Leviticus 18

It is interesting how much sex is actually mentioned in scripture both in the positive and the negative. As we go through the Bible we will look at the different aspects concerning sex. Unfortunately society both Christian and secular, has put a negative connotation to sex. Sex was created by God for both enjoyment and procreation. The catch is that sex is meant to be enjoyed within boundaries that are set by God. The Bible teaches that of any sin, sexual sins are the worse because they hurt the body and the spirit. Leviticus 18 lays out some of these guidelines.

We see in the first few verses that God tells the Israelites once again that they are unique. They are not to live like the Egyptians where they came from nor the Canaanites where they are going. Verse 5 says, “Live by my standards, and obey my rules. You will have life through them. I am the LORD.”

We can simply look at the results of having sex outside God’s standards. HIV, AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, the list goes on. This is outside the emotional and spiritual results of sex outside God’s rules.

The majority of chapter 18 deals with not having sex with your relatives. It lays out some specifics of who not to have sex with. Most involve blood relatives but also includes step relatives. The last part deals with some other specifics concerning sex. No sex while a woman is having her period, no sex with neighbors wife (adultery? Hmmm). No homosexuality. There are some that want to say that this was involving having sex in a domination way but it is okay to have a homosexual relationship, as long as it is a loving committed relationship. Twist it anyway you may want to justify it but there is not room in scripture for interpretation of this. Never have sex with animals.

What is strange in this is in the midst of this discussion of sex and who and what not to have sex with we see a mention of Molech, a god and the sacrificing of children to Molech. They are instructed not to sacrifice children to Molech. There is much debate over what is involved in the worship of Molech and why he was worshipped. We can make a connection to the fact that children are the product of sex but I think that there is more than that. I think that the inclusion in this here was that there must have been sex that was involved with the worship of Molech. Or Molech may have been seen as a fertility god. The bottom line in all of this though is that children are a precious gift and are not to be so flippantly wasted in a worship ceremony similarly as sacrifices are given to God.

Application

Today applications is simple. It comes from verse 5, “Live by my standards, and obey my rules. You will have life through them. I am the LORD.”