LEVITICUS 49


     We will begin this lesson in Leviticus 20:14 "And if a man take a
wife and her mother, it [is] wickedness: they shall be burnt with
fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you."

     In all of these verses, in chapter 20, we have already dealt with
the fact that these are very serious sins. This is a list of the
punishments that should be carried out for each sin. I don't believe
that the method of killing these people, that verse 14 deals with is
to burn them at the stake. They were probably stoned to death and then
their dead bodies were burned. Not only does God, deal with the sin
and its punishment, but He, also, tells us why the punishment is so
harsh. It is very important to God, as we mentioned in the last
lesson, to have a holy people. This is a sin of the flesh. Worldly
people sometimes are involved in this type sin. God wants His people
to be overcomers of the world. Someone who pretended to be a follower
of God, and was involved in this type sin, would have to be destroyed
to keep this sin from spreading through the congregation.

     Leviticus 20:15 "And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely
be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast."

     This is called beastiality. Many satanic cults practice this very
thing today. This is a very serious sin. God made man above the
animals, to rule over them. Man was made in the image of God. What a
terrible blow to God, for a person to lower themselves to this type
sin. Animals do not have a soul. For a man to do such an awful sin,
would be to say that he regarded his soul as nothing. Even I can agree
with the punishment of death.

     Leviticus 20:16 "And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie
down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall
surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them."

     This is the very same sin as the one in verse 15 above. The only
difference is the fact that this is a woman committing this sin. What
a horrible sin. You can easily see why God would never allow this type
of union. The only answer is death for both, and the second death
awaits the woman involved here.

     Leviticus 20:17 "And if a man shall take his sister, his father's
daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see
his nakedness; it [is] a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in
the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness;
he shall bear his iniquity."

     This is speaking of indecent exposure. It does not appear that
they have actually been involved in the sex act, but it is certainly
against all Christian principles. Ham got into a great deal of trouble
by looking at the naked body of his father. Genesis 9:22 "And Ham, the
father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two
brethren without." Genesis 9:23 "And Shem and Japheth took a garment,
and laid [it] upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and
covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces [were]
backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness."  Genesis 9:24
"And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done
unto him." Genesis 9:25 "And he said, Cursed [be] Canaan; a servant of
servants shall he be unto his brethren."  You can easily see the
seriousness of this type of sin. God's people must have high morals.
He will not permit low morality among His people.

     Leviticus 20:18 "And if a man shall lie with a woman having her
sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her
fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both
of them shall be cut off from among their people."

     We covered this in a previous lesson on the woman with the issue
of blood. A woman's normal monthly cycle at the most will usually be
for 7 days. This was the time regarded as her time of uncleanness.
The only difference we see, here, is the punishment for this sin. The
punishment would be that they would be cut off from their people.

     Leviticus 20:19 "And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy
mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his
near kin: they shall bear their iniquity."

     This, too, was dealt with as a serious sin in a previous lesson.
We see from this that guilt and a conscience bothering them would be
the major punishment.

     Leviticus 20:20 "And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he
hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they
shall die childless."

     For a Hebrew, to be childless, was thought of punishment from God
in all instances. It was, in fact, considered a disgrace. Children
were considered a blessing from God. To be childless, then, would be a
painful punishment.

     Leviticus 20:21 "And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it
[is] an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they
shall be childless."

     In the case of the brother's death, we will find that the brother
is to take his wife and raise a son in his brother's name. That is,
possibly, what this means here. If the brother is living, however,
then the man and his brother's wife would be childless as punishment
for the sin.

     Leviticus 20:22  "Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and
all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to
dwell therein, spue you not out."  Leviticus 20:23 "And ye shall not
walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for
they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them."

     God is reminding these Hebrews {children of Israel}, that He is
bringing them into a land that is already inhabited. The only reason
God is allowing these Hebrews to overcome and utterly destroy the
people before them, is because the people before them are worldly
people who are so disgusting to God {abhorred}. The people in the land
had been given a time to repent, and they did not repent. Now they
will be destroyed and the land given to these Hebrews {Israelites}.
The Israelites must obey God and live godly lives, or they,
themselves, will be destroyed, and God will give their inheritance
unto another who will obey.

