Leviticus 20:1-9

"1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not: 5 Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. 6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. 7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. 8 And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you. 9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him." — Leviticus 20:1-9 KJV. 

PUNISHMENTS.

Since legislation would be a nullity without the sanction of adequate penalties, the divine Lawgiver proceeds to annex various punishments for the vices and crimes which have been already specified. We are to guard ourselves against the error of supposing that these penalties are a sufficient satisfaction for the violation of the moral law, for they do not punish sin as sin, but as crime tending to subvert and destroy human society. Under the theocracy a wicked act has a twofold aspect; first, that which is concerned with God’s earthly and temporal government; and, secondly, that which is cognized by the absolute and eternal law. The penalties of this chapter refer to the first aspect.

2. Molech — See Leviticus 18:21. Or of the strangers — So cruel were the rites accompanying the worship of this idol that the pagans resident among the Israelites were forbidden to practise it, through mercy to the innocent victims and to keep the Hebrews from becoming insensible through familiarity with this horrid practice. Shall stone him — Stoning was the ordinary method of capital punishment. It was practised in Egypt, Exodus 8:26, and was in vogue among the Jews in the time of Christ. Acts 7:58. The criminal was placed on a rock or platform about twelve feet high, stripped naked, except the loins. The witnesses laid aside their outer garments, then pushed the criminal off the scaffold backwards, and then dashed a great stone upon his breast, if he was not killed by the fall, and all the people threw stones till he died.

3. I will set my face — Should Israel connive at this horrible abomination, and through fear or motives of base and selfish policy refuse to execute my law, “I will be my own executioner,” says Jehovah. Defile my sanctuary — It was not necessary to set up the service of Molech in the tabernacle in order to defile the abode of Jehovah, but any flagrant sin committed or permitted by Israel polluted the sanctuary.

4, 5. Hide their eyes — The Lawgiver foresees and provides for an amazing moral degeneracy and hardness of heart, when the people’s conscience will be so stupified that they will let this great crime go unpunished. Against his family — This does not necessarily imply the guilt of the family, for ancient law viewed the family as a part of the man’s personality, and inflicted suffering upon them all as if guilty. See Exodus 20:5; and Joshua 7:24, notes. Whoredom — This term is here used figuratively for idolatry. See chap. 17:7, note.

6. Familiar spirits — See Leviticus 19:31, note. The tendency to resort to necromancy among the Hebrews demonstrates their belief in the existence and activity of disembodied spirits, so that Sadducism is refuted in the Pentateuch. There is nothing in either of these chapters which can be quoted in proof of the reality of the sorcerer’s communications with the spirits of the dead. On the statute books of England there are now laws against an imaginary crime, the pretence of power to bewitch, claimed by designing negroes in Jamaica for the purpose of controlling, terrifying, and blackmailing their superstitious countrymen. Wizards — See Leviticus 19:31, note.

7. Sanctify yourselves — An important part of sanctification, which lies within the gracious ability of men, is to refrain from acts of impurity. See 1 Thessalonians 4:3. But until the soul is cleansed by the Sanctifier this abstinence will cost a struggle. This is the difference between a justified soul and one entirely sanctified. “The impress of consecration to a holy God is to be stamped on the life of the Israelites in ordinances extending to all important relations and conditions; in every important affair of life the Israelite has to accomplish something demanded by God.” — Oehler.

8. I am the Lord which sanctify you — Set you apart from all uncleanness and idolatry, and impart to you grace to continue in this state of separation. The sanctification of the nature by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost may have been a rare experience under the old covenant. It is promised to all believers under the spiritual dispensation.

9. Curseth his father — The Hebrew includes contemptuous or disrespectful words, as well as cursing. But it is not probable that petulant words in a momentary passion were sufficient to constitute a capital crime, but the defiant and repeated vilification of the parents and the rejection of their authority. His blood… upon him — This law phrase, recurring so often in the Scriptures, is first found here. It signifies that capital punishment worthily falls upon him who wilfully violates God’s law. Breach of the reverence due to parents is punished in just the same way as offences against the reverence due to God.