Seduction

The deliberate enticement or persuasion of someone into the abandonment of godly principles. Scripture speaks of both sexual and spiritual seduction.

Sexual seduction

Warnings to avoid temptation

Proverbs 7:1–22; 2 Timothy 2:22 See also Proverbs 1:10, Proverbs 2:16–19

Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Examples of enticement

Genesis 39:6–12; Numbers 25:1–3 See also Numbers 31:15–16; Judges 16:1, Judges 16:4–5; 2 Samuel 11:1–4; 1 Kings 11:1–6; Revelation 2:14–16, Revelation 2:20–22

So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care. No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her. One day, however, Joseph went into the house to attend to his work, and not a single household servant was inside. She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab, who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD burned against them.

The law as a deterrent

Exodus 22:16–17 See also Hebrews 13:4

If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and sleeps with her, he must pay the full dowry for her to be his wife. If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, the man still must pay an amount comparable to the bridal price of a virgin.

Resisting temptation

Job 31:1 See also Malachi 2:14; Matthew 5:27–30; 1 Corinthians 7:2–3; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–6

“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?

Spiritual seduction

Through Satan

Genesis 3:1 See also John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 2:11, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 2 Corinthians 11:14; Ephesians 6:11

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

Through lying spirits and false prophets

1 John 4:1 See also 1 Kings 22:19–23 parallel 2 Chronicles 18:18–22; 1 Timothy 4:1; Matthew 24:24–25 parallel Mark 13:22–23

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Through false teachers

2 Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 2:14–15 See also 2 Timothy 3:6–7, 2 Timothy 3:13; 1 John 2:18–19; 2 John 1:7–8; Jude 1:10–12

Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves.

Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

The need for vigilance

1 Thessalonians 5:21–22 See also Acts 20:28–31

but test all things. Hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

The process of seduction

A thought planted

Genesis 3:2–3 See also Matthew 4:3; James 1:14; 1 John 2:15

The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”

An advantage promised

Genesis 3:4–5 See also Matthew 4:6

“You will not surely die,” the serpent told the woman. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Attraction

Genesis 3:6 See also 1 John 2:16

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

Persistence on the part of the seducer

Matthew 4:8–9 See also Genesis 19:9; Judges 16:15–16

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.”

Yielding

Genesis 3:6 See also James 1:15

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.