Read Leviticus 18
Unlawful Sexual Relations
18 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. 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.
6 “‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
29 “‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things—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.’”
Go Deeper
Reading through Leviticus 18 today, a lot of the decrees in this chapter seem like common sense to us. There were a lot of ungodly nations surrounding the Israelites and they had been trapped in the Egyptian nation as slaves for a long time. Ancient Egypt saw sex as a much more casual affair; it was a simple occurrence much like eating and sleeping. Other nations (including Egypt) used sex in their religious practices as they had fertility gods that they worshipped. Incest was a common occurrence since sex was only meant to be for fulfilment and pleasure.
The views of the Israelites had been warped by Egyptians practices so in this chapter God is giving them guidelines to help His people get back on the right track by giving them a new baseline of understanding. This chapter is no different. God desires for His people to have a proper understanding for the sanctity of sex within the covenant of marriage (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6).
Sex is a wonderful and amazing thing that is meant to be between one man and one woman in marriage (see Song of Songs for a more full picture of how this plays out). God desires us to see the act of sex as an act of devotion, honor, and holiness. This is the sexual ethic that we see repeated throughout scripture. He follows most of the decrees by saying “that is wickedness” because they fall outside of God’s original design for sex. Sexual intimacy within the covenant of marriage is honorable to God.
Satan, our adversary, has greatly distorted the way that we view sex in the twenty-first century. Our world today is not that far from ancient Egypt in its view of sex. Pornography consumption is all too common and destroys lives and marriages every day. Modern media glorifies and celebrates casual sex. The meaning of sex (as God intended it) has been distorted, which does an extreme disservice to our Father in Heaven. Sex is meant to be an honoring and holy act had with a spouse. We should challenge ourselves to live counterculturally from the world in all aspects of our lives (particularly with how we treat sex). Whether you’re single or married, let’s lead the way in honoring God by preserving sex for within a marriage between a man and a woman in a way that is uplifting and honoring, not degrading.
Questions
- What has shaped your view on biblical sexuality?
- How do you see Satan’s distortion of sex in our modern world?
- What can you change in your daily/weekly life to help modify your view of sex to be more in line with how God desires us to view it?
Keep Digging
So much of what we read today is affirmed in the writings of the New Testament as well. Interested in learning more and developing a deeper understanding of each instruction laid out in this chapter? Check out the Enduring Word Commentary’s (a free online commentary) entry for Leviticus 18.
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8 thoughts on “Leviticus 18”
It’s interesting that tucked into descriptions of all the perverted ways man could defile what God intended as a sacred act between a married man and woman, we read this verse, ‘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” (v21). Could it be proof that once we ignore God’s instructions for one area of our lives it’s easy to fall into other traps where sin rules over us and we do the unthinkable? God has given us a free will to choose, but sin will always be lurking at the door of our hearts. We must choose wisely and honor God instead of giving into our fleshly desires that lead to death.
30 “do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them”
It is so telling that these “detestable customs” are still prevalent today. And just because they are practiced before us, we cannot defile ourselves with them.
So much of the Book of Leviticus has seemed irrelevant to our more modern culture. Then Leviticus 18 shows up with decrees that are just as relevant today as thousands of years ago. In fact, you can see or hear about many of those decrees being violated in today’s culture and media.
My prayer is that we take to heart Romans 12:2 so we can be set apart for God’s glory:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Amen!
Christian marriages should be a witness to the world of the love Christ has for His church. ( Ephesians 5:25-33). Obedience to God’s Word brings life. God set standards and gave consequences when disobedience happened. What are we doing, here in America? We see and allow what is not godly to be “acceptable”. How much longer will God allow our modern version of child sacrifice, homosexuality to be glorified, or only having one car and one color TV set “poverty”, while a lot of the world goes to bed hungry? How much longer will God allow His removal from every government and public place and school and activity in our nation?
God, You give me instructions on how to navigate this world. You give me standards I am to meet and consequences when I do not. God thank You for You being a lamp unto my feet and a light in my path that I might not sin against You. God I give You these minutes of this day to be a light for You. Thank You for my flesh staying out of the way and Your Holy Spirit within me showing me the way to glorify You in all I say and do today, in these minutes in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leviticus 18 teaches the Israelites and us to live a life that is distinct from unbelievers and to uphold God’s standards of holiness and righteousness.
It is so interesting to read how the times that we live in demonstrate a similar parallel to the times of the Bible.
Something that stood out to me was this statement: “We should challenge ourselves to live counterculturally from the world in all aspects of our lives (particularly with how we treat sex)”.
We are set apart and should demonstrate that by how we act and what we do and say. All of which, should be in alignment with God’s word. As we learn more about him and his teachings, we should be molded to look more like him, especially when it comes to relationships.
Yes!