Leviticus 20: Penalty Paid

​Key Verse
26 You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
 
Meditation
God’s covenant love welcomes His people to experience covenant blessings through the work of Jesus Christ. Jesus took the covenant curses so all who have faith in Him can experience covenant blessings (Galatians 3:10-14). Jesus was cut off for our sin so believers can be welcomed into fellowship with Him (Isaiah 53:8). Jesus died to satisfy God’s wrath against sin so all who trust His work can know and show God's love (2 Corinthians 5:15).
 
Leviticus 20 unpacks sins penalties to be paid. The gospel is the GOOD NEWS that the death of Jesus covered the cost of our sin, His grace freeing believers to embrace covenant blessings through His finished work.
 
Sin is a serious issue. “The wage of sin is death,” writes Paul (Romans 6:23). In today’s reading, Moses detailed the wage of sin by describing being cut off, your genealogy come to an end. Moses addressed specific sins and their consequences: worshipping in ways of the culture, sacrificing children, sexual immorality, dishonoring parents, and practicing divination. Sin is serious, must be addressed, and the penalty must be paid. God is holy, and His grace forgives His people and frees us to live holy lives for Him.
 
After salvation, believers are free for imitation- “Be holy as I am Holy,” says the Lord (26-27). When we reject God’s grace and embrace our culture’s ways then we forfeit the beauty and joy of God’s covenant blessings. God’s covenant love welcomes you to experience His covenant blessings through the person and work of Jesus. 
 
Today’s Reading
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.

6 “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

Punishments for Sexual Immorality
10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17 “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to make naked one's relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

You Shall Be Holy
22 “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. 24 But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

27 “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”
 
Richly Dwelling
-Why is it necessary to highlight the severity of sin? How does the repetition of penalties drive this reality home?
 
-How does the fact of Jesus’s faithfulness on your behalf, paying the penalty for your sin, drive you to respond with obedience?
 
-After salvation, imitation! When we know God’s grace, we will grow in being holy as God is Holy. How can you grow in godliness today? Be specific.
 
Key Verse
26 You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.