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Joy and happiness, Leviticus 
18. It actually is joyful and happy 
if you obey God at this point. So Leviticus 18, remember we're 
in the holiness code. The first half of the book deals 
more with public worship or the external life of the covenant 
people in a religious sense. 17 to 27 deal specifically with 
their private responsibilities. with the emphasis on their own 
sanctification and separation from the Gentile nations. If you go back for just a moment 
to chapter 10, after the incident of Nadab and Abihu, we have this 
instruction in 10.8, Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, 
Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you nor your sons with 
you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It 
shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that you may 
distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and 
unclean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the 
statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses. So things concerning the holy 
and the unholy take place in 17 to 27, unclean and clean, 
specifically in chapters 11 and 11 to 15. Remember chapter 16 
is central theologically and literarily in the book, it is 
the day of atonement. So basically what you have that 
the children of Israel come on that Day of Atonement. They receive 
the forgiveness of sins. And then 17 to 27 is essentially 
how, then, they are to live. As one man Dempster says, the 
subsequent holiness code in 17 to 26 reveals an important textual 
logic. After the indicative of sacrificial 
forgiveness in Leviticus 1 to 6, climactically realized in 
the Day of Atonement, there is the ethical imperative of holiness. And so here in chapter 18, specifically, 
we have laws regulating sexual morality. So I'll read the chapter, 
and then we'll look at it in some detail. Not exhaustive detail. As I mentioned last time, I'm 
not a rabbi. Some of these things are not 
as easily available to my consciousness as they were to the high priests 
and the priests in this particular setting. So Leviticus 18.1, then 
the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel 
and say to them, I am the Lord your God. According to the doings 
of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do. And 
according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing 
you, you shall not do, nor shall you walk in their ordinances. 
You shall observe my judgments and keep my ordinances to walk 
in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall 
therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man 
does, he shall live by them. I am the Lord. "'None of you 
shall approach anyone who is near of kin "'to him to uncover 
his nakedness. "'I am the Lord. "'The nakedness 
of your father "'or the nakedness of your mother you shall not 
uncover. "'She is your mother. "'You shall not uncover her nakedness. 
"'The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover. "'It 
is your father's nakedness. "'The nakedness of your sister, 
"'the daughter of your father, "'or the daughter of your mother, 
"'whether born at home or elsewhere, "'their nakedness you shall not 
uncover. The nakedness of your son's daughter, 
or your daughter's daughter, their nakedness you shall not 
uncover, for theirs is your own nakedness. The nakedness of your 
father's wife's daughter, begotten by your father, she is your sister, 
you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness 
of your father's sister, she is near of kin to your father. 
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness "'of your mother's sister, "'for 
she is near of kin to your mother. "'You shall not uncover the nakedness 
"'of your father's brother. "'You shall not approach his 
wife, she is your aunt. "'You shall not uncover the nakedness 
"'of your daughter-in-law, she is your son's wife. "'You shall 
not uncover her nakedness. "'You shall not uncover the nakedness 
"'of your brother's wife. "'It is your brother's nakedness. 
"'You shall not uncover the nakedness "'of a woman and her daughter, 
"'nor shall you take her son's daughter "'or her daughter's 
daughter to uncover her nakedness. "'They are near of kin to her. 
"'It is wickedness. "'Nor shall you take a woman 
as a rival to her sister "'to uncover her nakedness while the 
other is alive. "'Also, you shall not approach 
a woman "'to uncover her nakedness "'as long as she is in her customary 
impurity. Moreover, you shall not lie carnally 
with your neighbor's wife to defile yourself with her. And 
you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the 
fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God. 
I am the Lord. You shall not lie with a male 
as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall 
you mate with any animal to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any 
woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion. Do not defile yourselves with 
any of these things, for by all these the nations are defiled, 
which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled, 
therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and 
the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep my statutes 
and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, 
either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among 
you. For all these abominations the men of the land have done, 
who were before you, and thus the land is defiled. Lest the 
land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited 
out the nations that were before you. "'For whoever commits any of 
these abominations, "'the persons who commit them shall be cut 
off "'from among their people. "'Therefore, you shall keep my 
ordinance, "'so that you do not commit any of these abominable 
customs "'which were committed before you, "'and that you do 
not defile yourselves by them. "'I am the Lord your God. "'Amen.'" 
Well, as we see in this particular chapter, the primary emphasis 
is upon sexual morality. So I want to look first at the 
exhortation to Israel in verses 1 to 5. Secondly, the prohibitions 
given to Israel in verses 6 to 23. And then the chapter ends 
with a warning to Israel in verses 24 to 30. And it's significant 
because it is formulated in the manner of a covenant. And we 
see God's revelation via covenant, say, in the Ten Commandments. 
We see a pattern similar here. You have basically a preamble 
there in 18, 1 and 2, then the exhortation proper, and then 
the promise of blessing in verse 5, and then the threat of sanction 
at the end of the particular chapter. So within a covenant 
document, you have a covenant chapter to express God's disapproval 
of the conduct of the Canaanites and the land to which they are 
going. So let's look first at the exhortation. Notice again that preamble, verses 
1 and 2, we are reminded of God the Lord, His relation to them, 
and thus His authority over them. So then the Lord spoke to Moses, 
saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, I 
am the Lord your God. And he punctuates this revelation 
with that statement a few times, again, to indicate his covenant 
lordship over them, and therefore his authority over them to command 
them with conduct that is necessary for life in the land. And then 
notice the exhortation proper. He gives them a prohibition in 
verse 3. He points to the example of the 
Egyptians and the land that they had come out of, and he points 
to the example of the Canaanites and the land to which they were 
going. And in both instances, the Egyptians and the Canaanites 
were wicked. When you read through this particular 
chapter, God's not just making things up. He's not just willy-nilly 
suggesting that these things may actually occur in terms of 
your approach to sexual ethics. It had been done by the Egyptians, 
it had been done by the Canaanites, and unfortunately it will be 
done by the Israelites. One man, Andy Hamilton, he's 
the fellow whose wife sends us the updates concerning Myanmar. 
