The Strange Woman

By

Dag Heward-Mills

Smashwords Edition

* * * * *

Copyright 1997 Dag Heward-Mills

Email: info@daghewardmillsbooks.or

evangelist@daghewardmills.org

Find out more about Dag Heward-Mills at:

http://www.daghewardmills.org

http://www.daghewardmills.org/lci/

http://daghewardmills.org/healingjesuscrusade/

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Preface

I first noticed the phrase, "strange woman" in the Bible some years ago. I was then a young Christian growing up in the Lord. I often wondered to myself, "What is a strange woman?"

We understand a strange woman to be an unusual person. But what is unusual about this person? What unusual things does this person do?

This book is all about that. I believe that God will use this book to deliver the unsuspecting Christian from her deadly traps. I realize that the devil can recognize the precious life from afar. He knows when God's hand is on you, so he targets you. One of the devil's most successful agents is this strange woman.

My prayer is that this book will deliver us all from one of the oldest strategies of the devil.

Contents

1. Strangeness

2. Types of Strangeness

3 Signs of the Strange Woman

Chapter 1

Strangeness

And why wilt thou...be ravished with a strange woman...To keep thee from the evil woman...the...strange woman. That they may keep thee from the strange woman...

Proverbs 5:20, 6:24, 7:5

Although our topic is “The Strange Woman”, it also recognizes that a man can be “strange”. I am only using the female gender because the story in Proverbs 7 depicts a woman who is strange. This is a very important topic, because it is necessary for every Christian to go to Heaven with the testimony that he or she was never involved in fornication.

A condition which predisposes to fornication and adultery is “strangeness”.

Strange people are those whose behaviour in a certain sense sows the seed of fornication in others.

An innocent brother or sister, or even a man of God who has otherwise lived a pure life, can easily fall prey to these strange people because they are not only in the world, but they also abound in the church, even in the charismatic church.

The Bible calls her “the strange woman”. Some people call her “the prostitute”, but I prefer to call her “the strange woman”.

A lot of people have had sex, even though they never planned to do it. Some even hate the other person for making them do it.

There are some men who hate certain women, because when they looked back after the experience, they realized that there had been a master plan to get them!

There are some ladies who lost their virginity when perhaps, they were too young to even know what was happening to them!

Later on after the sex act, they realized that somebody had taken advantage of them and had slept with them! There are even some young girls who became pregnant without knowing what had happened. Some of these people’s predicament was caused by those the Bible calls “strange” people.

As Christians, we do not fight against flesh and blood. The Bible has described these strange people in graphic detail. God wants us to know who they are, and to recognize this attitude in ourselves if, perchance, we have any of this “strange” behaviour.

Fornication is not an easy sin to deal with. Often those who get involved in fornication have a hard time overcoming it psychologically. Sometimes they are unable to ever overcome it. This therefore makes it a favourite area of attack by the devil.

Fornication is not only present in the world, but also in the charismatic churches. A man of God said, “Out of a church of 500 people there are at least 20 ladies who are ready and willing to immediately go to bed with their pastor if he says so.”

Recently, in a charismatic church in Accra, a visiting preacher made an altar call; he asked for ladies who had come to the church with the intention of enticing and tempting the head pastor, to come forward to the altar. The response was amazing! Many ladies came and were prayed for. All these were strange women, hunting for the precious life of the pastor.

Chapter 2

Types of Strangeness

There are four types of strange women and men.

1. The conscious type

This type of strange women is the one who know exactly what she is doing. They are conscious of what they are and what they are doing.

Their aim is to entice men, and to lead people into sexual affairs. There are also men like that, who intentionally cause others to commit immoral sins.

2. The unconscious type

This group is not aware of the fact that they behave like strange women, even though they actually behave “strangely”.

3. The secular type

The people in this group are known all over the world as prostitutes. Prostitution is one of the oldest professions in the world. Prostitutes are usually seen on dark streets and corners trying to entice people.

4. The church type

They are in the church, known as believers and yet they behave “strangely”. Charismatic churches are full of strange women.

