Leviticus Chapter 18 Continued
Leviticus 18:19 "Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness."
Not even a man to his own wife, and much less to another woman.
"To uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness":
In her monthly courses.
And the time of her separation from her husband on that account was seven days (Lev. 15:19).
If a man lay with a woman when in such circumstances, they were both to be cut off from their people (Lev. 20:18).
And such an action is reckoned among sins, and uncleanness of the worst sort (Ezek. 22:10).
This is a restriction even to those who are married.
We studied in a previous lesson that the woman's uncleanness usually lasted for 7 days.
The husband is forbidden to have sexual relations with his wife during this time.
If the issue of blood is for a longer period of time, they are forbidden for the full time of the issue.
This also includes the 40 days after a male child is born to her, or 80 days after a female child is born to her.
Leviticus 18:20 "Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor's wife, to defile thyself with her."
Which is adultery, and a breach of the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14).
"To defile thyself with her":
Not only adultery is defiling a man's wife, as it is sometimes called, but the adulterer defiles himself.
All sin is of a defiling nature, but especially this, which defiles a man both in soul and body, and brings a blot and stain upon his character, which shall not be wiped off (Prov. 6:32).
This is covered in the 10 commandments.
The penalty for adultery was death by stoning.
They were both to be stoned to death, if the woman was willing in this act of adultery.
Leviticus 18:21 "And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through [the fire] to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I [am] the LORD."
God expressly prohibited the terrible practice of sacrificing a child to a deity (Deut.
Some neighboring peoples sacrificed their children to the god “Molech”.
The penalty for this heinous sin was death
It was the practice in the worship of Molech to sacrifice your children.
There are 2 kinds of adultery, and both are forbidden by God.
We read about physical adultery in verse 20 above.
I believe what is intended here is spiritual adultery.
The worship of false gods, of which one is Molech, is forbidden.
Not only was the person not to worship a false god, but was not to dedicate their children to that false god.
Any time you worship another god other than the real God, you have profaned God's name.
Leviticus 18:22 "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination."
By carnal knowledge of them, and carnal copulation with them, and mixing bodies in like manner.
This is the sin commonly called sodomy, from the inhabitants of Sodom, greatly addicted to it, for which their city was destroyed by fire.
Those that are guilty of this sin, are, by the apostle, called "abusers of themselves with mankind" (1 Cor. 6:9).
"It is abomination":
It is so to God, as the above instance of his vengeance shows, and ought to be abominable to men, as being not only contrary to the law of God, but even contrary to nature itself.
And what is never to be observed among brute creatures.
This is speaking of homosexual activities.
Homosexuality is not only a sin; it is an abomination to God.
The best way to explain this is with another Scripture.
Romans 1:27 "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet."
Notice in the next Scripture, how serious this sin is.
Romans 1:28 "And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;"
Reprobate means rejected, or worthless.
This is a very serious sin.
Leviticus 18:23 "Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither
shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it [is] confusion."
A female one, as Aben Ezra notes, as a mare, cow, or ewe, or any other beast, small or great, as Ben Gersom.
Or whether tame or wild, as Maimonides; and even fowls are comprehended, as the same writers observe.
"Neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto":
That is, stand before a beast, and by a lascivious and obscene behavior solicit the beast to a congress with her.
And then lie down after the manner of
For a man to lie with a beast is most shocking and detestable, but for a woman to solicit such an unnatural mixture is most horrible and astonishing.
"It is confusion":
A mixing of the seed of man and beast together, a blending of different kinds of creatures, a perverting the order of nature.
And introducing the utmost confusion of beings, from whence monsters in nature may arise.
Many satanic cults in our country today are practicing bestiality.
We are told by some, that bestiality is how the disease AIDS came to America. This type of act would certainly bring down the wrath of God.
To perform a sexual act with an animal brought certain death.
The animal was killed and the person, also.
Leviticus 20:15 "And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast."
For a man or a woman to have sex with an animal, is not only an abomination to God, but to moral man as well.
Verses
To violate these prohibitions would entail being “vomited out” of the land, which happened when they were led into their captivities.
Leviticus 18:24 "Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:"
In incestuous copulations and marriages, in adultery, corporeal and spiritual, and bestiality.
