June 21, 2013
CAN'T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES?
Leviticus 20
Eugene Allen
Central Truth
We are set apart from other people, and we belong to God. Therefore, we are to be holy as God is holy.
Key Verse | Leviticus 20:7–8, 26
"You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. You shall keep My statues and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. . . . Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine." (Leviticus 20:7-8; 26)
Leviticus 20
Punishment for Child Sacrifice
1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.
6 If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8 Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 9 For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.
Punishments for Sexual Immorality
10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of 1 20:10 Hebrew repeats if a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
17 If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to make naked one's relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity. 2 20:21 Literally menstrual impurity He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.
You Shall Be Holy
22 You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. 24 But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
27 A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”
Dive Deeper | Leviticus 20
Have you ever given a kid instructions like, "Don't go into the woods behind the school"? Did you get clarification questions like, "What if I just go to the edge?" or "Can I go just to the creek?" (The creek was, of course, almost in the middle of the woods.) "Can I take the path through the woods if I stay only on the path?" or "My friends are going. Can I go with them?" Chances are you've been asked these questions or even asked ones like these. What often escapes the questioner are the reasons, either hidden or ignored, that the instructions are given in the first place.
How many times have I, as a child of God, ignored God's instructions not to go into "the woods" of sin? I've gone anyway, or have asked a ton of "what if . . . ." questions. Most of the time, I have become hung up on the perceived prohibition and have totally missed the intent and reason behind the instruction. I have seen the tree, but not the forest. And disaster typically has followed.
Do you get hung up on the trees: those specific instructions regarding sexuality and the consequences of ignoring them? To the world, the instructions might seem outdated and the consequences barbaric.
Look at the forest, though. God makes it clear. He has set the Jews apart from all others to be His, to be holy.
Are the instructions important? Absolutely! Even under grace, they are important. God has set us apart from other people to be His and for us to be holy. If God has set the standard, can we settle for anything LESS and still claim to follow Him?
Today, there are more types of sexual perversion around us than we can count. We are bombarded by things that are outside of the instructions God gave us in the Bible. We struggle with temptations and get lost in the "forest" of sin. Take a step back and remember: I am set apart. I belong to God. I must be holy because God is holy.
Discussion Questions
1. Consider the culture around you. According to God, how can you be "set apart" from what you see?
2. What does "set apart" look like in the 21st century?
3. What steps can you take to be holy as God is holy?