     Leviticus 20:24 "But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their
land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth
with milk and honey: I [am] the LORD your God, which have separated
you from [other] people."

     God has always wanted a people who would be totally devoted to
Him. The land promised to these Israelites would be a land, abundant
in the necessities. The promise was a land of milk and honey. God even
promises the Christians wonderful things, if we seek Him first.
Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."  Those
who follow God are to be a separated people. We are not to be like the
rest of the world. Galatians 5:16 "[This] I say then, Walk in the
Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."  God's people
are in the world, but are not of the world. We will see, in the next
few verses, how we must conduct ourselves toward the world. I John
2:15 "Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."  I
John 2:16 "For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but
is of the world."

     Leviticus 20:25 "Ye shall therefore put difference between clean
beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall
not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner
of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated
from you as unclean."

     This physical house of Israel is to be a separated people. They
are to observe the laws of God, every one. We will find a very similar
request of the spiritual house of Israel {Christians} in the following
verse. I Peter 2:9 "But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew
forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvellous light:"  As I have said so many times before, it would be
of no use to study Leviticus, unless the Christians could find Jesus
and themselves in it. They were to obey these laws and ordinances that
were written down. We Christians are to be obedient to the high
calling of Jesus Christ. We, too, must walk holy before our LORD.

     Leviticus 20:26 "And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD
[am] holy, and have severed you from [other] people, that ye should be
mine."

     How wonderful to be called His. The LORD JESUS CHRIST has chosen
us Christians out to be His bride. Will you be like the five wise
virgins, or will you be among the five virgins who let the oil run out
of their lamp? It is enough to know that He is coming again to make us
His bride. Do not give up so near the goal. We sing a song at Wildwood
that says: "We'll work till Jesus comes". Will you be found working?
Or will you be like so many who have tired of waiting, and have begun
to sleep?

     Leviticus 20:27  "A man also or woman that hath a familiar
spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall
stone them with stones: their blood [shall be] upon them."

     This is so serious that it is mentioned over and over. Witches
and warlocks are very prevalent in our society today. How sad that
most of us just look the other way and allow this to go on. We
mentioned earlier how Saul {the first king of Israel} was dethroned by
God for consulting someone with a familiar spirit. We can not stress
enough, do not go to palm readers, do not read your horoscope, do not
practice any type of mind control. Stay away from wizards. Do not seek
help in anything connected with these evils. God is the answer to all
your problems. You will find help by reading His Word.
































                             Questions 49

1.  What is the sin called, if a man takes a wife and her mother?
2.  What is the punishment for each of the people involved in this
    sin?
3.  What does the author believe is the method used to carry out this
    punishment?
4.  Not only does God deal with the sin and with the punishment, but
    He tells us what?
5.  God wants His people to be __________ of the world.
6.  If a man lie with a beast, He shall surely be put to ______.
7.  What is this type of sin called?
8.  Man was made in the _______ of God.
9.  If a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down there to, what
    shall be done to the woman and the beast?
10. What was the punishment for a man seeing the nakedness of his
    sister?
11. What would be the way of saying this in modern language?
12. Which one of Noah's sons got into trouble by seeing his father's
    nakedness?
13. What happened to this son, because of this sin against his father?
14. How many days was a woman considered unclean each month?
15. What was the punishment for uncovering the nakedness of an aunt?
16. How did Hebrews feel about being childless?
17. When was it alright to marry your brother's wife?
18. What was the punishment for taking a brother's wife, while the
    brother was living?
19. Why were they to keep all of God's statutes and judgements?
20. Why had God abhorred the nations that would be driven out before
    the Hebrews?
21. What does abhorred mean?
22. If the Israelites do not obey God, what will happen to them?
23. What was the promised land to be flowing with?
24. Quote Matthew chapter 6 verse 33.
25. Walk in the _______ and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the
    flesh.
26. Love not the _______.
27. What three things, mentioned in verse 16 of chapter 2 of 1 John,
    are of the world?
28. The physical house of Israel was to be what?
29. What does first Peter chapter 2 verse 9 say the Christians are?
30. What does God say we must be in verse 26?
31. Who is the bride of Christ?
32. A ___ or a ______ that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a
    wizard, shall surely be put to death.
33. How is the only way to get solutions to our problems?