I like the TV series The
West Wing, but I find it somewhat disturbing that the writers of the popular series sometimes use the
program as a means to try to help correct my misapprehension of what
they understand truth to be. In one of the episodes, the President's
character (and of course the President is portrayed as amazingly
brilliant) lashes out against some passages of Scripture (this
despite the fact that his character is supposed to be a somewhat
practicing Catholic--but of course the writers can sidestep these
matters when they so choose). One of the passages in particular was
Leviticus 18:22 wherein God identifies homosexuality as "an
abomination." In that moment in the episode, the President's
character voiced the Antichristians' consistent rant that the
Leviticus passage is as anachronistic as the passage wherein God
tells the Jews not to wear clothing that mixes wool and cotton. Like
the Antichristians, the President's character equates a law of God
that applies only to Jews with a moral law of God that applies to all
mankind without any limitations as to time. The clear message of the
character's (i.e., the writer's) rant is that God's perspective on
homosexuality is outdated, and that when society is finally ready to
abandon God's perspective, it is best that God just step aside or get
on board--if indeed He even exists.
The
message of the show certainly appears to have resonated with society.
Homosexuality is no longer a political issue. It is no longer a
state vs. federal government issue. It is the societal norm. It got
there through a multi-front barrage of repeated insistence that
society accept numerous aspects of the homosexual
lifestyle--questioning God all along the way. Society has been asked
by the Antichristians to accept, whether anyone likes or agrees with
it or not, homosexual pride parades, homosexual festivals,
homosexual communities, and the extension of health insurance and
other employment benefits to homosexual mates, and we've all been
force fed by the Antichristians in the entertainment industry, in
innumerable movies, documentaries and TV shows, the notions of
homosexual friends, homosexual relationships, homosexual hand
holding, homosexual kissing, homosexual rights, homosexual sex,
homosexual marriage, and homosexual adoption. Homosexual television
and movie characters are made to be the most sympathetic as well as
the heroes and heroines. In the recent TV series World
Without End, the hero, King
Edward II, declares to his homosexual lover that he loves him more
than anyone else that he's ever loved--thus homosexual love trumps
heterosexual love. The King later sacrifices his life to save a city
of people. Prior to the King's death, he is absolved for his
homosexual "sins" by a female friar, a heroine, who has her
own lesbian moment with an associate nun who says in their moment of
passion, "God won't mind." We are led to applaud the King
and the female friar, who are clearly more noble than their
heterosexual counterparts. These few characters represent a minuscule
fraction of the Antichristians' homosexual agenda media deluge.
The
Antichristians have crafted a political campaign as well. The
Democratic party, in an effort to wrangle the homosexual community
into its fold, took up the banner of liberty and equality for
homosexuals, asserting that surely the Constitution wouldn't prevent
this group from enjoying every right (particularly the rights enjoyed
only by married persons, namely, the right to be married) of other
Americans. Interestingly and more recently, even the Republican
party, which for years has included anti-homosexual agenda planks in
their platform as a means to garner the support of "Christians,"
has now abandoned the planks out of fear that they are preventing the
party from securing a larger segment of the moderates who have
decided that maybe people should just embrace homosexuality as par.
Thus,
it is fair to say that our American culture has embraced the idea
that homosexuals are entitled to the same rights as married
couples--including the rights to marry and adopt children. Further,
inasmuch as the culture has accepted the idea of homosexual marriage,
the culture has necessarily determined that the principles of
morality as laid out by the Creator and Sustainer of the universe in
Leviticus 18:22 must necessarily be rejected as "out of touch."
So as not to kick Christians in the teeth, however, our culture has
announced its position that some verses in the Bible may be retained
as consistent with the notion that we embrace homosexuality as
normative--namely the verses that say things like "Love thy
neighbor." Surely, lots of people, including Christians, have
homosexual neighbors, so to be faithful to Scripture, we have to
embrace homosexuality.
Before
society slams the door on God's perspective in Leviticus 18:22,
however, I'd like to respond in defense of God's declaration. I have
been silent to date, not because I condone homosexuality, but rather
out of sheer amazement at the brashness of Antichristians to demand
that society, including I myself, accept homosexuality and at
society's mind-numbing willingness to accept the demands as normal.
