1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the LORD your God. 3 ‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. 4 ‘You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. 5 ‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD. …30 ‘Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the LORD your God.’”
So, who determines what is right, acceptable behavior in human relationships—particularly human sexual relationships?” God, religious folk, individuals, or the government?
The deliverance and formation of the nation of ancient Israel did not happen in a political vacuum. The government of Egypt was old, well-established, and culturally of a higher caliber than any government surrounding it. It had its own rules, or statutes, that its citizens lived by. (A statute is a law that has been formed by a governing body.) Likewise, the land of Canaan also had its own cultural lifestyle and statutes. The Lord commanded that Israel not live according the lifestyle and laws of either government. In Leviticus 18 Moses provided a listing of various practices, “abominable customs,” which the Israelites were familiar with but were to avoid. Today, governments routinely address the the very same practices and customs—often through the judiciary process of law, and often through the mere tolerance of various lifestyle options. Most of these practices censured by the Lord have to do with sexual intimacies and religious customs. But a deeper look will reveal that they expose the underlying currents of pragmatism and human autonomy that govern the actions of most people.
Pragmatically, material and political gain could be found in certain kinds of incestuous relationships. For instance, the title of Great Royal Wife was given to the Pharaoh’s first and most important spouse—who was routinely his sister or other close relative. In the same way, a man might be tempted to marry sisters as a means of creating a rivalry to manipulate for his own gain in the home. (Though not by Jacob’s design, an example of such rivalry is found in the Bible itself… just take a look at the home life of Jacob, Rachel and Leah!) Also, in Canaanite infants were routinely sacrificed by fire to the god Molech, presumably in the parents’ bid for continued (or desired) prosperity.
Autonomy is simply the belief that a person has the inherent power and right to determine his or her own moral conduct in life—based on whatever he or she feels will bring the most happiness and satisfaction at a particular point in time. Such an insistence in personal autonomy led to various sexual practices deemed abominable by the Lord. You know, “If it feels good…”
Today, our government enacts laws that determine acceptable sexual behavior amongst our citizens. Some of those laws are consistent with Leviticus 18, such as laws prohibiting incestuous relationships, polygamy, and bestiality. Some of them are not consistent with it, such as laws that recognize and protect homosexual relations and abortion (the taking of an infant’s life by the will of the parent). As God’s people, we are called to order our lives, including our sexual and religious lives, around obedience to the Word of God—regardless of what the surrounding culture may deem as acceptable or unacceptable in the behavior of its citizens. We’re to be different, because we serve a different God than the culture we live in—we’re citizens of a different government, a different system of morals and ethics. That is why it is inconsistent with our beliefs to bend or disregard the Biblical statutes given to us concerning our behavior. Christians do not condone such destructive behaviors, even though they are sometimes legitimized by our government. We do tolerate legal, though immoral behaviors. (Tolerance does not mean we agree with those whom we feel are wrong—it means we acknowledge our very clear differences; and fairly and magnanimously accept the right of others to disagree. There is a lot of “tolerance talk” going on these days, both from within and without the Christian community that is actually a veil for rank intolerance!) So, given the fact that we Christians live in a time and culture where God’s standard of sexual and cultural righteousness (think, right living) are neither accepted nor enforced by our government, how should we think about the immoral practices that are tolerated by that government?
1. We should remember that the regulation of sexual practice is not an idea that began in the mind of some puritanical or Victorian prude, but such regulation is found in the most ancient of (non Judeo-Christian) cultures. Even the loosest, most non Judeo-Christian governments in the world have still assumed the role of determining acceptable behavior in their citizens. Christians shouldn’t take the rap as if they were the first group in history to care about the prevailing sexual norms and laws that they live under.
2. God still reserves the inviolable right to judge all governments and cultures, whether Judeo-Christian or not, on the sexual and cultural practices that they legislate and allow. He’s not in heaven, fretting and waiting with bated breath to hear our latest decision on what parts of His word are binding, and what parts we’ve decided to discard. It is we, the creatures, who should be concerned with what our Creator has said concerning our lives.
3. God’s commands concerning culture and sexuality are not based in human autonomy or prevailing political ethics. It doesn’t matter who votes for what, or how many people march in the streets for whatever laws they desire—in the end, God determines and judges correct behavior, not the general, voting citizens of the land, and not the religious folk of it either! The pronouncement, I am the LORD your God introduces and concludes the underlying reason and authority of the commandments found in the passage. How we think about the issues found in the passage is completely dependant on whether or not we believe that God is still the LORD our God, and whether or not we believe that the Bible is an accurate accounting of His standards of behavior and policy—regardless of what any temporal government determines.
downtownpastor