Lev 20:1-27 (NLT)
1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 “Give the people of Israel these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living in Israel. “If any of them offer their children as a sacrifice to Molech, they must be put to death. The people of the community must stone them to death.
3 I myself will turn against them and cut them off from the community, because they have defiled my sanctuary and brought shame on my holy name by offering their children to Molech.
4 And if the people of the community ignore those who offer their children to Molech and refuse to execute them,
5 I myself will turn against them and their families and will cut them off from the community. This will happen to all who commit spiritual prostitution by worshiping Molech.
6 “I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community.
7 So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
8 Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the LORD who makes you holy.
9 “Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death. Such a person is guilty of a capital offense.
10 “If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death.
11 “If a man violates his father by having sex with one of his father’s wives, both the man and the woman must be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.
12 “If a man has sex with his daughter-in-law, both must be put to death. They have committed a perverse act and are guilty of a capital offense.
13 “If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.
14 “If a man marries both a woman and her mother, he has committed a wicked act. The man and both women must be burned to death to wipe out such wickedness from among you.
15 “If a man has sex with an animal, he must be put to death, and the animal must be killed.
16 “If a woman presents herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it, she and the animal must both be put to death. You must kill both, for they are guilty of a capital offense.
17 “If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a shameful disgrace. They must be publicly cut off from the community. Since the man has violated his sister, he will be punished for his sin.
18 “If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her menstrual period, both of them must be cut off from the community, for together they have exposed the source of her blood flow.
19 “Do not have sexual relations with your aunt, whether your mother’s sister or your father’s sister. This would dishonor a close relative. Both parties are guilty and will be punished for their sin.
20 “If a man has sex with his uncle’s wife, he has violated his uncle. Both the man and woman will be punished for their sin, and they will die childless.
21 “If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has violated his brother, and the guilty couple will remain childless.
22 “You must keep all my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice; otherwise the land to which I am bringing you as your new home will vomit you out.
23 Do not live according to the customs of the people I am driving out before you. It is because they do these shameful things that I detest them.
24 But I have promised you, ‘You will possess their land because I will give it to you as your possession—a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from all other people.
25 “You must therefore make a distinction between ceremonially clean and unclean animals, and between clean and unclean birds. You must not defile yourselves by eating any unclean animal or bird or creature that scurries along the ground. I have identified them as being unclean for you.
26 You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.
27 “Men and women among you who act as mediums or who consult the spirits of the dead must be put to death by stoning. They are guilty of a capital offense.”
The purpose of these directives was to ensure that Israel’s promised land would not “vomit them out.” The people were given essential boundaries to prevent participation in the practices of the pagan nations around them. Faithfulness to the God who would preserve and prosper them required separation from destructive indulgences of the flesh—practices that would corrupt the home, destroy children, and defile lineage and covenant identity.
Scripture consistently associates unholiness with the abuse of the vulnerable, particularly children, and with sexual practices that distort God’s created order. Separation from God’s presence and favor rendered people vulnerable to acts that were not merely sinful, but fundamentally unnatural. These acts were not only violations in themselves; they were evidence of a deeper separation from God.
God never required the sacrifice of innocent human life for His pleasure, nor did He condone the misuse of sexual desire with family members, the same sex, or animals—acts that corrupt both biologically and spiritually. Such practices were inseparable from idolatry and the worship of false gods.
By contrast, separation from other gods and worldly influences enabled connection to the blessings of God’s fulfilled promises. Holiness was not optional; it was essential to the mental, spiritual, and physical health of God’s people and to their identity as those set apart. To tolerate even minimal acceptance of these acts would have been a failure of love, as it would have ignored what was necessary for their protection and flourishing.
Feelings of affection, passion, or desire—whether toward family members, the same sex, or even animals—did not justify sexual gratification. The law made clear that even small compromises were serious, and accountability extended beyond those committing the acts to those who refused to confront or remove such behavior from the community. To fail to remain set apart was to choose separation from God’s favor and protection.
Diluting this understanding of godliness is both dangerous and destructive. What is often labeled as love may, in reality, be hostility toward God when it surrenders what He has declared sacred to corruption. Any reasoning that justifies perversion based on circumstances, emotional attachment, or perceived biological necessity is reasoning that forfeits any expectation of God’s blessing.
God will not separate Himself from what He knows to be harmful for those He loves simply because they insist on their own ways. Faithfulness requires more than abstaining from sinful acts; it also requires separation from participation, endorsement, and communal acceptance of them.
To separate from God is to unite with practices of sexual perversion and abuse. To separate from those practices is to enter the promise of life—something temporary cravings can never offer. It is better to reject the false promise of unholiness than to be expelled from the promise of new life in Christ.