Leviticus 20

hey hey good morning good morning welcome to coffee and devotions this is where every day you and I we get together we have a little bit of coffee we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together in this year 2023 Lord willing will'll make it from Genesis through Leviticus so glad to be with you today why don't we have some coffee we'll pray and we'll get into God's word let's pray father we thank you so much for this day what a blessing it is to come and to worship you to hear from your word Lord we plead with you that you would help us Lord this is a hard chapter it's not an easy one for us to get through but Lord we pray that you would please help us to understand it and that you would apply it to our lives in Jesus's name amen all right so we at Leviticus chapter 21 this is probably one of the or 20 sorry Leviticus chapter 20 I almost did the wrong chapter I did that last week I I messed it up so I was late getting online uh but we're at Leviticus chapter 20 and this is uh one kind of one of the last whole chapters we're doing it's dealing with a whole bunch of capital punishment laws and so as we uh go through this let just know over the next couple days we're going to have have shorter chapters just is the way that the bible program broke this up so Leviticus chapter 20 then the Lord spoke to Moses saying again you shall say to the children of Israel who have ever of the children of Israel or of the strangers who dwell in Israel who gives any of his descendants to Molech he shall surely be put to death and the people of the land shall Stone him with stones I set my face against that man and will cut him off from his people because he has given some of his descendants to Molech to defile my sanctuary and profane my holy name and if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man that he gives some of his descendants to Molech and they do not kill him then I will set my face against that man and against his family and I will cut them off from his people and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech so we're going to go kind of paragraph by paragraph because of how this chapter is broken up but this is if you what's this about this is about cutting the person off stoning him capital punishment if you find out a man has been going and worshiping moch because he profanes God's Tabernacle himself so he's got to be cut off and if he doesn't and the people fall along God himself will come and avenge he won't be marked he says it's like spiritual harlotry spiritual prostitution going and worshiping moak when yehovah is supposed to be their husband verse six and the people and the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits to prostitute himself with them I will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy for I the Lord I am the Lord your God and you shall keep my statutes and perform them I the am the Lord who sanctifies you right it's the Lord who has made them holy the word here is kadosh sanctify to set them apart to put them in a special place and so they're not to go and talk to medium and spiritists right they're no those if you're going to go do that if you're going to act like King Saul you got to be cut off from the people because he says no no no no I'm the Lord don't go follow after demons verse n anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death he has cursed his father or his mother his blood shall be a upon him this is a hard one right I mean I remember people saying to me one time well if you think that the law is still applicable then you have to Stone your children we have to be careful right I mean I do think there's a general Equity here I think we are far far far more comfortable in our culture and Society with children just disobeying going off and hitting and cursing their parents uh there's there's entire lines for elder abuse right so if you if you're talking about children who are abusing their their grown parents right that type of stuff was not to happen in Israel as I go and I travel to other countries and as I talk to people who live in other countries how children treat their parents here in America is detestable right and this is the Lord's saying you're not going to do that right there's there's a strata or hierarchy in society and children are to honor their parents doesn't mean there's not a time that if parents are sinning that there's not a place for that as well but the point being here is that in Israel the default is honor your parents not cursing them interestingly this is a side note Jesus picks up on that with people who say Corbin and they won't care for their elderly parents but instead devote their money to the temple in spite of caring for their parents well verse 10 through 16 here's uh laws about sexual immorality that results in the death penalty and so we'll kind of work through these as we go the man who commits adultery with another man's wife he who commits adultery and his neighbor's wife the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death right so what's in Israel this is a civil law connected to the moral law what's the moral law you shall not commit adultery then now this is a civil penalty for it right so if this happens in Israel what's to happen both the man and the woman are to be put to death right oh there goes the balloons again I got to figure out how to fix that that's not supposed to happen but both the man and the balloons are supposed to oh that's bright isn't it I'm getting multiple things here that are going wrong sun is coming up it's getting lighter in here okay uh the son or the the man and the woman are to be put to death when the woman caught in adultery is brought to Jesus just the woman where's the man they want the law to be applied and Jesus is saying where's the dude let him who has not sent cast the first stone I think he's pointing out their hypocrisy here that they're not law followers they know what they've done is actually wrong but but both the man and the woman here but the point of this is the sanctity of marriage the man who lies with his father with his father's wife has uncovered his father's name nakedness both of them shall be put to death their blood shall be upon them so what's this talking about if if there's a guy who goes and