He preached a series of, or a couple of sermons on sexual ethics many, 
many years ago. And one of the things he mentioned 
in there is that it should cause us to hang our heads in shame 
that God actually has to tell us or have a command, a positive 
statement in scripture that we're not to have relations with animals. 
I mean, man's degradation is thorough. Solomon was not kidding. In Ecclesiastes 7, 29, God made 
man upright, but they have sought out many devices. And many of 
those devices are sexual in nature. And so God demands and God commands 
that the people of Israel avoid the example of the Egyptians 
and the Canaanites. Commentators say that bestiality 
is one of the sins that we'll see later on. was pretty common 
in the land of Canaan, among the Canaanites. So again, these 
aren't just things that God made up in an attempt to try and scare 
the children of Israel off from any kind of vileness. No, these 
were real, live, actual ethical violations of God's law. So God 
says, avoid the conduct of the Egyptians, avoid the conduct 
of the Canaanites, and right in the midst of there, He again 
underscores His graciousness to them in terms of His provision 
of the land. Notice in verse 3, according 
to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, 
you shall not do. So it's grace that should function 
as the impetus to pursue holiness. Now we see that even more clearly 
specified in the New Testament in the New Covenant. When Paul 
argues in Romans chapter 6, what shall we say then, shall we continue 
in sin? That grace may abound, may it 
never be. Before he ever gets to the imperative 
of don't let sin reign in your members, he starts with the gospel. You died, you were buried, you 
were resurrected, raised again. with our Lord Jesus Christ. The 
gospel serves as the primary impetus for the people of God 
to pursue holiness. Not that they don't have any 
regard for the law, not that the Spirit doesn't use the law, 
but we do so in the context of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
So God says, where I am bringing you once again to highlight not 
only the fact that he has provided for them this land, but the fact 
that he is the one who delivered them from the bondage in Egypt, 
the one that's going to sustain them in the wilderness and bring 
them ultimately to that land of Canaan so that they can indeed 
inherit what God had promised. And then notice specifically 
in terms of the prohibition at the end of verse 3, nor shall 
you walk in their ordinances. I doubt that the Canaanites and 
the Egyptians had actual laws on the books that you were to 
engage in these sorts of things. I think the last verse in the 
chapter sort of explains what's in view here. It's not ordinances 
in the sense that these are statutes written by their lawgivers that 
you obey. But notice in verse 30, therefore 
you shall keep my ordinances. so that you do not commit any 
of these abominable customs." So the idea there is abominable 
customs. Don't observe the things that 
the people of Canaan had observed prior to your arrival there in 
the land. And you can see where this would 
be very much a temptation. They're told to go in and dispossess 
the land of the Canaanites. We know that they did not do 
that effectively. We know that because the Bible 
tells us so. God knew that because he's sovereign 
over all things. He knew that they weren't going 
to effectively dispossess the land of the Canaanites, and he 
knew that eventually they would take on the characteristics of 
the Canaanites. So he puts this legislation in 
place to warn them and to guard them and to alert them as to 
the potential dangers that they face in going into the land of 
Canaan. And then notice he gives this 
positive commandment in verse 4, you shall observe my judgments 
and keep my ordinances to walk in them. Once again, I am the 
Lord your God. He punctuates these commands 
with that reference to again show his relation to them and 
to show his sovereign authority over them. And then verse five, 
you shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a 
man does, he shall live by them, I am the Lord. We'll visit that 
later on when we come to apply the whole message later on. But suffice it to say right now, 
that's a general principle for life in the land in terms of 
temporal privilege for the children of Israel. You go into the land, 
you conduct yourself in a manner consistent with the law of God, 
and you can expect blessing. The book of Deuteronomy, well, 
Leviticus ends that way, but the book of Deuteronomy, even 
more comprehensively, ends with a series of blessings and curses. 
You go into the land and do what you're supposed to do, you'll 
get blessed. You go into the land and you don't do what you're 
supposed to do, and you'll get cursed. So the general principle 
there in verse five, again, temporally conditioned, is if a man does 
these things, he shall live by them. In other words, take the 
law of God, in this covenant of works, do what God says, and 
God will bless you. The obvious flip side of that 
is if you disobey, you'll be cut off. If you disobey, you'll 
be exiled. If you disobey, you'll be disenfranchised 
from the land that I am giving to you. So that's the exhortation. Now notice the prohibitions given 
to Israel in verses 6 to 23. We have first laws forbidding 
incest in verses 6 to 18. We'll not go through all that 
in detail. And then laws forbidding other 
abominable practices in verses 19 to 23. Let's look at these 
laws forbidding incest. Now our confession speaks to 
this I think very clearly and very effectively. In the chapter 
25, of marriage, gives a general definition of marriage in paragraph 
1, says a couple of other things, and then in paragraph 4, it gives 
this particular qualification regarding marriage. It says, 
marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity. 
Consanguinity is a relationship by blood. Consanguinity is forbidden 
in terms of marriage. If you share blood, DNA, with 
another person, you're not supposed to marry them. That's one of 
the emphases here in Leviticus chapter 18. So marriage ought 
not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity. Now affinity is a relationship 
by marriage. Affinity is a relationship by 
marriage. That's covered here as well in 
this particular chapter, Leviticus 18. So it says, marriage ought 
not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity 
forbidden in the word, nor can such incestuous marriage ever 
be made lawful by any law of man or consent of parties, so 
as those persons may live together as man and wife. So the divines 
say that man doesn't have the authority to overrule the word 
of God. Man doesn't have the authority 
to subjugate the law of God and do whatever it is he wants to 
do in terms of his approach to love and marriage. We see this 
command, rather in the Confession, the proof text is simply this. 
