Then the LORD said to Moses, Sermons
I. THAT THEY ARE FORBIDDEN BY GOD. This is the highest reason, for: 1. He is the supreme Arbiter of men (verses 5, 6, 24): "I am the Lord." (1) He is our Creator. His power over the work of his hands is absolute. It is our wisdom to confess this without gainsaying. (2) He is our Governor. He has not abandoned his creation to mechanical laws. The providence of his intelligence is everywhere and ever active. This his people saw in the miracles of the Exodus. (3) Moral beings are morally responsible to a God of holiness and truth. His will is law. It is truth. It is purity. 2. He is the covenant Friend of his people (verses 1, 4, 30): "I am the Lord your God." (1) The covenant relationship is set forth in this declaration. It therefore suggests all the promises:, Blessings pertaining to this life; also to that which is to come. What glorious blessings! (2) Gratitude is appealed to here. Love should constrain us. The obedience of love is the purest. It is most acceptable to God. It is most perfect; for the whole being is in it. II. THAT THE HEATHEN HAVE PRACTISED THEM. 1. They were the doings of the Egyptians (verse 3). (1) The corrupt state of heart which prompted them, and which was aggravated by their repetition, was that from which the children of Israel suffered cruel and relentless persecutions and oppressions. The bitter experience they had of these abominations should lead them scrupulously to avoid them. (2) If they had learnt to follow their vices, it is time to unlearn them, now that they have been delivered from Egypt. Providence furnishes men with opportunities favourable to repentance and reformation. We are answerable for these. 2. They were the doings of the Canaanites. (1) Customs common to the heathen should be viewed with suspicion by the people of God. The practices of custom come to be called "ordinances" (see verse 3). Ordinances of man must not be confounded with ordinances of God. (2) We need admonition here. It is easy to flow with the stream; difficult to stem the torrent. We must brace ourselves to this. We should look to God to nerve our resolution. III. THAT THE MATTER IS VITAL. 1. God leads his people into temptation. (1) Thus he led his people into Egypt. Now he conducts them in amongst the Canaanites. "Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it?" (see Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6). (2) Yet is not God the Author of moral evil. Physical may exist apart from moral evil. Witness the afflictions of Job (see also John 9:1-3). (3) God leads men into temptation, not that they may fall into it, but that they may learn to resist it, and so form a strong moral character. 2. There is life in the Law to those who can keep it. (1) In so far as it is fulfilled, it brings the benefits of a wise and good code (Deuteronomy 4:8; Nehemiah 9:13, 14; Psalm 147:19, 20). (2) But who can so fulfill it as to ensure eternal life? No one (see Luke 10:25-28; Romans 10:5). (3) Therefore faith is declared to be the principle of justification (Hebrews 2:14). Upon this Paul founds his reasoning (Galatians 3:10-14; Romans 1:16, 17; Philippians 3:9). 3. Ruin is denounced upon the transgressor. (1) Faith is the principle of a true obedience. The transgressor of the Law denies his faith and comes under the curse (Hebrews 10:38; Deuteronomy 27:26; Jeremiah 11:3) (2) For his sake the land is cursed (verse 25). So defiled may it become as to be unfit for the tabernacle of God. The curse upon the ground for man's sake came in the form of a deluge of water; it will yet come in a flood of fire (Genesis 3:17; Genesis 5:29; 2 Peter 3:7). (3) The transgressor is cut off from among his people (verse 29; comp. 1 Corinthians 3:17). The abomination in which he is held is vigorously set forth under the figure of the land vomiting and spuing out its inhabitants (verses 25, 28). So were the Egyptians ejected. So were the ancient Canaanites (see Genesis 15:16; Revelation 3:16). So in turn were the Israelites (Ezekiel 20:11, 13, 21). We should not be highminded, but fear (Romans 11:19-21; Hebrews 4:11). "Lay the car of your faith to the gates of the bottomless pit, and hear the doleful shrieks and outcries of damned sinners, whom earth hath spewed out, and hell has swallowed, and tremble lest this be your portion at the last" (M. Henry). - J.A.M.
Ye shall do My judgments This preface of some is taken generally to concern all the laws of God; the observation whereof is ever the sure safety of a state public or private, for it is not the munition of walls, leagues, and alliance with foreign princes, largeness of confines, plenty of treasure, or such like, that preserve a commonwealth, but careful and diligent observation of public laws ordained of God for the good of man. It is said that Lacedemon flourished whilst Lycurgus's laws were observed: much more any commonwealth when God's be kept. For what comparison betwixt man's laws and God's? Demosthenes saith, It was the manner of the Loerenses, that if any man would publish and devise a new law he should put his neck into a halter ready to be put to death, if the law were not good, by which means they made men more careful to observe old and ancient, tried and known laws, than with busy heads to make new. Now what laws so old and so approved good as God's laws? Ever, therefore, are they to be regarded and hearkened unto. Others take this preface particularly of these laws concerning marriage now following, that if they be carefully kept, a kingdom long flourisheth, and if not, soon ii cometh to a fearful fall. For so odious and abhorred of God is the unlawful mixture of man and woman that the Lord cannot long withhold great judgments. And thus much remember as you read them ever, that these laws do not concern the Jews only, as the ceremonial laws now spoken of and judicial did, but these laws belong to all men and women and to all succeeding times, being eternal, immutable, grafted by God in man's nature and given by Him for holiness' sake. Note all the words well that God would not have them like either the Egyptians or Canaanites, and wish with me that there was a like law against our being like foreign nations near us, with ruffs dipped in the devil's liquor called starch, Turkish heads, Spanish backs, Italian waists, &c., giving daily occasion to the mockers that say French nets catch English fools.(Bp. Babington.) People Israelites, Molech, MosesPlaces Canaan, Egypt, TemanTopics Saying, Spake, Speaketh, SpokeOutline 1. Unlawful marriages and unlawful lustsDictionary of Bible Themes Leviticus 18:1-5 1235 God, the LORD 8273 holiness, ethical aspects Library General Character of Christians. "And they that are Christ's have crucified the Flesh, with the Affections and Lusts." St. Paul is supposed to have been the first herald of gospel grace to the Galatians; and they appear to have rejoiced at the glad tidings, and to have received the bearer with much respect. But after his departure, certain judaizing teachers went among them, and labored but too successfully, to alienate their affections from him, and turn them form the simplicity of the gospel. The malice and errors of those deceitful … Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects "They have Corrupted Themselves; their Spot is not the Spot of his Children; they are a Perverse and Crooked Generation. " The Doctrine of Arbitrary Scriptural Accommodation Considered. Epistle Lxiv. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli . The Two Sabbath-Controversies - the Plucking of the Ears of Corn by the Disciples, and the Healing of the Man with the Withered Hand Obedience The Blessings of Noah Upon Shem and Japheth. (Gen. Ix. 18-27. ) Meditations for Household Piety. Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology. Leviticus Links Leviticus 18:1 NIVLeviticus 18:1 NLT Leviticus 18:1 ESV Leviticus 18:1 NASB Leviticus 18:1 KJV Leviticus 18:1 Bible Apps Leviticus 18:1 Parallel Leviticus 18:1 Biblia Paralela Leviticus 18:1 Chinese Bible Leviticus 18:1 French Bible Leviticus 18:1 German Bible Leviticus 18:1 Commentaries Bible Hub |