18:1.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,”
18:2.
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your
God.”
Since, as has
been noted already, Moses represents law, as Aaron does grace, God’s
speaking here only to Moses tells us that this pronouncement is one of law
unmingled with grace, a fact confirmed by the words, “I am the Lord your
God.” He will brook no infraction.
18:3.
“After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do:
and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye
not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.”
Egypt represents the world of business and pleasure living in
independence of God, as Canaan does the realm of fleshly lust. Egypt had
been the land of their bondage; and Canaan was meant by God to be the land
of their emancipation and blessing, but alas, their eager adoption of the
sinful ways of the Canaanites quickly transformed it into the unhappy realm
of chastisement, as their aping the wicked ways of the Canaanites evoked
God’s judgment.
The
professing, but apostate church has walked all too faithfully in Israel’s
evil footsteps, and with the same result: she has made herself heiress of
chastisement rather than blessing, all the signs around us pointing to the
imminence of the rapture of the true Church, and the destruction of the
harlot travesty which has sought to seize her place on the earth.
To walk in the
ordinances of the Canaanites was to conform to their institutions, something
the harlot church has done all too diligently.
18:4.
“Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am
the Lord your God.”
Having
introduced Himself in verse two by the words, “I am the Lord your God,” He
uses it five more times - the number of responsibility - declaring, “I am
the Lord,” thus reminding them that they were responsible to obey Him, or to
suffer His wrath if they disobeyed. We who constitute the Church are
likewise responsible to obey Him, or to experience His anger.
18:5.
“Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do,
he shall live in them: I am the Lord.”
A statute is
an enactment or ordinance; and a judgment means a verdict, sentence, or
charge. Israel was responsible to obey God’s laws, and to carry out His
commandments, obedience being concomitant with life and blessing; and
disobedience, with chastisement and death. This is not to be construed,
however, as teaching salvation by works; but rather, as stating that eternal
life comes through that faith in Christ as Savior which gladly expresses
itself in obedience, as He Himself said, “If ye love me, keep my
commandments,” John 14:15, and again, “He that hath my commandments, and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved
of my Father, and I will love him, amd will manifest myself to him,” John
14:21.
18:6.
“None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover
their nakedness: I am the Lord.”
This begins
the section in which God identifies those blood relatives whom His people
were not to marry.
18:7.
“The nakedness of thy father; or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not
uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.”
To have sexual
intercourse with one’s mother is equivalent to exposing the nakedness of his
father, and is forbidden by God.
18:8.
“The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy
father’s nakedness.”
The wife here
is clearly not one’s mother, but rather his step mother. Sexual intercourse
with her is also strictly forbidden.
18:9.
“The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy
mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness
thou shalt not uncover.”
The forbidden
woman here is generally understood to be one’s half sister, the child of
one’s own father, by a woman other than the individual’s mother; or the
child of one’s own mother, begotten by a man other than one’s own father.
18:10.
“The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even
their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.”
The forbidden
woman here is one’s granddaughter.
18:11.
“The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she
is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover here nakedness.”
The forbidden
woman here is one’s half-sister, i.e., the daughter of one’s father, but by
a woman other than the individual’s mother, e.g., a previous wife.
18:12.
“Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy
father’s near kinswoman.”
The woman here
is one’s paternal aunt.
18:13.
“Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: she is thy
mother’s near kinswoman.”
The woman in
question is one’s maternal aunt.
18:14.
“Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt
not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
The woman here
is one’s aunt by marriage, i.e., the wife of the individual’s paternal
uncle.
18:15.
“Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy
son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.”
18:16.
“Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy
brother’s nakedness.”
These verses
are self-explanatory.
18:17.
“Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither
shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover
her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.”
The
relationship forbidden here is with one’s stepdaughter, or with the daughter
of a stepdaughter or stepson.
18:18.
“Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her
nakedness, beside the other in her life time.”
God tolerated
polygamy (the patriarchs had multiple wives), and divorce, but He did not
approve of it, see Matthew 19:8, “... Moses because of the hardness of your
hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was
not so.” A man might marry his wife’s sister, but not while the first wife
lived.
18:19.
“Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long
as she is put apart for her uncleanness.”
The
uncleanness here was her menstrual period: see comments on chapter 15:19-28.
18:20.
“Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor’s wife, to defile
thyself with her.”
Adultery was
forbidden by the seventh commandment, see Exodus 20:14.
18:21.
“And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech,
neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.”
The worship of
Molech, the god of the Ammonites, is believed by many to have included child
sacrifice by burning, though some take the reference to be to the dedication
of children as cult prostitutes.
The
profanation of God’s name is the failure to show the reverence that is due
to His name, see Exodus 20:7.
18:22.
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
This forbids
homosexuality, God’s abhorrence of it being declared in His calling it
“abomination,” which means loathsome, detestable, enormous sin. His hatred
of it is further emphasized in His scathing denunciation of homosexuals, see
Romans 1:24-32.
18:23.
“Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither
shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.”
Bestiality is
a capital offence: the person and the beast are both to be put to death, see
Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 20:15-16, and Deuteronomy 27:21. “confusion” is
also rendered perversion, violation of nature, foul thing. This sin is
unique in that it is a perversion of the natural order.
18:24.
“Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the
nations are defiled which I cast out before you:”
To be defiled
means to be unclean, foul, contaminated, polluted, impure, filthy; and it
was for these sins that God had cast out the Canaanites. The Israelites who
would engage in the same evil practices would also be cast out of the land,
the Diaspora being the proof that they had indeed incurred the same guilt as
their Canaanite predecessors.
18:25.
“And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it,
and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.”
The enormity
of the Canaanites’ guilt is declared in their being likened to vomit, and
the land likened to a stomach which spewed out that which nauseated it.
Israel’s expulsion from the land is the proof that they too had sickened God
by the same evil doings. The coming terrible Tribulation judgments, in which
millions will perish, and which will be the outpouring of God’s wrath
against the wickedness of today’s evil world, are foreshadowed in His
judgment upon the Canaanites and upon Israel.
18:26.
“Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit
any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger
that sojourneth among you:”
Abomination
means loathsome, detestable, enormous sin. Israel was not only to abstain
from all such wickedness, but was responsible to ensure that Gentiles who
might dwell in her midst were also to keep themselves free from all such
pollution.
18:27.
“(For all these
abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the
land is defiled;)”
18:28.
“That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the
nations that were before you.”
18:29.
“For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that
commit them shall be cut off from among their people.”
18:30.
“Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinances, that ye commit not any one of
these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye
defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.”
God here
continues to emphasize that it was the wickedness of the Canaanites which
had provoked His wrath, and caused Him to expel them from the land, this
reiteration of their iniquity being the warning to Israel that they would
suffer the same fate if they aped the Canaanites’ evil ways.
The warning is
no less to the apostate church, for she too is about to be destroyed for the
same sin: aping the ways of the wicked world; nor will He spare the
individual professing believer who is guilty of the same offences.