The reader is referred to the 18th chapter of Leviticus. It's 
a great proof text. That's a comprehensive look here 
at Leviticus 18, 6 to 23. But as well, I'm sorry, 6 to 
18, we see it repeated in Deuteronomy 22, 30, Deuteronomy 27, 20, Deuteronomy 
27, 22, and 23. So it's repeated in the Old Testament, 
a prohibition against incest, but this is in the apostles' 
mind in 1 Corinthians 5. You can turn to 1 Corinthians 
chapter 5. Paul's not spitballing here in terms of a new covenant 
ethic that is devoid of any Old Testament background. Notice 
in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 1, it is actually reported 
that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality 
as is not even named among the Gentiles, that a man has his 
father's wife. Most likely that's not his mother, 
it's his father's wife. Where does the Bible forbid a 
man having his father's wife? Either his first wife, the man's 
mother died, and he took on another wife, or he's divorced, he has 
another wife. So for this son to go into his father's wife 
is incest. It is forbidden by affinity. And so Paul, again, is not bringing 
some new thing to bear upon the Corinthian church. He's rather 
loaded with Leviticus 18, condemning this practice or this activity 
that obtains here in the church in Corinth. And then notice, 
not only did the man do this, and not only did the people know 
this, but in verse two, and you are puffed up and have not rather 
more that he who has done this deed might be taken away from 
among you." So not only did it happen, but it happened and the 
people of God in the church in Corinth were actually puffed 
up about it. Perhaps they thought that, you 
know, God's grace let us continue in sin that grace may abound. 
Perhaps they had some unbiblical reasoning like that. But going 
back to Leviticus 18, we see that this is a big deal with 
God. Now, of course, prior to this, 
people married their sisters, brothers married their sisters, 
Cain and Abel in the first family. They had to by way of necessity. 
But once they started to multiply, that was no longer the case. 
And so this particular chapter, at least verses 6 to 18, speaks 
to this particular issue. Now I want to make just a few 
miscellaneous observations with reference to some of the particulars. Notice the general statement 
in verse 6. None of you shall approach anyone 
who is near of kin to him to uncover his nakedness. Now uncover 
his nakedness here is a euphemism. It means to have sexual congress 
or to marry somebody, which would involve sexual congress. So that's 
the particular thing. That's the offense. This uncovering 
of nakedness, certainly if somebody is bleeding out of their lower 
extremities and you have to remove their skirt or pants in order 
to get a band-aid on it, that's not what's in view here. The 
idea is sexual congress, sexual relations, And that's the overarching 
theme here. So none of you shall approach 
anyone who is near of kin to him to uncover his nakedness. 
So a man is prohibited from such with his mother, his sister, 
and his daughter. And then the woman is prohibited 
from such with her father, brother, and son. Those who are near of 
kin, there is a prohibition in terms of any sort of sexual relationship. And then in terms of the various 
categories, there are a multitude there in verses 7 to 18. Again, we're not going to unpack 
all of them. I just want to make a couple of observations. Notice 
in verse 8, the nakedness of your father's wife, this is the 
incident in 1 Corinthians 5, 1, the nakedness of your father's 
wife, you shall not uncover it. Notice this curious language. 
It is your father's nakedness. The same sort of convention is 
used over in verse 16. You shall not uncover the nakedness 
of your brother's wife. It is your brother's nakedness. 
Well, what does that mean that a wife's nakedness belongs to 
the husband? Well, I think it speaks concerning 
two things, the relationship that obtains between a married 
couple. Genesis 2.24, they are one flesh. But I also think it 
suggests intimacy. It suggests intimacy in light 
of the New Covenant, in light of the New Testament. I don't 
think that's a stretch. A wife's nakedness belongs to 
her husband, just like a husband's nakedness belongs to his wife. It's not to be paraded about. 
It's not to be displayed for others. It is not to be shared 
with others. 1 Corinthians chapter 7, specifically 
in verse 3. He's talking about sexual relations 
in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. This is why, by the way, Sophia 
is not here tonight. I had mentioned that it's probably 
best that she do not come. I know this is adult theme, but 
I hope all of us can handle what Scripture says concerning this. 
Notice in verse 4, the wife does not have authority over her own 
body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does 
not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. What's 
the implication? Do not deprive one another except 
with consent for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting 
and prayer, and come together again so that Satan does not 
tempt you because of your lack of self-control. So going back 
to Leviticus chapter 18, it's interesting. Yeah, there's this 
owning of the nakedness of your spouse by way of relation, one 
flesh relationship, but as well by way of intimacy, not to be 
shared, not to be spread abroad, not to be published to anyone 
else. And then notice as well the prohibition back in Leviticus 
18 related to uncles and aunts in verses 12, 13, and 14. This would be the place I would 
insert, by implication, cousins. Now, that's probably not going 
to win the day with everybody, but that's where I'm comfortable. 
