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Leviticus Chapter 20

-      In this Chapter GOD is preparing his people for the land of their inheritance by admonishing them not to act like the people who GOD was evicting from the land.

-      We get a list of things the Israelites are not to do.

-      These are commands given to the Israelite people not to the gentiles.

-      The first thing GOD mentions is not to sacrifice their children to Molech like the people of the land were doing.

-      The Molech Idol was usually a bronze body statue, half bull half man shape, that was a furnace used for sacrificing children to the god Molech. They would heat the furnace up and place babies and children in or on it. This leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy inside, Not!

-      People tend to complain when it seems like GOD is indiscriminately displacing or pronouncing judgement on people. Even though they were involved with practices like the Molech sacrifices.

-      Then there are people on the other end of the spectrum that are upset when GOD is not providing justice fast enough in their opinion.

-      When GOD acts or chooses not to, these people cannot see everything GOD sees will not be happy, no matter the outcome.

-      In this chapter GOD also mentions, people who communicate with familiar spirits, ghosts etc. some translations say mediums or wizards. They have a familiar spirit with which to talk to the dead.

-      The only spirit one should be familiar with is the Holy Spirit, the rest are suspect at best and liars most often.

-      There is a list here also for punishments on any Israelite for sexual immorality. I will let the reader check out these for themselves.

-      GOD tells the Israelites not to walk in the customs of the nation GOD was driving out because they did all the things listed and they were detestable to the LORD.

-      The promise to the Israelites if they kept the LORD’s statutes and all the rules, the land where they were going would not vomit them out.

-      Notice that the Canaanites, who would be considered gentiles, they did these things that were detestable in GOD’s sight and judgement was pronounced.

-      Some, most or all of these should have been common sense, the Canaanites did not need a written law to know some of these things were wrong.

-      I can appreciate push back on this point, but of all the nations that were disowned at the Babble event, this one was specifically chosen, mentioned, and punished as an example, why?

-      Could it be they were given a tremendous period of grace to change their ways and instead chose their ways over GOD’s ways?

-       Murdering babies and children, believing in the spiritual realm, spirits and ghosts, and choosing to listen to any of them, but not the GOD who cares for us, cursing father and mother the ones given by GOD in authority over us for a season (with the provision that they recognize they are under GOD's authority), choosing any path to sexual fulfillment other than the one given by GOD to produce life and fulfill the command to be fruitful and multiply.

GOD was asking his people not to do these things, most should make sense, some things may be treading on the “it’s my life who am I hurting?” GOD asked the Man and Woman in the garden not to eat the fruit of one tree. It did not make sense, all the other trees were ok, why this one? It comes down to this, do you trust the one who is asking? Do you trust by obeying, when feelings, emotions, and our own logic or the world says something different?

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