The Bible says “she hunts for precious lives”, (Proverbs 6:26). There are many precious souls in church, from good Christians to good pastors. They are the ones these strange women in the church are looking for!

Chapter 3

Signs of the Strange Woman

It is important for every Christian to be delivered from the snares and traps of strange people.

In the Bible, particularly in the book of Proverbs, God has given us some of the signs by which we can identify a strange person and avoid her. I want to show you twenty signs of the strange woman.

1. She moves in a particular group.

...a young man...Passing through the street near her corner...

Proverbs 7:7, 8

This story in Proverbs tells us that the naive young man went to her corner. The strange woman had a corner.

Strange people have their special corners. They also have special groups of friends who congregate with them at these special places. Everybody has a friend. There is basically nobody without a friend. I have my friends, who are mostly pastors.

We know the proverb, “Birds of the same feather flock together”, and “Show me your friend and l will show you your character.” These sayings are not in the Bible, but they are true.

People flow together in groups, the like-minded with the like-minded, friends with friends.

The secular strange women have their special corners. The Red Light District is a popular corner for strange people in any country. These are places where you are sure to find them.

My wife told me about a group of strange girls she knew when she was in school. This particular group of girls were all involved with married men, and they frequently met to compare notes. Sometimes one of them would be heard asking, “Have you asked him for the shoes?” Another would also say, “I have told him to buy me the plane ticket.” They had something in common; therefore, they stuck together and influenced each other.

Strange people always move in special groups.

2. She operates at special times.

Proverbs 7:9 says she operates “in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night.”

The secular strange women operate in the dark and black night. The evenings are times when evil can flourish. It is rare to find them at their corners in the afternoon, but in the night they abound.

If you are a young man, you must not be in the company of certain people at certain times. If you are in a relationship, there are certain times that you should not be with your beloved (fiancée). If you are a married man, you are not supposed to be at certain places with certain people at certain times. A married lady should never have a twilight dinner with her boss. Never!

In the church situation, strange people usually do not attend evening Bible teaching meetings. They are more regular at Sunday services, because that is when a lot more people come to church, and they can show off their best clothes. You will never see such people at prayer and fasting meetings, especially if it is going to last all night, or several hours.

They will however be the first to get ready if the church is going to the beach or someplace to have a good time. Some of these people are bold enough to say they only go to church to trap a Christian man or lady!

3. She has special dresses.

...there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot...

Proverbs 7:10

The Bible did not say she was a harlot, but that, she came with the dress of a harlot. If you are a Christian there are certain dresses that you are not supposed to wear. A believer ought to dress decently. If you are not a prostitute but you often dress like one, then you have one of the characteristics of a strange woman.

Strange women often dress in suggestive and revealing ways. It is not only the dress that speaks, but their pose also says volumes. You can immediately see they are after something. If you dare come to church with such a dress, then there is no doubt that you are strange.

Some of the dresses expose half of the breasts. But a woman’s breasts are not meant for public display. I know of only two reasons why breasts were made:

1. For breastfeeding, and

2. For husbands to enjoy!

Ladies, always dress decently do not dress in suggestive or revealing ways! Make-up helps to enhance the beauty of women, but there is a limit. At a point the make-up becomes too much and other messages are loudly sent across.

Every Christian should look beautiful, but we should be careful not to cross the line into “strangeness”. The Bible says temptation shall surely come, but woe to him through whom the temptation comes.

4. She has a history.

...many strong men have been slain by her.

Proverbs 7:26

As Christians, we should not just set eyes on people, fall in love and marry them. No! There is more to Christian marriage than love at first sight!

During a pastoral visit to New Jersey, I became acquainted with an elderly African-American woman. In her house, she pointed out photographs of her children to me. She said she was blessed with sons who were all preachers. However, she said she had lost one of her sons recently.

She said her son, a pastor in New York had gotten married to this beautiful lady. Before the marriage they had done the AIDS tests, but both were negative. So he went ahead and married the lady. However, some months into the marriage she developed full-blown AIDS, with terrible diarrhoea, weight loss and all the usual symptoms.