And I'm not a rabbi. I'm not a guy that knows everything 
about the gene pool. and all that sort of thing, but 
typically I would advise persons outside of the relationship in 
terms of first cousin. That seems to be a bit close 
in terms of the particulars, but with reference to aunts and 
uncles and aunts, you see that in verses 12, 13, and 14. Matthew 
Poole has an interesting comment here. He says, some infer from 
hence that it is unlawful for cousin Germans, German here means 
one sprung from the same stock, specifically a full brother, 
sister, or cousin. So he says, some infer from hence 
that it is unlawful for cousins or the children of brethren and 
sisters to marry. But there is not the same reason 
nor the same degree of distance for my uncle or aunt are nearer 
akin to me than their children are. Yet because it seems doubtful 
to many, and may hereafter prove occasion of grievous perplexities 
of mind, especially to tender and scrupulous consciences, Christian 
prudence directs us to choose the safest way, there being so 
great a latitude of unquestionable persons." I found that refreshing 
because not every commentator deals with that. When you read 
through this section, you don't see the specific. Can't marry 
your cousin. So again, it's an implication 
based on aunts and uncles. I think it's an implication that 
does have a degree of warrant, but I think that Poole puts it 
in a context where, hey, you can't make a hard and fast rule, 
but as a general rule for the tender consciences, you might 
want to consider going in this particular direction. And then 
one other observation here is that there does seem to be a 
limitation on affinity. Affinity, again, is a relationship 
by marriage. If you look specifically at verse 
16, verse 16, notice what we read there. You shall not uncover 
the nakedness of your brother's wife. It is your brother's nakedness. Now, I think in context, it specifically 
means while they are alive. There is something called the 
Law of the Leveret in Deuteronomy chapter 25, I think around 10 
to 15. And the Leveret Law simply means 
that if a woman is married and her husband dies childless, then 
his brother has the responsibility to go into her and to give her 
seed. So there is, at least what appears 
to be, a check on affinity. There's a limitation. Once the 
relationship is severed by death, then affinity no longer binds 
the particular parties involved. And then I think verse 18 goes 
that way as well. Nor shall you take a woman as 
a rival to her sister to uncover her nakedness while the other 
is alive. But if she's dead, I don't see 
anything in the chapter that would preclude somebody marrying 
the woman's sister. Now that might be a little odd 
and awkward, yes. Yeah, again, those were things 
that happened before this legislation came. And even so, there are 
sins committed by even God's people in the Bible. So just 
polygamy, I think polygamy is a very excellent example. God's intention in creation was 
one man and one woman. Well, whence the various multiplications 
of wives? What David did, what Solomon 
did, obviously, but David too. We can't condone activities like 
that. Most likely, kings of Israel 
did it in league with the kings in the ancient Near Eastern world 
for political purposes. In other words, you multiply 
wives with other kingdoms so that you have political inroads. 
But yeah, there's sin. People did sin. People did wrong 
things. Even David, a man after God's 
own heart. So things that we have the law, 
but we have even instances of law breaking within the same 
situation. So verse 18 seems to indicate 
that same observation with reference to affinity. Once one party dies, 
then the person is no longer bound by that relationship. So 
again, probably a lot more to be said with reference to laws 
forbidding incest. I'll leave that to you in your 
personal devotional time. Notice next the laws forbidding 
other abominable practices in verses 19 to 23. In the first 
place, you've got the prohibition against relations during menstruation. So notice in verse 19, also you 
shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as long 
as she is in her customary impurity. The Geneva Bible here has, if 
she has her flowers. I don't know how they ever came 
up with that as referring to menstruation, but so it is if 
she has her flowers. So this is something that we've 
already seen in chapter 15, specifically at verse 19. If a woman has a 
discharge and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall 
be set apart seven days and whoever touches her shall be unclean 
until evening. Of course, we have it here. It's 
also in Ezekiel chapter 22, where God upbraids the nation for their 
sin against Him. And there's all kinds of things 
that are leveled against them. And interestingly or intriguingly, 
this comes up as well. So in Exodus chapter 22, notice 
in verse 6, look, the princes of Israel, each one has used 
his power to shed blood in you. In you they have made light of 
father and mother. In your midst they have oppressed the stranger. 
In you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. You 
have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. In 
you are men who slander to cause bloodshed. In you are those who 
eat on the mountains. In your midst they commit lewdness. 
In you men uncover their father's nakedness. In you they violate 
women who are set apart during their impurity. One commits abomination 
with his neighbor's wife, another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law, 
and another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 
In you they take bribes to shed blood. You take usury in increase. You have made profit from your 
neighbors by extortion and have forgotten me, says the Lord God. 
We see it is in that particular section as well, so it's not 
something simply confined there. In fact, you can see the sort 
of background of Leviticus 18 there in Exodus chapter 22. So 
back to Leviticus 18, we next have the prohibition against 
adultery. And again, this isn't the only 
place that this is recorded. It is recorded as well in chapter 
20, verse 10. There is a capital offense where we see that the 
death penalty is the sanction. Remember when they come to Jesus 
and they say, we caught this woman in the very act. Well, 
the law stipulated not only her death, but the death of the man. 
They were not concerned about the law of Moses. They were concerned 
with trying to trap Jesus. If they were concerned with the 
law of Moses, they would have brought the man. Because if she 
was caught in the very act, there had to have been a man present. 
So they didn't care one bit about the law of Moses. They only wanted 
to test Jesus. And that's precisely what John 
tells us there in John chapter 8. So Leviticus 20.10, as well 
Deuteronomy 22.22, Matthew 5.27-32. Now there, interpreters say, 
well, Jesus elevated the law there in Matthew 5.27-32. He went from just the external 
act of commission of the said to the internal act of lusting 
after a woman in your heart. You see, Jesus doesn't do that. 
The Old Testament forbid lusting in your heart as well. The Old 
Testament law was never only confined to the external man. 
The Old Testament law penetrated the heart of man. And you were 
not allowed to lust after your neighbor's wife in the Old Testament 
any more than you were to lust after her in the New Testament. 
