Spirits, sex, and death

 Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don't know anything about it. Let's see where this takes us! 

I'm reading Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Leviticus 20

So, what is Molech?

Gambling on Wikipedia for convenience, Molech is a Canaanite deity, or is the very concept of child sacrifice. So the LORD is saying, do not sacrifice your child to a rival god, OR the LORD is saying, don't sacrifice your child to me thinking it's a good idea; you won't be blessed for it, you yourself will be put to death.

Good for the LORD to tell the Isrealites to "put to death" any notion of child sacrifice, which according to my extremely superficial knowledge of the times, was not uncommon in ancient history.

I looked up familiar spirit, mentioned in verse 6:  "a spirit or demon that serves or prompts an individual." This seems to be a reference to Azazel and the jinn of Chapter 17. The Isrealites are told to stay away from them and from wizards (presumably the practitioners of witchcraft and auguery mentioned in chapter 19) lest they be "cut off from the midst of the people," which I understand to be removed and shunned. The actual mediums and spiritualists shall be put to death (verse 27). 

I wonder if these spirits and spiritualists have powers that rival or threaten the LORD's. I'm led to assume that, in this story, these are very real beings, just as they are real within fictional universes of fantasy and horror genres.

Cursing one's father and mother warrants death. The first definition of curse is "a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one." Not only does a curse "dishonor" the father and mother, it is playing with the spirit world.

The middle of Leviticus 20 establishes punishments for the sexual acts performed in Leviticus 18. (If you haven't done so, read my commentary on that chapter.) Punishments range from death to being cut off from the people, to going childless.

Some of the acts with the death penalty: 

• Adultery: no reason given.

• Sex with your father's wife: you're uncovering your father's nakedness; which I take to mean humiliating and dishonring him.

• Sex with your daughter-in-law: perversion ("an aberrant sexual practice or interest especially when habitual")

• A man having sex with another man: abomination (something regarded with disgust or hatred). 

• Having sex with one's wife and her mother: depravity (a corrupt act or practice; corrupt: to change from good to bad in morals, manners, or actions).

• Sex with animals: no reason given

Reasons for being cut off from the people or other punishment

• Brother-sister sex: disgrace 

• Sex with a woman during her period: her flow of blood was laid bare

• Sex with a biological aunt: "for that is to lay bare one's own flesh."

• Sex with an uncle's wife: you have "uncovered your uncle's nakedness (presumably humiliated him); the punishment is childlessness

• Sex with a sister-in-law: same

Why are these things prohibited? You and I may have our reasons to condemn some or all these things, from disease prevention to maintaining  stable family relationships to a personal "ick" feeling  to preventing genetic mutations in children of incest.

And I've mentioned before that the LORD is very concerned about blood and semen for some (probably mystical) reason.

But the words to justify the death penalty like perversion, abomination, and depravity are subjective and have nothing to do with real or possible harms. The acts are condemned because the LORD, this character in this story, finds them disgusting. That's it.

The spiritualism, wizardry, and sexual practices condemend in this chapter are found in the nations the LORD plans for the Israelites to conquer. "Because they did all these things, I abhorred them." (Abhor  to regard with extreme repugnance : to feel hatred or loathing for).

The LORD doesn't say these things are evil or bad, let alone why, but that he just hates them. 

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)