he sleeps with his mother or his mother-in-law something like this right that's an Abomination he says they're supposed to be put both put to death this is what we find out happening in First Corinthians when a guy is sleeping with his father's mother and every nobody's even saying anything about this and he says even the Gentiles know that's wrong and yet we in the Christian church feel pressure to say oh we can't follow the law anymore no there's a general Equity that the Apostle Paul led by the Holy Spirit seems to recognize that even the Jewish PE or even the gentile people know that that's not right because I think there's a moral element to it here the man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness both of them shall surely be put to death again this is a capital punishment in Israel their blood shall be upon them if a Man Lies with his daughter-in-law both of them shall surely be put to death they have committed perversion their blood shall be upon them again if I if you know someday one of my boys gets married and I was to sleep with their wife that's a perversion and both of us would be put to death right that's how seriously the Lord takes this in Israel this was their civil laws if a man uh sorry 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 right again this is this is man A hot button item in our culture right now and you read this verse I have no doubt this might get demonetized or taken off of social media platforms if that ever happens go to Sermon Audio you'll still find these but this is what this is talking about if in in Israel civil law was that homosexuality was a capital offense it is not it is within my my own lifetime I'm still a young man at least I think I'm a young man I'm a millennial I'm I'm somewhere at the bottom of that of that list but the point being that I can remember when lgbtq stuff wasn't paraded in all the major cities this is this is new guys the moral aspect of what the sanctity of sexuality used to look like isn't too far in our rearview mirror we've been taken over by a cult and sadly like people are saying oh look at all these different laws and and so they're all even in the Christian church these are all just Old Testament stuff I don't think it is because people want to explain away Romans chapter 1 and even in the New Testament where things are repeated we have theologians and want to be theologians and want to be pastors who aren't being faithful to God's word and our children are getting sucked into this and I got to say I'm sorry for any of you who your children have been abducted by this I know this is hard it is relationally difficult because in our culture this is being paraded this is being pushed this is being called the new good and that if you hold the something like this even in a general sense in which homosexuality is wrong and a sin you're going to be called a bigot backwards intolerant you might be the one who stoned for it the world has flipped this on its head this is hard right I'm saying this is hard this is hard relationally this hard emotionally this is hard spiritually but the question is do we trust the Lord or do we trust the land that seems like we might get vomited out soon because of our iniquity if a man marries a woman and her mother it is wickedness they shall be burned with fire both he and they that they that there may be no wickedness among you what is this talking about again this is this idea right there's you're you're not supposed to marry a woman and her daughter right this this idea of incestuous polygamy is wrong it's so bad he says don't even throw stones at them you got to burn those people with fire now again this is this is where I'm saying the penalty aspect is part of the civil law I'm not saying we need to follow the exact civil law but what I'm saying is that the moral Equity the general Equity behind it is it's wrong if a man mates with an animal he shall be put to death and you shall kill the animal if a woman approaches any animal and mates with it you shall kill the woman and the animal they shall surely be put to death their blood is upon them there are people who will tell you now that like you know a law has to be restated in the New Testament or it's still to carry any type of weight well I got to tell you there's no laws in the New Testament against beastiality no explicit laws and so this is one of the things I struggle with is this is where we find out that there's a moral component that no we don't mix animals and humans no there they' be separate and it's so serious that the Lord says whether it's a man who does this with an animal or a woman who does it with an animal both of them are to be put to death the person and the animal the moral component to it of this of no it's not the way the Lord intended his creation it's definitely not the way in which he intended his people to live if a man takes his sister his father's daughter or his mother's daughter and sees her nakedness and sees his and she sees his nakedness it is a wicked thing and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people he has uncovered his sister's nakedness he shall bear his guilt if a Man Lies with so again this is right incestual relationships brothers and sisters whether you're half or full-blooded doesn't matter the Lord's saying knock that stuff off guys and if if you do that you're going to be cut off that's what he's saying in ancient Israel Verse 18 if a Man Lies with a woman during her un un sickness or during her sickness this is a time of ritual impurity it's her period right and uncovers her nakedness he has exposed her flow and she has uncovered the flow of her blood both of them shall be cut off from their people right again this is one of the points where is this moral law is this is this ceremonial law is this civil law well I think the point is guys give your wife a flip and break give them that time off give them that time where they're able to say hands off buddy give them a time when when they're going through hormonal things and going through stuff and this is not me laying down new law for you I'm not adding precept upon precept I'm trying to give you what I think is the the heart behind this law right that the lord gave women this time of of ritual uncleanness and I'm not saying that