What Does the Bible Say About Gay? (Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13)
Abomination: What does it mean?Exercise:
613 laws (Mitzvot)
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There are 613 laws the Mosiac law commands that we obey. How many are you guiltyof? (http://www.templesanjose.org/JudaismInfo/Torah/613mitzvot.htm)
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Is eating milk with meat really as bad as incest?
Why do we pick a few of these to beimportant, and not others?
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What kinds of sin does breaking these laws imply?
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Moral sin
is produced by rebellion against God. As New Testament Christians,these are the sins we’re familiar with.
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Ceremonial uncleanliness
is caused by contact with a forbidden object or byengaging in a behavior which might be quite acceptable to non-Hebrews, butwhich was
forbidden to the Children of Israel
.
Like the Amish being opposed to technology or vegetarians not eatingmeat: not a moral objection, but a lifestyle choice.
These were not necessarily minor sins; some called for the ancientIsraelite to be executed or expelled from the tribe – but they are confinedto Israelites.
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Leviticus 18:22
and
Leviticus 20:13
call homosexual sex an “abomination.” What is anabomination? Is it as bad as it sounds?
Definitions:
(http://www.searchgodsword.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T84)Three distinct Hebrew words are translated as "abomination," or "abominable thing." These arethings or practices abhorrent to Yahweh, and opposed to the ritual or moral requirements of Hisreligion. They denote different degrees of abhorrence or loathsomeness.
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sheqets or shiqquts
: It expresses generally a somewhat less degree of horror or religious aversion than [to`ebhah], but sometimes seems to stand about on a level with itin meaning. It is generally linked to food and animals.
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In Dt 14:3, for example, we have the command, "Thou shalt not eat anyabominable thing," as introductory to the laws prohibiting the use of the uncleananimals, and the word there used is [to`ebhah]. But in Lev 11:10-13,20,23,41,42;Isa 66:17; and in Ezek 8:10 sheqets is the word used and likewise applied to theprohibited animals.
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Sheqets is often used parallel to or together with to`ebhah of that which shouldbe held as detestable, as for instance, of idols and idolatrous practices (seeespecially Dt 29:17; Hos 9:10; Jer 4:1; 13:27; 16:18; Ezek 11:18-21; 20:7,8). It isused exactly as [to`ebhah] is used as applied to Milcom, the god of theAmmonites, which is spoken of as the detestable thing sheqets of the Ammonites(1 Ki 11:5).
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Piggul:
It is used in the Hebrew Bible only of sacrificial flesh that has become stale,putrid, tainted (see Lev 7:18; 19:7; Ezek 4:14; Isa 65:4). Driver maintains that it occursonly as a "technical term for such state sacrificial flesh as has not been eaten within theprescribed time," and, accordingly, he would everywhere render it specifically "refusemeat."
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To’ebah:
The word most used for this idea by the Hebrews and indicating the highestdegree of abomination is to`ebhah, meaning primarily that which offends the religioussense of a people.
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“The Hebrew word translated ‘abomination’ does not usually signify something intrinsically evil, like rape or theft (discussed elsewhere in Lev), but something which is ritually unclean for Jews, like eating pork or engaging in intercourse
during menstruation, both of which are prohibited in these same chapters. It isused throughout the OT to designate those Jewish sins which involve ethnic contamination or idolatry and very frequently occurs as part of the stock phrase‘the uncleanness of the Gentiles... Lev 18 is specifically designed to distinguishthe Jews from the pagans among whom they had been living, or would live…”
(Boswell,100)
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“Abomination” is that which offends the religious sense of a people: The wordimplies not “it is wrong” (universal), but “it is wrong
for us
” (communal).
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Like the Amish being opposed to technology or vegetarians not eatingmeat: not a moral objection, but a lifestyle choice.
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This explains the more obscure laws that we no longer obey (hair cutting,dietary laws, mixed fabric, etc.)
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It is to be noted that, not only the heathen idol itself, but anything offered to or associated with the idol, all the paraphernalia of the forbidden cult, was called an"abomination," for it "is an abomination to Yahweh thy God" (Dt 7:25,26).To`ebhah is even used as synonymous with "idol" or heathen deity.
Homosexuality as an AbominationContext: Deity Worship
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The Bible cannot mean to us what it never meant to them.
For us to discover why“homosexuality” was an abomination, we must look at the context in which these verseswere written.