This old lady told me how she tried to make her son break up the marriage. He refused, and died a few months after his wife. Dear friend, this pastor married someone who probably had a bad history–a strange woman! And he did not even know it! He paid for it with his life.

Another Christian brother had a beautiful wedding, but later when he was alone at home with his wife, the Spirit of God revealed horrible things about his wife to him. He suddenly realized that she was not what he thought she was. He was shocked to find out that she had slept with many pastors and mighty men.

I am not saying that you should not marry somebody who has a history per se. But you must know about her past life in order to guard yourself.

You should remember that a strange person can display that character even in marriage.

5. She is loud.

She is loud...

Proverbs 7:11

Some strange women are loud, which makes them easily noticeable. There are various ways of being loud. It could be verbally or in appearance.

You notice such people either through their loud dressing or loud laughter and giggling.

There is a type of dressing that literally shouts, making all eyes turn to look at you. In the church, there are those you just cannot help but notice. They probably want you to notice them anyway. Do remember, “She who strikes you has already been struck!”

When I was in Achimota School (a secondary school in my country), there were times when we had to walk from the eastern compound to the western compound. On some occasions I had to walk behind a group of girls. I often walked faster and overtook them. But as I walked a few metres ahead of them I would hear them giggling.

I had no idea what they were laughing about. I would often change the way I walked, but the giggling and laughter would only grow louder. After a few of such experiences, any time I saw these girls on the way, I would make no effort to overtake this loud and strange group.

On the contrary, a woman with a meek and quiet spirit is considered precious in the sight of God.

6. She is stubborn.

She is...stubborn;

Proverbs 7:11

One of the characteristics of the strange woman is stubbornness. She will not obey instructions, and does not take advice.

The Bible says the wife should submit to her husband. The word submit means “to yield, bend, agree, or to obey”. A good wife is supposed to yield, but if she is a strange woman, she will be stubborn. God’s order is for the husband to lead, and the woman to follow.

But in these days of women’s liberation and the Beijing Conference, you have all sorts of women rising up to fight every established authority!

Dear women, you are not wiser than God. No matter what you think and know, and no matter the theories you come up with, there can be only one head in a home. Any animal with two heads is abnormal and a freak.

A strange woman is a dangerous person to marry. She is stubborn in the church, stubborn at home and stubborn at work. She always has a reason or an excuse for not doing what she ought to do.

Pharaoh was so stubborn that God had to speak to him through flies, frogs, deaths, tragedies and disasters!

You do not need to go through similar experiences. Do not be too hard and do not be too stubborn. These are traits of a strange woman.

7. She is not homely.

...her feet abide not in her house:

Proverbs 7:11

Strange people do not like staying at home. A woman is supposed to be “homely”, to be able to take care of and manage the home.

...that the younger women marry...guide the house...

1 Timothy 5:14

This also means the wife must know how to cook and supervise people in the house. There are some Christian sisters who do not know how to cook, because they are always in church, and are never at home. They are always on the loose.

In fact, it is a tragedy to marry a woman who cannot cook! When your stew is set before you, you will not be able to tell the difference between that and soup! This is often the fate of the men who marry strange women. They are condemned to a life of eating in misery everyday.

To me, part of the attraction of going home after a hard days’ work is my wife’s food.

8. She wants a man.

Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.

Proverbs 7:12

When a woman wants a man she is always outside in the streets, lying in wait at every corner for an opportune time to strike. Such women can only be satisfied when they are with one man or another.

In the Proverbs 7 story, the strange woman acts as if she was lying in wait for this particular man. However, if the naive young man refuses her, she will lie in wait for the next man and tell him the same story as if she was waiting particularly for him.

9. She gets physical.

So she caught him and kissed him...

Proverbs 7:13

Strange people like to touch others. They often hug, kiss and press some part of their body against the people they are after.

When you are walking with them, they never want to leave you. They always want to hold or hug you.

The strange woman knows that generally, a man can be sexually aroused by sight. She is also aware that a man will find it difficult to resist a woman’s touch. In order to conquer her victim totally she will cause him to yield by touching him.

Some Christian brothers also have the habit of holding sisters. After shaking their hands, you have no business hanging on to people’s hands!

