2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
April 17, 2019
Leviticus 20:1-9
Verses 1-5. Most of what we see in chapter 20 is a rehashing of what was said earlier in chapter 18. The idea was that the people of God needed to be holy and avoid the pagan practices of the people around them. One of the things God reminds the people is to avoid the worship of Molech. Molech was the national deity of the Ammonites whose worship was accompanied by the burning of children offered up in sacrifice by their own parents. Chemosh was the national god of the Moabites Who was also worshipped with child sacrifices. Ashtoreth was the ancient goddess of the moon, sexuality, sensual love, and fertility and is often associated with the worship of Baal. The worship of the horrific idol Molech was mentioned in Leviticus 18:21. Molech was worshipped by heating a metal statue representing the god until it was red hot, then by placing a living infant on the outstretched hands of the statue, while beating drums drowned out the screams of the child until it burned to death. There was also a non-sacrificial "giving" of children to Molech. This was by the impregnation of temple prostitutes. The offspring of these temple prostitutes would be either sacrifices or just used to become prostitutes themselves. Sex with various family members with the idea of producing a child to be offered was thought to be part of this worship. Hence the prohibition of sex with various family members that were other than the wife. A man might get the idea to have child out of wedlock from a woman that was not his wife with the idea to sacrifice the child to the-pagan god in exchange for good luck. The penalty for Molech worship was death and if the sentence was not carried out by Israel, God declared He would set My face against that man and against his family. God will prosecute if the legal system of Israel failed to. Sadly, even a man as great as Solomon at least sanctioned the worship of Molech and built a temple to this idol (1 Kings 11:7). King Ahaz of Judah gave his own son to Molech (2 Kings 16:3). One of the great crimes of the northern tribes of Israel was their worship of Molech, leading to the Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 17:17). King Manasseh of Judah gave his son to Molech (2 Kings 21:6). Up to the days of King Josiah of Judah, Molech worship continued, because he destroyed a place of worship to that idol (2 Kings 23:10).
Verse 6. Just in case other pagan gods were introduced, God warns the people to stay away from folks who claim they can talk to the dead or have supernatural abilities to read minds and know the future. There is a reason that God uses the words “prostitute or prostituted.” The worship of these false gods always involved some kind of perverted sexual ritual. God uses the terms adultery and prostituted to not only speak of the spiritual cheating that the worship of false god was, but to speak to the sexual way in which those false gods were worshipped. Because sex is a powerful impulse it was regularly employed in the worship of false gods. Even today, cults will have some sort of sexual component to them.
Verses 7-8. God reiterates his call for holiness or separation of the people of God from the people who worshipped the pagan gods. The attraction of the pagan gods was so strong that God has to give this command over and over again. The pull of these pagan gods is something that the people of God struggled with long after this first command was given.
Verse 9. These are strong words. The consequence for wishing evil on your parents was death. Most likely, this is referring to an adult child who in anger wished his parents dead. Elaborate curses, many of which appear to have the nature of magical spells, were current in the ancient Near East, and amongst superstitious people. Many of the practitioners of witchcraft would offer spells and curses that promised to bring evil on the one being cursed. This kind of curse mentioned here is not about profanity, but intent of heart to bring disaster on someone who birth you.
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