The laws in Leviticus can be divided into one of three categories -- moral, ceremonial and civil. This section in Leviticus falls into the civil law category.
We live in world that is rather “liberal” in terms of sexual references in movies, nudity, etc. In fact, if we believe in what the media says and portrays, we will probably believe that it is okay to have sex anytime, anywhere, and with anyone. The Israelites, when surrounded by other nations were not too different in their situation. They were surrounded by nations practicing their own set of sexual norms. But Lev 20:10-21 is meant to show us that God decided that even their sexual relations have to be different, as they are not just any other nation but God’s chosen people. God has a say even in the most private of spaces. Today, we want to find out what God says to his people in the past, and how does that inform us in the present.
(A) God’s Real Judgement for the Sexually Immoral (Lev 20:10-21)
In the first 8 verses in Lev 20, we also read of how child sacrifices and turning to necromancers or mediums were described as "whoring" after another. Idolatry is equated with prostituting, and described in a rather stark way. This is how the previous verses links to the section of verses that we are going to look at here.
Lev 18 has previously listed prohibitions on sexual relations. Lev 18 presented to us what is prohibited in the lives of God’s people, but here in Lev 20, what is presented here are the consequences and punishments of these sexually immoral actions. Lev 20 is an expansion of what we have previously read. This set of verses comes with a “If…., then “ format, and a list of situations and the consequences of their actions was provided. The table below contains a breakdown and summary of these verses
| Category | Action | Consequences |
|---|---|---|
| Adultery (Lev 20:10) | Man with neighbour’s wife | Death for both |
| Incest/Adultery (Lev 20:11) | Man with father’s wife | Uncover father’s nakedness, death for both. What does this mean? It carries with it the idea that a married couple is one flesh (c.f.Gen 2:22-24). Sexual relationships are meant to be deep relationships. God meant it to be a symbol of union, both physically but also in all other domainsThese rules also tell us who we cannot marry. God has designed for life to be in lived in a certain way. |
| Incest (Lev 20:12) | Man with daughter-in-law | Perversion, with death for both |
| Homosexuality (Lev 20:13) | Man with male | Abomination, death for both |
| Incest (Lev 20:14) | Man with woman and mother | Depravity, burned with fire |
| Bestiality (Lev 20:15) | Man or woman with animal | Death for the man or woman and animal |
| Incest (Lev 20:17) | Man with sister or stepsister | Disgrace (for its a distortion of brotherly love) and cut off in the sight of the children of their people |
| Others (Lev 20:18) | Man with woman during menstrual period | Cut off from among the people |
| Incest (Lev 20:19) | Man with mother's or father's sister | Bear their iniquity. Does this mean they were not punished? This is understood to mean that it would come with judgment by God for sin, and this would mean death. |
| Incest (Lev 20:20) | Man with uncle's wife | Uncovered uncle’s nakedness, bear sin, die childless (John 9:3) What is so bad about dying childless? In a society where having children is important to continue their legacy (and to participate in the covenant promise), to die childless is a great problem. |
Many questions are bound to emerge as we read these verses and consider what it means for us today. But firstly, it is important to remember that these are case laws and not an exhaustive list. It is certainly not meant for us to test and push boundaries and see what we can and cannot. It would be more helpful for us to think about what these verses reveal about God, and His plans for the people in terms of their sexual relations. When we read this (and other passages in Leviticus), another helpful question to ask is, what kind of a society God is painting and creating. From these verses, we see that:
Sex is designed for marriage, and marriage is a result of one man and one woman. Monogamy was the design.
In marriage, there is a union between 2 individuals, and the idea of one flesh first introduced in Gen 23:24 continues here. Sex is a union of the deepest kind designed by God for a marriage, hence we keep reading that a husband’s nakedness is his wife’s and vice versa.
The consequences of sexual immorality are serious, and severe -- death, exile and barrenness.
Both parties are punished together, as both sin together in a sexual act
The list of relations provided here are representative, not exhaustive. There is the idea that you cannot have a sexual relationship with a close relative (and by extension then marriage).
Children are prized for perpetuating family’s legacy and property. Childlessness was a reproach from God since children are a blessing that God alone could give.
Taken as a whole then, this passage tells us that God is concerned about sex and its function. There can be physical consequences to disobedience, such as death, or also spiritual ones, such as bearing of iniquity. What does this passage teach us about God? God’s judgement is severe and certain. It is a reality! All of us must give an account of our lives to God (Romans 14:12). Are you living in light of this truth? How should that change the way we think of sexual relations? How should that make us think of our priorities in this life? Would your priorities be pleasing to God?