we hold to clean and unclean stuff like that anymore in the same way but is there a general principle behind this I think there is I don't want to push that but it's something that we have to wrestle with verse 19 again back to laws of sanguinity you shall you shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister nor your father's sister for that would uncover his nearkin so this your aunt and your uncle they shall bear their guilt 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 so it's the Lord himself he's going to do this one right it's not capital punishment but it and the Lord is saying I'm not going to give them kids it's like a cutting off of their line it's the Lord warning he's going to intervene in this one verse 21 if a a man takes his brother's wife it is an unclean thing he has uncovered his brother's nakedness they shall be childless history lesson here this is why Henry VII actually thought when he married Catherine that you know he married his brother's wife and so he thought that's why he wasn't having an heir and so he sought a divorce from her because of this this verse right so you can go back and read English History because of this but that was this is what the Lord is saying in verses verse 21 all right then we're going to read I think this is finishing off this chapter 22 through the end of the chapter 22 through 27 you shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my judgments and perform them that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out right the Lord is doing this for their good he doesn't want them to get vomited out of the good land he's bringing them you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out out before you for they commit all these things and therefore I abhor them hey guys I just need to tell you again if the Lord uphor these things back then I don't think he's necessarily changing his mind all over the place I need to be careful now in my life right some of these things the general Equity the principle Behind these things I don't want the Lord to appor me and so there are many of these things that I wrestle with in my own heart and I go you know no matter matter what I don't think that these are things that we should be involved in some of them are very clear Witchcraft and idolatry but even when you start talking about the more minute stuff where it gets between ceremonial and civil law you you got to wrestle with these things and and ask yourself if the Lord upor these do I really want to engage in them but I have said to you you shall not you shall inherit the land and I will give it to you to possess a land flowing with milk and honey I am Jehovah your God who has separated you from the people right there is a Holiness aspect here and this right I've I've made you I'm the Lord your God I've separated you from their people you're to be my people this is how you're going to behave this is how your Society is going to run this is how you're going to show that you're my people love me and follow me you shall therefore distinguish between and this is where it specifically gets into again it's ceremonial laws you shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean between unclean birds and clean and you shall not make yourselves any abominable by Beast or by bird or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground which I have separated from you as unclean and you shall be kados you shall be holy to me for I yehovah am kados I am Holy and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine how does this all apply to us right man we we've gotten way long here some of this has been very uncomfortable how does it apply to us the Lord has made you holy he has Sanctified you he has called you if you believe in Jesus Christ and he has called you his son and his daughter you are his he's made you holy now you need to walk in that Holiness this same phrase is found by Peter by the way this whole issue of clean and unclean animals the Lord resolved that in the book of Acts with Peter when he brought down the vision of the sheep with all sorts of animals and and he said all of them are clean and what I have declared clean you can't say is unclean the Lord has shown us that now it's not by what comes into us but by what comes out of us what's in our hearts right so we need to plead with the Holy Spirit that he would turn our hearts away from those things that are impure away from those things that the Lord uphor and that our lives would be transformed we will not save ourselves by that but it is what the Holy Spirit does as a fruit of us being connected to Jesus and so we turn we turn away from our old selves we turn away from our old Pagan ways we turn away from how our former life was and the former lust of the Flesh and we try to walk in holiness because he is our God and he's still holy and he has separated us to be a holy people to live our whole lives as a Living Sacrifice so may you rest in Jesus may you live your life for his glory let's pray and then I'll let you go God we pray that you would please help us this has been a long chapter very difficult chapter emotionally for some of us a very difficult chapter to parse through Lord we're wrapping up a section where there's been lots of mixing between moral law and ceremonial and civil Lord we pray that we would be able to have conversations about this with honesty and Grace but with an eye toward your glory Lord we pray that you would please turn our hearts away from those things that you app pour and towards you because you are the one whom we love and you are the one who we want to live our lives For Your Glory we pray these things in Jesus's name amen may the Lord bless you may you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ and I promise you later we're going to have smaller sections bye thanks for listening to this week's message from God's word for you a Ministry of Sharon RP Church in rural Southeast Iowa we pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week if you'd like to get more information about us feel free to go to the website Sharon RPC dorg we'd love to invite you to worship with us our worship time is 10:00 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue Morning Sun Iowa 52640 may God richly bless you this [Music] week