Torah's Forbidden Sexual Relationships-Yeshua-Focused Torah Studies
This is Torah’s Forbidden Sexual Relationships–Yeshua-Focused Torah Studies-Torah Reading -89–Leviticus 18
The underlying theme of our Torah Reading this Shabbat is Sanctification: Being Sanctified unto YHVH.
Sanctification is that internal, spiritual process that leads to our being set-apart unto YHVH our Elohim for His purpose and will in the earth.
Another way of looking at sanctification is imaging our Creator–reflecting YHVH in all our ways to this corrupt and dying world.
In our being sanctified unto YHVH, we set His Name apart in all the earth (i.e., we declare, proclaim uphold YHVH’s sovereignty, holiness, grace, Truth, authority, righteousness, justice, presence.) This is very important to YHVH because there are only two existing options available to the world in terms of being set-apart:
- Being set-apart unto our Creator to image Him to the world and thus set YHVH’s Name apart in and to the world.
- Being set-apart to some other entity to image that other entity to the world, thus setting that other entity’s name apart in and to the world.
This is brilliantly delineated by Father by a strong and decisive commandment found in verses 3 and 4 of our reading today:
Verse 3-4—“You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You must not follow their customs. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God.” (ESV)
Now the content of these 2-verses may be taken in a general normative sense such that we are to follow and keep all of Father’s statutes and rules and walk in them, or in a more contextually restrictive sense that Father is telling us to follow and keep the specific statutes and rulings he is about to lay out for us in the next several verses of this chapter.
Certainly, both viewpoints are valid here. But for the sake of this reading, we’re going to focus specifically upon those decrees and statutes that Father lays out to us in the remainder of this chapter. And the decrees or rules and statutes that are contained in the remaining verses of this chapter focus upon certain threats against the integrity of the family. Thus Father points out various sins–that being sins of a sexual nature–that threaten the integrity of the consecrated family unit. And we will later discover in chapter 20 of Leviticus that the penalty for violating some of these mitzvot is execution. Clearly, YHVH takes these sins very seriously.
Father at the outset of this chapter puts these sins into their proper perspective by identifying the sins’ places of origin and continued practices. And thus Father establishes prohibitions against engaging in sinful activities that He identified as being common to both nations of Egypt and Canaan. In fact, Father goes beyond simply forbidding us to engage in the sinful activities of those nations, but He also forbids us from taking on the general practices/customs/ordinances/statutes/laws {khook kaw} of these nations. Clearly Father was setting the plumb line here as it relates to who’s authority–rulings–decrees–statutes we were to live by.
Verses 4-5–“You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules: if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.”
We are to live by and obey YHVH’s rulings and laws exclusively. And Father makes a critical statement here in verse 5 that most people interpret incorrectly, although most English Translations do a pretty good job translating it on the pages of our bibles:
if a person does them, he shall live by them…
Father is essentially telling us here that (1) we are to follow His rules and keep His statutes and walk in them; and (2) if we elect to follow/obey His rules and keep His statutes and walk in them, we must then live by those statutes and rules. (Yes, it’s kind of a clunky wording and it is somewhat misleading when not read and understood in proper context.)
Shaul references this very passage in Romans 10:5:
“For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law. That the man which doeth those things shall live by them” (KJV).
And also Galatians:
“And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them” (3:12).
Christianity in general has adopted these passages as two of their proof-positive anti-Torah passages. However, such derived understanding is built upon gross hermeneutical error (ie., the art and science of Biblical interpretation) that avoids placing Leviticus 18:5 into its proper and accurate context. The common understanding of these passages among certain Christian thinkers and teachers is that Paul was pointing out to his readers that they had two choices in terms of their salvation prospects: live by Faith, which leads to eternal life; or live by the provisions set forth in the Law, which leads them nowhere but to death. And the bottom line was that you have to pick a side, for the Law is NOT in any way compatible to a life of faith.
