Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
-Isaiah 59:15, NIV
Sound familiar? Can you relate?
-Trust is repaid with treachery.
-Love repaid with contempt.
-Honesty repaid with injustice.
Such is the all too common lot for faithful spouses.
A cheater preys upon his or her partner by using and abusing the trust in the marriage relationship. The unsuspecting spouse is unsuspecting as he or she could not imagine–let alone go through with–living the double life of cheating on their partner.
Like the Scripture suggests, the faithful spouse’s aversion to the evil of adultery marks them as prey for the more devious member of their marriage.
Now, some cheaters are overachievers as it comes to predatory behavior. I am thinking of those pastors, therapists, and medical professionals who abuse their professional knowledge and access to vulnerable people to feed their wicked addiction to illicit sex.
But I still maintain some level of predation happens in all adultery situations.
Some cases are clearly worse than others. However, I see dynamics of predation at work whenever a cheater plays on the faithful spouse’s desire to reconcile or trust in order to continue cheating on the side.
Nothing is new.
The Bible clearly exposes this way of living in Isaiah already back several centuries before Christ was born. Wickedness is so unoriginal!
Now, the story does not end with injustice getting the final word. The predators do not get away free in Isaiah 59.
The chapter ends with God girding Himself for war. He comes with vengeance.
The wicked will get their due.
