{"id":36299,"date":"2025-06-20T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=36299"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:47:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T21:47:07","slug":"leviticus-18_1-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/leviticus-18_1-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Boundaries for Our Good"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leviticus\u00a0 18:1-18 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Leviticus 18:1-18. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Leviticus 18:1-18 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses,
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the\u00a0LORD.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the\u00a0LORD.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonor your father.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter; that would dishonor you.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; do not have relations with her.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Do not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-18:\u00a0\u00a0God had taken the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, a powerful empire but also an empire with many incestuous practices.\u00a0 God was bringing the Israelites into the land of Canaan, a place with even more\u00a0incestuous\u00a0practices.\u00a0 To make it clear that incest was not permissible despite what the Egyptians\u00a0and Canaanites were practicing, God laid down the laws we find here in\u00a0Leviticus\u00a018:1-18.<\/p>\n

In addition, when you look back at Israel\u2019s history, you\u2019ll find that in those instances when the Israelites engaged in incest, adultery or polygamy, the result was much strife in their relationships.\u00a0\u00a0For example:
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0contrary to verse 8, Reuben slept with his father\u2019s concubine (Genesis 35:22; 49:3-4)
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0contrary to verse 9, Amnon raped his half sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0contrary to verse 15, Judah unwittingly slept with his daughter-in-law Tamar thinking she was a prostitute (Genesis 38);
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0contrary to verse 18, Jacob unwittingly took on both Rachel and her sister Leah as wives and the two ended up having a feud for the ages.<\/p>\n

While God would still somehow redeem these difficult situations,\u00a0Leviticus 18:1-18 shows that incest, adultery and polygamy were not part of God\u2019s original plan for human relationships.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God sets boundaries for our good. \u00a0<\/strong>As verse 5 says, \u201cKeep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them.\u201d \u00a0God Himself promises that there is life to be found in obeying His commands.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, please help me to trust that Your way when it comes to intimacy and relationships is the best way.\u00a0 Please abundantly bless those who obey Your commands, that they would find life and blessing as they do.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Leviticus 18:1-18.\u00a0With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Leviticus 18:1-18 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses,
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-18:\u00a0\u00a0God had taken the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, a powerful empire but also an empire with many incestuous practices.\u00a0 God was bringing the Israelites into the land of Canaan, a place with even more\u00a0incestuous\u00a0practices.\u00a0 To make it clear that incest was not permissible despite what the Egyptians\u00a0and Canaanites were practicing, God laid down the laws we find here in\u00a0Leviticus\u00a018:1-18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36302,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36299\/revisions\/36302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}