Notwithstanding Antichristians'
disdain for the substance of the passage, here are just a few
considerations about the verse that bear mentioning:
1. Leviticus 18:22 is a direct quote
from God. The verses states "You
shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an
abomination." Not all Scripture is given in the form of
dictation as where God speaks and a scrivener writes the very words
of God. This passage, however, is in fact one such instance. The
opening phrase to Leviticus 18 is this: "Then the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying ...." Thus, there is no mistaking the precise
source of the statement and the precise words of the statement.
There is little getting around it. It doesn't seem like there's
room, here, for an interpretation issue. Those who argue with the
content of the verse are arguing with God Himself. Of course, many
people respond to this argument by declaring that God doesn't exist.
If He doesn't exist, we don't have to worry about what some people
say He says. We can ignore it as gibberish--the words of some person
who wants to hamstring us with his own personal view of morality.
But if God does exist, people who practice homosexuality have a
serious problem: they are acting clearly contrary to the direct,
spoken Word of God.
2. Leviticus 18:22 is not in context
with the passage regarding the mixing of cotton and wool; rather, the
context is sexually offensive or otherwise morally offensive acts.
Consider what else Leviticus 18 says: In verse 7, God says that a man
is not to have sexual relations with his mother; in verse 8, God says
that a man is not to have sexual relations with his step mother; in
verse 9, God says that a man is not to have sexual relations with his
sister; in verse 10, God says that a man is not to have sexual
relations with his granddaughter; in verse 11, God says that a man is
not to have sexual relations with his step sister; in verses 12-14,
God says that a man is not to have sexual relations with his aunt; in
verse 15, God says that a man is not to have sexual relations with
his daughter-in-law; in verse 16, God says that a man is not to have
sexual relations with his sister-in-law; in verse 17, God says that a
man should not seek a marital or sexual relationship with both a
woman and her daughter or a woman and her granddaughter; and,
curiously, God states that such an action is "depraved"; in
verse 18, God says that a man is not to marry a woman and her sister
and have sexual relations with the sister while the first wife is
alive; in verse 19, God says that a man is not to have sexual
relations with a woman during her menstrual period (and,
interestingly, this is the only portion of the list where God gives
no special reason for compliance); in verse 20, God says that a man
is not to have sexual relations with his neighbor's wife; in verse
21, God says that the people are not sacrifice their children to
Molech (a god); in verse 23, God says that people are not to have
sexual relations with animals.
That's the context. The context is
not about textiles. The verses around the verse that classifies
homosexuality as an abomination denounce child sacrifice and
bestiality. Somehow ... in that context, the verse seems a little
less anachronistic.
The reality is that even today,
homosexuality aside, everything in the list is still considered to be
objectionable by most people. It would be convenient for any group
that is offending one of these prohibitions to be able to say, "Well,
that's Old Testament silliness that doesn't apply anymore";
perhaps they could buy billboards, wage political campaigns, etc.,
and eventually persuade society that it's okay for a man to have sex
with his granddaughter or to offer his child in sacrifice to a god;
however, even if the government fully sanctioned such practices as
permissible, the statement of God in Leviticus 18 would still exist
and continue to condemn the practice.
3. Unlike
many laws and rules of the Old Testament that expressly apply only to
the descendants of Jacob, these laws seem to apply to the rest of
society as well. The chapter does begin by saying, in verse 2,
"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them ...." However,
in verse 24, which follows the list of prohibited acts, God says, "Do
not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the
nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled."
Thus, other nations that were not Jewish nations defiled themselves
by engaging in the prohibited practices. This list of prohibited
acts, then, has particular importance for all nations of people. God
declared that any person, Jewish or otherwise, defiles himself by
engaging in such acts.
4. God offers a promise for those who
comply with His pronounced standards. In verses 4 and 5, He says,
"You are to practice My ordinances and you are to keep My
statutes by following them; I am Yahweh your God. Keep My statutes
and ordinances; a person will live if he does them. I am Yahweh."
The implication is that a person who declines to live by God's
standards will die prematurely or perhaps die spiritually; and the
express promise is that the person who complies will live.
Certainly, the Antichristians can
scoff that God does not exist and that any claimed "promise"
is illusory or a fairy tale. However, I sincerely believe that all
scoffers, all Antichristians, all Christians, all Jews--all
persons--have a conscience, however faint, that whispers:
"_____________ is wrong," and in the blank is any of the
prohibitions stated in Leviticus 18, including homosexuality. And I
believe they inherently understand that they will live longer if they
don't engage in the proscribed conduct. If they don't, it is quite
likely that they have died spiritually--and thereby attained a whole
new state of depravity.