10. She is bold and unlawfully familiar.

...kissed him...with an impudent face...

Proverbs 7:13

The strange woman is very bold and unlawfully familiar with the man she wants to have an affair with.

Why do you talk to somebody about intimate things, when you are a just an acquaintance?

Strange people try to get close in fact too close for comfort. Unless you are at a certain level of closeness with the person, you do not even have the right to comment about their hair or body. As soon as you become unlawfully familiar with somebody, you have crossed borders.

You are out of your territory. And this is the speciality of strange people.

11. She is not ashamed.

Now is she without, now in the streets,

Proverbs 7:12

She comes out in the open, into the street to solicit, and is not shy or ashamed of her behaviour.

I was in Geneva once with one of my associate ministers, and we were talking seriously with a brother in a restaurant. This happened to be near a place where prostitutes lurk, and there was this prostitute who was such a nuisance, we had to usher her out.

Initially, she did not want to go out, so we called the police, and eventually she was driven away.

Later on we were busy talking, when one of the other prostitutes came along in a coat. She stood right in front of the whole restaurant, and opened up her coat to reveal her body.

Believe it or not, she was stark naked under her coat! She had no shame.

Unknown to us, when the first one went out, she told all the other prostitutes that we had sacked her and so this other strange woman had come to defy us. Strange women have no shame.

If you are a woman, and you do not mind exposing your body, your breasts, your thighs, or any part of your body, then you are strange! You may think you are being fashionable, but in reality, you are just what the Bible calls strange. Unfortunately, there are born-again Christians who are not ashamed to expose themselves this way.

12. She is full of flattery and lies.

With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

Proverbs 7: 21

There are many young ladies who would never have fornicated, but for the words of a man. Words can put pressure on you and force you to act.

He may have said, “I love you. You are everything to me. Look, I’m going to marry you anyway, so if you love me, show it! I love you, that’s why I want to sleep with you. I just want to express my love for you.”

So with these and other such lies, the man talked his way through.

A pastor in a church I used to attend often said that if any man tells you he loves you and he wants to express his love to you, tell him to buy you chocolates!

On the other hand, there are women who also flatter men, especially powerful men. Some are very experienced in praising pastors. She will tell you that you are such an anointed man of God. With such seemingly harmless words, a strange woman can work her way into an unsuspecting man of God’s heart.

Faith comes by hearing, so when you continue to hear such words, you will eventually believe and yield.

13. She appeals to you through food.

I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry..

Proverbs 7:16

The word “bed” in the Hebrew is “Arsi”, which refers to a dining couch, and not a sleeping bed.

She was saying that she had laid the table. So this strange woman was appealing to the young man through food. Such strange people will often invite those they target to eat with them. If you are a young single brother, you may be exposing yourself to such strange people if you just go about eating all over the place.

A pastor visiting his members must remember that his business with them concerns the salvation of their souls. You are not supposed to go around eating from home to home.

To some extent the saying is true that, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

Food is good, but it can be used to trap you.

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye...

Proverbs 23:6

Sometimes your stomach can contribute to your fall.

As a Christian, a pastor, and a husband, I do not go out to lunch with just anybody.

Once, I saw a Christian brother who already had a fiancée, sitting with another lady over a candlelit dinner. I was very surprised, because he was inviting trouble for himself. I really did wonder about his fiancée. Was she safe?

14. She appeals to him through preparedness for sex.

Come, let us TAKE OUR FILL OF LOVE UNTIL THE MORNING...

Proverbs 7:18

Many wives are not prepared for sex or do not want it. So it is an exciting thing for a man to meet a woman who wants to have sex with him. If a woman comes to a man and indicates that she wants to have him, it appeals to him greatly.

Many husbands pray that their wives would come up to them and say, “Honey, I want you now!” Some Christian wives could learn a lesson or two from this strange woman!

15. She appeals by means of her marriage.

...the good man is not at home, he is gone on a long journey:

Proverbs 7:19

There are some men and women who are married and yet the marriage makes no difference to them. This strange woman said that her husband was not at home, and showed her readiness to sleep with another man in his absence.

