I thought we would be concluding Leviticus 18 today but just one verse from today's text is so controversial in modern times and there are so many emotions and religious and political beliefs tied to it that we are going to have to take our entire study time to look at it. First we are going to quote the verse itself, then discuss its cultural significance in regard to the promised land, then talk about the possible reasons why God makes this prohibition, then take a look at how it relates to our world today, and finally I'll close with some personal remarks.
Our one verse today warns the Israelites not to take part in a particular type of relationship that is prevalent in the land of Canaan. "Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable." (Leviticus 18:22) Relationships like this weren't particularly accepted in Egypt, from whence Israel has lately been rescued, but they were extremely common in the promised land, where Israel is going.
One manner in which the Israelites will witness this type of thing is in the religious culture of Canaan. The religious rites of a number of Canaanite cults involved the use of "shrine prostitutes" which were both men and women. The Canaanite fertility rites included having sexual relations with these shrine prostitutes and also engaging in orgies with other pagan worshipers during festivals. It didn't matter if the citizens of Canaan were married or not; during these fertility festivals it was acceptable for anyone to engage in any type of sexual relations outside of marriage. I wasn't able to find out in my background study whether gay marriage was legal in Canaan.
Later in Israel's history, when she is under the control of Greece and then Rome, things such as prostitution (male and female) were legal in the Greek and Roman cultures. Same sex relationships and/or marriages in those cultures were recognized in a similar way as that of opposite sex relationships and/or marriages. It was typical and even expected that soldiers in the Roman army would have a male servant with whom they maintained a romantic relationship while they were away from their wives with the army. It appears as if gay marriage was legal as well, with the first and most famous example of this being the Emperor Nero who was twice married to a man: once to his servant Sporus and another time to a free Roman citizen named Pythagorus.
Speaking of the era during which Israel will be under Roman rule, we sometimes find people asserting that the Biblical prohibition of verse 22 applies only to men. But that is not the case, for in Romans 1:24-27 we find the prohibition applying to both men and women. There is a reason why verse 22 appears to be directed toward only the men of Israel. As with all the other verses of Leviticus 18, the laws given to Moses by God are being passed along to the men of Israel. Every verse in Leviticus 18 is directed toward men but is applicable to both men and women, as we have previously discussed. The Israelites of this era are a patriarchal society, therefore the laws were given to the men because they were the leaders and elders of the community. The men were then to teach the laws to their families at home.
I am not going to go into a political argument, a religious argument, or any type of sexually-themed argument here in the Bible study in regard to verse 22. What I am going to do is ask a couple of questions about verse 22 and I think the answers provide an explanation for why God makes this rule. What is the purpose of Leviticus 18? It's a list of prohibited sexual unions, but what is God's purpose in prohibiting them? We are going to answer these questions based on what we've already seen in Chapter 18. For one thing, we've seen there's a genetic purpose for some of the prohibitions; very closely related individuals have a high likelihood of producing offspring with birth defects. For another thing, there's a societal purpose for some of the prohibitions; wooing away the wife of your neighbor or your brother or your best friend is a thing that produces an enormous amount of anger and bitterness in the family and in the neighborhood and community. God wants people living in peace with each other. For yet another thing, there's a happiness purpose for some of the prohibitions; for example, the law that says a man cannot be married to two sisters at the same time. We talked about how badly that type of situation went for Jacob and the two sisters he married. Jacob's home life appears to have been fairly miserable.
As with the other prohibitions, God likely gives verse 22 to the people because He feels it's best for the happiness of people as individuals and that obeying verse 22 helps with the continuation of the human race. The prohibition of verse 22 is linked in part to God's desire for people to live a happy and peaceful life, and I think it's linked in part to God's desire for the human race to continue. Biologically speaking, pregnancy and birth can't occur as a natural result of two men being married to each other or two women being married to each other. I know in modern times there are some ways around these physical limitations (a woman in a same sex marriage can be artificially inseminated or undergo IVF treatments) but children cannot be conceived naturally without intervention. So we see that one reason God prohibits this type of relationship is because it is incapable of producing offspring and contributing to the continuation of the human race. God created the earth, the universe, and everything in it to sustain human life. The continuation of our species is obviously a high priority to Him. We are the crowning glory of His creation and He engineered the family unit in such a way as to enable procreation and the continuation of our species.
As far as the "happiness quotient" is concerned, we have only to consider the prejudice, discrimination, and struggles that have always faced and continue to face many of those who are a part of a same sex couple. To compare their experiences to those of opposite sex couples, we don't see anyone protesting at courthouses trying to prevent a man and a woman from going inside to obtain a marriage license. We don't hear about anyone refusing to bake a wedding cake that features one bride and one groom. We don't hear stories of opposite sex couples being abused verbally or physically because they are holding hands in public. Opposite sex couples have never felt the pressure to hide their feelings for each other and they've never had to go through the difficult experience of coming out to disapproving family members or friends. Opposite sex couples don't have to deal with the depression that often comes from being treated differently. Suicide and attempted suicide are far more prevalent among gay and bisexual youth than they are among heterosexual youth and that's because they face so much opposition and discrimination, not to mention having to deal with the reactions of some of their family members and friends who may even disown them when they come out. I think one reason God provides the prohibition of verse 22 is because life can be extremely difficult for same sex couples.
Lest anyone think that I harbor any prejudice whatsoever against anyone who is gay, I want to be clear that I have several close, very dear friends who are gay and quite a few acquaintances and work clients who are gay. It makes no difference to me. I don't even think about it. I am not going to love a gay friend less than a straight friend. I am not going to provide a different quality of service at work to gay clients than I do to straight clients. When I'm with friends do I separate them in my mind as my "gay friends" or my "straight friends"? No, no more than I would think of some of my friends as my "white friends" or my "black friends". Every human being is worthy of the same level of love and respect. The Lord equally loves and respects every human being on the face of the earth. The Lord Jesus gave His life equally for every person on the face of the earth. When Jesus hung on the cross, He wasn't shedding His blood only for the white people, or only for the straight people, or only for the Jewish people, or only for the Gentile people, or only for the rich people, or only for the tall people, or only for the influential people, or only for the best looking people----you see where I'm going. Jesus loves everyone, Jesus died for everyone, and Jesus offers salvation to everyone.
If we treat anyone differently due to any facet of their life that differs from our own, we are not doing what Jesus would do. Weren't we all different from Jesus? You bet we were! We couldn't have been more different from Him. He is the holy and spotless and sinless and perfect Lamb of God, but He was willing to stretch out His arms to all of us by stretching them out on the cross. There is no way we can be more like Him than by treating everyone around us with love and respect. There is no way we can reach anyone around us with the gospel message unless we love people like Jesus loves people.
I am not anyone's judge. I am not anyone's Savior. The most I can do for my fellow human beings, whether they are gay or straight or anything else, is show the love of Christ to them. When Christ ascended to heaven, He gave us what is known as "The Great Commission", which is to share the gospel with the whole world. Who wants to hear a gospel about a loving God when the person sharing the gospel doesn't love his fellow human beings? No, one, that's who. How can anyone believe Jesus loves them when Christians don't appear to love them? Our job is to love others and tell them Jesus loves them. That's it. Our Redeemer, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is responsible for the rest.
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