Introduction
The ten commandments had forbidden adultery, Exodus 20:14, now the law goes on to specify the various forms of sexual immorality which are forbidden in that general law. It includes such issues as incest as well as adultery and homosexuality. This chapter also prohibits the marrying of a sister to a brother etc, keeping it in the family.
UNLAWFUL SEXUAL RELATIONS
‘The LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.’ Leviticus 18:1-5
Israel as a nation had to learn to live different from the nations around them, their God wasn’t a fragment of their imagination, He was real, He was the God who brought them out of Egypt, Leviticus 18:1-3 / Leviticus 18:30 / Exodus 20:2 / Deuteronomy 5:6.
The Israelites had been nomads and when they reach Canaan they are required to settle down and become farmers. The Canaanites taught them that their pagan ideas, Leviticus 18:3, concerning growing food, i.e. in order for the land to produce they had to practise immorality.
Every aspect of their lives was to be governed by the will of God, Leviticus 18:4-5 / Luke 10:28 / Romans 10:5 / Galatians 3:12. God promised them if they continue to live according to God’s will, they would live well and prosper in the Promised Land, Deuteronomy 5:33.
UNLAWFUL MARRIAGES AND INTERCOURSE
‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD. ‘Do not dishonour your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her. ‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonour your father. ‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere. ‘Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonour you. ‘Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister. ‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative. ‘Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative. ‘Do not dishonour your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt. ‘Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her. ‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonour your brother. ‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness. ‘Do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living. ‘Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period. ‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbour’s wife and defile yourself with her. ‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. ‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable. ‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.’ Leviticus 18:6-23
When we read through these verses, we see that God is dealing with marriages which were unlawful and sexual intercourse outside of the marriage relationship. Remember this is what the nations around them were practising and so, Israel can be different form all those nations, Leviticus 18:3.
We begin with incest, which is having a sexual relationship with someone else within the family, Leviticus 18:6 / 1 Corinthians 5:1. We read that incest with your mother was forbidden, Leviticus 18:7, as was having sexual relations with your father’s wife, Leviticus 18:8, this would include stepmothers / Genesis 49:3-4 / 1 Corinthians 5:1.
Sexual relations with your sister, half-sister, or step-sister was forbidden, Leviticus 18:9. Sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether by a son or a daughter was forbidden because it was dishonourable, Leviticus 18:10. Sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father, that is, your half-sister, was forbidden because she is your sister, Leviticus 18:11.
The Israelites were also forbidden to marry a mother or daughter or granddaughter at the same time, the penalty for this was also death, Leviticus 20:14. Sexual relations with your father’s sister was forbidden because she is your father’s close relative, that is, a paternal aunt, Leviticus 18:12.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The instance of Amram and Jochebed, Exodus 6:20, seems to show that marriage with an aunt was not considered wrong by the Israelites when they were in Egypt.’
Sexual relations with your mother’s sister was forbidden because she is your mother’s close relative, that is, is a maternal aunt, Leviticus 18:13. Sexual relations with your father’s brother was forbidden because it is dishonourable and she is your aunt, that is, an aunt by marriage, Leviticus 18:14.
Sexual relations with your daughter-in-law was forbidden because she is your son’s wife, Leviticus 18:15. Sexual relations with your brother’s wife, that is your sister-in-law was forbidden because that would dishonour your brother, Leviticus 18:16.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning, Leviticus 18:16.
‘That is, if she had children, Deuteronomy 25:5. The law here expressed was broken by Antipas in his connection with Herodias Matthew 14:3-4.’
Sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter, either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter was forbidden because they are her close relatives and notice God describes this is as wickedness, Leviticus 18:17. They are forbidden to take their wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living, that is, marriage to the sister of one’s wife during the wife’s life-time, Leviticus 18:18 / Genesis 29:30.
Having sexual relations with a woman during the uncleanness of her monthly period was forbidden, Leviticus 18:19. They could not marry sisters as a rival, intercourse with a woman during her uncleanness was forbidden, Leviticus 20:18.
Sexual relations with your neighbour’s wife was forbidden because this is defilement, Leviticus 18:20. Adultery was also forbidden, and the penalty was death, Deuteronomy 22:22 / Romans 13:9, but in the case of a slave who was not killed, a sin offering was to be made.
MOLEK
They were forbidden to give any of their children to be sacrificed to Molek, because this would profane the name of their God, Leviticus 18:21 / Leviticus 20:2-5 / Deuteronomy 12:31 / Deuteronomy 18:10 / 1 Kings 11:7. Molek was a Canaanite god and he was represented in the fashion of a bronze statue with outstretched hands in front of him. The Canaanites would light a fire inside the hollow statue at the back and lay their children on the open arms and sacrifice them to Molek.
In the temple of Molek, the Canaanites would have illicit sex with the temple prostitutes, this would be one of the reasons God threw them out of the Promised Land, Genesis 15:16. Again, we begin to understand why the Israelites had to be different not only in their beliefs but in their practices of worship. They were God’s people and they must live according to God’s will if they want to continue living in the land.
