Let’s Get Levitical: God Talks Sex

As we’ve walked through Leviticus, we’ve learned a lot about what it means to live for God.  More than that, we’ve learned how living well is good for us, too.  What we eat, our bathing habits, how to take care of ourselves (and others) when we’re sick, how to avoid getting sicker, all very important to a good life!

There is another piece to living our lives to the fullest that God talks with us about in Leviticus: Sex.  In Leviticus 18, God lays out pretty plainly and clearly safe, proper, and healthy sexual practices for us.

God begins this chapter (vv. 1-5) by encouraging His people to remain focused on Him and not fall into the pagan rituals they encountered as slaves in Egypt or that they saw around them in the Canaanites.  As the Israelites moved around in the wilderness and encountered these cultures, God knew how easy it would be for the people to forget about Him and the life He was trying to build for them and slip back into paganism.  The societies and religions surrounding the Israelites were focused on worldly desires and the pleasing of self above all, especially through sex and drunkenness.

God begins His discussion of forbidden sexual practices by forbidding marriage and intercourse with a close relative (vv. 6-18).  We realize today that this was to prevent incest and the serious health problems that can come from it.  More than that, God knew the consequences and destructive effect improper sexual relations would have within a family.  Think about the destruction that happens when a child is sexually molested by a relative.  God knows sexual practices between family members destroys families.

God also has prohibitions against adultery (v. 20), offering child sacrifices (v. 21), homosexuality (v. 22), and bestiality (v. 23).  These were common practices in the pagan religions and cultures of the day, and you can see why God would deal harshly with those who committed these disgusting acts.  Additionally, the practices lead to disease, deformity, and death.  They destroy families and society because they have such low regard for the value of a person (and a person’s self-esteem).  Modern society takes some of these things very lightly today, even going so far as to condemn those who don’t accept them (more on this later).  But they are still as much a sin today as they were then, and are no more acceptable than they ever were.

God was encouraging the Israelites to keep themselves pure since they were His representatives to the world.  He knew there would be pressure the be absorbed into the surrounding culture and narcissistic religions, and He was moving to protect His people.  Likewise today we may feel pressure to conform to the “accepted” way of life in modern society, but giving into it would a) create confusion as to which side we should be an and b) eliminate any impact we could have for God.  As God instructed the Israelites, so too we must resist modern culture’s attempt to mold our thoughts and actions so that we can be the examples for God we’re called to be.