This is a God that calls us to be holy and separate even in the most private parts of our lives, in our sexuality. You might think that your sexuality is yours to own, but God tells us that even this is under his rule. Particularly there is a book in the bible that tells us all about love, and marriage and sex, that is Songs of Solomon. Surely, if we understand it more, we will come to understand how the actions in Lev 20 are a perversion of God’s rule. Do we surrender this part of our lives to His rule and live it according to His way?
(B) God’s Love and Desire for the Sexually Immoral (Matt 5:28, Rev 19:6-8)
We turn to the words of Jesus in Matt 5:28, to help us understand something about adultery and other sexual sins. In Matt 5:28, Jesus says that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. In saying this, Jesus raises the bar on the Levitical law, declaring that adultery is not just the physical act of having sex with your neighbour’s wife (for example), but it is also a heart action. The word “lustful” in this verse has a meaning that means “to set your heart upon”, “to desire”, “to covet”. What this means is that actual adultery and spiritual adultery is linked!
So we see that much more than the physical act of sex, adultery takes place in the heart, much like all other sins. God is concerned about the inner life of his people, not just about the outward behaviours. We see that adultery, is ultimately a sin in the heart. Sexual idolatry is we take a person for our own pleasure. The adultery is directed against God, where now someone else (or your own pleasure) replaces the place of God. This is how Lev 20:10 follows the earlier verses on idolatry and whoring after other Gods. The heart of an idolater and adulterer is the same. He is one who pursues someone else apart from God. Above that, it is a heart direction, and to set your heart on something means to worship it. It means that you have set yourself up to get to wherever you set your heart upon. If this object of desire is sexual relations with another, then you have made that your object of worship. This, then, much like child sacrifices to Molech, and turning to mediums and necromancers is idolatry.
What is your inner thought life like? Do you repent of your inner thoughts? When was the last time you had lustful intentions on someone else? In today’s world, even if you are not seeking it, you are fed with highly sexual images through the media. As God’s people, we are called to be holy, to be different and separate, to watch against adultery in our hearts. God's rule also extends to our inner life. In fact, he wants to rule in that much more than in just our physical life and actions. Are you fighting this bombardment of temptations, or are you letting it shape your thought life?
We turn to one more place to help us understand this problem of adultery in the heart as Jesus described. In Rev 19:6-8, a wedding celebration is being described between the Lamb and His bride, the Church. God’s people, the Church, is the Bride of Jesus Christ and the Lamb is the Groom (Rev 19:7). The Bride has made herself ready, and she is wearing fine linen, which we are told are the righteous deeds of the saints (i.e. God’s people) (Rev 19:8).
If you are a Christian today, you are part of the Church, which means you are the bride mentioned in Rev 19. To commit adultery, is to commit adultery against your groom, the Lamb. When Jesus Christ returns for his bride, the Church, there will be a wedding celebration, and this Bride has made herself ready, and she “wears her righteous deeds”. But if you are committing adultery in your heart as Jesus has described in Matthew 5:28, you are not the bride who is readying herself for the wedding. You are the bride who goes for the last fling before her wedding. You are the bride who tries to “get as much as possible” out of her single life before her marriage. You are the bride who walks down the aisle but still has a wandering eye, checking out and thinking of others even as she is headed to her groom. This is the image of an adulterer, the one who sets his heart upon another thing other than Christ.
In so many ways, we are like this, and do not see obedience as a process of readying ourselves, the church for the Groom. Hence, you see that this really is idolatry. When we disregard God’s commands for sexual relations, and when we place sexual pleasures and fantasies or more broadly, any other thing we set our heart upon apart from God, we commit adultery and idolatry in its deepest form against Jesus Christ, the one to whom we are joined to in His life and death (Rom 6:4).
In Rev 19, the Groom loves his Bride. Do not forget that the Groom of the Church is the Lamb, the one who was slain and gave Himself up to redeem the one He loves. He is the one that will wash you clean. If you are a sexual sinner today, Jesus is able to give you white robes of purity even though you have messed up. 1 John 1:9 tells us that Jesus will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He is not a groom that will toss his bride away. In fact, He is one that clothes and prepares His Bride, who is so unable to prepare herself on her own.
Sexual sins are private and deep and embarrassing. But, this passage reminds us today that God knows, and also desires for us to return to Him immediately. He knows, and calls us to repent and return to Him. There is no hiding, but there is a hope here for sexual sinners and all sinners alike. God’s love and desire for the sexually immoral is undoubted, and all we need to do is to repent and see the abundant grace of God in Christ.