Intimate Morality

Leviticus 18:1-18 

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. 3 According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. 4 You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. 5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord. 6 “None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord. 7 The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness. 9 The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. 10 The nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. 11 The nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is near of kin to your father. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is near of kin to your mother. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your son's wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness. 18 Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.

After God made moral boundaries clear by His standards of right and wrong in sexual relationships, He now goes further to prohibit what He calls abominable intimate acts outside of the Creator’s design.  Intimate relations when a woman is menstruating are prohibited due to the impurity of the blood, committing adultery with a married person (neighbor, close by or in the general sense), and serving false gods to the point even of killing your children.  Also abhorrent to God but ever more pursued by today’s culture (as well as in Moses’ time) are homosexuality and bestiality.  These twist God’s good design into a repulsive abomination of His creation’s misuse in His eyes.  God names this ‘perversion.’  So should we, or we are showing that we are also against God and His word.  The world dirties itself with these things, but we are called out of those to live for God’s glory and pleasure, not running after our own fleeting pleasure of sin (Hebrews 11:25).  These are among the reasons why there is a divine judgement on the world, not just the perverse and sinful acts, but the underlying disobedience to His word and will contained in it.  We are called to live by His every word (Matthew 4:4, Deuteronomy 8:3, 6), keeping this word by not living contrary to the clear commands of His holy pleasure.  This mindset grates against the world, flesh, and devil, but is essential to life and godliness in Christ.  As it is written, the Lord knows His people, and everyone who names the name of Christ must depart from sin (2 Timothy 2:19) to be pleasing to Him.  These things are not negotiable nor optional nor to be reasoned away to serve our own misaligned desires.  Morality is defined by God and our consciences bear witness to these things if we do not ignore or argue against His word (Romans 1:20, 24, 26-27, 32).  This certainly does not make us judges of those who are not His who do such things, for all such judgement belongs to the Lord whose word they oppose; we are only to correct and warn those who are in Christ and pursue such disobedience (Romans 2:1-3).    It is a matter of obedience, morality, and conscience in what we do with our bodies and thoughts, either in holy application of His word or in willful disregard.