But the misinterpretation of Leviticus 18:5 doesn’t end with the Christian: Messianics also tend to misunderstand the passage from the perspective that if a Hebrew keeps Torah, he or she will enjoy a prosperous and trouble-free life. Other Messianics take the unfortunate and dangerous position that this verse establishes that Torah-keeping makes one righteous before YHVH and that it guarantees or leads to one’s salvation. But this dangerous understanding could not be further from the truth.
We just unpacked verse 3 where Abba told us NOT to do according to the customs and or laws or practices of our previous overlords the Egyptians, nor according to the paganistic ways of the folks we would eventually evict and kick out of our inherited land. In fact, Father stresses that we are to follow and keep His rules and His statutes alone and to walk in them. Why? Because we were His redeemed; His chosen ones. We are beneficiaries of the covenant that He (i.e., YHVH) made with Avraham.
So from a spiritual perspective, it would be like: Look, I’ve redeemed you and claimed you as my own. I kept the covenant that I made with your father Avraham. Having done so, I need you to now do as I instruct you to do because of your set-apart status. I need you to fulfill the role of being a holy nation and a kingdom of priests.
When we look at Leviticus 18:5 from the perspective of Shaul’s teachings to the Romans and Galatians, we should get clarity in what Father meant when He stated: if a person does them (i.e., keeps and walks out His statutes and rulings–His Ways) they shall live by them. Essentially Shaul was trying to convey to the Galatians and Romans, as Abba through Moshe to the Hebrews in the wilderness, that obedience to and walking out Torah, while completely disavowing the Ways of the pagan nations around them, was an inevitable and non-negotiable element and expectation of one’s Faith commitment. Walking out and keeping Torah does not bring one into right standing with a holy and righteous Elohim. Thus, Torah was not given to us as the means by which we would achieve right standing before YHVH. Torah, on the contrary, was given to us as a consequence of our faith commitment.
It should become clear to us as we proceed through this teaching that when God’s people walk out and keep Torah, their families and communities are stable and blessed.
This is secondary to being sanctified unto Yah and setting His Name apart in the earth. That is, when we declare ourselves and our families and our communities to be sanctified unto YHVH by our words and by our living, without compromising and syncretizing our walk with the ways of the world, we set His Name as holy and sacred in the earth. By consequence our lives, our families and our communities are stable and blessed.
And so we go on through the remainder of chapter 18 and we find the following general sins and prohibitions discussed.
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Verses 6-16–Prohibitions against intimate relations with biological family members.
Illicit (sexual) relationships are generalized in the English authorized versions as “uncovering one’s nakedness.”
It is generally accepted that this uncovering of one’s nakedness expression emerges from the concept of the act of intimacy which was intended exclusively for the marriage union/marriage bed so to speak. And any deviations to the privileges of this exclusive relationship are seen by Father as stealing from this single privilege that the marriage relationship affords.
In verse 6 we see introduced this idea of “approach” (in the Hebrew it is “qarab”–to come near)–that being, no one must approach their relative… to engage in sexual relations.” Well, approach in this sense is a plural verb implying these mitzvot apply to both men and women. (This in light of the fact that the general English translations imply YHVH was addressing only men.)
Then in verse 9 we see a distinction between one who is “born in the house” versus one who is “born outside /out of the house.” This refers to one born in wedlock versus one born out of wedlock.
In a general sense we derive our understanding of incest from this section of our reading. In being transparent, not every immoral family situation is mentioned here. Nevertheless, it must be understood that all intimate relationships with biological relatives were by extension prohibited. (Commentary on incestuous relationships that were common to the surrounding nations and times.)
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Verses 17-18–Prohibitions against intercourse with a woman’s (a woman in whom a man has a romantic interest or is married to–and by extension a man in whom a woman has a romantic interest or is married) biological family members.
So in this section of our reading, we see the sexual relationship prohibitions move from one’s biological-family members to those biological relationships tied to the woman/or man (by extension) we have romantic interests and our spouses.
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Verse 19–Prohibition against intimate relations with any woman during her time of Niddah (ie., menstrual cycle).
