Key Verses: Leviticus 20:7, 20:8, 20:26
Where chapter 18 forbade the sins of the nations, chapter 20 prescribes their penalties: death for sacrificing children to Molech, for cursing parents, for adultery, incest, homosexual acts, and bestiality, and being cut off for turning to mediums and necromancers. The severity is grounded in Israel’s identity: “You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” Twice God adds the ground of hope beneath the demand: “I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”
The chapter reveals how seriously God takes the corruption of His covenant people and the defilement of the land where He dwells. Yet even here the emphasis falls not merely on prohibition but on consecration: Israel is separated from the nations because she belongs to God, as He has separated the clean from the unclean. The phrase “I am the LORD who sanctifies you” is crucial — holiness is God’s gift and work before it is Israel’s task. Peter draws Israel’s very identity here — “a holy nation, a people for his own possession” — and applies it to the church, redeemed to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness” (1 Peter 2:9).
Key Terms & Words:
- הִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם (hitqaddishtem) - Leviticus 20:7 - “Consecrate yourselves”; set yourselves apart as holy
- מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם (meqaddishkem) - Leviticus 20:8 - “Who sanctifies you”; the LORD is the one who makes His people holy
- וָאַבְדִּל (va’avdil) - Leviticus 20:26 - “I have separated”; God has set Israel apart to be His own
Cross-References:
- Leviticus 18:1-30 - The sins whose penalties are set out here
- Deuteronomy 18:9-14 - The ban on the occult practices of the nations
- 1 Peter 2:9 - “A holy nation, a people for his own possession”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 - God’s will is your sanctification, in holiness and honor
Discussion Questions:
- Why are the penalties in this chapter so severe, and how does the land’s holiness relate to them?
- What difference does it make that God says, “I am the LORD who sanctifies you”?
- How does being “separated... that you should be mine” shape the identity of God’s people?