"For in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you.
That is, the seven nations of the land of Canaan, which God was about to eject out of their land to make room for the Israelites.
And that on account of the above shocking vices which abounded among them.
So that in some sense the land they dwelt upon was defiled by them, and called for vengeance on them, as even loathing its inhabitants, as afterwards suggested.
We find from this Scripture that nations which allow this type of sin, will be judged severely by God.
You see that God was so angered by this type sin that the nations practicing these sins were overthrown.
Leviticus 18:25 "And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants."
The inhabitants of it, with the immoralities and idolatries before mentioned.
"Therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it":
Or punish the inhabitants that are on it for their sins.
"And the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants":
As a stomach loaded with corrupt and bad food it has taken in, nauseates it, and cannot bear and retain it, but casts it up, and never receives it again.
So the land of Canaan is represented as loathing its inhabitants, and as having an aversion to them, and indignation against them, and as not being able to bear them.
But entirely willing to be rid of them and throw them out of their places in it, never to be admitted more, being as nauseous and as useless as the cast of a man's stomach (see Rev. 3:16).
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for the sin of homosexuality, God will not allow a nation to stand which allows these horrible sins.
We studied in the book of Exodus, how God dealt severely with the land of Egypt.
We will see in future lessons how God gave the lands over to the Israelites.
We are told that God gave them time to repent of their wickedness, and when they did not repent, he destroyed them and gave their land to another.
Leviticus 18:26 "Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit [any] of these abominations; [neither] any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:"
Before observed to them, whether of a ceremonial nature, and enjoined them according to his sovereign will and pleasure.
Or of a moral nature, and founded in justice and equity, and so worthy of their regard, and obligatory upon them.
As well as in their own nature they recommended themselves to their regard, as being the reverse of those loathsome and abominable things.
"And shall not commit any of these abominations":
Such as incest, adultery, idolatry, and bestiality, which are in themselves abominable things.
Execrable to God, and to be detested by men.
"Neither any of your own nation":
That belonged to any of their own tribes, or should be born to them in the land of Canaan when they came thither, and were properly natives of it.
"Nor any stranger that sojourneth among you":
Any proselyte, and especially a proselyte of righteousness, who conformed to the Jewish religion.
And had laid himself under obligation to do everything that was binding upon an Israelite. Notice that some sins are called abominations before God.
These are things utterly forbidden of God's people.
If they keep the statutes of God, they will be blessed.
If they do not, they will be cursed as the other nations that God has destroyed before them.
Leviticus 18:27 "(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which [were] before you, and the land is defiled;)"
The then present inhabitants of Canaan, who dwelt in it before the Israelites came into it.
These were guilty of unclean copulations, of incestuous marriages, of fornication and adultery, and of bestiality and idolatry.
"Which were before you":
Lived in the land before them, had long dwelt there, but now about to be cast out for their sins.
And therefore, they who were going to succeed them should take warning by them, lest, committing the same sins, they should be cast out likewise.
"And the land is defiled”:
See notes on Lev. 18:25.
The men of the land that have done this are not only speaking of Egypt, but of the lands that God will utterly overthrow and give to the Israelites.
We will see in future lessons, the destruction of many of these people.
In many instances the reason God does not allow them to live, is because He does not want His people picking up their evil ways.
Leviticus 18:28 "That the land spew not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spewed out the nations that [were] before you."
By sinning on it, and so rendering it obnoxious to the curse of God, as the whole earth originally was for the sin of man.
And so be cast out of it, as Adam was out of paradise, and as the Israelites might expect to be cast out of Canaan, as the old inhabitants of it had been.
"As it spewed out the nations that were before you":
Which for the certainty of it is spoken of as done, though it was as yet future.
And what the LORD did is ascribed to the land, the more to aggravate their crying, sins, and abominations, for which the land mourned, and which it could not bear.
God reminds them, that just because they are His chosen people, does not mean that they can get away with this type of sin.
If they fall into this type of sin that God calls an abomination, He will destroy them as well.
Leviticus 18:29 "For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit [them] shall be cut off from among their people."
Before particularly forbid, any of them, be it which it will, they all being very heinous and vile, and especially these last mentioned.
"Even the souls that commit them": Whether male or female, as Jarchi observes.