Nichol, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Solomon, under the influence of idolatrous wives built a high place for Molech in Jerusalem, 1 Kings 11:31-33. Both Ahaz and Manasseh, kings of Israel, made their sons ‘pass through the fire to Molech’, 2 Kings 16:3 / 2 Kings 21:6. And with the head of state openly worshipping such a pagan deity, the extent of popular acceptance of it must have been widespread. ‘Ezekiel speaking to the exiles in Babylon, refers to the practice of causing children to pass through the fire to heathen divinities as long established, and proclaims the wrath of God against it, Ezekiel 16:20 / Ezekiel 20:26 / Ezekiel 20:31 / Ezekiel 23:37.’
Homosexuality was forbidden because it is detestable, Leviticus 18:22 / Romans 1:27 / 1 Corinthians 6:9, and death was the penalty, Leviticus 20:13 / Romans 1:32. Beastiality was also forbidden because that is a perversion, Leviticus 18:23, and death was the penalty, Leviticus 20:15-16. Prostitution was also forbidden, Deuteronomy 23:17 / Leviticus 21:9. The penalty for these sexual offences was death, Leviticus 20:11-12 / Leviticus 20:17 / Leviticus 20:19-21.
OTHER RELATIONAL LAWS
Rape was also forbidden, Deuteronomy 22:25-29. For the person who was engaged, Deuteronomy 22:23-27, in the city both were put to death, Deuteronomy 22:23-24. In the field, only the men were put to death, Deuteronomy 22:25-27. For the person who wasn’t engaged, Deuteronomy 22:28-29 / Exodus 22:16-17. In this case, the father was given fifty shekels of silver, the man had to marry her and could not divorce her.
All other marriages would be lawful, this would include a captive who could marry after mourning her parents. She was also to shave her head and trim her nails, Deuteronomy 21:10-14. A brother of a man who died having no children was to go into his brother’s wife to raise up children to his brother, Deuteronomy 25:5-10.
There were also laws concerning jealousy, a law for a suspected wife, Numbers 5:11-31, the man was to offer a grain offering for jealousy, Numbers 5:15. The woman was to drink some water of bitterness, Numbers 5:16-28, if her stomach swelled she was guilty, if not she was innocent.
A law for a suspected bride, Deuteronomy 22:13-21, the determining factor would be in the evidence of the girl’s virginity presented by the girl’s parents, Deuteronomy 22:15-17. If the charges were false the man was chastised and fined a hundred shekels of silver, he also had to marry her and could not divorce her, Deuteronomy 22:13-19. If the charge was true the woman was stoned to death, Deuteronomy 22:20-21.
Eunuchs and illegitimates were forbidden to enter the assembly, Deuteronomy 23:1-2. There were also laws concerning divorce. A certificate of divorce could be given if the husband was displeased with his wife, but he could not remarry her after she married someone else, Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Cases, where divorce was forbidden, include false charges against a bride, Deuteronomy 22:19, mistreatment of a virgin, Deuteronomy 22:28-29. This divorce was allowed by God because of the people’s hard hearts, Matthew 19:3-9.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so, I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you. ‘Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.’ Leviticus 18:24-30
The Israelites were not defile themselves in any of ways mentioned above, because this is how the nations that God is going to drive out before them became defiled, Leviticus 18:24. Even the land was defiled and so, God punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants, Leviticus 18:25. Israel need to keep God’s decrees and laws, Leviticus 18:26.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The land designed and consecrated for His people by Yahweh, Leviticus 25:23, is here impersonated, and represented as vomiting forth its present inhabitants, in consequence of their indulgence in the abominations that have been mentioned. The iniquity of the Canaanites was now full, Genesis 15:16 / Isaiah 24:1-6.’
The native-born and the foreigners residing among them must not do any of these detestable things, because all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before them, and the land became defiled, Leviticus 18:26-27. If Isarel defiled the land, it will vomit them out as it vomited out the nations that were before them, Leviticus 18:28.
Everyone who does any of these detestable things, is to be cut off from their people, Leviticus 18:29 / Exodus 31:14.
Josephus, in his writings, says the following, concerning being cut off from their people, Leviticus 18:29.
‘To those who were guilty of such insolent behavior, he (Moses) ordained death for their punishment.’
Isreal are to keep God’s requirements, not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before they came and not defile themselves with them, Leviticus 18:30.
When it comes to God’s promise for the Israelites to live in the Promised land, Genesis 15:16 / Genesis 50:24-25, many people forget there were terms and conditions attached to the promise, Deuteronomy 5:33. They had to fully obey God’s laws, Leviticus 18:4-5, but if they allowed themselves to be influenced by the Canaanite culture and get involved in idolatry then they would forfeit the land.
When we think about it, Israel’s future was in Israel’s own hands, obedience meant they would be blessed in the land but disobedience meant they would be removed from it and lose it altogether.