When Jesus says, you have heard that it was said to those of 
old, but I say to you, he's not pitting himself against Moses, 
he's pitting him and Moses against the scribal and Pharisaic misinterpretation 
of the law. Because the Pharisees and the 
scribes said, well, as long as you haven't actually gone into 
your wife in a physical sense, then you're not guilty. Jesus 
says no, and Moses says no. It is wrong to lust. And then, 
of course, Romans 13 9, we see Paul apply the law of God in 
terms of how do we love one another. Romans 13 9, love is the fulfillment 
of the law. Don't murder your brother and 
sister. Don't murder your friend or your 
neighbor. Don't commit adultery with his 
or her wife or husband. And don't steal from them. That's 
concretely how you love one another. You can bring them flowers, you 
can bring them coffee, but objectively, don't go into their wives, don't 
have relations with their fathers, and don't steal from them, and 
certainly don't murder them. That's a better form of love 
than the flowers or the coffee. And then, of course, Galatians 
5.19, it's a work of the flesh, and then James 2.11, where he 
highlights the royal law. If you break one aspect, you 
break the entirety of the law. The sin of adultery is oftentimes 
singled out in the Old Testament One, because it's an attack upon 
the family. The family is the basic building 
block of society. You destroy the family, you destroy 
society. You ought not to be surprised 
at why they're trying to destroy the family, because they want 
to destroy society and rebuild it in their sick, twisted, demented 
way. This is what God has established for the propagation of the race, 
for the protection of people, and for the blessing of God upon 
the created order. The civil government is to function 
as a servant to the family. The family is more foundational 
than the government. The government functions in that 
capacity of ministerial. The family is ultimately the 
one that is the foundation stone in a civil society. The prophets 
frequently attacked adultery as a societal evil. And oftentimes, 
when you trace through the prophets, they deal with second-table breaches 
of the law in light of first-table breaches of the law. In other 
words, you reject God, you engage in idolatry, you engage in profanity, 
and all these other things happen, just like Paul does in Romans 
1.18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against 
what? All ungodliness and unrighteousness. And then he starts his exposition 
of those sins with ungodliness, for although they knew that God 
exists, they neither glorified God nor were they thankful in 
their hearts. Their foolish hearts were darkened, 
and then God gives them up to engage in all manner of lawlessness 
and evil. And then as well, note the specific 
emphasis here in Leviticus 18.20. Moreover, you shall not lie carnally 
with your neighbor's wife to defile yourself with her." Certainly 
it defiles her. Certainly it ruins the family. 
There is a degradation involved in sin. There is a degradation 
of the human when he or she engages in sinful activity. You don't 
come out the winner, you don't come out more solid, you don't 
come out more whole, you come out degraded. Idolatry, adultery, 
these sins, they destroy a man, they destroy a woman. Turn to 
the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter six. Solomon emphasizes 
this very vividly. Hey, Beck, can you give me a 
drink of water, please? Proverbs chapter 6. Let's pick 
up reading in verse 20. Bit of a lengthy section, some 
good lessons here. I'm capitalizing on adultery. That seems to be the preferred 
sin in the church versus bestiality and some of the other things. 
So it's good for us to fill our minds with this as God's redeemed 
people so that we don't go astray. Notice in Proverbs 620, my son, 
keep your father's command and do not forsake the law of your 
mother. Bind them continually upon your heart, tie them around 
your neck. When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, 
they will keep you. And when you awake, they will speak with 
you. Thank you. For the commandment 
is a lamp, and the law a light, reproofs of instruction of the 
way of life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering 
tongue of a seductress. Do not lust after her beauty 
in your heart." So Jesus isn't elevating, Jesus is simply expounding. 
Jesus is clarifying. Jesus is teaching that it's not 
simply external in terms of the sin of adultery or fornication, 
but the sin is internal. When you lust after a woman in 
your heart, you've broken the commandment. Nor let her allure 
you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot, a man 
is reduced to a crust of bread. Notice, there's two different 
persons involved here. We've got a harlot, 26A, and 
then an adulteress in 26B. And an adulteress will prey upon 
his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom 
and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and 
his feet not be seared? So is he who goes into his neighbor's 
wife Whoever touches her shall not be innocent. This isn't a 
simple act of fornication. Not that that's okay, but this 
is adultery. We see that again, 26b, and then 
we see that emphasis in 29. So is he who goes into his neighbor's 
wife. You see the degradation of the 
sinner in the verses that follow. And the degradation of the sinner 
is not only what happens to him in terms of conscience, but it 
also happens to him in terms of judgment. Notice in verse 
30, people do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself 
when he is starving. Nobody's surprised about that, 
are they? Guy says, you know, I stole this turkey because I 
was starving and my family was starving. Okay, it's wrong. You got to pay back. You got 
a deal. You can't have it because it's theft. But you're not surprised, 
you're not shocked. You don't say, I can't believe 
you'd steal a turkey to feed your dying family. Nobody responds 
that way. Solomon is a realist. Solomon 
has something that kings, or not kings, authorities in our 
day, they don't have. They have no connection with 
civil society. They have no connection with 
where people are at. They have no connection with 
what inflation is. They have no connection with 
gas prices. They have no connection with 
the need for self-defense and protection. They're surrounded 
by people with guns and bodyguards and all that sort of thing. care. 
They have no connection. Solomon wasn't a king like that. 
Solomon knew what was happening in the lives of people, and he 
makes this truism. People don't despise a thief 
if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving, yet when 
he is found, he must restore sevenfold. He may have to give 
up all the substance of his house. He's not clearing him. He's not 
saying it's okay, go ahead and steal. No. But it's not a surprise. Listen to verse 32. Well, how 
is that? For jealousy is a husband's fury. The husband's gonna show up at 
his house and smack him, and dot his eye, and bloody his lip, 
and hurt him for what he has done to his bride and to his 
family. For jealousy is a husband's fury, 
therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will 
accept no recompense, nor will he be appeased though you give 
many gifts. And notice that Solomon just treats this as a reality. 
He's not going to get involved as the king. You go into your 
neighbor's wife and your neighbor dot your I. That's what you've 
got coming, pal. Adultery is degradation. It destroys the soul of a man 
or a woman. And that's the emphasis there 
in Leviticus 22, 18, 20. Moreover, you shall not lie carnally with 
your neighbor's wife to defile yourself with her. And then the 
next sin or the next prohibition is against child sacrifice. Verse 
21. Now, at this point, we should 
probably start to tremble a bit, living in a land like we live 
in, where adultery is not even blushed at anymore. I mean, it's 
just accepted. It's just the way it is. It's 
just sort of the norm. Child sacrifice? Yeah, that's 
happening. Don't you make any mistake about 
it. It may not be with Moloch standing there with his arms 
out, but it's happening. Notice in verse 21, "...you shall 
not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, 
nor shall you profane the name of your God, I am the Lord." 