This was a really strange woman.

Friend, the fact that you are married does not protect you from having an affair. Often people “lose guard” because the person trying to be familiar is already married.

This is one of the avenues the devil uses to ensnare people.

I know people who are married, and yet in spite of this, they sleep around with any lady they meet.

The fact that you are a Christian does not mean you cannot fornicate or commit adultery. Being born-again does not insulate you from falling to strange people. Never make that mistake greater people, more religious than you and I have fallen!

Wives and husbands should be particularly conscious of these traps, because as we continue to live in this world, we are constantly exposed to these temptations. If a man is satisfied at home, he will not have to go out somewhere else to look for satisfaction. Lack of satisfaction at home is a major cause of adultery.

16. She appeals through religion.

I have peace offerings with me...have I payed my vows.

Proverbs 7:14

She said, “I am also a believer.” She was using every means to convince him that she was also a believer just like him. There are many strange believers in the churches, even the charismatic ones. She said she had paid her tithes.

This was a very cunning strange woman who knew that her victim was a religious person. She knew that she could never come near him unless she behaved like a spiritual person.

So she presented herself as someone who was obedient to God’s commands: She had already paid her vows and made her peace with God.

17. She captivates with her beauty and eyes.

Lust not after her beauty...neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

Proverbs 6:25

She is beautiful, and she knows it. Beauty is a very variable thing, it can be up or down, more or less depending on what you do.

She enhances her beauty in a striking way. You must not allow yourself to be taken in by her eyelids. When you make eye contact with somebody, you can speak to the person. It is a form of communication. That is why I look at peoples’ faces when I am preaching. I am communicating with them.

The strange woman, with practice over the years, knows how to effectively communicate her carnal intentions to a man.

The Bible warns us not to lust after her. So if you notice that she is beautiful, that should be the end of the story. Do not lust after her beauty!

The dictionary defines lust as animal desire for sexual indulgence.

18. She is not straightforward.

...the lips of a strange woman...smoother than oil: ...her ways are moveable...

Proverbs 5:3, 6

A strange woman is not straightforward; all her ways are movable and shaky. Ecclesiastes 7:26 says,

“I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets.

There was a certain strange lady I knew, who always sat at the back of the church. I remember going to church one day to find her sitting all alone at the back, praying in tongues loudly.

As a pastor, if you cannot identify the strange women you can easily fall prey to them.

These are the ones who will always come to the pastor with their numerous problems. They are also easily given to tears. If you are not experienced, you will take out your handkerchief and try to comfort her, only to find your comforting turning into something else!

The Bible says her heart is full of ideas and traps.

When you are a young man you sometimes do not know when you are walking in the midst of them. Some ladies come to church and in no time at all, a young man proposes to them. Sadly, many young men are looking for the most beautiful face. A young man can easily fall into these traps, and end up marrying a strange woman.

In the same way, Christian ladies are impressed by the outward appearance of strange men, and accept their proposal, only to be taken on a strange tour!

20. She is attracted to great men.

...many strong men have been slain by her.

Proverbs 7:26

Years ago, my pastor friend told me to be careful not to be enticed by women who would be attracted to me. I was then an instrumentalist in a musical group we both belonged to.

When you play instruments, stand on stage, or are a leader, you are likely to be an attraction to strange women.

Over the years, I have come to realize how true his advice was.

Each classification of great people pastors, singers, businessmen, heads of states, and so on have their own kind of strange women who are attracted to them. Therefore, if God is raising you up, you must beware of these strange people.

It is my prayer that God will deliver you from the snares of strange people!

Other Best-Selling Books by Dag Heward-Mills:

Loyalty and Disloyalty

Leaders and Loyalty

Transform Your Pastoral Ministry

The Art of Leadership

Model Marriage

Church Planting

The Megachurch

Lay People and the Ministry

These titles are also available in Spanish and/or French. Information about other foreign translations of some of the titles above may be obtained by writing to our email address.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Strangeness

Chapter 2

Types of Strangeness

Chapter 3

Signs of the Strange Woman