Today we begin moving into the portion of Leviticus that deals with laws regarding how people must interact with their fellow human beings. Leviticus 18 contains regulations that govern things like marriage and procreation. As we move through this chapter we'll see why the unions that are being prohibited are not only unseemly for God's people but are also dangerous for the gene pool. The Lord has everyone's spiritual and physical health in mind when He makes these prohibitions.
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.'" (Leviticus 18:1-3) Why should they take these laws to heart? Because they are the laws of the Lord their God, the God who rescued them from Egypt, the God who is giving them the promised land. He is to be listened to and obeyed because He loves them and wants the best for them.
The Israelites witnessed all manner of ungodliness during their centuries in Egypt. Incest was extremely common. It was even encouraged among members of the royal family. The royal family claimed to be descended directly from the gods and over time the pharaohs began to claim that they were gods made incarnate. The religion of Egypt turned into a mixture of pantheism and king-worship. In order to continue their royal (and supposedly divine) bloodline in as undiluted a form as possible, many pharaohs married their sisters, half-sisters, aunts, first cousins, and sometimes their own daughters. This was especially true if the man who ascended to the throne was the son of a secondary wife of his father's; he might marry a daughter of his father's by his father's primary wife to solidify his claim to the throne and to prevent other close male relatives from trying to usurp his right to wear the crown. Or, lacking a sister to marry, he might marry one of his father's sisters.
Archaeologists and genetics have made a great number of anatomical observations and have performed DNA tests on close to 300 mummies of royal rank and have found scientific proof that these people intermarried too closely with first degree relatives. This resulted in several types of physical anomalies, including such things as clubbed feet, various skeletal abnormalities, and being several inches shorter than the average citizens of Egypt of their day. Mentally it's hard to say how inbreeding affected them since there's no way to apply IQ tests to them, but in modern times it's been proven that children born of incestuous relationships have a much higher risk of mental disabilities, mental illnesses, and neurological disorders such as epilepsy. When the gene pool is too limited, both parties to the relationship may carry the same genes for birth defects. These genes can pair up and become the dominant genes in the offspring. Studies have shown that the union of two first degree relatives produces a 40% greater risk of the child having a birth defect than if the parents had not been related.
We can see why the Lord commands the Israelites not to engage in the family practices they observed in Egypt. Now we'll talk about why He commands them not to engage in the family practices they will observe in Canaan. Archaeological evidence exists that suggests the tribes of Canaan engaged in incest just like the Egyptians did. In their religious mythology, even one of the Canaanite's chief gods (Baal) was a proponent of incest and was supposed to have repeatedly had sexual relations with his sister---against her will---as many as eighty times. It's also clear from various historical and archaeological and Biblical sources that the Canaanites placed such a low value on the lives of their children that they engaged in child sacrifice rituals in which they would offer children to another major god of theirs known as Molek. We'll find mention of these heinous rituals later on in the Old Testament.
The Lord is warning the Israelites not to shrug their shoulders at incest and consider it normal just because the practice was common in Egypt and will be common in Canaan. Also, they are to value the sanctity of human life and never let it cross their minds to offer a human being in sacrifice. Sadly, two kings of the line of Judah will do just that: they will fall into idolatry and offer their sons in sacrifice to false gods. Others in the nation did the same, as evidenced by the Lord's heartbroken and horrified words in the book of Jeremiah when He announces His intention to bring judgment upon Judah: "They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded---nor did it enter My mind---that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin." (Jeremiah 32:35)
If the people begin joining in with any customs of the people of Canaan, they run the risk of joining in with all the customs of Canaan. Incest is bad enough from a moral standpoint and from a genetic standpoint, but if the people come to consider these unlawful sexual relationships as normal, they will gradually begin to consider a lot of other things normal. They will assimilate into the culture instead of being separate and sanctified as God's people should be.
Our text today contains valuable advice for God's people in the modern world. We have to live in the culture but we don't have to take part in the sinful things of our culture. Just because "everybody is doing it" doesn't mean we have to do it too. We are the representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ on this earth and we are supposed to stand out as different. Jesus stuck out like a sore thumb in His culture, didn't He? People said of Him in amazement, "No one ever spoke the way this man does." (John 7:46) His fame spread far and wide; people lined the roadways when they knew He would be passing by. The crowds pressed in on Him from every side whenever He walked through Jerusalem. Short little Zacchaeus climbed a tree so he could see this man about whom such awesome things were being reported. People from all walks of life desired to catch a glimpse of Him, or to listen to Him preach, or to have Him speak a word to them, or to have Him heal them. Whenever Jesus was anywhere nearby, everybody knew it because He was very very different. You and I are to be different too. How can we draw anyone to Christ if we are not like Him? How can we offer words of hope or share the message of salvation if we look and talk and behave just like unbelievers? We are not meant to blend in. We are meant to stand out, just as the ancient Israelites were meant to stand out. If we do not stand out, how will anyone find us who wants to hear the gospel message? If we do not stand out, no one will come to us to ask about the Lord Jesus Christ.
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