"God tells the Israelites not to come near any close relative for sexual intercourse. God tells the Israelites not to be homosexual; not to sleep with animals; not to commit other perversions. God says that if the nation becomes defiled by these perversions and other sins, God will punish the nation for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. Any person who does any of these perversions or abominations must be cut off from his people."
Leviticus 18 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Laws on Immoral Relations
18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, and you shall not do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes (practices, customs). 4 You are to follow My judgments (precepts, ordinances) and keep My statutes and live by them. I am the Lord your God. 5 So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which, if a person keeps them, he shall live; I am the Lord.Laws on Immoral Relations
- OLD LIFE TO NEW LIFE. Since God rescued and redeemed the Israelites from the slavery in Egypt, they now belong to His Kingdom. They shall be transformed from old to new creations. From being slaves to being a "free" people of God. God was establishing and setting them apart from other nations.
"But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;" 1 Peter 2:9
"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
- INCEST IS AN OUTRAGEOUS OFFENSE. It makes perfect sense to not have sexual or intimate relations with your own father, mother, siblings and even relatives. But here, it seems that is was a common practice in godless or pagan nations, that God had to make it clear to the Israelites. I believe that it has severe physical (birth abnormalities, diseases, etc.) and spiritual (sexual immorality, family division, etc.) implications that's why God is forbidding it.
- ADULTERY, CHILD SACRIFICE, HOMOSEXUALITY, BESTIALITY. In one word, all perversion. Marriage is sacred to God, thus a man shall not commit adultery with another man's (neighbor) wife. Offering children to pagan gods seems a terrible thing to do, but apparently it was actually happening that time. I could not imagine the kind of deception that the enemy was doing here. Again, God made woman for the man, Mark 10:6-9 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Footnotes: Leviticus 18:6 This passage (vv 6-18) states incestuous prohibitions.
Leviticus 18:6 This Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations occurs in each verse in the passage.
Leviticus 18:7 The father’s nakedness is a reference to his wife in her role as his sexual partner, i.e. the nakedness that belongs to him alone by virtue of their marriage (cf 1 Cor 7:4). Otherwise, the literal meaning would refer to intimate relations with the father himself, including homosexuality. The text itself states that this is not the meaning, especially in 20:11a (The man who lies...has uncovered his father’s nakedness).
After reading, I always check out the Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik (very helpful!):
a. I am the LORD your God. According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do: Before God gave a single command in this area, He first established a foundation for the whole matter. He declared this principle: "You belong to Me, you shall not do as the world does."
i. "The Persians, for example, encouraged marital unions with mothers, daughters and sisters, on the ground that such relationships had special merit in the eyes of the gods." (Harrison)
ii. Sadly, the Christians today often take their standard of sexual conduct from the world, and not from God and His Word. Clearly, Christians should be different from the world in their sexual morality, and they should follow a Biblical standard of sexual morality. In the early church, one argument for the truth of Christianity offered by Christians was "You can know it's true by looking at our lives." Today, the Christian world says, "Don't look at me, look at Jesus."
b. If a man does, he shall live by them: Obedience to God's standard of sexual conduct is essential for life, and never more is this true than in our day of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
a. To uncover his nakedness: This phrase (used 17 times in this chapter) is an euphemism for sexual relations. It has less to do with nudity (especially casual nudity) than with sex. However, the term uncover nakedness is broad enough to include the idea of inappropriate activity short of actual sexual intercourse. It would also include molestation and inappropriate fondling.
iii. There was both a moral and genetic reason for these commands. "Surveys in different parts of the world where inbreeding occurs have shown that it is accompanied by an increase in congenital malformations and perinatal mortality, for which recessive genes and environmental factors respectively would be responsible." (Harrison)
iv. "In those instances where the parents are siblings, or where the relationship is one between parent and child, the resultant offspring incur approximately at 30% risk of retardation or some other serious defect." (Harrison)
b. To defile yourself with her: Many people who are tempted to adultery do not consider how the sin will defile themselves. The might think about how their sin obviously affects their spouse, children, and other family members. But adultery also defiles the individual committing the sin, showing them to be an unfaithful and uncontrolled person.
a. You shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech: The pagan god (or, demon, more accurately) Molech was worshipped by heating a metal statue representing the god until it was red hot, then by placing a living infant on the outstretched hands of the statue, while beating drums drowned out the screams of the child until it burned to death.
b. Nor shall you profane the name of your God: It is obvious God would condemn such an abomination. But this command is here in this context of sexual sins because often, Molech worship was a method of infanticide to eliminate illegitimate children, eliminating the fruit of the immoral sexual conduct God has commanded against.
i. Molech worship can be seen as an ancient version of birth control by infanticide, as even today many people practice birth control by abortion.
a. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman: Simply put, God calls homosexual sex an abomination, even as He does in Romans 1:24-32. Additionally, homosexuality was part of the idolatrous perversions which were allowed in Israel at its times of backsliding (1 Kings 14:24, 15:12, and 22:46).
a. Do not defile yourselves: Our modern culture often refuses to see any aspect of sexual conduct as defiling. The only measure is immediate pleasure, not right or wrong. But sexual sin does defile us and it does harm us. God's laws are given for our best, not in an attempt to merely test us or boss us around.
i. Statistically speaking, married couples live longer, get more enjoyment out of sex, have more sex, and are happier than those who are not married - obviously, trends that show God's way is the best way!
b. For the land is defiled: One of the reasons God brought Israel to defeat and displace the Canaanites was as judgment against their sexual perversions. In nations that sanction and promote similar sins today, we should expect that the judgment of God would eventually come and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Lev/Lev-18.cfm © 2004 David Guzik
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