Key Verses: Leviticus 18:3, 18:5, 18:24
God forbids the sexual practices of Egypt, from which Israel came, and of Canaan, into which they are going — incest, adultery, child sacrifice to Molech, homosexual acts, and bestiality. The commands are framed by the refrain “I am the LORD your God” and grounded in the warning that “by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean,” so that “the land vomited out its inhabitants.” Israel is to keep God’s statutes, “by which, if a person does them, he shall live.”
The chapter teaches that holiness reaches into the most intimate areas of human life, and that sexuality is not morally neutral but bounded by the will of the Creator. The repeated grounding “I am the LORD” shows that these are not arbitrary taboos but the design of the God who made and redeemed His people. The sobering claim that the land itself “vomits out” those who defile it, applied even to Israel if she imitates the nations, warns that no people is immune to judgment for the same sins — a warning the prophets later press home. Jesus intensifies rather than relaxes this call, tracing sexual sin to the heart and calling for purity of desire, not only of action (Matthew 5:27-28).
Key Terms & Words:
- תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah) - Leviticus 18:22 - “Abomination”; a practice detestable to God
- חֻקָּה (chuqqah) - Leviticus 18:4 - “Statute”; an enacted decree of God to be kept
- וַתָּקִא (vattaqi) - Leviticus 18:25 - “It vomited out”; the land expelling those who defile it
Cross-References:
- Leviticus 20:22-24 - The land vomiting out those who practice these sins
- Romans 1:24-27 - The exchange of natural relations and the dishonoring of the body
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - Such sins named, yet “and such were some of you,” now washed
- Matthew 5:27-28 - Jesus tracing adultery to the desires of the heart
Discussion Questions:
- Why does God frame these commands with “I am the LORD your God”?
- What does it mean that the land itself “vomits out” those who defile it, including Israel?
- How does the New Testament both uphold and deepen the sexual holiness commanded here?