Molech seemed to be the god of the Ammonites, their primary 
deity or idol. This is a prohibition that's 
repeated in Deuteronomy 18, verse 10, and the idea is passing through 
the fire to Moloch. Now, some suggest the babies 
were already killed and then thrown into the fire. Others 
suggest that they were thrown into Moloch's arms, bounced off, 
and into the fire. Either way, it was a ghoulish, 
wicked, vile practice where babies were being destroyed for religious 
worship. This is something that King Ahaz 
does, according to 2 Kings 16.3, intervents Josiah in his righteous 
reign in 2 Kings 23, and acts a means by which this will not 
continue. Psalm 106, 37, and 38 indicates 
that this took place among the Israelites. Again, Ahaz was a 
king in Israel. So it wasn't that they kept away 
from all these abominations of the Canaanites. And again, God 
knew this. You go into the land, if you don't dispossess it, before 
long, you will be imitating them. Before long, you will be worshiping 
with them. This is the emphasis in James 
1. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God and the Father 
is this, to visit widows and orphans in their distress, and 
to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Why is that? Because 
the world is a contagion. And it's not the case that we're 
going to go out and fix the world. It's usually the case that the 
world's going to fix us. It's like, and I hate to admit 
this, but when I was growing up, guys would wear white pants. 
I hope nobody's wearing white pants here. White pants get dirty 
the moment you put them on. It's like, that's kind of how 
the center is. We're going to go out and fix 
the world. Now you need to be very careful, very guarded, very 
much alert to the reality that most likely the contagion isn't 
your holiness to the unholiness of the world, but it's the unholiness 
of the world to you. So God tells the children of 
Israel to get rid of all the Canaanites, because if you don't 
get rid of all the Canaanites, you're going to be visiting with 
them, you're going to be having coffee with them, and then you're 
going to go to bail services and Molech services, and you're 
going to throw your babies into the fire. And then notice the 
particular reason appended or attached to this law. I thought 
Matthew Poole's comment here was very helpful. or by forsaking him for such 
a base and bloody idol, whereby the name, honor, and service 
of God would be horribly defiled and exposed to the scorn of the 
heathen, as if he were but one of the same kind with their mongrel 
deities." Listen to what he says, either by joining him with or 
by forsaking him for. Typically, idolatry in Israel 
was one or the other. You either had other gods before 
or besides gods, Yahweh, or you had other gods in addition to 
Yahweh. You'd like that Baal was the 
storm god. I'll pray to him because I've 
just planted my seed and I need some rain. Yahweh might be busy. 
He might be doing something else and I'm going to cover my bases 
here and I'll pray to Baal. And you know, Moloch seems to 
be the patron saint of family planning, so I'm going to go 
worship at his feet with my baby that I don't want to have to 
bring up and all that sort of thing. It's called syncretism. 
It's when we try to marry another religious system or another deity 
with the living and the true God. That is commonplace in Old 
Covenant Israel. It's probably not the case. The 
majority report isn't, we just completely forsake you, God, 
or Yahweh, and we follow after this. No, they probably tried 
to cover their bases. We want Yahweh for this, and 
we want Baal for this, and we want Moloch for this, and we 
want Asherah for this, and we want to have this pantheon like 
the nations around us. And so I think this pool is right 
on there. Next, fourthly, is verse 22, 
the prohibition against homosexuality. And again, this is not unique 
to this code, this holiness code. Notice what he says in verse 
22. Now, this obviously applies the other way. a woman shouldn't lie with a 
woman as she lies with a male. It's obviously a prohibition 
in both directions for male and female homosexuality. You see 
the instance of this in Genesis 18 and 19. This is where we get 
the word sodomy from the sodomites because that was their peculiar 
particular sin that they engaged in. You have Leviticus 18, 22 
here. You've got Leviticus 20, verse 
13. If a man lies with a male as 
he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination, 
they shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them. 
And then of course, you see this repeated in the New Testament. 
You can turn to Romans 1. Today we're being told that, 
well, as long as monogamous homosexuality, that's okay. God's okay with monogamous homosexuality, 
a loving homosexual union. No, God abominates homosexuality. We've got to quit capitulating, 
we've got to quit trying to give ground away in terms of what 
God's Word says. God made the world everything 
in it, he is supreme lawgiver, and he has intended that men 
and women have relations together. He intended that fish swim, he 
intended that birds fly, and he intended that men are men, 
women are women, and men and women have relations together 
so that they can procreate and have children. That's not the 
only purpose, but it's certainly one of the purposes. So in Romans 
1, notice in verse 26, for this reason God gave them up to vile 
passions. For even their women exchanged 
the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, 
leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lusts 
for one another, men with men, committing what is shameful, 
and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error, which 
was due." 1 Corinthians 6. You probably know that the Corinthians 
were wicked. The city of Corinth was bad, 
lots of fornication, lots of adultery, lots of sexual perversion. There was a verbal form of the 
noun Corinth, to Corinthianize, meant to have sexual relations. There were temple prostitutes, 
there were all sorts of those kinds of things. Notice what 
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, 9. Do you not know that the unrighteous 
will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither 
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers. Now notice he uses 
two terms here, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites. We think, well, 
he's saying the same thing twice. No, he's using tactical language. 
He's using technical terminology. The one term is the passive partner 
in a homosexual relation, and the other is the active partner 
in a homosexual relationship. So Paul knows his vocabulary, 
he knows his Greek, and he knows sin and sinners, and so he speaks 
specifically to that. Now, when it comes to this, there's 
other sins there. The church shouldn't only be 
about the condemnation of homosexuality. Notice how he starts the list, 
neither fornication. Fornicators are under the same 
wrath of God, just like homosexuals are under the wrath of God. Idolaters, 
adulterers, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners 
will inherit the kingdom of God. But notice the beauty of the 
gospel of Jesus Christ. And such were some of you, but 
you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified 
in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 
This is how we know it's not a DNA thing. You're not hardwired 
this way. You're not made this way. You 
can stop being a homosexual. You can stop being an adulterer. 
