Leviticus 18

Potential Discussion Questions:-


  • Recall, why God gives us laws / commandments / "dos" & "don’ts"? Is it because He is an oppressive dictator? Do you feel stifled by many “dos” & “don’ts” from God?
  • (Leviticus 18:6) Later on, Science found out that incest could result in very serious health problems. Does that mean Science validated God here? Compare this situation with fulfilled prophecies from Bible. Do these encourage you in your faith?
  • Recall any other commandments on sexual purity from rest of Scriptures.
  • Recall why God created sex & marriage.
  • Are you able to comfortably explain to non-believers why you are pursuing sexual purity? #Apologetics
    • What are the consequences of not pursuing sexual purity laws from Bible?
  • In what ways people respond to sexual purity laws from the Bible.


Some Commentaries:-

  • Recall, why God gives us laws / commandments / "dos" & "don’ts"? Is it because He is an oppressive dictator? Do you feel stifled by many “dos” & “don’ts” from God?

https://devos20xx.blogspot.com/2019/02/why-did-god-give-us-laws.html

Talking of feeling "stifled" or "overwhelmed" by God's ways - obedience to God's way is actually liberating and life giving (i.e., John 11:25, etc). In-fact disobedience is pathway to bondage (to sin).

  • (Leviticus 18:6) Later on, Science found out that incest could result in very serious health problems. Does that mean Science validated God here? Compare this situation with fulfilled prophecies from Bible. Do these encourage you in your faith?


For the record, quoting from the commentary of Genesis 5:-

"Since Adam and Eve were the first (and only) human beings, their children would have no other choice than to intermarry. God did not forbid inter-family marriage until much later when there were enough people to make intermarriage unnecessary (Leviticus 18:6-18). The reason that incest today often results in genetic abnormalities is that when two people of similar genetics (i.e., a brother and sister) have children together, there is a high risk of their recessive characteristics becoming dominant. When people from different families have children, it is highly unlikely that both parents will carry the same recessive traits. The human genetic code has become increasingly “polluted” over the centuries as genetic defects are multiplied, amplified, and passed down from generation to generation. Adam and Eve did not have any genetic defects, and that enabled them and the first few generations of their descendants to have a far greater quality of health than we do now. Adam and Eve’s children had few, if any, genetic defects. As a result, it was safe for them to intermarry. "

So God was much ahead of Science (as the health implications of "incest" would not have been known by humans back then when Leviticus laws were given by God)!! He allowed incest during the early times, when it was all-right health-wise, and disallowed it latter in time when it would cause serious health problems! Mind-blowing?!


  • Recall any other commandments on sexual purity from rest of Scriptures.

For instance 1 Corinthians 7:2:- "But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ".


  • Recall why God created sex & marriage.

Marriage is supposed to be a picture of Christ's love for Church. Marriage is sacred and holy.


Sex was given by God to marriage, ALONE. Reasons for sex include:- (a) fun, (b) comfort, (c) procreation, (d) deepening intimacy.

In-fact God wills sex in marriage so much, that He warns that the lack of it in a marriage will invite attack from enemy (i.e., 1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Corinthians 7:5 - "Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.").


  • Are you able to comfortably explain to non-believers why you are pursuing sexual purity? #Apologetics
    • What are the consequences of not pursuing sexual purity laws from Bible?


I believe one can possibly explain to non-believers why you are pursuing sexual purity? Some of you maybe like - really, how??

Ok, let's try here ...

Not pursuing sexual purity from Bible is sin (In general, recall why God gave us laws). But, a non-Christian may not understand what "sin" is. But then also, I believe non-Christians can true-ly appreciate sexual-purity laws from Bible, once they encounter some facts from real-life. Such as - read on ...

Not just Christians, but EVERYONE, would agree that a community needs ethical and moral boundaries on every act of a human. As, an act of a person, potentially affects others in the community as well. So, God created ethical & moral boundaries (as, again, because they are needed)! And the "Sexual purity" laws in the Bible contribute to that. So, again, some-one/entity has to devise ethical and moral boundaries for the acts of "sex" in the community. Thankfully God, who is perfectly good and just, did that! I challenge anyone to come up with ethical and moral boundaries, better than what God already did! - Yes, you can't beat God!

Incidentally, astonishingly a lot of times, we do see grave negative consequences of improper sexual acts in the world. For instance, children born out of incest have high risks of suffering from very serious genetic abnormalities. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ) warns of having multiple sexual partners:-

“If you or your partner have sex partners who overlap in time, your risk for getting or transmitting HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) increases. This is because the more sexual partners you have in your lifetime, the more likely you are to have a sex partner who has HIV and whose viral load isn't suppressed or who has another STD … STDs spread rapidly in populations where people have multiple partners who overlap in time. This happens because a newly infected person can transmit an STD to more than one uninfected partner while the newly infected person is the most infectious.” And about STDs / STIs, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/sexually-transmitted-infections-(stis) warns:- “More than 30 different bacteria, viruses and parasites are known to be transmitted through sexual contact. Eight of these pathogens are linked to the greatest incidence of sexually transmitted disease. Of these 8 infections, 4 are currently curable: syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis. The other 4 are viral infections and are incurable: hepatitis B, herpes simplex virus (HSV or herpes), HIV (a very deadly and devastating disease), and human papillomavirus (HPV). STIs can have serious consequences beyond the immediate impact of the infection itself.

  • STIs like herpes and syphilis can increase the risk of HIV acquisition three-fold or more.
  • Mother-to-child transmission of STIs can result in stillbirth, neonatal death, low-birth-weight and prematurity, sepsis, pneumonia, neonatal conjunctivitis, and congenital deformities. Over 900 000 pregnant women were infected with syphilis resulting in approximately 350 000 adverse birth outcomes including stillbirth in 2012 (2).
  • HPV infection causes 528 000 cases of cervical cancer and 266 000 cervical cancer deaths each year.
  • STIs such as gonorrhoea and chlamydia are major causes of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and infertility in women." All these grave health risks from STDs / STIs would encourage you to pursue sexual purity laws from the Bible!


The way God designed sex - it is deeply tied with intimacy. It is also to be bound by love & faithfulness (Remember, God made sex for marriage and marriage is supposed to reflect the perfectly loving & sacrificial nature of God). Hence one can expect significant and potentially serious negative psychological impacts of "casual" sexual relationships (i.e., heart-breaks, etc).

Marriage was also designed to raise children, born out of mutual sexual acts of the married couple, under God's supervision. Children born out of wed-lock are instantly robbed of this God-designed institution in which they were supposed to be raised, and hence face huge life-challenges right from the birth. Also, marriage gives an expectant mother, a partner / husband to intimately & deeply help her through the nine long exhausting months of pregnancy.


So, now, can you "comfortably" explain to non-believers why you are pursuing sexual purity?


  • In what ways people respond to sexual purity laws from the Bible.

...

You may have heard of people who reject Christianity, as soon as they hear about the sexual purity laws from the Bible. They are like - "who is this God to speak into my 'sex-life'?"

...