Q&A: Leviticus 20

Leviticus 20 Q&A

Here are some brief answers to our questions from our Sunday evening service.

Leviticus is not an easy book to study. Some of the answers will not be able to be answered easily throughout the Q and A in this series. So I encourage you to talk with the preacher on the night if you have anything you wish to discuss in more detail. They would be more than happy to chat with you.

1. Since the wages of sin is death, how come not every sin is given a capital punishment here?

Leviticus tells us the detailed community laws (as well as the big ten commandments). All sin deserves death. But if all sins were punishable by death, the community would not last very long. The New Testament teaches us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23) - that is, the eternal punishment for sin is death (or hell). it is what our sins deserve. But on this earth, these Old Testament laws and punishments were to protect the community - to help them survive as a society. They were based on health physical and spiritual reasons. Some sins needed capital punishment to protect the community from evil people. Other sins could be dealt with less severely as they did not threaten the community as much. But the truth remains that all sins still deserve death.

2. These passages are very hard to explain to a non-Christian, if they are aware of these types of verses, how do we explain these to non-Christians.

This is possibly not usually the best place to start in explaining the gospel to a non-Christian. However, sometimes this is where people engage with the Scriptures and that's where we can meet them. I think it's helpful to recognise these are difficult verses because of the context. Our relationship with God, the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds, and a growing knowledge of his whole Scriptures will help us to understand these types of passages.

If a non-Chrsitian brought this up with you, it can be helpful to go to a place like Hebrews 9 and 10- to explain how Jesus deals with the law. Or perhaps Romans which deals with the problem of sin and the punishment we deserve. In short, Leviticus, like much of the Old Testament, shows us the problem of sin and the need for a solution. The NBew Testament provides us with the solution - Jesus.

3. v18 sex during a period: Why prohibited (in a marriage)? Still? Perhaps you can show us with this example how to tell which rules fall in which category.

There's nothing I can point to directly that seems to prohibit this today in terms of God's laws, however, there is a lot to say about consent and respect in these matters. But I do want to take the opportunity to point you to an excellent article on this which is really worth the read -

10 Things to know about Old Testament Laws and Periods

Sheila Wray Gregoire is an excellent writer on matters such as this, has done the research well and explains it all in a very helpful way. Her well-known book "The Great Sex Rescue" is highly recommended reading. In this book she deals with sexuality ad other issues in a biblical and helpful way, countering some of the often modern toxic views of sexuality put forward in books like "Love and Respect" (not recommended reading by me).

Short summary for this question:

There are lots of reasons these laws were there. Like many of the laws, there was often a spiritual and physical and social aspect to each of them. For example, not eating meat with blood in it - so it had to be cooked thoroughly - perhaps against the cult practices of the day, but also perhaps for safety against diseases. Women being separated during their period - a time to rest each month away from the family and spend time with other women. And recover. Men also were unclean after certain bodily functions. There are lots of reasons for these laws - many of them are still helpful today, although not always "law". Blood was also seen as unclean. the blood of sacrificed animals could not be tainted by human blood or the sacrifices would then be unclean (see Leviticus 21).

To find out about other rules and which category they fall into requires some solid reading and investigation, always asking "Why was THAT law there? What was the purpose? Was it spiritual? Physical? Social? All three?" THEN we can ask about its relevance today. And sometimes we will not know fully as we are living in a very different culture and don't always have the resources to answer every question.

4. Verse 13 is often used in isolation to attack members of the LGBT+ community. How should we respond to people in the LGBT+ community?

First, often an apology may be required for our brothers and sisters who seek to take verses out of context and weaponise them against others.

Second, note the actual laws. Sexual preferences are not sinful here. Actions are sinful. And there is more written about heterosexual sinful actions than homosexual sinful actions in this passage and in the Bible. it is sad when Christians seek to point the finger at homosexual sin more than other sins, and for this we do need to be repentant. All sin is against the holiness of God.

