Unlawful Sexual Relations (Matthew 5:27-30)
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the LORD your God. You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs. You are to practice My judgments and keep My statutes by walking in them. I am the LORD your God. Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD. You must not expose the nakedness of your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her. You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father. You must 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. You must not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for that would shame your family. You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative. You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative.
You must not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations with her; she is your aunt. You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sexual relations with her. You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would shame your brother. You must not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. You are not to marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives; it is depraved. You must not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is still alive.
You must not approach a woman to have sexual relations with her during her menstrual period. You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife and thus defile yourself with her. You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination. You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion.
Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled. So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you. Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people. You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”
Having laid out the instructions for appropriate sacrifices, God now turns to the topic of sex, and the list of “don’ts” is eye-popping. God begins by warning the Israelites to shun the “anything goes” sexual practices of both the Egyptians and the Canaanites. God begins by warning the Israelites, “None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations.” Having made that blanket statement, God now elucidates in this command in great detail. Why so many different rules? God knows that if He omits a single illicit relationship, the Israelites will indulge in that one. God wants His people to be holy, to honor Him, and to honor one another. Reading this list, we realize that God anticipates that there will be polygamous families with multiple wives and half-siblings. Sex within the family circle is expressly forbidden.
One interesting point is the statement: “You must not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is still alive.” Those of you familiar with Bible stories will immediately ask, “But what about Jacob marrying Leah and Rachel? They were sisters.” True. But those events took place before God gave the Israelites these commandments. And if you remember, things weren’t exactly calm in Jacob’s family; there was constant friction, and Joseph’s older brothers were more than willing to sell him into slavery.
“You must not approach a woman to have sexual relations with her during her menstrual period. You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife and thus defile yourself with her. You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination. You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion.” Sex during menses is forbidden because of respect for menstrual blood and the fact that the woman is ritually unclean. Child sacrifices are forbidden, as is homosexual sex. Finally, sex with animals is also forbidden.
“Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.” Lands are not spiritually neutral, and the demons that have inspired previous evil practices remain to inspire new groups of people unless those people are properly prepared. God is trying to “demon – proof” the Israelites.
APPLICATION: Why has God given all these regulations? God fully recognizes how important sex is and He wants it to be enjoyed as one of His good gifts and not used to bring dissension in families, murder, or warfare. The evil or good we do can help build up or tear down a land. I have previously mentioned the Transformations film series in which lands as far apart as Fiji and Guatemala have been healed when their inhabitants have forsaken idols and turned to worship the One True Living God. How bad do people have to be for their land to vomit them out? The ancient Israelites entered Canaan but quickly took up many of the pagan practices they found there. Eventually, the citizens of the Northern Kingdom were slaughtered or carried off to Assyria while those in the kingdom of Judah were exiled to Babylon.
We live in an age where pornography and human trafficking are more prevalent than ever before. Parents posting photos of their beautiful children on social media may be unwittingly making them targets for kidnappers. The revolting and degrading practices to which these children may be used are as bad as anything the Egyptians or Canaanites ever thought of. We must continue to fight such evil and to encourage those around us to worship God in the beauty of holiness and to pray for the healing of our lands.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we may have sinned in ways that have stained the lands where we live. Lord, heal us! Heal our lands! In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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