I want to understand Proverbs 6:26.
Proverbs 6:26 states, “For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life” (NKJV). This proverb can be summed up in a few words, “Illicit sexual relations are very costly!” The fact is men have been “reduced to poverty” in paying for prostitutes, and in cases of adultery men have even “lost their life” (by the hand of an outraged husband). The first case is spoken of again in Proverbs 29:3, “Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, but a companion of harlots WASTES HIS WEALTH.” The second case is seen in the next few verses, “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent.” (Proverbs 6:27-29). To have relations with another man’s wife is “playing with fire!”
We could end our meditation right there, but I would add a few more verses that show that sexual immorality may not only lead to “physical death,” but also to “eternal death.” Consider the following: “For her (the harlot’s) house leads down to death and her paths to the dead…Her feet go down to death, her steps LAY HOLD OF HELL…for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. Her house is the WAY TO HELL, descending to the chambers of death” (Proverbs 2:18; 5:5; 7:26-27). A man may be so addicted to immoral sex that he gives no thought to his never-dying soul and where he will spend eternity. After he dies the “first death” (physical death); he will then experience the “second death” in the lake of fire (see Revelation 20:14; 21:8). (274.3) (DO)