The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.
The groups of people living around them did all the things that you will read about in the following scripture passages. God wanted His people to be different from them. He knew they could be easily distracted.
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. In many ways, the modern western world is moving further and further from a Biblically guided sexual morality. Yet every person has some sense of right and wrong when it comes to sexual matters. In our modern culture it often appears that the strongest idea shaping the sense of right and wrong is, if it feels good, then it is right for me. This twisted sense of sexual right and sexual wrong has done tremendous damage in our culture, as it has throughout all history. It is important that Christians live according to God’s sense of right and wrong when it comes to sexual matters, and not do according to the doings of the surrounding culture.
iii. “Seven times in the introduction and conclusion [of Leviticus 18] the Israelites are commanded not to act as the other nations (see 18:3 [2x], 24, 26, 27, 29, 30).” (Rooker)
iv. There is a sense in which the Apostle Paul gave the same idea in Romans 12:2: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
v. In radical contrast to the thinking of much of the modern western culture, Christianity has the important message: sexual activity has profound meaning for people and before God. The broader culture has emptied sex of all meaning and has reduced it to only a way to experience personal pleasure. God’s desire is that people should experience sexual fulfillment not only in pleasure, but in the fulfillment of the highest purpose for sex: as part of what bonds together a man and a woman in a one-flesh relationship in their covenant of marriage (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6).
vi. Strangely, the doings of the culture around us want us to trade God’s purpose for sex (full of meaning and fulfillment) for the culture’s confusion regarding sex (empty of meaning). Stranger still, many professing Christians willingly make the trade.
4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. 5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.
God reminding us that He is the Lord and we are His people. Therefore, we are supposed to be set apart. To live differently. To live in a way that God enjoys, and wants us to live in. To be able to be with Him. The verses are self explanatory. I won’t have to do much talking. I will colour code them to make a specific point at the end.
Green is straight stuff. Purple is… other stuff. Orange is… Animal stuff. The men of Israel had the most trouble with this area. The scripture is written as if the man is committing these acts and convincing the other person into them. The women of that time would not go starting these things up. That’s just not how it worked then. That’s why in the light of how these are written it is easier for me to colour code in this way.
6 “‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.
The very first command of this chapter shows that God’s standard for right and wrong rises above what brings physical pleasure in a sexual act
7 “‘Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.
8 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonor your father.
9 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
10 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonor you.
11 “‘Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.
12 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.
13 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.
14 “‘Do not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.
15 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her.
16 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.
17 “‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.
None of this two against one business.
18 “‘Do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.
19 “‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.
You really really can’t touch the blood.
20 “‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.
21 “‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
22 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
The act is detestable. I personally would never understand why a guy would want to do this either. However, the man himself could be forgiven if he repented, turned away from his sin, and didn’t live that way anymore. This is hard for people of today to get their heads around. This is the one time this gets mentioned in the entire list. The rest of it is weird, yet straight, things that The Lord talks about much more, obviously as you have read.
23 “‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.
I’ll never understand why a person would want to do that.
24 “‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.
Be different from them.
25 Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26 But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, 27 for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. 28 And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.
Vomiting is super strong language, but God is trying to drive home how serious this point is.
29 “‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things
There’s no ranking system. Everything in that list is equal in “detestable value.”
—such persons must be cut off from their people. 30 Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.’”
God wants us to be better than that.
Scripture Discussed: Leviticus 18