Thy Strong Word - Leviticus 18 — Be holy as the LORD is holy: A sexually pure and decent life in what I say and do.

Rev. Dr. John Hellwege, professor of theology at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada joins host Rev. Brady Finnern to study Leviticus 18.

The LORD calls you to sexual holiness. The LORD God calls us to live not as the Egyptians, Canaanites, other believers, and the culture. This is difficult because we want to live in the world, but we are called to not “be of the world.” As a loving father guides His children, our LORD guides us to live sexually holy lives out of love for Him and for our neighbor. “Lord God, fill us with Your Holy Spirit to lead a sexually holy life with our bodies, hearts, and eyes. Lead us to Your grace in Christ that we receive forgiveness for our sins, immorality, and lust all on account of Christ. Lord have mercy. Amen”

Thy Strong Word reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations.

Thy Strong Word is hosted by Rev. Brady Finnern, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, MN, and graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

Leviticus 18

Unlawful Sexual Relations

18 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. ³You 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, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴You shall follow my rules^[a] and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. ⁵You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. ⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ⁹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. ¹⁰You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. ¹¹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister. ¹²You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. ¹³You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative. ¹⁴You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. ¹⁸And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.

¹⁹“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. ²⁰And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her. ²¹You shall not give any of your children to offer them^[b] to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ²²You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. ²³And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.

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, ²⁵and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you ²⁷(for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), ²⁸lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. ²⁹For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.”

Footnotes

Leviticus 18:4 Or my just decrees; also verse 5
Leviticus 18:21 Hebrew to make them pass through [the fire]

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org

Rev. Brady Finnern

Rev. Brady Finnern, host of Thy Strong Word. is an expert in all things Minnesota, including hiking the great mountains of the 5th flattest state in the Union and making his own maple syrup. Although chow mein, fried ice cream, and Peanut Persian donuts with maple frosting are at the top of his foodie list, his prized possessions include his gas station refillable fountain soda cup (which, he says, the savings will pay for college for his 4 kids). Pastor Finnern's Divine Call is as President of the LCMS Minnesota North District, and in addition he also enjoys traveling, coaching track, and movie nights with his wife and kids that may or may not include Shawshank Redemption or any of the Thriller movies. When he's not singing his favorite hymns or listening to his favorite metal music, you might find him working out or taking naps. (Probably naps.)