Third, and this probably needs to be first, all people need to know how much God loves them. We are not called to fix ourselves before coming to God. We are not called to sort out the sin in our lives before we come to God. We are called simply to come to God, to acknowledge him as Lord and ask him to change us through the work of his Holy Spirit. God is the one who can change our hearts, no matter what our sin is. The truth is that God loved us all so much that he sent his son to die for us. We all need rescuing from sin because we are all equally sinful in the eyes of God.

It is sad when Christians seek to attack in such a way. They see the splinter in someone's eye and forget the plank in their own eye. Jesus has a lot to say about hypocrites. Let's not be one.

5. Should we forgive unconditionally no matter what or should we forgive conditionally where the condition for forgiveness is if the person is repentant? (edited)

Jesus offered you forgiveness 2000 years ago. He offered it to you, no questions asked. Even before you were born.

The offer of forgiveness is what we are called to bring. When we forgive someone, (or offer forgiveness) that is our response to Jesus having forgiven us. Whether that forgiveness is effective will depend on the other person - not on us. The only way we can have the forgiveness of God, or of another person, is if we do repent. But that part is up to the other person.

However that being said, it can also be very difficult to forgive. It is not easy and can take days, months or even decades to be able to offer forgiveness to someone who has hurt you. God understands this. But he also asks us to walk that difficult path towards forgiveness.

6. Should some of these rules be obeyed in their own right(not restated in new testament) or are they only relevant to the time it was written in?

See question 3 for this also.

Yes, some of the Levitical laws may be very helpful for us today, even in our culture. Some don't make sense to us. Some may not be helpful at all. The punishments, for example, are not appropriate. Jesus has taken the punishment for sin, so we are no longer to meter out punishment on God's behalf for sins. However, we do punish as a society to protect our society. Wisdom is needed here. We need to think about the physical, spiritual and social consequences of our actions and consider what may be helpful and what is not. Leviticus also fails to deal with MANY modern-day issues we face. It's helpful to always remember that the law of God is fulfilled in Jesus. Matthew 5 is a great chapter to read to see how Jesus uses the Old Covenant law in his own modern context, and how it applies to us today.

7. How come in V16 both the woman and animal is killed but in V15 only the animal is killed?

In verses 15 and 16, both the animal and the person (man/woman) are to be put to death. Perhaps some translations are not clear on this, but the Hebrews is clear. And the new NIV version is clear. The person and the animal are both to be killed.

And I would say the person is killed because of their sinful actions, and the animal is put to death as it is now unclean and unable to be used for anything further (and is perhaps also an act of mercy on the animal).

8. Why is there an issue with two people (of whatever sex) being in a committed, monogamous relationship?? Surely that still demonstrates God's character?

The Bible is very clear in both the Old and New Testaments that God's plan for humans to express a sexual relationship is to be between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, until death parts them. Any sexual activity outside of this, homosexual or heterosexual, is not according to God's plan and design for human sexuality.

Another way his character is displayed is in sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins - an image of sacrifice used in Ephesians 5 to show husbands how they are to love their wives.

I realise this is a very difficult subject for some and I'd encourage you to reach out to a member of our pastoral team if you wish to talk further about what God's word says about this very important subject. We always seek to be faithful to God in what he says in Scripture, and we also seek to understand the challenges this area brings to us today in our society and culture.

9. Who sang it better, Phil Collins or the Supremes?

So I assume you're thinking about the reference to "You can't hurry love"?! Well, the Supremes sang it better, but Phil made it popular again. IMHO.

10. How is it possible that a man marries his brother's wife while the brother is still alive?

I don't think we can say for sure how this situation may have happened - but a few possibilities:

* Polygamy

* Canaanite religious practice

* Divorce

11. In 20:24, 26, ‘Set you apart’…can it be also explained that the sacrificial death of Jesus sets us apart from sin?

Yes, that's not a bad way of thinking about it. That is, set apart to be holy. or, set apart from sin to holiness. It is always good to remember that God saved us FROM something and TO something. FROM Death TO life. FROM sin TO holiness.