The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am the Lord your God. 3You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. 4My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God. 5You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord. 6None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness: I am the Lord. 7You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is the nakedness of your father. 9You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born abroad. 10You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father, since she is your sister. 12You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh. 13You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s flesh. 14You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your flesh; it is depravity. 18And you shall not take a woman as a rival to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive. 19You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. 20You shall not have sexual relations with your kinsman’s wife, and defile yourself with her. 21You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it: it is perversion. 24Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves. 25Thus the land became defiled; and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the citizen or the alien who resides among you 27(for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled); 28otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people. 30So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you, and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 18:1-30)
I lead a weekly bible study at my church. In examining the life of David from 2nd Samuel, chapters 11-17, we have noted that David’s choices cascaded into the destruction of his family life. We found it interesting that David, who had illicit relations with Bathsheba (Uriah’s wife) and orchestrated the death of Uriah, saw his sin mirrored in the rape of his daughter Tamar by his son Amnon. We then took a look at Leviticus, chapter 18; this chapter gives laws concerning the regulation of sexual relationships. Verses 6, 9 and 12 state specifically against having sex with immediate relatives and one’s sister in particular. The class attendees were unanimous in saying that anyone in the Israelite community should have been held accountable for violating that law. No waivers, exemptions, immunity, release, absolution, exclusion, or indemnity from complying. Simple, clear, unambiguous – pretty straight forward directives
In light of the fact that Leviticus is considered part of the Hebrew scriptures and that those in Christ are not under the law, but under grace, I asked the question ‘Do Christians commit sexual sins today?’ After the laughter died down, I assured the class that this was a serious question. I explained that the reason for the question was because actions that were defined as sins in the Hebrew scriptures may not be defined as sins today. I was suggesting that perhaps the passage of time had negated ‘the letter and/or the spirit of the law’. As a class exercise, I asked them to go through the list of ‘shall nots’ in Leviticus chapter 18 and to identify those acts that were deemed sins then but not necessarily sins now.
Let’s replicate this exercise to see if your responses match those of the students: “For Christians today …”
1. Verse 6 – Is it OK to have sex with any immediate blood relative?
2. Verse 7 – Is it OK to have sex with your mother?
3. Verse 8 – Is it OK to have sex with your step-mother?
4. Verse 9 – Is it OK to have sex with your sister?
5. Verse 10 – Is it OK to have sex with your granddaughter?
6. Verse 11 – Is it OK to have sex with your half-sister?
7. Verses 12-14 – Is it OK to have sex with your aunt?
8. Verse 15– Is it OK to have sex with your daughter-in-law?
9. Verse 16 – Is it OK to have sex with your sister-in-law?
10. Verse 17 – Is it OK to have sex with a woman and her daughter?
11. Verse 18 – Is it OK to create a sexual rivalry between your living wife and her sister?
12. Verse 19 – Is it OK to have sex with a woman during her menstrual period?
13. Verse 20 – Is it OK to have sex with the spouse with another believer?
14. Verse 22 – Is it OK for two men to have sex?
15. Verse 23 – Is it OK to have sex with an animal?
Interestingly, there was unanimity on 14 of the 15 questions; there were mixed responses on Question 14/Verse 22. In asking why that one question created disparities, the responses hovered around changing social views, the fact that Leviticus was not written to Christians, and some uncertainty on whether ‘the spirit of the law’ was still applicable to those not under ‘the letter of the law’.
So the next question on the table was ‘What was the intention of the regulation of sexual behavior in the Jewish community?’ I suggest that the intent of this ‘shall not’ list is stated in verses 1-5 and 24-30. If we remove the ‘shall not’ list and combine the verses, this is what is being said:
“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am the Lord your God. 3You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes. 4My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God. 5You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord. 24Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves. 25Thus the land became defiled; and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the citizen or the alien who resides among you 27(for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled); 28otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people. 30So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you, and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.”
What was the intent of the items in this ‘shall not’ list? Simply this – God wanted His people to live in a manner that pleased Him. This ‘shall not’ listed represented the lifestyles of Egypt and Canaan – their past and their future neighbors. While these nations engaged in these practices and God did not stop them from doing so, His silence was not a synonym for His absence or His affirmation. The stated intent of these statutes was that God did not want His people to defile themselves, as God defined defilement at that time.
So we have examined what the text said and considered what it meant then. But what about now? We are under the blood of Jesus Christ; not under law but under grace. We are not under ‘the letter of the law’, but are we under ‘the spirit of the law’? As some of the students suggested, does faith in Christ and living for Christ mean that we have a waiver, an exemption, immunity, a release, absolution, an exclusion, and indemnity from complying from any or all of these 15 items? When God looks at me through the blood of Christ, would He look the other way as I lived-out the ‘shall not’ list? Technically, would any of these items really be considered sins today since we know so much more about God and the bible? Has time and progressive revelation changed the intent of God’s will? Are God’s intentions relative to the period in history or absolute across time? What would Jesus say?
Let each one of us answer these questions at a deep and personal level. And as you consider your answers, let the words of Jesus guide your thinking process. When He was praying in the garden prior to His arrest, Jesus was torn between doing His will and the Father’s will. Jesus was so torn that He perspired blood. He made a request for a waiver, an exemption, immunity, a release, absolution, an exclusion, and indemnity from complying from going to the cross; Jesus in His humanity was the same as us. But He concluded His prayer by saying ‘not my will but thine be done’. Does time change the intent of God’s will? Perhaps a better question is ‘Do I want to make God’s will subordinate to my will?’ Perhaps a better question is ‘Do I want a waiver, an exemption, immunity, a release, absolution, an exclusion, and indemnity from complying with living in a manner that glorifies God?’ Perhaps a better question is ‘Do I want to use God’s grace and forgiveness to justify living in a manner that pleases me?’
Let us end this message with me saying that I have made my decision – now what about you? Whether you take issue with something from this ‘shall not’ list or any other list, I encourage you to be honest about your feelings. But ultimately echo Christ’s prayer by saying ‘not my will but thine be done’. Class dismissed. Amen.
