The Architecture of a Holy Society Text: Leviticus 20:10-16
Introduction: God's Law or Chaos
We live in an age that despises boundaries. Our culture is in a full-blown, tantrum-throwing rebellion against the very idea of a created order. We are told that all restrictions, particularly in the realm of sexuality, are oppressive relics of a bygone, unenlightened era. The modern project is to erase every line, blur every distinction, and deconstruct every standard that God has established for our good. The result is not the glorious freedom that was promised, but a descent into chaos, confusion, and utter degradation.
When we come to a passage like Leviticus 20, the modern mind recoils. It seems harsh, severe, and utterly alien. The penalties prescribed here for sexual sin, adultery, incest, homosexuality, bestiality, are seen as barbaric. But we must understand that this reaction is not a sign of our superior enlightenment. It is a sign of our profound corruption. We have lost our sense of the holiness of God, the gravity of sin, and the necessity of a just social order. We think we can have a society that flourishes while simultaneously celebrating the very things that God says will defile a land and cause it to vomit out its inhabitants.
This chapter in Leviticus is not an embarrassing back-page of the Bible that we should quietly apologize for. It is a revelation of the mind of God concerning the foundations of a healthy and holy society. These are not arbitrary rules. They are the architectural blueprints for a civilization that honors God and protects its people. God is establishing guardrails to protect the family, which is the foundational building block of any society. When the family disintegrates through sexual anarchy, the society inevitably follows. These laws are not primarily about individual, private morality; they are about public justice and the preservation of the covenant community. God is teaching Israel, and us through them, that sin has public consequences. It is not a victimless crime. It pollutes the land, it corrupts the people, and it invites the judgment of God.
So as we approach this text, we must do so not with the arrogant condescension of our age, but with the humility of those who know that God is wise and we are not. We must ask what timeless principles of justice are being revealed here, and how they apply to us today, even as the specific circumstances of the new covenant have altered the administration of these laws.
The Text
‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is lewdness; both he and they shall be burned with fire so that there will be no lewdness in your midst. If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. If there is a woman who approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.
(Leviticus 20:10-16 LSB)
The Sanctity of the Marriage Bed (v. 10)
The first law in our section addresses the crime of adultery.
"‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death." (Leviticus 20:10)
Adultery is the violation of the marriage covenant, which is the cornerstone of the family and, by extension, society. Notice the emphasis: it is adultery "with another man's wife." This highlights that adultery is not just a sin of lust, but a sin of theft and treason. It is a theft of what belongs to another and a treasonous act against the covenant of marriage. The penalty is severe: death for both parties. This underscores the immense value God places on covenant fidelity. Marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church, and to violate that picture is to profane something holy.
Our society has trivialized adultery, treating it as a private mistake, a plot point in a sitcom, or a matter for divorce court and financial settlements. But God defines it as a capital crime. Why? Because it attacks the very heart of the social fabric. It destroys trust, shatters families, creates chaos regarding inheritance and lineage, and profanes a sacred institution. A society that winks at adultery is a society that is committing suicide. The penalty here is not about personal vengeance; it is about public justice. It is about purging a profound evil from the community to protect it from collapsing from within.
Protecting the Family Line (v. 11-12)
The next two laws deal with specific forms of incest that corrupt the family from the inside out.
"If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them." (Leviticus 20:11)
Lying with one's father's wife, which would be one's stepmother, is a profound act of rebellion and dishonor. It is to "uncover his father's nakedness," a phrase that signifies a deep violation of familial honor and authority. This was the sin of Reuben (Gen. 35:22) and Absalom (2 Sam. 16:21-22), and in both cases, it was an act of grasping for power, a usurpation of the father's place. This sin confuses and destroys the lines of authority and affection that are essential for a stable family. It turns a relationship of honor into one of shameful rivalry.
"If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them." (Leviticus 20:12)
Similarly, lying with a daughter-in-law is called a "perversion." The Hebrew word here, tebel, means a confusion, a mixing of things that ought to be kept separate. It blurs the lines between generations and turns a relationship that should be one of paternal care into one of sexual exploitation. In both these cases of incest, the penalty is death, and the phrase "their bloodguiltiness is upon them" is added. This is a legal formula indicating that their execution is just. They are not victims; they are responsible for their own demise. They have brought this sentence upon themselves by their actions.
The Rejection of Created Order (v. 13)
Next, the law addresses homosexual practice.