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Verse 20–Prohibition against intimate relations with a married woman (or man by extension) who is not your spouse.
Violation of this mitzvah results in both parties being unclean.
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Verse 21–Prohibition against sacrificing one’s children to Moloch.
Among other things, violation of this mitzvah results in the profanation of the Name of Yah.
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Verse 22–Prohibition against homosexuality. (Applies to Homosexuality and Lesbianism)
YHVH views homosexuality as abominable. It is gross transgression against Yah’s established natural order.
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Verse 23–Prohibition against bestiality.
YHVH views bestiality as perverted. It is gross transgression against Yah’s established natural order.
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Verse 24–YHVH concludes this set of mitzvot with explanations and warnings and consequences for violations/transgressions against these mitzvot.
Yah puts forth that engaging in any of these activities defiles us. And we’re able to gain an appreciation for how important our physical and spiritual purity is to Father.
All of the nations of Canaan defiled themselves with these evil sexual practices. And because these nations involved themselves in these immoral activities, Father declared that the land upon which these nations resided had become unclean. Thus, Yah declared that the land itself would vomit up her inhabitants.
So concerned was Abba about these sins, He commanded that neither we, nor the citizens, nor foreigners living among us were to practice these disgusting acts/abominations. We were mandated and required to keep Yah’s Torah exclusively.
Yah warns us not to fall into doing these abominable acts and causing the land in which we resided to vomit us out as well.
Those guilty of such disgusting acts, regardless who they may be, will be cut-off from their people. (We discussed this concept of being cut off from one’s people in last week’s Torah Reading.)
We are required to keep Yah’s charges and not engage in these abominable acts.
All these sexual misdeeds were common to Egypt and Canaan, and Yah warned the nations not to imitate the ways of their pagan neighbors.
Man was created to glorify Yah here on earth. Distorting the creative order-specifically those acts related to procreation–by turning it into a thing in which it was never intended, is a form of worship–worship of Yah’s creation actually. And worship of Yah’s creation qualifies the offenders to receive Yah’s wrath (Rom. 1, which we’ll discuss in just a few moments).
The other thing that needs to be kept in the back of our minds here as it relates to all these abominable acts is this idea of contamination and or defilement. Father vehemently warned us to not become contaminated through any of these–in the NASB, do not be defiled by any of these. Father recognized that association with any of those nations that practice such abominations would lead to the nation becoming defiled and or contaminated. So Abba warned us and alerted us to guard against such immorality.
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Ezekiel 22:1-12–We find that Israel did not comply with Father’s Commandments as put forth in our reading here today.
And because Israel had violated Father’s most sensitive Torah Commandments–those that safeguarded and brought stability to the Hebrew family unit and purity to the overall community, the very Land upon which the Hebrews resided was going to vomit them up as it did the Canaanites before them.
Verse 2–YHVH asks the prophet if he was indeed prepared to judge the city that was drenched in blood (i.e., Jerusalem).
The Prophet is commanded to make her (Israel) realize how disgusting all her practices were.
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Verses 3-5–Father declares that Israel has shortened her days…because
- They’ve shed blood.
- They are defiled by their idols
- They are an object of scorn among the nations.
- They are a laughingstock for every country.
- They have a defiled reputation.
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Verses 6-12–The paganistic immoral practices of a chosen people
- They were committing lewd acts.
- They were committing incest.
- They were violating the Niddah Laws.
- They commit adultery with married women.
- They were violating all the statutes and rulings of Leviticus 18.
- They’d forgotten YHVH.
Judgment is indeed coming to our land just as it did with the Canaanites, our Hebrew and Jewish cousins. Why? Because our nation is guilty of the very crimes committed by the Canaanites and Hebrews. And our destruction is coming in a great many and various forms: natural disasters; social and political unrest; economic collapse; war.
And to a great degree we the redeemed of the Most High have blood on our hands.
- We’ve not lived lives of holiness. We’ve failed at being lights to the world; at not obeying Yah’s Torah.
- We’ve not proclaimed the Gospel of Peace to the world as we’ve been directed to do so by our Master.
