"God reminds the Israelites to only worship Him, the one true God. God warns and forbids the Israelites to not worship false Gods, such as Molech. God says to respect, and not curse, your mother and father. God gives very specific instructions concerning adultery, and what sexual perversions and abominations to avoid. God reminds the Israelites of the covenant He gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God promised to deliver them to the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. In addition, God states that the Israelites are to keep all His statutes and all His ordinances. If the Israelites follow and keep these laws, the land where God is delivering them to will not vomit them out."
Leviticus 20 Amplified Bible (AMP)
On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities
20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Moreover, you shall say to the children of Israel,On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities
‘Any Israelite or any stranger residing in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech (the god of the Ammonites) [as a human sacrifice] shall most certainly be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I will also set My face against that man [opposing him, withdrawing My protection from him] and will cut him off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them], because he has given some of his children to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. 4 If the people of the land should ever tolerate that man when he gives any of his children [as a burnt offering] to Molech, and fail to put him to death [as My law requires], 5 then I shall set My face against that man and against his [extended] family, and I will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in [a]playing the prostitute (commit apostasy) with Molech.
- ONE SIN THAT COULD LEAD TO MORE. God is making it crystal clear, sin leads to death-- and here, the horrible sin of 'human sacrifice' to false god Molech will mean instant death. It's too awful to be compromised, or perhaps to be "atoned" for? It reminds me of the picture of what "leavening" agent or yeast can do to the dough or bread, a little can increase or rise up the bread. A sin like this, if unchecked and unpunished, can blow up and corrupt the whole community of Israel. Turning to idols by offering a human sacrifice is a complete defilement to God and their own lives, and also an act of 'adultery.' How could one forget how God saved and rescued them out of the slavery in Egypt? And yet, this is the condition of our sinful hearts.
9 ‘If anyone curses his father or mother, he shall most certainly be put to death; he has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on him [that is, he bears full responsibility for the consequences].
10 ‘The man who commits adultery with another’s wife, even his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall most certainly be put to death. 11 The man who lies [intimately] with his father’s wife has [b]uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them. 12 If a man lies [intimately] with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall most certainly be put to death; they have committed incest; their blood is on them. 13 If a man lies [intimately] with a male as if he were a woman, both men have committed a detestable (perverse, unnatural) act; they shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them. 14 It is immoral and shameful if a man marries a woman and her mother; all three shall be burned in fire, so that there will be no immorality among you. 15 If a man has intimate relations with an animal, he shall most certainly be put to death; you shall kill the animal also. 16 If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall most certainly be put to death; their blood is on them.
17 ‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears [responsibility for] his guilt. 18 If a man lies [intimately] with a woman during her menstrual cycle and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; both of them shall be cut off from their people [excluding them from the atonement made for them]. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of (have intimate relations with) your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for such a one has uncovered his blood relative; they will bear their guilt. 20 If there is a man who lies [intimately] with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is a hated and unclean thing; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.
22 ‘Therefore keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out [as it did those before you]. 23 You shall not follow the statutes (laws, practices, customs) of the nation which I am driving out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I have loathed them. 24 But I have said to you, “You are to inherit and take possession of their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land [of plenty] [c]flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples (pagan nations). 25 You are therefore to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have set apart from you as unclean. 26 You are to be holy to Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples (nations) to be Mine.
27 ‘A man or woman who is a medium [who pretends to consult the dead] or who is a spiritist shall most certainly be put to death, and be stoned with stones; their blood is on them.’”
Footnotes: Leviticus 20:5 I.e. abandon the true God for an idol.
Leviticus 20:11 See note 18:7.
Leviticus 20:24 This phrase referred to the abundant fertility of the land of Canaan. Milk (typically that of goats and sheep) was associated with abundance; “honey” referred mainly to syrups made from dates or grapes and was the epitome of sweetness. Bees’ honey was very rare and was considered the choicest of foods.
- OLD COVENANT VS. NEW COVENANT. King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9, "That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun." Every sin that was mentioned in Moses' time, is still happening today in the world-- but it doesn't mean instant 'physical' death anymore. However, a spiritual death and/or moral decay happens. That is why God sent His one and only Son Jesus to be the ultimate and perfect sacrifice for all of our sins. When we receive Him, our sins are forgiven and He will make us a new creation through the help and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We can be 'holy' and sanctified as our Heavenly Father God is holy.
After reading, I always check out the Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik (very helpful!):
b. I will set My face against that man and against his family: The penalty for Molech worship was death and if the sentence was not carried out by Israel, God declared He would set My face against that man and against his family. God will prosecute if the legal system of Israel failed to.
i. Sadly, even a man as great as Solomon at least sanctioned the worship of Molech and built a temple to this idol (1 Kings 11:7). King Ahaz of Judah gave his own son to Molech (2 Kings 16:3). One of the great crimes of the northern tribes of Israel was their worship of Molech, leading to the Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 17:17). King Manasseh of Judah gave his son to Molech (2 Kings 21:6). Up to the days of King Josiah of Judah, Molech worship continued, because he destroyed a place of worship to that idol (2 Kings 23:10).
a. I will set My face against that person and cut them off from his people: In this specific passage, God gave nothing for Israel to do regarding the penalty. He simply said that He would execute the penalty. Involvement in such occultic practices invariably separates someone from God.
i. This was the driving force behind the Ephesian church's dramatic renunciation of magical and occultic materials (Acts 19:17-20). Having seen the reality of spiritual warfare, they wanted to draw close to the LORD and remove anything that might hinder that drawing close.
ii. 1 John 4:2 makes it clear there are spirits who are not from God; such occultic, Jesus-denying spirits must be rejected completely.
b. Sanctify yourselves … I am the LORD who sanctifies you: These are two important aspects of our walk with God. God will not force you to be separate to Him. He does the work, but He does it through our own cooperating efforts and yielded will.
a. They shall be cut off in the sight of their people: The penalty for these sins does was not death (as in the previously mentioned sexual sins), but rather to be cut off - that is, exiled or sanctioned within Israel until the sin was atoned for or cleansed through a ceremonial cleansing.
b. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless: Other aspects of the penalties here belong to God alone - they shall be childless is a penalty only God can apply.
a. You shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you: The Canaanites who presently lived in the Promised Land were deeply involved in these sins, and because of that, God would use Israel to judge them and drive them out.
b. That the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out: God pleaded with Israel to obey Him, that the same fate would not befall Israel. Unfortunately, eventually it did - and the land did cast out Israel, resulting in the exile both for the northern nation of Israel and the southern nation of Judah.
c. That you should be Mine: These laws were not only given so that Israel could possess the land; they were also so God could possess Israel - so they would be holy to Me, for I the LORD and holy … that you should be Mine.
i. Sometimes we think what God mostly wants is our obedience; but there is a sense in which we can give God our obedience without giving Him ourselves (such as perhaps the Pharisees did). What God really wants is us - and if that is truly given, the obedience will follow.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Lev/Lev-20.cfm © 2004 David Guzik
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