The following post is on Leviticus 18, by Dr. James White. It is being posted inform Christians about what God expects from those in covenant with Him. Also, for those who engage with people who argue that God’s laws against homosexuality are passe,’ Dr. White provides foundational understanding that will enable you to explain to them, per scripture, that they are mistaken.
There is a link below for the series, Holiness Code for Today by Dr. James White; it contains 38 messages, the video of this post is message 7 of that series. I listened to two on blessings and curses from Deuteronomy and found them to be very informative; such information is foundational for understanding the Bible; and growing spiritually by having knowledge of God and self.
From Gill’s Exposition of the Bible on Proverbs 1:7 – … unless a man knows God, knows God in Christ, and worships him in his fear, in spirit and in truth, according to his revealed will, he knows nothing as he ought to know; and all his knowledge will be of no avail and profit to him; this is the first and chief thing in spiritual and evangelical knowledge, and without which all natural knowledge will signify nothing; see Job 28:28;
The following message is from the YouTube site, Christian Sermons and Audiobooks. This site has sermons from past and present that provide necessary truths to build you up in the faith. Please check it out and subscribe. I have used his videos in many of my posts: Calvin, Spurgeon, Luther, Edwards…and now White. This is my first posting of Dr. White. His ministry is Alpha and Omega Ministries, linked below.
Below the video the sermon text is pasted in for those who would like to read it [provided by CS&A].
SERMON POINTS [bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine]:
*The revelation in Leviticus 18 and 20 form the foundation of New Testament discussions on human sexuality
*Possibly 99% of our population does not have a skill set for understanding many things from the Bible, especially books like Leviticus: they have no understanding of the languages; of Canaanite gods and religious practices [apparently discussed in message 1-6]
*This study is necessary for any Christian who engages in a discussion with someone arguing against biblical laws prohibiting homosexuality [fully explained below]
*Leviticus 18 is one of two chapters in the Bible that possesses what is currently known as “clobber passages;” those passages speak against homosexuality
*Dr. White noted that Matthew 19 contains the real clobber passages in its teachings on human sexuality and marriage
*Today we will cover the overarching truth that Christians must understand if they would be able to explain how /why contemporary Christian arguments supporting homosexuality are in error
*CONTEXT of the prohibitions: God told Moses to tell Israel they must not behave as Egypt from where they just departed; or as Canaan, where they will soon be residing. But that they must follow God’s commands
*From verse 6 to 19, God specified His rules for sexual relations: He was concerned that they have sexual, relational and marital purity
*Verse 21, although it speaks about the Canaanite god Molock, it is about relational purity [seemingly mostly towards God]
*The second of the “clobber passages” is in Genesis – the Sodom and Gomorrah account
*Verse 24 points back to the beginning of the chapter; 18:24“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean,
*By practicing the behaviors cataloged between verses 6 and 18 [scroll below video to read that text] they had defiled themselves such that the land was spewing them out
*Israel had seen the idolatry of Egypt because they lived there many years and God had severely judged Egypt for their idolatry; they had not yet seen the idolatry of Canaan, but it was similar; God made it clear that they must walk by His commands if they would live
*THE WARNING: YOU SHALL NOT DO AS THESE NATIONS HAVE DONE
*The background for God’s command to Israel was that these behaviors had been practiced by the Canaanites: their temple worship was filled with sexually deviant behaviors.
*The mantra of homosexuals today is that since those cults no longer exist, it is acceptable to practice homosexuality in a committed love relationship; that is, God probably gave Israel such commands because He didn’t want them following perverted cultish sexuality
*That mantra fails to take into account that God was judging the ‘nations,’ the Egyptians and Canaanites for the aforementioned abominations even though those nations had received no revelation from Him or any warnings from prophets like Jeremiah….
*God was judging based on His moral principles; therefore, the principles represented here remain binding because they transgress God’s moral laws
*In Romans 2, the apostle Paul speaks about how God’s laws are written upon the hearts of human beings [read Romans 1 and 2 to see how God holds people accountable for knowing that He exists by way of living in His created world. That world testifies that there is a Creator. Romans 2, states that the human heart / conscience knows when it violates God’s laws]; therefore all humans are accountable to God for violating his moral laws, not just Israel because He has a more intimate relationship with them
*So, God judged the Canaanites via Israel. Dr. White speculated that God may have intended Israel to experience how He judges sin and what He thinks about sin, specifically the sins of Lev. 18. Those of Israel who were genuine converts likely got an intense lesson on the value of relational purity as they defeated the Canaanite people
*A big point here is that the moral evil of the violating behaviors of the Canaanites was seen via the law as so heinous that it defiled even their land
*The message to all people: such behaviors are sinful for all, not just Israel or the ancient world
*Dr. White said it made him heart sick to see that all the American embassies fly the rainbow flag below the US flag, indicating that they promote homosexuality to the world [despite what God commands about it]
*The apostle Paul indicated in Romans 1 that such sin suppresses the knowledge of God within a person; distorts the Creator-creature relationship, and the human soul itself. [If you know Romans 1, then you also know that those who do it have been given over to their own depravity by God as a form of judgment, they also believe themselves to be wise – that type of pride blocks them from considering they might be in error; thus it is a fatal judgment.]
Link for the above sermon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ouPp7wCDVw&list=LL&index=17
Link to MacArthur’s new Legacy Standard Bible Online to read this text and others:
https://read.lsbible.org/
Narrative that accompanied video at Christian Sermons and Audiobooks:
Alpha and Omega Ministries ( https://www.aomin.org/ ) is a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. James White, director, is a professor, having taught Greek, Systematic Theology, and various topics in the field of apologetics for numerous schools. He has authored or contributed to more than twenty four books, including The King James Only Controversy, The Forgotten Trinity, The Potter’s Freedom, The God Who Justifies and What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur’an. He is an accomplished debater, having engaged in more than one-hundred sixty five moderated, public debates with leading proponents of Roman Catholicism, Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism, as well as critics such as Bart Ehrman, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, and John Shelby Spong.
Leviticus 18 Expounded – Dr. James White Sermon / Holiness Code for Today
[The following link opens up a playlist of 35 sermons by Dr. White on the holiness code]
Holiness Code for Today (playlist): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…
Leviticus 18 New American Standard Bible
Laws on Immoral Relations
Lev. 18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. 5 So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.
6 ‘None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am the Lord. 7 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. 8 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. 9 The nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover. 10 The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for their nakedness is yours. 11 The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness.
12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife, she is your aunt. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness.
16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is lewdness. 18 You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.
19 ‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity. 20 You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. 21 You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. 22 You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. 23 Also you shall not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.
24 ‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.
25 For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. 26 But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you 27 (for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); 28 so that the land will not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you.
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