You can stop being an idolater. When you come to that fountain 
that's open for sin and uncleanness, when you are justified freely 
by grace, when you receive the imputed righteousness of our 
Lord Jesus Christ and enter into the life of sanctification, you 
can put on the Lord Jesus Christ and to make no provision for 
the flesh to fulfill its lust. It cannot be the case, well, 
I was just made this way and I'm always going to be this way. 
No such were some of you. You were this way, you are no 
longer this way. That means it's not like, you 
know, being black or being white or being some, you know, having 
green eyes or blue eyes. There are certain things you 
cannot change. There are other things you can change. to classify 
homosexuality or transgenderism along with being black or white 
or having blue eyes or green eyes is diabolical. Brethren, 
the condemnation of sin is the beginning point of healing and 
remedy. If we don't tell sinners they're 
sinful, we can't tell them about the Savior who redeems to the 
uttermost. We're told, well, if you tell 
people that, you'll make them feel bad. They need to feel bad 
so that they see the glory of Jesus Christ as the one who can 
cleanse them, as the one who does forgive, and as the one 
who can keep them and empower them to live in a way that is 
pleasing to God Almighty. 1 Timothy chapter 1, final emphasis 
there. in terms of this particular sin. 
Again, something that needs to be spoken to because there's 
a lot of professing churches today capitulating at this point. Notice in 1 Timothy 1.8, but 
we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Knowing 
this, now isn't that beautiful language? The law is good if 
one uses it lawfully. What does that mean? There's 
unlawful ways to use the law. There are unlawful ways to use 
the law. If I stand in the pulpit on Sunday and say, obey, and 
you'll go to heaven, that is an unlawful use of the law. A 
lawful use is, look at the law, see your sin and misery, and 
may it show you the glory of Jesus Christ as Savior. A lawful 
use of the law is for the blood-bought child of God who has the Holy 
Spirit. We call it the normative use of the law. The law functions 
as a pattern to tell you what God is pleased with and what 
God is displeased with. Those are lawful uses of the 
law. And so Paul then goes on and he appeals to what? The law. And some commentators, and I 
think with great merit here, see a reference to each of the 
Ten Commandments. Every one of the Ten Commandments 
is what Paul refers to here. Knowing this, the law is not 
made for a righteous person. I think what he means in this 
sense, he's not exhausting the use of the law here. When he 
says it's not made for a righteous person, I think he's talking 
about the law functioning in what we call the civil or political 
sphere. The law for counterfeiters doesn't 
affect us, does it? I doubt any of you have that 
as a remaining corruption. Man, I got to get to my washing 
machine. I got to get to my notes. I've 
got to print. That's not a law that affects us. We don't have 
a problem with it. That's what I think he means 
there. The law is not made for a righteous person. In other 
words, in the civil or political use, the first use of the law, 
as long as you're doing what you're supposed to do, you don't 
have a problem with the law. But he goes on to say, but for 
the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, 
for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers 
of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for 
kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing 
that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel 
of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. So going 
back to Leviticus 18, again, it's not confined to this holiness 
code, but we see it all throughout scripture. And then the last 
one is the prohibition against bestiality. Bestiality, relations 
with an animal. Now, you might think, well, why 
this? Well, it's not just here. It's in Exodus 22, 19. It's here. 
It's in Leviticus 20, 15, and 16, and then again in Deuteronomy 
27 and 21. There's a particular news site 
I look at, and I just typed in their search bar, bestiality. 
That's kind of what I do for fun. No, just kidding. It was 
in preparation for this tonight, because I've just noticed over 
the last few years more and more articles on bestiality. Like, really? Yeah, this particular... There were several articles going 
back to like 2015, you know, that recent. And then there's, 
I don't know if he's still the professor of bioethics at Princeton 
University, a university that begun as a university to teach 
ministers the gospel, how far they have fallen. But a man by 
the name of Peter Singer, again, the professor of bioethics, was 
perfectly fine with bestiality, except with chickens, because 
you can kill a chicken. I want to ask the question, how 
does he know that? That's strange. But can you imagine 
a tenured professor of bioethics at Princeton University writing 
papers in support of bestiality? So this isn't like, oh, no, this 
is just the Egyptians and the Canaanites. Again, this is something 
that we need to be mindful of, especially in a decadent and 
immoral age when anything, just about everything, goes. Poole 
says, and an overthrow of all bounds 
of religion, honesty, sobriety, and modesty." It is vile, it 
is reprehensible, it is wicked, and it is condemned here. And 
that brings us finally to the warning to Israel, verses 24 
to 30. There's three things here, we 
won't spend a lot of time, it's a quick three things. Note the 
rationale for the conquest in verses 24 and 25, the responsibility 
to obey on the part of Israel in verses 26 and 27, and then 
the reminder concerning God's judgment in verses 28 to 30. 
Note, specifically, the rationale for the conquest in verses 24 
and 25. When you read the Bible, and 
you read Deuteronomy 7, and you read Exodus 23, and where God 
says, I want you to go, children of Israel, in the land of Canaan, 
and I want you to utterly destroy everything there. I want you 
to kill everybody. Just engage in, you know, a massive 
campaign to rid the land of all these Canaanites. people read 
that or hear that and they say that's not fair, that doesn't 
seem right, these poor innocent people minding their own business 
and here come these Israelites to come in and stomp them in 
the name of Yahweh. Well, look at what Yahweh says 
in verses 24 and 25. In other words, God's sending 
Israel in to the land of Canaan on a mission of justice and judgment. He is going to purge the land 
of that which defiles it. Davis makes the comment. He says, 
the conquest is not a bunch of land-hungry marauders wiping 
out at the behest of their vicious God hundreds of innocent God-fearing 
folks. In the biblical view, the God 
of the Bible uses none too righteous Israel as the instrument of his 
just judgment on a people who had persistently reveled in their 
iniquity. It's an act of judgment. And 
look at the language that is used there in verse 25. I will vomit you out of my mouth." 
