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“Proverbs chapter six verses twenty-three to twenty-five, and it reads:
‘For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
‘To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
‘Lust not after her beauty . . .’”
“Now, it’s not always a woman’s physical beauty that leads men to commit adultery,” Bishop Akron said. “Some men will get hooked up with a woman who is not that attractive physically but because she has a sweet spirit when compared to the mean, rebellious spirit of the wife he has at home.”
“True. But that’s no excuse either,” Prophet Malcolm said. “God knew this and that is why he had Solomon to tell us men to be satisfied with the wife He gives us or the wife we get. He tells us to ‘Drink water out of thine own cistern; rejoice with the wife of thy youth; let her breast satisfy thee at all times; be thou ravished always with her love.’”
Bishop Akron started to chuckle. His chuckle turned into laughter.
“What is so funny, my brother,” Prophet Malcolm said chuckling. “It is the Word of God.”
“Oh, I just remember what one of my men told me in private. He had come to me for some advice, and he was sharing with me how dissatisfied he was with his wife and how she was sagging in all the wrong places. He said, and I quote, ‘Sagging breasts don’t satisfy me; I need something firm; something I can grab a hold of, if you know what I mean.’”
Prophet Malcolm laughed. “I know exactly what he means. I have been tempted with other fine women, but I thank God Sadie has such a good attitude and is such a good woman on the inside along with being a good-looking woman on the outside I just could not bring myself to do that to her.”
“Well, she is one of the exceptions when it comes to bad wives. I might have to have her talk to my wife,” Bishop Akron said.
“Oh, is there trouble in the camp?”
“Trouble flares up every now and then, but we’re handling it,” Bishop Akron said. “Anyway, continue on with your sermon.”
“There’s a second reason I won’t put forth my hand to the strange woman, and that is because I fear what God can and will do to me. He has brought me to the woodshed before and that is one thing I do not want to experience ever again. When God starts whipping your behind He is thorough and His chastisement lasts a long time.”
“Tell me about it,” Bishop Akron said.
“Well, let me continue my reading,” Prophet Malcolm said. “Picking up at verse twenty-five:
‘Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee in with her eyelids.
‘For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
‘Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes be not burned?
‘Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
‘So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.’
“Jumping down to verse thirty-two, it says:
‘But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
‘A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.’
“It goes on to say, ‘Jealousy is the rage of a man: he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest him many gifts’,” Prophet Malcolm read. “Nothing gets a husband more angry and more jealous than when someone messes with his wife even though he may be messing around himself. I don’t care what Johnny Cochran and his lawyer friends had to say; OJ probably killed that woman because she was with another man. And many wives are getting killed because of jealous husbands. It ain’t right, but many girlfriends are getting killed because of jealous boyfriends. Jealousy is the rage of a man. No amount of money or other gifts will pacify a jealous man. He will strike at you, he will get back at you, he will seek revenge when you least expect it.”
“Doesn’t it also say in Proverbs in speaking to women that ‘Discretion shall preserve thee to keep thee from the way of the evil man; from the man that speaketh froward things’?” Bishop Akron said.
“Yes. It does. It seems most women are so easily led. They are too trusting of men. The Bible refers to them as silly-minded. If a man pays her a compliment she goes running after him. All a man has to do is touch her vulnerable spot for that day.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If she and her husband had an argument she takes it with her all day being all emotional about it and will share it with any man who picks up that something is bothering her and he then begins to show her some attention. As you know, Bishop, I’m a deep reader. And Shakespeare in his play Coriolanus, said, ‘I have heard it said, the fittest time to corrupt a man’s wife is when she’s fallen out with her husband.’ Men are on the prey looking for vulnerable women. They prey on women’s emotions. That is why I tell women to stop acting on their feelings and act on the principle of God’s Word. You will never go wrong or get hurt when you act on God’s Word,” Prophet Malcolm said. “Another thing I tell women is that they need to learn to compartmentalize things. Box things off. Box off the argument you and your husband had at home and leave it within the four walls of your house. If he is a normal husband, he still loves you. Box off the problems on the job and keep them at the job. Box off and keep church problems within the church. Don’t get everything all jumbled up. Don’t intersectionalize everything. And don’t seek advice or discuss troubles or problems you may be having at home with a man you are not married to. Never, never do that.”
“What advice do you give to the couple who comes to you seeking to get a divorce?”
“I tell them they have to go somewhere else because I will not be a part of something that God hates. In fact, I tell them up-front when they come in for pre-marital counseling that if they are not in it for the long haul then my advice to them is to not get married,” Prophet Malcolm said, “because once they say, ‘I do,’ it is now between them and God. I am no longer in the picture.”
“What advice do you give to a couple who has already gone through with their divorce with no biblical justification and has already remarried? Do you tell them to go back to their former spouse?”
“I tell them to stay put as two wrongs never make a right. Stay put and seek God’s forgiveness. Confess it as sin and seek His mercy and forgiveness for God is still a forgiving God no matter how detestable your sin.”
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