Read Leviticus 20
Punishments for Sin
20 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. 3 I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4 If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, 5 I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.
6 “‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.
7 “‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God.8 Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.
9 “‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.
10 “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.
11 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
12 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.
13 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
14 “‘If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you.
15 “‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he is to be put to death, and you must kill the animal.
16 “‘If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
17 “‘If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.
18 “‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.
19 “‘Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.
20 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.
21 “‘If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.
22 “‘Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you.Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. 24 But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.
25 “‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you. 26 You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
27 “‘A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.’”
Go Deeper
As we read through Leviticus 20, there are a litany of consequences for disobeying the Law. Whereas the previous two chapters outlined what correct behavior looks like, this chapter delves more into the punishments for disobedience. This chapter follows a pattern throughout: “If you do _________, __________ is the punishment.” The end of the chapter concludes with another call and reminder that holiness really matters to God.
Reading this through our modern lens, we may see this list and think since these aren’t our struggles or temptations, there isn’t a lesson for us to learn in this chapter. But the more we zoom out and think about this chapter within the whole overarching narrative of scripture, we see how it all ties together. The Apostle Paul in Romans 6:23 puts it succinctly: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Every time we step outside of God’s best for us, the punishment we deserve for that is death (whether we tell a little white lie or violate one of the instructions listed in this chapter). Sin always leads to death. But because of the good news of the Gospel, we aren’t condemned to death; Jesus set us free.
As we enter this final stretch of Leviticus, it’s important to look back at the theme that has been repeated over and over throughout the book: holiness is important. As people outside the faith examine our lives, there should be something noticeably different about how we live. This is reiterated in v. 23-24:
“23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. 24 But I said to you, ‘You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.”
We have two options: to live according to the social and cultural norms around us, or to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God. We are to live in a manner that is set apart and distinct. We are to embrace this call to holiness and let our lights shine before the world around us (Matthew 5:16).
Questions
- After your first read through this chapter, what verse (or section of verses) sticks out to you the most? Why?
- What does it mean to “live according to the customs of the nations”? How have you fallen into that in your own life?
- What’s standing in the way of you pursuing holiness today? What needs to change in your own heart and life to live a life that’s set apart?
A Quote
“Many Christians have what we might call a “cultural holiness”. They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them. As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christians are more or less holy. But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.” –Jerry Bridges
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5 thoughts on “Leviticus 20”
This is a toe stomper. We are NOT to settle but man oh man have we. BUT FIRST
Matthew 7:3 In-Context
4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Guilty. I am so very guilty.
God thank You for seeing my plank. God thank You for Your love goggles so that I can see others as You see them. God in these minutes of this day, may I be compassionate, and show others who You are through my actions, deeds, and gentleness. May my words be salted with love. God You are amazing and greatly to be praised. Thank You for HESED, loving this world. God thank You for guiding me in these minutes of this day in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 “ for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.”
Wow. Lots of heavy stuff (and consequences) is covered in this chapter.
When I read about the practice of child sacrifice to Molek, I wonder how a community be so depraved as to kill their own kids. Then I look at our society today and I weep.
In all his instructions, God was calling his own people to live set apart from cultural norms around them. He knew the pull to follow the customs of pagan nations would be fierce, so he specifically dictated how to live holy and blameless. I wonder what God is asking that we surrender so that we might serve him unhindered. Jesus instructed in Matthew 16:24,”If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
This chapter reads as if God is closing every loophole against every conceivable sexual sin.
“Can we?”
“No.”
“Just a little?”
“Nope.”
“Not even?”
“NO.”
I’m reminded of a scene from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” in which a naive young knight is rescued “from almost certain temptation”:
“But can’t I have just a LITTLE peril?”
“No,” insists his mentor. “It’s too perilous.”
Such specific commands are then bookended by ”I am the Lord your God,” a rather divine version of “because I said so.“ (FTR, God, the Great “I Am” ALWAYS has the prerogative to “just say so!”)
The entire text reminds me of my most difficult exchanges with my strongest-willed child (the one Dr. Dobson wrote an entire book about):
“Mom, can I?”
“No.”
“Just a little?”
“Nope.”
“Not even?”
“NO.”
And that’s when the real debate would begin.
“But WHY? Why NOT? And DON’T tell me it’s ‘because you said so.’”
As often as I could, I would try to answer those questions. My goal was to grow my son in both obedience – AND understanding.
More often than not, though, my explanations would fail, because my son was not looking for an answer – but a way to outmaneuver me. To find the loophole through which he could get his own way.
One day I had one of those “parent epiphanies that has stuck with me ever since.
In this particular instance, my “Why” answer would not have been helpful. My son did not yet have the maturity or life experience to appreciate the longterm consequences of his current rebellion.
Which is what I told him:
“Son, I could give you an answer – but it will not yet make sense to you.”
It was at that moment I got one of those Holy Spirit nudges, asking “Daughter, do you hear yourself?”
God can answer all my “Whys” – but His answers will not always makes sense to me.
Here’s my final takeaway on this chapter – following God into holiness accomplishes many, many things, one of which is this:
I learn to trust the Who – even when I don’t like the What or understand the Why.
Something that stood out to me was this quote from the Go deeper section today:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Every time we step outside of God’s best for us, the punishment we deserve for that is death (whether we tell a little white lie or violate one of the instructions listed in this chapter). Sin always leads to death. But because of the good news of the Gospel, we aren’t condemned to death; Jesus set us free.”
We have the choice to live for the world and like the culture around us or to stand out and stand on Jesus and his word, being obedient to him and living a kingdom minded lifestyle. These are choices that we are faced with every day. This is a good reminder too that no matter how good we thing we are, we will never be perfect. That is why Jesus was sent here, to pay the price and consequence for our sins, death.
I am grateful for his sacrifice so that I can live with him. I strive in this new year to live an obedience and righteous lifestyle that is Kingdom minded and against the cultural norms of this world.