God created the human being with a sensual side. By this I mean we are sexual beings. All mankind with few exceptions have an appetite for sexual intimacy. God made us this way. Before Genesis 3 man was sexually innocent and pure. He was not even aware of his nakedness, yet as soon as they rebelled against God they became aware of their sexuality in the shape of nakedness!
Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
Generally, most people will be cautious about being naked in front of others. They will feel embarrassed and ashamed of their nakedness. This is even true when a man or woman goes for physical examinations at a general practitioner, but more so at a gynecologist or urologist. Don’t you think this is telling that as soon as sin entered the world, nakedness was an issue? I would like us to reflect upon Leviticus chapter 18 that we read yesterday briefly.
1) Great care needs to be exercised when it comes to your personal sensual feelings.
Lev 18:1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God. 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. 4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God. 5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.”
(1) As a Christian, God is LORD. He is Maker and Redeemer who owns you and had the right to enforce His required morality upon those who belong to Him. In other words, Kingdom citizens must subscribe to Kingdom Laws.
(2) Because God loves His people He wants to protect His people. Few people understand the relationship of sexual activities to one’s physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual health. More than that, the sexual union between a man and woman is viewed by God in a similar manner to the spiritual union between Him and man.
(3) Sexual immorally practiced by pagan people is not to be practiced by the people of God. Just because, as the saying goes … “everyone is doing it” … does not mean the people of God must do it. Defilement in this way causes estrangement between God and His people when they engage in such pagan practices. The unbelieving world will account for their sexual deviance on the Day of Judgment.
(4) These are the reasons God requires obedience. Part of obedience is taking care to follow God’s requirements. Leviticus 18v4 is an extremely important verse that applies to all followers of Jesus. The sad reality is that few today go to the effort of being “careful” to obey!
2) Let’s skim through the Leviticus 18 passage and see if we can identify the various sexual offences God prohibits His people to engage in. Close relatives, father’s wife (stepmother), sister, father or mother’s daughter (stepsister), granddaughter, stepsister, aunt, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, with both a woman and her daughter, a woman and her children’s daughter, wife’s sister as a revival wife whilst the wife is alive, wife during her monthly menstrual period, neighbor’s wife, a woman with an animal. In each case we can apply the opposite gender as well. As we have already stated, verses 24 to 29 needs to be noted. The list above deals with incest, bestiality, adultery, fornication and in particular, lust.
3) There are other sexual sins mentioned in the Bible.
(1) Prostitution. Some say this is the oldest profession in the world … yet God calls it sexual immorality. Sex with a prostitute falls into the category of fornication.
(a) What does the Bible say about prostitution?
Pr 5:3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; 4 but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 6 She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not. 7 Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. 8 Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house.
Many countries in the world might legalize prostitution but God says it is wrong … sin!
(b) The one who goes to a prostitute is a whoremonger.
1 Cor 5:11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler.
The term sexually immoral means a whoremonger. The Christian must not even associate with a whoremonger. The word means a “monger amongst whores”. There are many shapes of prostitution. It is not just male and female … it includes what is known as the “blesser” and the “blessed” … normally an older man who blesses a younger lady with money and gifts for sexual favors. There is also the “anointer” and the “anointed” … normally the older lady who anoints the younger man with money and gifts for sexual favors. Anyone who is “kept” in the context of accommodation, clothing and food for sexual offerings falls into this bracket.
4) Pedophilia. Surely this is one of the most wicked sexual activities because it ruins the lives of innocent little children. Such offenders will be dealt with most seriously on Judgment Day because children have a special place in God’s heart.
5) Orgies. Another way of describing this is group sex. It is not new for ancient history tells us about such activities as does the period of the Roman Empire. God designed sexual intimacy for a man and his wife within a faithful monogamous marriage relationship. We will pick up this theme tomorrow … but permit me to conclude today by saying that Biblical Christianity is totally counter to the morality and ethics of our secular, materialistic world of pleasure. What the world approves of and promotes mostly conflicts with what God has to say … especially when it comes to the topic of sex. Remember … through Moses God said … “be careful”.
Father, sex is thrown at us from all directions today. Protect us from immorality and cause us to love Your Word enough to obey it properly. Amen.