The same sort of covenantal significance with that lackluster, professing 
church there in Laodicea. The land was central in Old Covenant 
Israel. Christ is central in New Covenant 
Israel. He's the one that spits out apostates, 
just like the land of Canaan spit out the apostates and the 
defectors in the Old Covenant. And then notice the responsibility 
to obey. So based on that, Don't do what 
they're doing because this is why I'm throwing them out. Notice 
in verse 26, you shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments 
and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your 
own nation or any stranger who dwells among you. They could 
not compel the stranger to imbibe Israel's religion, but they could 
compel the stranger not to engage in outward acts of evil. Brethren, 
that is a fundamental thing that we have lacked. We can't make 
people Christians. Yeah, but they ought to obey 
the law. They ought to do what God says. There ought to be this, again, 
civil or political use of the law to restrain the abject wickedness 
of man. So law is comprehensive. It's 
for the Israelites. It is for the stranger in the 
land. It is for the Canaanites and 
the Egyptians before them. It is for the Apostle Paul when 
he writes to the church at Corinth. This is binding legislation upon 
all men at all times. And then notice the reason the 
land is defiled. Once again, verse 27. Now notice 
the warning concerning God's judgment. God is consistent. Again, that Davis quote, the 
conquest is not a bunch of land-hungry marauders wiping out at the behest 
of their vicious God. People say that, well God's vicious, 
that's terrible, that all those poor Canaanites were conquered 
by the Israelites. What happens when the Israelites 
go into the land? They become like the Canaanites. 
What happens when the Israelites become like the Canaanites? God 
raises up Assyria and the land vomits out the northern tribes. 
What happens when the Israelites become like the Canaanites? God 
raises up Babylon. and they are vomited out of the 
land. What happens when the Israelites 
become like the Canaanites? God raises up the Romans and 
they're vomited out of the land. God is not arbitrary. God is 
not capricious. God doesn't wake up on a Monday 
and say, you know, I don't like those Canaanites. Go in there 
and take care of business, Israel. No, when Israel apes the Canaanites, 
Israel brings upon them the same judgment. And that's the emphasis 
in verse 28. Lest the land vomit you out also 
when you defile it. as it vomited out the nations 
that were before you. For whoever, whoever commits 
any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall 
be cut off from among their people." And then the summary statement 
in verse 30, therefore you shall keep my ordinance so that you 
do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed 
before you and that you do not defile yourselves by them. I 
am the Lord your God. Well, there's exposition real 
quick, and then we're done. I would be remiss if I didn't 
add this. Romans 10 and Galatians 3. The 
apostle invokes Leviticus 18.5. In a bit of a different context, 
he is dealing with justification by faith alone. The contrast 
to justification by faith alone is justification by law or by 
works alone. Well, the law or the works principle 
demands exact, entire, and perpetual obedience. If we opt for works, 
it must be with perfection. And that's Paul's point in Romans 
10, 5. For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of 
the law. The man who does these things 
shall live by them. But the righteousness of faith 
speaks in this way. Do not say in your heart who 
will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ from above, 
or who will descend into the abyss, that is to bring Christ 
up from the dead. But what does it say? The word 
is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word 
of faith which we preach, that if you confess with your mouth, 
the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised 
him from the dead, you will be saved." So there's a contrast. 
The way of approach, via law, the man who does them shall live 
by them. Paul says it cannot be the case. And I would suggest that's exactly 
the message in the Old Covenant. It is a covenant of works designed 
to show them constantly their need for the Messiah to come. 
Notice in Galatians 3.10, for as many as are of the works of 
the law are under the curse, for it is written, curse it is 
everyone who does not continue in all things, not some things, 
but all things which are written in the book of the law to do 
them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God 
is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is 
not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. 
That's the principle. If you choose law, you better 
be perfect. And the point is, you're not, 
so believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, because salvation is 
by grace through faith in Him. Well, I'll close in prayer, and 
then if there are any questions, we can deal with that. Father, 
thank You for Your Word. Thank You for even difficult 
passages like Leviticus 18 and what they show us. concerning 
God's absolute holiness and glory and sovereignty and majesty and 
man's sinfulness. Certainly, Solomon was in fact 
right. We do seek out many devices, 
and we know in our own generation, we know through all generations, 
sexual sin seems to be a primary emphasis in the hearts of wicked 
men. God, keep us and guard us and watch over us. And Lord, 
help us to deal with remaining corruption. Help us to deal in 
a way that is pleasing in your sight. And may you fill us with 
your Holy Spirit and may you guard us and may help us to walk 
carefully before you. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, any questions or 
comments? Oh, you're welcome. Yes. 8.5 people in the world are from 
Tanzania's parents. But in Arab countries... How many? 8.5. OK. But in Arab 
countries, it's up to 60%. Egypt, 80%. Just religious, cultural... Yeah. Yeah. I think it's legal in Canada. First cousin. First cousin love. A famous example was FDR. Yes. Yeah, and I think there's a theme 
too in where you put your seed. You know, you're putting seed 
in the wrong places, in homosexuality, in bestiality, and when you throw 
it into the fire. There's a big emphasis on seed, 
especially in light of the messianic promise, the seed of the woman 
is going to crush the serpent, And then, you know, that would 
be the specific, the messianic import, but then generally, right? I mean, babies are a blessing, 
and it ought not to be a surprise that there's such a war against 
them. God says, be fruitful and multiply, and yet the world says, 
no, don't have, you know, don't have babies. So. Well, it just 
makes me think of, like, when we have the life change and stuff, 
it often seems to be, you know, middle-aged men who are the ones 
giving the middle finger and getting angry, and I'm like, 
There's some young screaming women too. But on the men department, 
I sometimes wonder why are you so adamant to kill? Because it's a more impersonal 
responsibility.