5. Leviticus 18:22 is not the only
passage to condemn homosexuality. Consider the following additional
passages:
a. Leviticus 20:13 reiterates a number of the practices that God
identifies as detestable, including homosexuality: "If there
is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both
of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to
death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them." (It is noteworthy
that the same condemnation applies in this passage to adulterers,
those who make child sacrifices, and those who commit incest.)
b. Sodom & Gomorrah - Genesis 13:13 notes without much detail,
"Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners
against the Lord." Again, without much detail, God tells
Abraham in person in Genesis 18:20, “The outcry of Sodom and
Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave."
Abraham proceeds to plead with God not to destroy the cities, and God
agrees that if there are 10 righteous people present in the cities,
He will spare them. In Genesis 19, two angels proceed to Sodom. The
account relates that young and old Sodomites surrounded Lot's house,
demanding that he send the visitors out so that the Sodomites could
rape them. The spiritual depravity of the residents had clearly
reached a terrible low. The angels removed Lot and his family from
Sodom before God poured out His wrath. Genesis 19:24-25 states "Then
the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the
Lord out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the
valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the
ground." The spiritual state of Sodom and Gomorrah represent
the final state of those who pursue detestable sins with fervor.
They are willing to rape innocent people to satisfy their prurient
desires. Such is the life of a person who forsakes God for those
things that God identifies as detestable.
c. Romans 1:27 provides a New Testament (post death and
resurrection of Christ) perspective of homosexuality: "And in
the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman
and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men
committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due
penalty of their error." Regrettably, the penalty received could
be spiritual death as well as physical death.
d. I Corinthians 6:9-11 includes homosexuality in a list of New
Testament sins that are identified as keeping people from inheriting
the kingdom of God: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous
will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were
some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you
were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit
of our God."
Thus, the Bible doesn't leave the
condemnation of homosexuality to a single Old Testament passage that
some Antichristians desire to depict as anachronistic. The message
that the practice of homosexuality is detestable to God is pervasive
in Scripture.
6. Opposition to homosexuality
doesn't equate to hatred of homosexuals. The fact is that those who
practice homosexuality are almost certainly loved by many people,
including Bible believing Christians. Bible believing Christians
don't decide not to love their neighbors that happen to be
homosexuals. Bible believing Christians understand a fundamental
Scriptural truth: All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
(Romans 3:23). However, Bible believing Christians are faced with a
unique consideration regarding homosexuality as compared to all other
abominations identified in Leviticus 18: Antichristians demand that
homosexuality be recognized as an acceptable lifestyle
notwithstanding the declarations of God. In this regard, it is
noteworthy that there is no such thing as an Adultery Pride Parade,
an Incest Pride Parade or a Child Sacrifice Pride Parade. We don't
see TV characters as heroes or heroines who are involved in
Grandfather-Granddaughter or Aunt-Nephew sexual relationships. Those
who practice such activities may someday make their demands on
society, insisting on acceptance and the award of special rights.
Thus far, though, they appear to be sufficiently ashamed of their
activities to warrant "hiding." The Antichristians,
however, do not want homosexuals to be ashamed of their activities;
they want homosexuality to be embraced. They want to hear society,
like the character in World Without End, say to homosexuals,
"It's okay. God won't mind." Homosexuals, apparently
conscience stricken by their activities, need Hollywood, the
Democratic party, the Republican party, the federal government, the
state government, and as many other groups as possible to say, "You
can do what you want to do." As long as the Antichristians make
that demand, the Bible believing Christians will have to say, "I
love my homosexual neighbor, but what he or she is doing is wrong."
And in reminding the world of the abominable nature of
homosexuality, the Bible believing Christians are doing the most
loving thing they can do: Encourage those who practice homosexuality
to reject the Antichristian ideology that homosexuality is acceptable
and "seek to conform your lifestyle to the patterns established for
you by God, for therein you will find true fulfillment."
In sum, society may have rejected the
declaration of Leviticus 18:22 as outdated or mythical tradition;
however, this moral pronouncement of God in Leviticus 18:22 is
eternal. Those who stand against it cannot stand long enough to make
it disappear from the mind of God or the consciences of the persons
who have been told the lie that "it's okay."
Mark Absher
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Mark Absher
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