Laws for an exemplary society.
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· 5 viewsEight characteristics of an exemplary society.
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Lev 18-19
Introduction:
“I have spent all my life under communism, and I will tell you that a society without any legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one, is not quite worthy of man either.” (Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Graduation address at Harvard in 1978)
Every society must have laws and a good society will apply the laws. A Society needs more than laws to make it great. A great society must be guided by God’s law. This country is in moral decline because God’s laws have been set aside little by little. Yes, we have great laws, but not everything that is legal is Biblical!
Most people rebel to rules and laws, but they are necessary to avoid chaos, to keep the order. Wherever we go there are rules to be followed.
God is a God of order, and He wants His people to live orderly lives. Here God is establishing clear laws for His people to become an exemplary society.
Background:
Israel was about to enter the Promised land where God would establish them as a light in the darkness of the surrounding nations.
The first thing that had to be clear was that the behavior of God’s people must be different from the surrounding pagan nations (18:3). In their case, from Egypt and Canaan.
‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.
In Lev 18-19, we found eight characteristics of an exemplary society.
God’s people must live according to God’s statutes.
God’s people must live according to God’s statutes.
Following His commandments.
Following His commandments.
‘You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. ‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.
Treating His name with reverence.
Treating His name with reverence.
Leviticus 18:21b (NASB95)
‘You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
Dedicating time to worship God.
Dedicating time to worship God.
Leviticus 19:3 (NASB95)
... and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.
An exemplary society must refrain from sexual immorality.
An exemplary society must refrain from sexual immorality.
Lev 18:6-20
Incestuous relationships are forbidden.
Incestuous relationships are forbidden.
- 7% of rapes in America are incestuous (RAINN)
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Adultery is condemned.
Adultery is condemned.
‘You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.
Homosexuality must not be accepted.
Homosexuality must not be accepted.
‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.
It’s abomination (toebah: “extremely disgusting”) to God’s eyes.
Noted scientists have proven that there is no such gay gene in the human body, let alone one in any gay person. They have found that the study done by the scientist that found the “so-called gay gene” was flawed in many areas and it only applied to men.
And what they have come up with is the conclusion that homosexuality is a learned or taught behavior, which is related to their environment.
It has been found that 75% are that way because of abuse early in their life and the remaining percentage are like that because of either a lack of a same-sex role model, the lack of sex education by their parents, or just a plain desire to go against the grain.
Bestiality is perversion.
Bestiality is perversion.
‘Also you shall not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.
(aberrant sexual practice; tebel: violation of nature).
God severely punish nations that have these practices.
God severely punish nations that have these practices.
‘For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.
Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.
just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
See AIDS and STD statistics.
Prevalance Rate of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: approx 1 in 4 or 23.90% or 65 million people in USA
Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases: 15.3 million cases/year ; approx 1 in 17 or 5.62% in USA. At least one-quarter of them among teenagers.
Patient Profile for Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Mostly teenagers and young adults; two thirds are younger than 25.
(Source: excerpt from Sexually Transmitted Diseases Statistics, NIAID Fact Sheet: NIAID)
Exemplary societies have respect for parents and elders.
Exemplary societies have respect for parents and elders.
Leviticus 19:3a (NASB95)
‘Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father...
‘You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.
People deals with others with honesty.
People deals with others with honesty.
‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity. ‘You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt.
Not stealing, lying, nor oppressing them.
Respects and values the life of other human beings.
Respects and values the life of other human beings.
‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the Lord.
Legal Abortion in USA: 31.2 million from 1973 to 2019; 630,000 in 2019 (1726/day).
Dept of Justice reports that between 1976-2004 the highest percentage of gang-related homicides was in large cities: 69.5%. In LA County 44.8% of the homicide in 2000 and 58% in 2021 (ABC 7).
Does not recur to vengeance.
Does not recur to vengeance.
‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
Many of homicides and murders are vengeance related.
Unfortunately, there are some cultures that promote vengeance.
Illust. Civil war in Iraq
A society whose members respect their bodies.
A society whose members respect their bodies.
‘You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.
God forbid these things because their bodies also belong to God. It mentions cuts, and tattoos. We may also mention piercing. The only allowed piercing I found in the Scriptures was of ears of slaves.
Young people do it because they want to look cool…
Illust. News on Wed. 02/16: Singer removing tattoo after breaking with girlfriend.
If you did it in your ignorance before knowing Christ, God has forgiven you. But I do think a true believer should not defy God by marking the temple of the Holy Spirit!
Where people consult with God, not with psychics or spiritists.
Where people consult with God, not with psychics or spiritists.
‘Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.