Leviticus 20:7-11,23
7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him. 10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.….
23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.
Verses 10-21 are basically a repeat of the earlier list in chapter 18 of forbidden sexual sins, except this time the punishment (death) is even greater. (As a side note, it is interesting that verse 10 says both partners are to be put to death, whereas when the Pharisees brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus (John 8) they conveniently left out the man; this passage is clear that both parties are responsible). Let's be honest. The strictness of these rules makes us uncomfortable. It is reasonable to argue that these laws were only for a particular time and place, and thus we don't need to worry about them any more. However, even if we don't follow the details of these laws, we can still learn from the principles behind the law. These laws are bracketed by God's command to be holy (verse 7) and to be separate from other cultures (verse 23). We have a holy and pure God who wants us to be holy and pure. We prefer to just think about the forgiving, loving side of God, but there is also a fierce, awesome, righteous side to God. It is precisely because of His strict standards that we need a Savior, who can be our guilt offering and enable us to come before a holy and pure God.
God, there is part of me that is afraid of Your wrath. Your standards of holiness are so high that I cannot measure up. Thus I fear your punishment. But rather than run from you I need to trust Your mercy.
7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him. 10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.….
23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.
Verses 10-21 are basically a repeat of the earlier list in chapter 18 of forbidden sexual sins, except this time the punishment (death) is even greater. (As a side note, it is interesting that verse 10 says both partners are to be put to death, whereas when the Pharisees brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus (John 8) they conveniently left out the man; this passage is clear that both parties are responsible). Let's be honest. The strictness of these rules makes us uncomfortable. It is reasonable to argue that these laws were only for a particular time and place, and thus we don't need to worry about them any more. However, even if we don't follow the details of these laws, we can still learn from the principles behind the law. These laws are bracketed by God's command to be holy (verse 7) and to be separate from other cultures (verse 23). We have a holy and pure God who wants us to be holy and pure. We prefer to just think about the forgiving, loving side of God, but there is also a fierce, awesome, righteous side to God. It is precisely because of His strict standards that we need a Savior, who can be our guilt offering and enable us to come before a holy and pure God.
God, there is part of me that is afraid of Your wrath. Your standards of holiness are so high that I cannot measure up. Thus I fear your punishment. But rather than run from you I need to trust Your mercy.