Leviticus 20:1-27 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Leviticus 20:1-27. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage. Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage? After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Leviticus 20:1-5 (NIV)
1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him.
3 I will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.
4 If the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to death,
5 I will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech.
On verses 1-5: Here we see God’s heart for children, how God absolutely abhors the practice of child sacrifice. Child sacrifice was a form of demon worship practiced among Israel’s neighbours, such as the Canaanites and Ammonites, who would sacrifice their children into a fire. The idea was that by sacrificing children in the fire, their gods such as Molech (which were really demons) would look favourably upon them. Tragically in some countries and religions today, child sacrifice is still a practice that occurs.
God saves some of His harshest and sternest words for those who engage in child sacrifice. There is punishment also for those who knew about the child sacrifice but did not do anything about it (see verses 3-5).
Those who engage in child sacrifice do so in order to protect something they consider to be more precious. Yet in the Gospels we see that God did the opposite. God sees children as most precious. To protect us His children, God sacrificed Himself on the cross.
In the same way, may we not sacrifice our children in the fire of neglect, overbusyness or misplaced priorities. Instead, may we as the church be defenders and champions of children in our city. For children are precious to God.
Leviticus 20:6-21 (NIV)
6 “‘I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.
7 “‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
8 Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
9 “‘If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.
10 “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife–with the wife of his neighbor–both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
11 “‘If a man sleeps with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
12 “‘If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.
13 “‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
14 “‘If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you.
15 “‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal.
16 “‘If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
17 “‘If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off before the eyes of their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.
18 “‘If a man lies with a woman during her monthly period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them must be cut off from their people.
19 “‘Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.
20 “‘If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.
21 “‘If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.
On verses 6-21: If the commands we see in verses 6-21 still generally apply to Christians today, and if according to verses 6-21 violating any of these commands was supposed to result in death for the person who violated them, why is it that we don’t see Christians who have violated these commands being executed today? It’s because Jesus Christ, out of love for us, paid the penalty for all of our sins, for all the ways we have violated God’s commands, by dying on a cross. It is only because of the blood of Jesus shed for us that we ourselves will not have to die because of our sin.
Leviticus 20:22-24 (NIV)
22 “‘Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.
23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.
24 But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations.
On verses 22-24: Here we learn that the reason why the nations who occupied the promised land before the Israelites were ousted out of the land was because they had disobeyed God and refused to listen to Him. Not wanting the Israelites to experience the same fate, God warns the Israelites in advance to keep His commands, “so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out” (v22).
One of the ongoing themes of the Bible is that if we want to live in God’s country, we need to obey God’s decrees and laws. But all of us have disobeyed God’s decrees and laws and were vomited out of that land. And now the rest of the Biblical story is about God making a way to bring His people back to His land. This would come at the highest price: the sacrifice of God’s own Son Jesus. Jesus would die for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to. How is the sacrifice of Jesus on a cross any different from the child sacrifices that God condemned at the beginning of this chapter? One major difference is this: in the case of Jesus, it was the Son willingly laying down his life to pay for the sins of God’s other children. God did this so that He could rescue and bring back to Himself as many children as possible, children like you and me.
Leviticus 20:25-26 (NIV)
25 “‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground–those which I have set apart as unclean for you.
26 You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
On verses 25-26: Twice in Leviticus 20, God says that He has set apart the Israelites (v24 and v26). All the regulations in Leviticus about differentiating between clean and unclean animals (such as verse 25) were in part to remind the Israelites that they had been set apart by God. Evidently God did not want the Israelites to take for granted that fact that He had set them apart from the nations to be especially blessed. Likewise, may we not take for granted the fact that God has chosen us, set us apart and blessed us, not because we deserved it or earned it in any way, but simply because of God’s mercy and grace.
Leviticus 20:27 (NIV)
27 “‘A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.'”
On verses 27: Read verses 6 and 27 as well as Leviticus 19:26 and it is clear that God is adamant about not wanting His people to practice divination. What is divination? Divination is trying to discover hidden knowledge by calling on the help of spirits (other than the Holy Spirit) and by interpreting signs that are believed to be given by them. This can include consulting mediums, spiritists, Ouija boards and other forms of fortune telling.
What is so wrong or dangerous about practicing divination? First, when you practice divination, you are placing your hope in something other than God and letting that influence your destiny. When you place your trust in horoscopes or in fortune tellers, you’ll find that it doesn’t give you rest and lasting peace. Only a relationship with God through Jesus Christ can give you rest and peace.
Second, when you practice divination, you are trying to get revelation from God without a relationship with God. Whenever God blesses you, whenever God reveals anything about Himself to you, it’s because He wants a relationship with you. Revelation from God and a relationship with God were always meant to go together. In divination, you’re trying to get the blessing and secret knowledge from God, all without a real relationship with God. It’s a spiritual shortcut. In divination, you’re trying to acquire hidden knowledge from God in the quickest, cheapest way possible. It’s seeing God as a means to an end, rather than as an end to Himself.
People who use divination think, “If I cough up a few bucks, then I can get what I want.” Divination is one more way that we try to buy our way to God. But God is not a prostitute who can be bought. God can only be sought. God made you for a real relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. That’s what you were created for, to know God personally and to experience the comfort and counsel of His Holy Spirit. God loved you so much that even after we had all turned against Him, He still wanted a relationship with us so He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us.
Third, when you engage in divination, you open up your life to the influence of evil spirits. Sometimes people who engage in divination think that it’s nothing more than fun and games. Yet testimony after testimony I have heard from people show that when you engage in divination, you’re opening up your life to the influence of evil spirits whom Satan wants to use to steal and destroy your life.
So what should you do if you have been involved in divination or occult practices in the past?
1. Repent of sin. Say, “God, I confess that I have sinned and broken your commands by engaging in divination practices. Please forgive me.” Turn from the practice of divination and remove from your life those things that you used to practice divination.
2. Reject all evil spirits in Jesus’ name. While evil spirits do exist and have power, Jesus is far greater than any and all evil spirits. So if you have been troubled or disturbed by an evil spirit, the best thing you can do is say, “Satan, in Jesus’ name. Get away from me! I cut you off from having any rights to my life anymore.”
3. Receive Jesus into your life. Jesus says that it is one thing to tell an evil spirit to leave, but if you don’t ask Jesus to come and fill the void that the evil spirit left, that evil spirit can easily come back (Luke 11:24-26). So let Jesus take over the house called your life and become your security system against evil spirits.
4. Get further help as needed. If you find that you still struggle in this area, seek the help of your church or a good Christian counselour.
Praise God! It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. May we not be burdened any longer by a yoke of slavery to divination or anything else. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