- We’ve not taught our children Torah and we’ve not held them accountable for walking out Torah in their respective lives.
- We’ve not kept Torah ourselves.
- We’ve put Yah second place in our lives.
- We’ve supported evil causes with our physical participation and by God’s money.
- We’ve consumed ourselves with everything and anything other than seeking Yah’s Kingdom and His righteousness.
- We’ve worshiped our idols and our demigods instead of the One True and Living Elohim, YHVH.
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Romans 1:21-32
Shaul brilliantly draws from Leviticus 18 to underscore his teaching of the Gospel of Yah. He writes, beginning in verse 16, that the Gospel contains that which makes man righteous in Yah’s sight through faith (vs. 17). And Shaul quotes Tanach, Hab. 2:4–“The righteous shall live by Faith.” (I would refer you to my post entitled “The Book of Romans and the Gospel of God.”)
But Shaul goes on to write that the Gospel also reveals Yah’s anger towards godlessness and wickedness. And one of the reasons for Yah’s anger towards godless people is that His Name–His Truth is being suppressed in the world (vs. 18).
Verse 21-22--Shaul explains that the wicked know of Yah–Because His existence is evident throughout all creation. Yet the wicked and the evil refuse to glorify Yah, nor do they thank Him. Their wicked thinking and way of life has become firmly set and cemented into their very existence. Their hearts have become dark and without the capacity to discern right from wrong.
Verse 23–These in fact have turned to idol worship: the gods of greed; selfishness; hatefulness; politics; race; fear; nosiness; lies; murder; jealously; gossip; dishonesty; haters of Yah; planners of evil; disruptors of families; faithlessness; ruthlessness; etc.
Verses 24-32–Thus Yah has abandoned them to their lusts and their shameful immoralities. These have rejected the Truth and worship of Yah for humanism, satanism and new age thinking and lifestyles. And within this godless paradigm, gross sexual immorality is allowed to run unabated–particularly homosexuality and child-sex-slavery and abuse. So they will continue advocating and living the shameful life they covet and lust after.
Regardless, these know within themselves that they are wrong and that they deserve punishment. But they continue to live shameful immoral lives and encourage others to do the same.
Deviant sexual behavior–sexual misconduct–is considered acceptable in various locales of our present world. And those who oppose this deviant behavior are now considered deviant by society.
Just this week SCOTUS ruled that so-called transgenders (and by default homosexuals/lesbians) will have the same workplace protections as racial minorities.
A New Jersey brother and sister couple were granted the right to marry after undergoing a 10-year long court battle.
Righteousness has been replaced by unrighteousness.
We Are Called to be Imagers of YHVH in the Earth
Our role and purpose on this earth is to be imagers of Yah. And we accomplish this critical task by “ordering our lives according to Yah’s Will that is revealed in His Torah. This is our top priority” (Tim Hegg Commentary). And the default benefit that comes from such obedient and faithful living is Yah’s blessing upon us, our families and fellowships and communities.
Torah reveals that sin is a progressive process. In commenting on Leviticus 18, R. Moshe Feinstein–An American Orthodox Jewish Scholar and Rabbi stated: “Ordinary transgressions inevitably lead to more serious ones, until the sinner descends to the morass of Canaan and Egypt“.
Thus it behooves the Child of Yah to scrupulously avoid even the first step that could lead to total corruption. Was it not Yeshua our Master who saw lust as sinful and when manifested in a person, requiring repentance.
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. (Mat 5:27-28 KJV)
For indeed, it is in the heart and mind that sin takes root and is ultimately manifested in actions and deeds (James 1:13-15).
It should be noted that we may not be able to change the world’s corrupt practices and ways by our preaching and teaching. But we can and must, advance the setting apart of Yah in the earth by being Yah’s imagers in the earth–that is, we must be light bringers to this dark world. (I would refer you to my post entitled, “The Messianic Duty in Times of Global Crises.”)