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Holiness Code
: Lev 18:1-3 – “do not do as they do in Egypt.” These lawsanswered the question: “what must we do to be set apart from our paganneighbors?”
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Lev 18:22:
context: Lev 18:21 – Molech worship
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Lev 20:13
: context: Lev 20:2-5 & 23 – Molech worship
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The overall context is pagan religious worship (esp to Molech and Ashoreth), nothomosexuality. God was opposed to ANYTHING that resembled pagan worship – this is why he was protecting them from the customs of Egypt.
Molech and Ashtoreth
(http://www.gaychristian101.com/Molech.html)
Molech
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Molech was the national deity of the Ammonites, a fire god commonly worshippedthroughout the ancient near East and North Africa, by Canaanites and Philistines,Arameans, and Semitic peoples and later, Phoenicians. He required child sacrifice.Offering a child sacrifice to Molech involved burning the child in a fire kindled in the bellycavity of the metal idol.
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The image of Moloch was a human figure with a bull's head and outstretchedarms, ready to receive the children destined for sacrifice. The image of metal washeated red hot by a fire kindled within, and the children laid on its arms rolled off into the fiery pit below. In order to drown the cries of the victims, flutes wereplayed, and drums were beaten; and mothers stood by without tears or sobs, togive the impression of the voluntary character of the offering.(http://bibleencyclopedia.com/search--molech)
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Ahab (and other negative OT Kings) were said to have let their children “passthrough the fire.” This is a reference to Molech worship.
Ashoreth
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Ashtoreth was the fertility goddess consort of Molech and was the goddess of war andfertility.
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While Molech represented the male principle of life and reproduction, Ashtoreth
represented the female principle of fertility.
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Ashtareth is mentioned 12 times in the Old Testament. That towns were named after thefertility goddess indicates that her worship was already widespread when the children of Israel entered the land.
Molech and Ashoreth Worship
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The sexual relationship between these false gods set the example for unbridledsensuality among their worshipers.
Anal sex between male and male worshipers and male and female worshipers was viewed as an offering to the goddess. Ashtoreth’s malefollowers worshiped her by offering their seed to the fertility goddess, through anal sex with other men.
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Ashoreth Poles: phallic symbols
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Question: if the Levitical laws are about consentual homosesual relationships, why aren’tLesbians mentioned?
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One of the reasons Lev doesn’t mention Lesbian sex is because woman/womansex was not an element of deity worship.
Conclusion
:
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It offended the religious sense of a people, not the moral sense. It wasn’t wrong becauseit was homosex. It was wrong because it was connected to idol worship.
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As a jealous God, Yahweh forbid idol worship and everything associated with it.Throughout the OT, the Jews are condemned for turning to other gods (thegolden calf, in Babylon, etc.). God wanted his people to be distinct from their idolworshiping neighbors. The Levitical condemnation of homosexuality is acondemnation of homosex in the context of worshiping idols (esp. Molech andAshoreth), not committed loving relationships.
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The context clearly shows that the Levitical code was not referring to committed,monogamous homosexual relationships.
Other Theories:Ritual Violation: Unclean
(as opposed to something that relates to idol worship)
(From http://www.gentlespirit.org/homostudy5.html)
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Basic tenant
: Instead of being to idol worship, homosexuality was connected to thosethings that made you unclean (like eating pork, touching a dead body, etc.)
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Acts that went against the cultural norms in a way that one was consideredritually unclean or imperfect, and thus unable to go to the temple and worshipGod, are to’ebah. The idea is that you only take to God a perfect gift and, if youare somehow imperfect, you can’t go to worship until you’ve “cleaned up.”
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That’s why someone who had touched a woman during her period couldn’t go tothe temple without getting stoned -- it was believed to make someone imperfect.
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Some feel that this verse refers to male-to-male intimacy as merely unclean, likeeating pork made someone unclean in Jewish religion
. It is something dirtyritualistically, just as was eating shellfish, mixing fibers, and similar laws whichChristians no longer consider binding on them.
Violation of Jewish Sexuality:
(From http://www.gentlespirit.org/homostudy5.html)
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The Jews had been told by God to populate the Earth. This was their mission – their form of evangelism (hence the problem at Babel).
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Jews viewed semen as having a life-giving property. It was sacred because it fulfilledtheir mission to populate the earth. Not understanding about eggs, they believed all
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Leviticus Study Notes
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