What does sin do to us? The harlot in Proverbs 7 personifies sin. We can see how she acts toward the foolish young man to see what sin does to us.

Table of contentsSin Lies to UsSin Says, “You Won’t Get Caught”God Won't Be MockedWhen It Looked Like David Wouldn't Get CaughtSin Makes Us More Like AnimalsSin Produces a Slow, Painful DeathSin Hunts the FoolishSin Is a Baited HookThe Way Joab Approached Abner and AmasaTurn to God from Sin

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What does sin do to us? The harlot in Proverbs 7 personifies sin. We can see how she acts toward the foolish young man to see what sin does to us.

Radio personality Paul Harvey shared about how Eskimos kill wolves:

First, the Eskimo coats a knife blade with seal blood because seals are easy to trap. He allows the blood to freeze and then adds another layer of blood and another until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up.When a wolf follows its sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, it licks it, tasting the fresh, frozen blood. The wolf licks the blade more vigorously until the keen edge is bare. But the wolf doesn’t notice the razor-sharp sting of the blade because his tongue is numb from the cold, nor does it recognize that its insatiable thirst is being satisfied by its own warm blood. The wolf’s carnivorous appetite just craves moreuntil the dawn finds it dead in the snow.

The account is grisly but illustrates sin's consuming, self-destructive nature. When we see people engaged in habitual sin, we can share this story with them and tell them to stop licking the knife. I looked at over ten websites to determine if Eskimoes do this because I don’t like when pastors use illustrations that aren’t true (something pastors are famous for doing). I found many websites with this story. But they were pastors’ websites or websites for sermon illustrations, so I’m not sure they can be trusted.

I think an even better illustration of sin’s destructiveness is found in Proverbs 7 with the harlot. We can swap the wolf for the foolish young man. Like the wolf, he is killed because of his desires. If you want to see just how much the foolish young man looks like an animal being hunted, notice the theme of verses 22 and 23: "an ox to the slaughter...a stag caught in a trap...a bird stuck in a snare."

Sin Lies to Us

I will pick up at verse 18 with the harlot speaking to the foolish young man:

Proverbs 7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.

In the same sentence, the harlot twice mentioned the word love. This is a lie: she’s known this young man for about five minutes, yet she talks to him about love. She would’ve said the same words to any young man. She is like a prostitute or woman on the Internet who has no concern for the men she entices. But this is what sin does. Take your mind back to the fall. God said:

Genesis 2:17 Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

When the devil tempted Eve:

Genesis 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

The devil told Eve the exact opposite of what God said. Sin does the same with us.

Romans 7:11 Sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, DECEIVED ME and through it killed me.

Paul said sin deceived him.

Hebrews 3:13 Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN.

We should exhort each other daily so we aren’t deceived by sin. What are some of the ways sin deceives us? What are some of the lies it tells us?

This won’t ruin your family.

This won’t hurt your friends and loved ones.

This won’t become an addiction.

You’ll be able to stop whenever you want.

Sin Says, “You Won’t Get Caught”

There is one lie in particular that sin always tells us, and it’s in verses 19 and 20:

Proverbs 7:19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey; 20 he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home.”

Unbelievably, right after talking to the young man about love, she talks to him about her husband, whom she’s supposed to love. All the verses we read up to this point would have led us to believe the harlot was unmarried. But now we see she was some poor man’s wife. When he went out of town, she went out to hunt. The harlot said her husband is gone, but that’s not her point. She’s trying to tell the foolish young man he won’t get caught, which is one of the main lies sin tells us.

If you think about it for a moment, there’s almost always one thing people must be convinced of before they sin, and it’s this lie the harlot was telling the foolish young man: "Nobody will know. You can get away with it." Who would have stolen, committed adultery, lied, or gossiped if they thought they would be caught?

Proverbs 7:9 says he went out “in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.” So when we combine him going out at night with the harlot’s words, we can imagine how confident he was that nobody would know. But someone has been watching him:

Proverbs 7:6 For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, 7 and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense,

The man represents God. We might be able to hide sin from everyone else, but we can’t hide it from God.

God Won't Be Mocked

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

There are not many verses that tell us not to be deceived. There are only four, by my count. We know we are not supposed to be deceived about anything, so why would a few verses tell us not to be deceived? These verses must deal with a common area of deception. In this case, we are commonly deceived into believing two things: first, God can be mocked, and second, we can sow without reaping. So, let’s make sure we are not deceived about either of these. God won’t be mocked, and we will suffer for sin.

Numbers 32:23 BEHOLD, you have sinned against the Lord, and BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT.

We are to behold everything in Scripture. There’s nothing we're supposed to ignore or overlook. But when we see a verse telling us to behold, we know we’re supposed to pay special attention. In this case, we are to behold that our sin will find us out.

So how do we explain that some people sin, but it doesn’t seem like their sin finds them out? They don’t seem to reap what they sow? There are two possibilities. First, God is being merciful and giving them time to repent so that he doesn’t have to discipline them. The other possibility is they aren’t Christians. This isn’t my opinion. Hebrews 12 spells this out for us:

Hebrews 12:7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 

So, if people can sin without being disciplined, that’s evidence they aren’t God’s child.

When It Looked Like David Wouldn't Get Caught

The foolish young man is tempted to commit adultery with this woman because her husband is away, and he thinks he will not get caught. Similarly, David was tempted to commit adultery with Bathsheba when he learned her husband was away, and he thought he would not get caught.

And it looked like David wasn’t going to be caught. But just like God saw the foolish young man, he saw what David did. David’s adultery and murder is recorded in 2 Samuel 11. There is no mention of God whatsoever, which makes sense because it is an incredibly dark chapter with nothing to do with God. But listen to the very last verse:

2 Samuel 11:27 David sent and brought [Bathsheba] to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Everything looked good for David. He could hide his sins from everyone, and nobody was the wiser. But then God finally shows up in the account, letting us know how displeased he is. In other words, just like God was looking down on the foolish young man, God was looking down on David. God wasn’t going to be mocked. David’s sin was going to find him out. He was going to reap what he had sown. In the next chapter, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David, and he was severely disciplined.

It is important to remember that even if we think, "My wife won’t find out…My husband won’t find out…My children won’t find out…My parents won’t find out…My friends won’t find out…My boss won’t find out…My church won’t find out…God sees what we do and has no trouble bringing that sin to light.

Sin Makes Us More Like Animals

Because the foolish young man thought he wouldn’t be caught, he gave in:

Proverbs 7:21 With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. 22 All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast 23 till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare;

Throughout the account, it seems like the harlot is hunting for prey. She goes after the foolish young man the way a hunter goes after an animal. But then the account spells it out for us.

I used to teach fifth grade, which is when students learn about similes. Similes compare one thing to another, and I told my students they could recognize them by using the words like or as. These two verses contain three similes comparing the foolish young man with each of these animals:

Proverbs 7:22 AS AN OX to the slaughter…AS A STAG is caught…23a…AS A BIRD rushes into a snare;

God compares the foolish young man to three animals because sin makes us more like animals.