Holiness: Sex, Law, and Idols

Tonight we discussed the next section in Leviticus: Chapters 18-20. This is where God starts laying down the practical nature of holy living. These 3 chapters are pretty black and white with the list of things to not engage in. Below are my somewhat scripted notes on the topic. There was a lot of discussion about each section which is, obviously, not reflected here.

Holiness: Sex, Law, and Idols

Leviticus 18-20

We’re studying through the book of Leviticus which is, in essence, a manual on how to worship God. A major theme of the book is “What it means to be holy”, as we’ve seen in discussions about various portions of the text thus far.

Last week, in discussing what it means for an object or person to be “clean” or “unclean”, Chris said that that which is holy should be that which is normal. Those things which are not holy, ought to be abnormal.

Several weeks ago, Andrew told us that there are three facets to being holy: Being complete, being set apart, and being ordered.

This brings us to Chapter 18. God, being amazingly pragmatic and understanding that we need more definition to life, gives us a list of “How to’s” on being holy.

We’re going to read Chapters 18-20 all at once. There is a phrase repeated 22 times in this passage. See if you can figure out what it is.

You can read the passage by clicking here.

Leviticus 18:1-5

What it is to be holy: Set apart, complete, ordered, normal.

1. Do not follow the practices of the Egyptians or the Canaanites. Instead, follow the decrees and laws of God.

2. If you are actually obeying God, it will be demonstrated in how you live life.

3. Note: God doesn’t say this will be easy. We are to live holy lives anyway.

Leviticus 18:6-30

In a nutshell, this says, “Do not have sex with…”

1. Close relatives (blood, married, step)

2. Individuals of the same gender

3. Someone to whom you are not married

4. Animals

Oh, and by the way, offering any part of worship to any god other than Jesus, is the same as prostituting yourself to that god. Don’t do it.

Why? God says all of this immediately after saying, “Don’t act like the Egyptians and Cannanites”. Much like our culture, these cultures were probably obsessed with sex. In fact, it is well known that worship of other gods usually involved sexual rituals and prostitution.

Well, it seems to be working for them! Why can’t we do it? Leviticus 18:24-30… Because these cultures practice these sinful acts, God considers not just the people but also the land that they inhabit to be defiled (incomplete, out of order). God will, in fact, drive the Canaanites out of the land because they have become so sinful. Remember what happened back in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19)? Rampant sexual sin led to total destruction of the cities. And the person who looked back to what was (representing a desire for that life) rather than looking forward to what God had in store, turned to salt, lost her life.

God says (Leviticus 18:29-30) that those who engage in these practices will be cut off from their people. We’ll explore the meaning of this in more detail in Chapter 20.

Leviticus 19

Here God lays down the hammer on how we are supposed to live our lives.

He starts out with telling Moses that EVERYONE (not just leadership… and not everyone except leadership) needs to be told that this is how they are to live. “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”

Many of the first items detailed should be familiar because they are straight out of rules we know as the “10 Commandments” listed in Exodus 20. The other items basically expand on these statements.

In a nutshell, this passage says:

1. Respect your mother and father
2. Observe Sabbath
3. Live only for Jesus and not for other gods.
4. Care for the poor.
5. Respect the elderly.
6. Be fair, honest, and full of integrity in doing business.
7. Show justice and be impartial in judgment.
8. Repent of (demonstrated by sacrifice for) wrong doing.
9. Don’t get involved with spirits that are not of God.
10. Do things right; live in order.
11. Treat foreigners just as well as you would treat natives.
12. Respect life.
13. Confront someone who sins against you so that you don't join in their sin by holding a grudge.
    

Leviticus 20:1-5 (and Leviticus 18:21)

Molech. Who is Molech?

1. Molech is the god of the Ammonites whose worship included child sacrifice. Evidence of the practice of child sacrifice in worship has been found in many parts of what was the “known” world in Old Testament times: North Africa (Carthage), Sardinia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia.[1]^,[2]

2. Molech is representative of all false gods.

What’s the big deal with Molech?

Offering a child to a god other than Jesus is both a representative and a physical violation of what it is to worship Jesus. It says that an individual is not sold on God being God. It is a violation of what it means to be holy.

It is NOT OK to teach your children/family to worship or offer any part of themselves to a god other than Jesus.

If I do worship another god, verse 5 says that God “sets his face against [me]”. What does that mean?

Here’s where we get into the list of consequences for disobeying the rules for living that God just gave us in the last 2+ chapters. They all boil down to one concept: Death. Physical death and loss (death) of relationship. Some sins result in physical death and others result in loss of community (death of relationships with those around you who live in normal, ordered, not sinful, holy community).

This concept is nothing new to Israel. It’s the same consequence handed down at the fall of man from perfection to sin in Genesis 3. God said, “Hey, I like hanging out with you. Here are the rules for hanging out with me. I am holy and cannot hang out with people who are not. So, eat from every tree in the garden except the one in the middle. If you eat the fruit on that tree, you will surely die.” So, our parents, Adam and Eve, chose to eat the forbidden fruit. And they died. First, they lost relationship (community) with God. Second, they now looked forward to a time when their physical bodies would actually die.

Similarly, the Israelites lose community with God by participating in unholy activities. The whole first part of Leviticus (and indeed a portion of chapter 19), address this death of relationship. Repent (shown by sacrifice) and have the relationship restored. (cf. Jesus!)

For those sins where Chapter 20 says that the consequence is loss of community (v. 6, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21), the person loses his support system within the community of Israel. Because the individual chooses to engage in unrepentant sin, the community must now treat him/her as they would treat one who does not know Jesus.

For those sins where Chapter 20 says that the consequence is physical death (v. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 27), the person loses his or her life.

All the way through this passage, God repeats a theme. What is it (the phrase that was repeated 22 times in the text)? “I am the LORD”.

Why does God feel like He needs to hammer this theme home? Perhaps it’s because the Israelites, like modern peoples, had trouble not allowing other things to get in the way of their relationship with God. Sex, Greed (unfair business practices), dishonesty, selfishness, dishonor, lack of respect, idolatry, not caring for the poor, ignoring the elderly, a lack of repentance for wrong doing (sin).

In ancient times, the practice was that life is lived in community. Life lived in community before God was ordered and honoring to both God and each other. In modern American society, we are often more focused on the importance of the individual than that of the community. Many people are, as a result, very lonely and do not have a group of people who will naturally urge one another toward set apart (holy) living.

At Regeneration, we want to be a community of individuals who live holy before God. Therefore, as you discuss the reflection questions at your table, do not be afraid to share the truth. Give others at your table space to share personal struggles without tearing them down for having a struggle. And respect and honor one another by not discussing the things someone has shared outside of this group. As well, respect and honor one another by continuing to pray throughout the weeks and months ahead and by following up to see where the individual is at in growth on those struggles.

Regen Reflection:

1. What items, objects, practices, habits, etc get in the way of your relationship with God?
2. Spend some time in prayer. Repent of things that get in the way of your relationship with God. It is a type of idol. Pray for and encourage one another in the areas where they are also struggling.

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[1] Wenham, Gordon J. The Book of Leviticus. 1979. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Pp. 258-9

[2] Walton, John H., Matthews, Victor H., Chavalas, Mark W. The IVP Bible BackgroundCommentary: Old Testament. 2000. IVP Academic. Downers Grove, Illinois. Pp. 132-3.