Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20080402.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Leviticus: Fellowship With A Holy God
Part III: Acceptable Living Before A Holy God, Leviticus 11:1-27:34
I. The Believer's Need To Separate From Heinous Offenses
(Leviticus 20:1-27)
  1. Introduction
    1. The timing of this subject on the need to separate from heinous offenses could not be better: as we all know now, a convicted felon only three weeks out of jail with a long list of felonious assaults, last Sunday afternoon invaded a home in Bristol, Connecticut, and killed a 62-year-old cancer patient!
    2. Though it may seem obvious that we Christians should never perform such deeds, Leviticus 20:1-27 clearly reveals we should NEVER TOLERATE them, either ! Yes, we must love the sinner and seek to see him come to faith in Christ, but God wants us as people not even to tolerate such deeds that the death penalty be invoked for such crimes, and that man's government exact such punishment (as follows):
  2. The Believer's Need To Separate From Heinous Offenses, Leviticus 20:1-27.
    1. God called for the death penalty on certain offenses (as follows), Leviticus 20:1-16:
      1. God called for all the people to execute one who practiced child sacrifice to the god, Molech, telling them to execute him by stoning him to death, Lev. 20:1-2. This vile form of idolatry defiled God's sanctuary and reputation (Name), so God would thus cut off the guilty from the nation, Leviticus 20:3.
      2. God then announced if any man and his family failed to prosecute one guilty of such idolatry if he knew it existed, God would judge that man and his family for tolerating this evil, Lev. 20:4-5!
      3. God also called Israel to depart from spiritism and spiritists or be cut off by Himself, Lev. 20:6. God was a holy God, so He expected His people to practice separation from such vile offenses, Lev. 20:7-8.
      4. The Lord then added that one who cursed his parents was to be executed, Leviticus 20:9.
      5. The Lord called for the death penalty for those who commit adultery, Leviticus 20:10.
      6. God called for the death penalty for those who committed various forms of incest, Lev. 20:11-12.
      7. The Lord called for the death penalty for those who committed homosexual acts, Leviticus 20:13.
      8. God called for the death of the threesome involving a man a mother and her daughter; they were to be executed by fire, what the Jews held was death by molten lead, 20:14; Bible Kno. Com., O. T., p. 202.
      9. God called for the death penalty for the act of bestiality, Leviticus 20:15-16.
    2. It is not stated that the sins in Leviticus 20:17-21 are to be punished by way of capital punishment, but it is clear that those involved in them were to be removed from the fellowship of Israel, Ibid. The sins in this Leviticus 20:17-21 group include probably lesser forms of incest in that day (Lev. 20:17, 19-21) and cohabitation during menstruation (Lev. 20:18). (cf. J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible, vol. I, p. 418-419)
    3. God wanted Israel to have a great intolerance for such heinous sins that 'the land not vomit them out' as it had 'vomited out' the Canaanites, figurative speech for God's intolerance of sin, Lev. 20:22-23; 18:27-28.
    4. The Lord then wanted His people to be blessed in the Promised Land in accord with their living separate from the heinous offenses of the pagan Gentile nations around them, Leviticus 20:24.
    5. God repeated this same thrust, referring as an example to the dietary distinctions Israel was to observe that separated her from the paganism of the Gentile nations around her, Leviticus 20:25 with 19:26a; 11:1-47.
    6. Once again, the Lord repeated the need for His people to be separate, or holy from the sins of the pagan peoples around them, Leviticus 20:26 (in light of Leviticus 20:7-8).
    7. Finally, God added a prohibition against spiritists, calling Israel to be so intolerant of one who had a demonic spirit that they as a community would all execute the guilty by stoning, Lev. 20:27 with 20:2c.
Lesson: Heinous offenses like child sacrifice, spiritism, cursing one's parents, adultery, incest, homosexual acts and bestiality were not only to be avoided, but the innocent were to be so intolerant of them that they prosecuted and executed the guilty! Lesser sins were equally to be punished, for God's holiness demanded NOT ONLY ABSTINENCE from evil, but an INTOLERANCE of it by ALL!

Application: May we not only resist falling for HEINOUS sins in our lives, but NOT TOLERATE it even others, that we might remain separated from sin like God wants us to be!