Leviticus 18

In verse 11, the daughter of your father’s wife would be a half sister (daughter of a stepmother).

In verse 14, it is assumed that the father’s brother is dead; otherwise, having sexual relations with his wife would constitute adultery.

In verse 16, sexual relations with your brother’s wife are forbidden. However, there was an exception to this: when a man died and left no offspring, his younger brother was supposed to marry the widow in order to raise up a descendant for the dead brother and thus preserve his inheritance (Deuteronomy 25:5–6).

In verse 18, the law against marrying your wife’s sister would have prevented Jacob from marrying both Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29:23–30); but, of course, the law had not yet been given in Jacob’s time.

19–23 These verses list additional laws. Inverse19,the law prohibits knowingly having intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period (see Leviticus 15:24 and comment).

In verse 20, adultery is prohibited (see Exodus 20:14).

In verse 21, sacrificing children to Molech is prohibited (see Leviticus 20:15 and comment).

In verse 22, male homosexual acts are prohibited. The penalty for such acts was death (Leviticus 20:13). All homosexual acts, both by males and females, are condemned in Scripture (see Romans 1:2627). The homosexual behavior of the men of Sodom was one cause of God’s terrible judgment on that city (Genesis 19:1–11).

It should be emphasized, however, that only homosexual acts are condemned. To have a homosexual orientation or tendency is not, in itself, a sin. Christians must befriend and respect homosexuals as persons, while at the same time disapproving of homosexual acts.

In verse 23, bestiality (sexual relations with animals) is prohibited; the penalty was death (Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 20:15–16).

24–30 In these verses we are reminded that when sin in a nation becomes widespread, God will judge that nation. The nations that lived in the land of Canaan had so defiled themselves with the sins described in this chapter that God was determined to punish them; He would cause the land to “vomit” them out (verse 25). Some people think that God was being “unfair” when He drove out and destroyed the inhabitants of Canaan to make room for the Israelites, but that is not so; the Canaanites had brought JUDGMENT upon themselves by their idolatrous and sinful practices.

But let the Israelites take warning: they too would be “vomited” out if they refused to obey God and instead adopted the evil practices of the Canaanites (verse 28). And, of course, as we shall see later on in our Old Testament study, that is exactly what happened: the Israelites forsook their God and worshiped the gods of the Canaanites and, as a result, they were driven out of the land and into exile. God is never “unfair”; He holds His own people to the same standards He demands of everyone else.

Christians today must beware of making the same error Israel did. Let us not be complacent and self satisfied, thinking that because we are Christians God will never deal with us as He dealt with Israel. He will—if we behave as the Israelites did. The things that happened to Israel are written down as warnings for us (1 Corinthians 10:1–12). Let us never think that the Old Testament is irrelevant and has nothing to say to us today.