Sex Matters
Leviticus 18:1–5 (ESV) And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. 5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
The Lord is about to list the sexual laws for Israel in Leviticus 18. How the chapter opens and closes is important. God makes it clear that these rules lead to their life. Breaking these rules will lead to expulsion from the land and God even stipulates that sexual immorality is what defiled both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, where Israel is going to take possession.
Throughout these laws there is a close tie in to the "land".
Leviticus 18:24–25 (ESV) “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
Leviticus 18:27 (ESV) (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean),
I think it's important to realize that these nations took part in these sinful acts for many centuries. America is funny in that it has only been around for 4 centuries total and has spent the last half of the last century pushing the envelope further in the direction of these nations from ancient times that God says, "The land vomited out!" One of the often used justifications for sexual "liberation" - homosexuality, rampant divorce, sex outside of marriage, swinging and more recently incest is that the sky hasn't fallen! As if God's Word is NOT clear that in mercy and grace, God gave these ancient nations 400 years to repent!!! 400 years! Yet they did not. And just because God was patient with them does not imply He was "okay" with their practices. Here He is being clear, these things are detestable and dangerous for any people to live in harmony with God's creation.
Secondly, it is important to note that all the commands in this passage are directed to men! There's not one command limiting the sexual exploits of a woman. Commentators even note that lesbianism isn't mentioned while sodomy is (verse 22). What can be made of this? It is simply that God is issuing these laws to an ancient context where men (according to the results of original sin) ruled over women (see Genesis 3:16) in sadistic ways. God is totally countering the natural impulses of men's hearts in the ancient world.
This is one of the main reasons why I accept the Bible as the Word of God. It counters humanity on so many levels. It repeatedly proves itself to be someone's word OTHER than another human/culture. If you are not offended by these laws, there will be more to come that will challenge your assumptions of right and wrong. And yes, there are strange laws set against ancient culture that we no longer adhere to (see Leviticus 19:19), but the vast majority of stipulations in God's Word are still very much accepted and will be elevated to their truest intention by Christ Himself in the sermon on the Mount.
The beginning of the chapter contains the operational principle throughout this text in verse 3: "You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you." In other words, these laws are set against the normative impulses of men's hearts which are not appropriate for dwelling in God's presence. These sexual desires are aberrations from what makes for harmony between Creator God and His Created image-being people. Should one define themselves according to such detestable practices (as is happening today in the West increasingly), they will find themselves disconnected from the life that comes from God alone. God says about His laws, "if a person does them, he shall live by them."
Help us, Lord.
Secondly, it is important to note that all the commands in this passage are directed to men! There's not one command limiting the sexual exploits of a woman. Commentators even note that lesbianism isn't mentioned while sodomy is (verse 22). What can be made of this? It is simply that God is issuing these laws to an ancient context where men (according to the results of original sin) ruled over women (see Genesis 3:16) in sadistic ways. God is totally countering the natural impulses of men's hearts in the ancient world.
This is one of the main reasons why I accept the Bible as the Word of God. It counters humanity on so many levels. It repeatedly proves itself to be someone's word OTHER than another human/culture. If you are not offended by these laws, there will be more to come that will challenge your assumptions of right and wrong. And yes, there are strange laws set against ancient culture that we no longer adhere to (see Leviticus 19:19), but the vast majority of stipulations in God's Word are still very much accepted and will be elevated to their truest intention by Christ Himself in the sermon on the Mount.
The beginning of the chapter contains the operational principle throughout this text in verse 3: "You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you." In other words, these laws are set against the normative impulses of men's hearts which are not appropriate for dwelling in God's presence. These sexual desires are aberrations from what makes for harmony between Creator God and His Created image-being people. Should one define themselves according to such detestable practices (as is happening today in the West increasingly), they will find themselves disconnected from the life that comes from God alone. God says about His laws, "if a person does them, he shall live by them."
Help us, Lord.
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