Leviticus 18:1-30


The Lord is concerned with the holiness of His people and wants them to live in a way that is pleasing to Him and not in the way that they observed in Egypt or that they will observe in the people who are currently living in The Promised Land.  God wants His people to be different; to stand in stark contrast of the idolatry and immorality that is so prevalent in the lives of those who do not know or fear God.  The destruction of Egypt and the pending destruction of these other nations were due to their sinfulness.  God wants Israel to be different.  He continues to call us out from among the world to be different from them so that we can be a testimony to them.  We must provide a clear contrast from which the world can learn and to which the world can turn when they realize the futility and emptiness of sin.

GOD FORBIDS INCEST:  God made it very clear to the children of Israel that they were not to have sexual relations with members of their own family.  Children, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, in-laws other close relatives were all prohibited by God as candidates for marriage.  These relationships within the family were common in the pagan cultures and God did not want His people to practice this form of perversion.  The family is a basic building block of and society and should be a place where purity and piety not sexual perversion.  Satan is constantly looking for ways to destroy the fabric of the family and incest is a common way through which this is accomplished.  To this day, many pagan cultures continue to practice sexual perversion in the form of incest.  It is also much more common than we would like to think in more civilized societies.  However, we must not tolerate this in the Church.  God has called us to holiness in our marriage and we are to commit ourselves exclusively to our spouse who is to be chosen from outside of our blood relations.

GOD FORBIDS IMMORALITY: God has created sex for a man and woman to enjoy within the context of their marriage for the purpose of procreation and pleasure.  Within the context of marriage, God is glorified and pleased as we use this glorious gift us His in the way that He intends.  Sex within marriage is an act of worship that bring honor to His name.  However, Satan has done all that he can to pervert this gift of God by tempting man to abuse this gift in ways which God never intended.  All sex outside of marriage between one man and one woman is condemned by God as sinful.  Homosexuality, adultery, sex with animals and every other form of sexual perversion is condemned by God.  These perversions of God provision greave the heart of God and destroy the very fabric of the family and society.  God has given us a glorious gift that He expects us to use only as He has instructed.  When we fail to do so; we are breaking the heart of God and losing out on the glorious gift that God has given.  As believes we must zealously defend the family so that the world can see in us the true and lasting joy that comes from obeying God.  We must provide a contrast to the pain and guilt that perversion brings to the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Isaiah 54:1-17

Hope is a wonderful blessing from God, without which we would be vulnerable to all kinds of destructive tendencies in our lives.  Today’s society is marked by depression, anger, fear, anxiety and self-righteousness, in large part, because of the sense of hopelessness that prevails in our culture.  Isaiah writes to a people who are about to be taken into captivity because of their sin.  God knows that they will feel rejected, threatened and hopeless so He reveals His future plans for the nation in order to give them hope in the midst of the coming trial.  Hope is the expectation of good based upon the promises of God.  Many times when our lives are marked by the sins mentioned above it is because we have forgotten or failed to focus upon the promises of God’s Word. THE PROMISE OF GOD: From the very first day that God revealed His plan for the nation of Israel, He promised numerous descendants.  God chose Abraham, not because he was more righteous than any of the other people of his
Read more

1 Timothy 1:3-7

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not   to teach any different doctrine,   nor   to devote themselves to myths and endless   genealogies, which promote   speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.    The aim of our charge is love   that issues from a pure heart and   a good conscience and   a sincere faith.    Certain persons, by   swerving from these, have wandered away into   vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law,   without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.   There will always be false teachers that come into the church attempting to distract people from the truth and destroy people’s faith.  When this happens, it is the job of spiritually mature leaders to confront these false teachers and correct their teachings.  However, it is important that this correction be accomplished with the right motives and methods. 
Read more

1 Timothy 2:11-15

Let a woman learn quietly   with all submissiveness.    I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.    For Adam was formed first,   then Eve;   and Adam was not deceived, but   the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.    Yet she will be saved through   childbearing—if they continue in   faith and love and holiness, with self-control. There is certainly controversy and confusion about this passage in many churches today.  The idea of a distinction between men and women and their roles in the family and church certainly goes against the flow of many cultures around the world.  Some would argue that the literal and plain teaching of this passage is no longer applicable to today’s culture.  However, it is always dangerous to discard biblical teaching or try to interpret Scripture based on the cultures in which we live.  Certainly, the Spirit who inspired this text was aware of the many changes that would occur in future cul
Read more