheleth shows a bitter feeling against the evil side of woman’s nature, he knows how to value the comfort of married life (Ecclesiastes 4:8), and to look upon a good wife as one who makes a man’s home happy (Ecclesiastes 9:9).

“Since the incarnation of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, ‘the Seed of the woman,’ we have learned to regard woman in her true light, and to assign her that position to which she is entitled, giving honor unto her as the weaker vessel, and, at the same time, heir with us of the glorious hope and destiny of our renewed nature (1 Peter 3:7).”

Just as women can use their seductions to bring much harm to men, they can also use their virtue and goodness to bring much good to them. Do you bring good to to your husband and make his a home happy? “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22). This world and the churches need good women who love the Lord and His ways. These women are salt and light to a wicked generation. Use your womanly influence for good and make it easy for your husband to love you!

 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:9

17 thoughts on “Working Mischief in the World

  1. Sad how far fallen our society has gone… thanks for speaking up, Lori! I know we don’t have the same religious beliefs, but I share many of your values towards what is good and righteous.

  2. Beautiful post, Lori.

    And that is so true. Even as a young man, who didn’t know a lot, I knew I had to be careful in pursuing a woman for marriage, because I saw so many marriages wrecked, and ending.

    I waited until I was 33, staying a virgin, though certainly not abstaining totally from all the other temptations that our society and Satan, placed in my way via pornography and scantily clad women all over the place. But finally, at 33, I became frustrated. I felt entitled. As if God owed me a wife. Everyone else was having sex, thought I, and why was it that I tried to do things right, honestly battled the urge to masturbate and look at porn, and could not find a woman to marry? I was a good provider, responsible, didn’t drink or use drugs, was an intellect, was athletic, was reasonably handsome. What was wrong? What was wrong was I wasn’t willing to fit in with societies view of what a man is supposed to be. Society expects a man to be a pusillanimous wimp, who is willing to be walked all over, who will pay for every whim of a woman, and who won’t expect her to be a mother, while supporting her career ambitions. Of course, since I didn’t fit into this idea of what a man should be; sleeping around, a gym rat, a world traveler, fabulously rich, etc., the media and school indoctrinated young beautiful women weren’t interested in me at all. At first, I took this personally, not realizing it wasn’t me, but rather a world that was corrupt and had forsaken God. And the more I felt bad about myself personally, the more enticing sin looked, until at 33, still a virgin (having never even kissed or held hands with a woman) I forsook all and began visiting prostitutes.

    It made me cry to think the first time I held hands with a woman was with a prostitute, who I had to pay. Of course, we reap what we sow, and my conscience tormented me terribly. “There is no witness so dreadful, no accuser so terrible as the conscience that dwells in the heart of every man.” ― Polybius

    I saw these women weren’t in the business of being whores for any reason other than financial and emotional vulnerability, and I felt terrible for taking advantage of them. After 2 years, at the age of 35, I left that forever, and no longer have a desire for it. I’m grateful that God delivered me without any diseases or crime record, which could have easily happened. I often talked for an hour with them, and sometimes for many hours. One talked for 4 hours, and I didn’t pay a dime for it. Chesterton is rumored to have said, ‘A man knocking on the door of a brothel is knocking for God’. How true that is, though he’s looking in the wrong place, and it can be a deadly decision if God’s grace doesn’t rescue him. I’m grateful God delivered me, for I could have easily been killed or gotten some disease, and I would have deserved to die for my sins.

    However, I’m fairly certain, had I been given the opportunity at 18-20, I would have married a woman, loved and provided for her, and had as many children as I could.

    Now, I absolutely despise the culture that trains men to take advantage of women, and trains women go get educations and careers, and to scorn her role as wife and mother. Of course, evil is within all of us, and it is our own evil choices that harm us the most, however, those who are leaders, politically and in the church are responsible for the direction of the culture, and right now the leaders have a lot to answer for. Those who are not part of the solution are part of the problem.

    Let me be clear, no one is responsible for my own wretched choices but me, for while society may make sin easier, it is each man’s choice to resist or indulge, and our circumstances reveal ourselves to us.

