God is trying to teach His people what holiness is all about.

God is holy, and He wants those who come to Him to learn to be a little more like Him.

As we’re going to see, holiness affects even our most private places in life.

The things God is going to forbid in this chapter are things that the people had been exposed to, either in Egypt, or upcoming in Canaan.

I remember having debates in my high school English class about whether or not morality was relative or not.

Has morality really changed that much?

We in the church are constantly facing the challenge to keep our standards the same as God's standards.

The world's standards are on a downhill slide.

This chapter will deal with God's unchangeable standards in relation to sexual conduct.

(Lev 18:5 NLT) If you obey my laws and regulations, you will find life through them. I am the LORD.

The purpose of God’s law is not to "take our fun away".

Here is the general principle, a prohibition against sex or marriage with a relative.

This is the basis of what we call incest, intercourse with a blood relative.

We might think that this is a pretty strange thing to spend so much time on with God's "righteous" people.

I've counseled with people who have been molested by their parents or relatives, and it always creates a mess in that person's life.

But there is good news for those who have been victimized.

This is a Hebrew euphemism for having sexual relations.

You may be thinking, "Didn’t he just say that back in verse 7?"

I find it interesting that it is human nature to try and find ways of getting around God's laws.

So, rather than just say, don't have intercourse with a close relative, God has to give us specific examples.

(Lev 18:18 NLT) "Do not marry a woman and her sister because they will be rivals. But if your wife dies, then it is all right to marry her sister.

Marrying two sisters at once? Sound familiar?

Summary of New Testament sexual practice

In other words, during her menstrual period. See Lev. 15.

Molech was one of the gods of the Canaanites.

This was one way the Canaanites dealt with unwanted pregnancies, which often resulted from their promiscuous sex practices.

Is homosexuality called a sin in the Bible? Yes.

Is it any worse of a sin than any other kind of sexual immorality? No. But it’s still a sin.

These kinds of sin not only pollute the people who practice them, but somehow pollute the very land the people live on.

God said He was going to judge the people of the land because they practice these things.

Abraham's prophecy...

This kind of makes me wonder about America.

Here's the basis for the whole book.

Just how holiness affects our actual lives is what the chapter is all about. What does it mean to be holy.

Honor and respect towards parents.

Give great weight to their opinions.

The peace offerings of the Old Testament - having fellowship with God, eating dinner with God.

This was what the Israelites had instead of welfare.

Christian businesses should not be taking advantage of their employees.

In those days, people were paid daily.

The principle is that you keep your word and don't take advantage of your employees by holding on to their wages for your own benefit.

I guess some people find it great fun to tease a handicapped person, but it should not be so among God’s people.

Don't take advantage of people's handicaps.

Notice that partiality can take place two ways: We can be easy on the poor out of sympathy on them, and easy on the rich hoping for reward. Both are partiality.

talebearer – rakiyl – slander, slanderer, tale bearer, informer

The idea is spreading bad rumors about people.

(Lev 19:17 NLT) "Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. "Confront your neighbors directly so you will not be held guilty for their crimes.

Sometimes we’re afraid to confront people about something that’s not right.

Sound familiar?

Some people think that there is a difference between the Old and New Testaments.

God has never changed. God is Love.

NAS - LEV 19:19 'You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.

The whole point of this chapter was holiness - to be separate.

I'm not so sure that the point is to keep the kinds of cattle apart as much as it is to teach them to separate things that shouldn't be mixed.

There are three issues involved here, the fact that the girl was a slave, that she was intended for another man, and that this offending man had intercourse with her.

This law says that when they enter the land and plant fruit trees, they were not to eat the fruit for the first three years, offer to God the fruit of the fourth year, and only after the fifth year were they allowed to eat the fruit of the trees.

Until you gave the first fruits to God, the fruit was considered forbidden, literally, "uncircumcised".

We dealt with this last week, see chapter 17.

nachash – to practice divination, divine, observe signs, practice fortunetelling, take as an omen.

Don't mess with this stuff.

`anan – to observe times, practice soothsaying, spiritism, nagic, augury, witchcraft

This along with the previous verse refer to ancient practices of the pagans to honor their gods.

Some of the pagans honored their god (Arabian god Orotal) with the cutting of their hair.

NAS - LEV 19:31 'Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the \Lord\ your God.

Resist calling those "psychic hotlines".

NAS - LEV 19:32 'You shall rise up before the grayheaded, and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the \Lord.\

I can’t help but thinking how this can even apply to visitors at church, especially the young, new believers.

You were once there yourself.

Perhaps think about helping out in the New Believers’ Class, to come alongside those that are new.

Be an honest business man.

May the title, "Christian owned and operated" someday become synonymous with integrity. It is not so today.