Leviticus 18:1-30
Laws of Sexual Morality
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.
19 ‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is in her customary impurity. 20 Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. 21 And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. 22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. 23 Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.
24 Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. 26 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you 27 (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), 28 lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. 29 For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
30 ‘Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God.’”
Moses gave us God’s word on sexual morality by defining all the sexual immorality of the body that corrupts the very soul. He covered every aspect of what immorality is and is to be avoided, for it corrupts the design and desire of God for we who are His creations, made to be holy as He is. He defines what is right by contrasting it with the acceptable sins of the ungodly around us, urging and commanding us not to follow suit in such immoral acts that break His heart and engender His wrath. Those who defend these things defy Him as they pit the passing pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25) before living to please the Lord as we were made to and must do by His right as our Sovereign and Creator. He pointed out all the various sinful situations and iterations of immoral sexual relationships in family members, defining them as wicked, heinously lewd and desperately wicked. He also pointed out the same for adultery and idolatry as equally abhorrent to the LORD, along with beastiality and any same-sex sexual perversion (Romans 1:26-27) defined as an abomination that twists God’s creation into self-serving sensuality. Though some try to pervert God’s words to defend homosexuality because the English word is not in scripture, they miss the obvious definition described here and in other passages which clearly define same sex intimacy as the abominable sexual act no matter what word describes it. God’s creation is clearly defined as one woman with one man in the union in a physical and devoted relationship with Him as the core tying them together as one flesh (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) in that covenant relationship. No other combination or situation is intended or permitted and to attempt to justify such twisting of God’s intended design with useless wrangling over words does not ever change these facts. All these sexual deviations are just that, perversions or twisting a of God’s perfect design made clear by the consequences of denying and defying the guidelines of His perfect design for our good and His glory. These sexual deviations only defile the body and soul and separate us from our Sovereign Creator by our willingness to defy Him for the passing pleasures of such sins. The sinful nations which Israel was surrounded by then were pointed out as a trap of such immorality to be avoided and not imitated or engaged with in doing the same which led to their judgment and defeat to provide the promised land to God’s people instead with righteous living. We are likewise called to avoid such immoral sexual sins of the world we live in and stay committed in holiness to live as we are designed (1 Corinthians 6:18-19) to avoid displeasing and angering our Holy God and loving Creator by defiling ourselves in such ungodly ways. As those bought with the lifeblood of God’s Son to save us from these things (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 11, 20, Colossians 3:5) how can we ever defend or even worse, ourselves continue to practice such sins when we know what we are called to? May we avoid and not defend defilement of the body and soul in these ways, but honor and obey our Lord ruling lovingly over our lives for our good instead.
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