    While I was a wretched libertine and a lecher, yet I have repented of that, yet still, temptation will ever be there until breath leaves a man’s lips forever.

    It pains me to relate this, and in a wretched society that seeks to blatantly exploit the past wrongs of those who stand for right today, I cannot safely say this in public under my real name. It’s best to say it alone to God. God sees all, judges all, and his mercy is greater than any man’s. While man may condemn, God’s mercy extends to the lowest depths, and he understands that man is but flesh, and is weak and frail. My experience has been that to confess publicly only serves to embolden the wicked, and to give them weapons to use to detract from righteousness being proclaimed in the nation. For the wicked love nothing so much as to learn of the sins of the righteous. Which is why Satan is called the Accuser of the Brethren.

    Even now, I’m wary about pursuing a woman. What is the point of pursuing a beautiful woman for marriage, who wants to work and won’t aspire to stay home, have faith, have children, and love God and her husband? It’s asking for a disaster, and I could do without that. I’m pretty peaceful and serene on my own, when I realize that my affections need to be above and not on things on this earth.

    Went to Muir Woods, a lovely part of this earth, that is a sort of paradise with a young woman 2 years ago on a date. Was probably the best date of my whole life. Of course, the carnal nature was raging for an opportunity ,and the entire day was a war within. It was exhausting, and this was at the age of 37. To the world, I am a loser. A man who won’t sleep around, won’t wine and dine women, won’t pursue business success at any cost, and who is not enamored with fame and power using dishonest methods. They will sneer at my sins.

    Yet, with this young woman, she wanted to travel all over the world, and has 2 children. I don’t mind raising children not my own, as I love all children naturally, and was raised with around 20 siblings from the same parents, but I do mind a woman whose career and traveling are high aspirations. So, I’m not too enthused about pursuing her, particularly as she was already divorced, and doesn’t want to divulge readily all the details of what led to that divorce. I already know 2nd marriages have much higher rates of divorce. I’d prefer to marry a younger woman, a virgin if possible, who wants to stay at home and have children, yet these are extraordinarily rare in America.

    That said, I was reading Thomas Kempis’s ‘The imitation of Christ’ and it is a profound work that promotes setting one’s affections above, and not to be constantly thinking of the carnal nature and it’s desires. It is profoundly beautiful, and is just one of the 50 volume Harvard Classics, which it is a shame every home in America doesn’t possess these. I mourn I wasn’t taught this in school, as 100 years ago, children in America were taught this constantly.

    However, I am not alone. My problems are part of a dysfunctional society. In my city, our school system has shrunk from 20,000 kids to 12,000 kids in about 2 decades. Women routinely say they don’t want, or can’t afford children in marriage, which is, respectively, selfishness and covetousness. Men say it too. Too many men aren’t willing to deny their sex drives to ensure they marry women who will have children in marriage. I know, I was one. To a Godly man, if a woman isn’t interested in having all the children she can have in marriage, she isn’t fit to marry. Yet, 90% of the men looking for women to marry, want women who won’t give them the burden of children to have to work for. What a selfish attitude. We used to be taught what selfishness was in school. Not anymore. It means to care too much about oneself and one’s own desires and not enough about others and their needs and wants. I’ve seen plenty of selfishness in myself, and will continue to see more until I die, of that I have no doubt. But it’s not selfish to seek a wife to marry and desire to raise a lot of children to serve and please God, and for that I’ll never regret or feel bad about.

    I would love to come out and say this under my real name, but it’s impossible given the situation. Best to go to God, our Creator, deliver our sins to him, and let him punish and heal with his grace.

    Psalms 23 (A Psalm of David.) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

    3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

    4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

    5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

    6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

  3. (A Psalm of David.) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

    3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

    4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

    5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

    6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

  4. Unfortunately, our values, no matter how good and righteous, do not save us from eternal wrath. The only thing that saves us eternally is believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

  5. Most of us have things we have done in our past that we regret and are ashamed of; some much worse than others but thankfully, we have a God filled with mercy and grace. It doesn’t mean we won’t suffer the consequences from some of our past sins (like a woman who is a virgin may not want to marry you with your past) but it does mean that He will work ALL things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. Our highly sexualized culture has made it very difficult on men and women today. It’s very sad but this reminds us that this isn’t our home.