For the above things concern them both for the most part, however some one, and some another. And though most, if not all the said crimes are committed by the members of the body.
Yet since under the influence and direction of the soul, the commission of them is attributed to that, and the punishment threatened respects both.
"Shall be cut off from among their people":
Be removed from their church state, and deprived of ecclesiastical privileges. And from their civil state, and reckoned no more of the commonwealth of Israel.
And if known and convicted, to be punished by the civil magistrate, and if not, by the immediate hand of God.
We find that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a holy God.
Hebrews
It is not the devil who will punish those who commit these abominations, it is God.
If you were to fall into the hands of the devil, you could pray to God for help, but there is nowhere to go when God punishes you.
Leviticus 18:30 "Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that [ye] commit not [any one] of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I [am] the LORD your God."
Whatever the LORD appointed them and commanded, whether contained in this chapter, or elsewhere.
"That ye commit not anyone of these abominable customs":
For attending to the ordinances of God, and a close in them, they would be preserved from the commission of such abominable things, and giving in to such detestable customs as before warned against.
"Which were committed before you":
By the inhabitants of Canaan; and by the punishment on them for them they might be deterred from doing the same.
"And that ye defile not yourselves therein":
For though the land is so often said to be defiled, yet, properly speaking, and chiefly, it was the inhabitants that were defiled by their abominable customs.
And so would the Israelites also, should they observe the same, and thereby become abominable in the sight of God, and incur his displeasure, and be liable to his vengeance.
"I am the LORD your God":
Who had a sovereign authority over them, and a right to give out what commands he pleased, both negative and affirmative.
And to whom they were under obligations to obey, as the God of nature and providence.
From whom they had their beings, and were supported in them, and as their covenant God, who had bestowed special and spiritual favors on them.
We see that these things God has forbidden must not be done under any circumstances.
God destroyed the lands where the people practiced such abominable things as homosexuality.
America, wake up.
Homosexuality is not an alternate life style.
It is an abomination before God.
The wrath of God could even fall on our nation, if we do not repent and turn back to God.
The answer is not for just a few people to repent, but for the whole nation to repent before it is too late.
2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
To sum this up, I would say that if we are professing Christians, we must completely stay away from this kind of sin.
Not only must we not be involved in it ourselves, but we should condemn it in others.
Wake up America.
God is a holy God.
God will not permit those who call themselves Christians to participate in the evil that is so prevalent in our society.
If we do not clean up our land, God will do it for us.
The only answer to the problems we see in our society today, is national revival.
Drugs, alcohol, perversion and all sex sins can be cured by people truly seeking the will of God in their lives.
Study your Bible and find out what God's will is for your life.
Then live the life that God has chosen for you.
God is not only our Judge, but a loving and forgiving God.
Seek Him, and you will find happiness that you never knew existed.
Leviticus Chapter 18 Continued Questions
1.How long did the uncleanness of the woman last each month?
2.How many days was she unclean when a male child was born?
3.How many days was she unclean when the maid child was born?
4.Where is “the not lying carnally with thy neighbor's wife” found, other than in this Scripture?
5.What was the penalty for adultery?
6.Who was Molech?
7.What was the practice in the worship of Molech?
8.What kind of adultery is the worship of false gods?
9.When do you profane God?
10.What is meant by not lying with mankind, as with womankind?
11.Romans 1:27 says “Leaving the ___________ use of the woman”.
12.What kind of mind did God turn the homosexuals over to?
13.What one word describes what verse 23 is talking about?
14.To have sex with an animal brought certain _________.
15.To have sex with an animal is not only an abomination to God but to ________ ______, as well.
16.What will happen to nations which tolerate this type of sin?
17.In verse 25, what word is used to show the violent throwing out of people for this terrible sin?
18.What cities were destroyed by God for the sin of homosexuality?
19.God gives nations time to repent and when they do not, what happens?
20.What is a more severe word than sin that God calls these terrible sins?
21.Will the fact that they are God's chosen people save them?
22.It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the _______ God.
23.Who is the one who punishes for these abominations?
24.Why would it be better to fall into the hands of Satan, than an angry God?
25.America, Homosexuality is not an _____________ _______ ________.
26.What is the only answer to the problems in our society today?