Yah understands the heart of man and He knew that it would become an accepted mindset among his people that these nations’ abominable ways were normal. And over time they would rationalize these nations’ abominable practices as being okay or acceptable. But these abominable customs are not okay to Yah (nor should they be to Yah’s people for that matter. For Yah requires that His people reject the practices and customs of the surrounding pagan nations. Instead, Yah’s people are required to keep His Ways and His Ways alone.
Most of the abominable customs/practices/laws/etc. that exists among the nation-peoples of the world becomes “the zeitgeist” (i.e., the customs of the people become the spirit of the times). And these “zeitgeist” have the potential of working their way into the lives of Yah’s people, Yah’s people are fastidious in their guarding against them having any foothold in their lives whatsoever.
Thus we learn from our Leviticus reading today that in Yah’s sight, all human life must conform to His statutes and judgments and Way of life. And when this is accomplished, man can enjoy Yah’s blessings and a true and substantive relationship with Him.
To fully conform to Yah’s way of Life, the stony heart of man must transform into that of the Father. Thus Father, according to His perfect grace, has promised to write His Torah upon our hearts and minds (Jer. 31 and Eze. 36). We are then driven then to die to self and conform solely to Yah’s Way of life; to seek Yah’s forgiveness on a daily basis; strengthen ourselves to walk in His Ways and to stand firm against the sin that surrounds us.
Thus we are empowered today to accomplish these vital things through the power, might, strength and authority of the Ruach HaKodesh.
Israel was supposed to be different than any of her pagan neighbors (a unique, set-apart people). Israel was meant to image YHVH in the earth.
Imaging our Creator is recognizable in our outward appearance.
Our marriages are to reflect or model the relationship Father modeled with Israel in accordance with the Covenant He’d cut with them. That covenant outlined an exclusive marriage relationship between Israel and YHVH, reminiscent to that of a loving husband-wife marriage relationship. Deviant sexual behavior is not permissible, nor is it to be named among Yah’s people. For such deviance negates the sanctity of the institution of marriage that Yah Himself instituted at creation.
Hebrews 13:4 reads:
“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (ESV).
Did you know that idolatry tends to be linked to abominable sexual deviance and that Yah’s wrath tends to fall upon those nations that incorporate idolatry, sexual deviancy and child sacrifice into their way of life? These abominable customs and lifestyle, combined, take man below that of the animal kingdom, and down to the demonic kingdom. And the worse part of this evil equation is that no image of YHVH is ever found among the members of these communities and nations. Case in point is found in the example of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 15:16).
We’ve reached a point in this country where citizens are incapable of discerning that which Yah approves of and that which Yah hates; that which is holy and that which is profane; that which is pure and that which is defiled; that which is good from that which is evil.
When Father declared that we must follow His statutes and decrees exclusively, there is an element of permanence that is implied. The term statutes is actually derived from terminology linked to engraving into metal or stone. Thus, we must draw from this analogy the permanence to be found in Yah’s decrees. Yah’s decrees are evergreen, regardless whether we can or cannot rationalize their applications or purposes today for our lives.
Thus, it behooves us all to take any and all necessary actions that are aimed at stemming the tide of decay in our respective lives.
- Netzari must live and walk out Torah before our children.
- Netzari men must learn to serve and love their wives.
- Netzari women must learn to submit to their husbands.
- Netzari must maintain pure hearts in the midst of a corrupt and defiled world.
- Netzari must learn to love that which is pure.
- Netzari must learn to hate that which is impure.
- Netzari must be modest and holy in the way they carry themselves and conduct their lives, both in public and in private.
- Netzari must stand against immorality and not lower their standards. In this, we cannot associate with the immoral that come within our spheres of influence.
- Netzari must never send mixed messages. We cannot claim to be holy, but then live worldly lives at the same time.
- Netzari must live lives of gratitude, never feeling they’ve arrived. This requires that we resist the judgmental mindset that is so common to our Faith Community.
- Netzari must proclaim YHVH’s Name through our words and our walk. In this way we serve Him, we set His Name apart in the world, and we image Him in the world.