"If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them." (Leviticus 20:13)
This is one of the clearest prohibitions in all of Scripture. The act is called an "abomination," a toebah, which is a term used for things that are detestable to God, often in the context of idolatry and profound moral corruption. Homosexual practice is an abomination because it is a direct repudiation of God's created design for humanity as male and female. God created mankind in His image, male and female He created them, and He commanded them to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:27-28). The sexual union of a man and a woman is not just for procreation; it is a living parable of the complementary nature of the sexes, a picture of unity in diversity. Homosexual practice rejects this created grammar. It is an attempt to find union in sameness, which is sterile and ultimately nonsensical. It is a rebellion against the way things are made.
The penalty, again, is death. We must affirm, without apology, that this law as given by God was holy, just, and good. To be ashamed of it is to be ashamed of the wisdom of God. This does not mean that in the new covenant era, the civil magistrate is required to replicate this penalty. But it does mean that we must recognize the gravity with which God views this sin. Our culture has gone from tolerating this behavior to celebrating it as a civil right. But no amount of legislation or rainbow flags can change the nature of the act. It remains an abomination in the sight of God, and a society that builds its laws and customs on such a foundation is building on sand.
A Compounding of Confusion (v. 14-16)
The final verses in this section deal with a particularly corrupt form of incest and the ultimate degradation of bestiality.
"If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is lewdness; both he and they shall be burned with fire so that there will be no lewdness in your midst." (Leviticus 20:14)
This act of marrying both a woman and her mother is called "lewdness," a word that denotes depravity and wickedness. This creates an impossible and perverse tangle of family relationships. The penalty here is unique in this section: death by fire. This likely indicates a higher degree of outrage and the need for a more dramatic and purifying judgment. The reason is given: "so that there will be no lewdness in your midst." The punishment is not just retributive; it is purgative. It is designed to remove the defilement from the community.
Finally, we come to bestiality.
"If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. If there is a woman who approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them." (Leviticus 20:15-16)
This is the final stop on the train of sexual devolution. It is the complete erasure of the Creator/creature distinction in the most debased way imaginable. It is a violation of the created order at its most fundamental level, reducing a human being, made in the image of God, to the level of an irrational beast. The penalty is death for both the human and the animal. The animal is not morally culpable, of course, but it is put to death to remove the polluted object, to erase the memory of the horrific act, and to demonstrate the depth of the defilement. The act so corrupts the natural order that the instrument of the corruption must also be destroyed.
Application in the New Covenant
Now, the question that immediately arises for Christians is this: what do we do with these laws today? Are we to advocate for the civil government to enforce these penalties? The answer requires that we understand how the law of God functions in the flow of redemptive history. The Westminster Confession rightly distinguishes between the moral, ceremonial, and judicial aspects of the law. The ceremonial law is fulfilled in Christ. The moral law, which reflects God's unchanging character, remains in force. The judicial law, which was the civil code for the nation-state of Israel, has expired along with that state. However, the Confession adds a crucial qualifier: the judicial laws are not binding "further than the general equity thereof may require."
This means that while the specific penalties are not automatically transferable to our modern context, the underlying principles of justice, the "general equity," still teach us what God considers righteous and wicked. These laws reveal the moral gravity of these sins. They teach us that sexual sin is not a private matter but has profound public consequences. They teach us that a just society must protect the institution of marriage and the family. They teach us that there are objective, God-given standards for sexual behavior, and that to violate them is to court destruction.
Our primary task as Christians is not to lobby for the immediate reinstitution of these specific penalties. Our task is to proclaim the gospel, which is the only power that can change the human heart. The law, in passages like this, serves as a schoolmaster to drive sinners to Christ. It shows us the depth of our depravity and our desperate need for a savior. Every sin listed here, and every other sin we have ever committed, deserves death. That is the bad news. The good news is that Jesus Christ came to take that penalty upon Himself. He bore the curse of the law for us on the cross.
For the unbeliever, this text should be a terrifying warning. Your sin is not hidden from God, and it is not trivial. Without Christ, you stand under the sentence of death, an eternal death far worse than anything described here. But God offers you a full and free pardon in His Son. Repent of your sin and believe in Him.
For the believer, this text is a reminder of the holiness to which we are called and the great price that was paid for our redemption. We are to be a holy people, set apart from the corruptions of the world. And as we seek to build a Christian civilization, we must do so with God's dictionary, understanding what He loves and what He hates. We must work to see the general equity of His law reflected in our own laws, not as a means of earning salvation, but as an expression of our love for the God who saved us and a desire for the peace and order that only His wisdom can provide.