  6. Hi Ruby! I have been married for 3 decades. This is what I found. Love unconditionally. Accept faults, we all have them. Trust implicitly. Do things together as a couple. Be on the same page with child rearing. Never argue in front of the children. Ask for help from him if needed. Let him go out with the children (even if his choice of colours when dressing them makes you laugh). Never go to bed angry. Remember, marriage is for life, with all the problems it comes with. Sickness, maybe a job loss, deep personal losses. If you don’t work together, it will never work.
    Hope this is useful

  7. “Beginning with Adam, ‘woman has continued to work mischief in the world.’ ”

    YES, we women are full of naïve (easily deceived) mischief, and it began with Adam allowing it in Eve instead of correction through leading her to put down the fruit. Instead of training her how to resist Satan through submission; Adam chose to yield to sin through laziness. The weight of responsibility travels up not down; it rests on the highest role/position of any hierarchy. We can see this demonstrated in any ordered structure this side of heaven including marriage. The rate at which [wives] “work mischief in the world” is paralleled by their husbands who allow it.

    Both are responsible for sure, but the husband bears the greater burden.

  8. Augustine,
    Have you ever heard of the shindigs or mini shindigs started by the Pearl’s? They’re a great place to go to meet single women who love the Lord. Though he didn’t meet me there, my husband attended several over the course of a few years searching for a wife and had many opportunities to meet and get more acquainted with women who were marriage material.
    The shindigs are based on getting homeschooling families together, but still a great place to find a mate!
    https://www.easttexasminishindig.com

  9. I don’t believe men can control their wives, Robyn. They can speak to them, exhort and rebuke them, but they can’t control them unless it would be by force but this isn’t acceptable.

  10. Oh my goodness Lori, it was never my contention that a husband exercise his authority with brawn in place of brains. I don’t think it was God’s intention either when He placed the husband as the head in the place of leadership.

  11. Quite true, Lori. Ironically, it was quite a surprise to see the headlines today that the greatest NFL owner in NFL history, the only one with 6 Super Bowl Championships, who is worth $6 billion dollars, was charged with soliciting prostitutes today. ‘There but for the grace of God, go I’. Bob Kraft’s wife passed away in 2011, and he has a 39 year old girlfriend, which a quick check of her Instagram confirmed she is the typical liberal woman who likes to travel all over, dress skimpily, display her body for everyone, does not like having children, and detests staying home and loving a husband.

    Looking at the world population meter, it doesn’t look good for America if we don’t start having children soon. http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/. We are grossly outnumbered by Asia and Africa, and demography is destiny. Just like the Mesopotamian pagans were sitting, rich and without children, with prostitutes like Rahab, in the path of the Jews, and were wiped out by the virtuous Jews, so too America will be destroyed by a nation that contains sex in marriage, and China, though it is atheist, does a better job of it than we do. They don’t celebrate homosexuality, and they ban porn sites. They are far more traditional than we are. That is very sad. Even Russia is more traditional than we are.

    I was also surprised to notice, this morning, on one of my favorite conservative news sites, American Thinker, an excellent article on what whoredom has done to Germany, and how it creates a diseased and debauched nation, while severely harming women and girls. https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/02/the_biggest_little_whorehouse_in_germany.html

    Yours truly won’t be watching that documentary, as discovering how bad whoredom is by watching videos about it is never a good idea, but its sobering nonetheless.

    Yes, a virgin may well be reticent to marry a man like me, understandably. However, God is judge of all. Judah had one of the descendants of Christ when in a moment of weakness, he fell for the whoredom of Tamar, his daughter in law. Tamar was unhappy because she had been promised to his son, and was not given to him, after his older sons had all acted wickedly and were destroyed by God. So, she pursued her own lusts, and ensnared Judah in them.

    Quite true, that our culture makes it hard, and that this world is not our home, we are just a passing through.

    Thank you kindly to Isadora for her recommendation. Had never heard of a shindig before, but will certainly look into it. The website looked promising.

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