Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Leviticus, chapter 19

1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

God is holy and He wants His people to be holy. His people are to be set apart for His purpose. There are a lot of ways to live and to think and different possible lifestyles among men and women but they are not all holy to God. It’s not “all good”. God has set limits upon our behavior. Our culture no longer recognizes many of these limits.

3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.

Our social services mentality does not want us to fear mother and father because mother and father are no longer examples and leaders of families, but they are merely mothers and fathers by accident and often disdain the position. You can’t trust mothers and fathers, on the whole, to even take their parental responsibilities seriously. After the 1820’s we began having an influx of immigrants from country and faith backgrounds that were not self-reliant, Bible believers, but people used to being taken care of.

The welfare and nanny state we have today is the natural outcome of that constant dissolution of the original settlers in this country. It is a natural devolution where parents surrender to the state in loco parentis.

4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

God’s people are to worship, to trust, and to depend on only Him.

5 And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.

Offerings, like submission itself, is not submission, unless it is voluntary.

6 It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.
7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.
8 Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

God is our Master. We must obey God. These things were serious enough that if they defied His standard they were to die. Most Christians do not understand the nature of submission to God. They act like they are doing Him a favor by being on “His team”.

9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

Here, provision is made for excess, of which there will be a lot, if they obey, to go to the poor and foreigners.

11 ¶ Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

Most cultures accept this as a standard. Stealing is rarely considered a good thing unless you are stealing from others. Civilization can’t be maintained in an atmosphere of lying and false dealing. Of course, we lie to ourselves the most.

12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

They were told, and we should follow, that we are not to take God’s name lightly. “Gosh”, “golly”, “gee whiz”, and the like are simply Christian cursing and swearing. It is the attitude that must be deal with.

13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

Cheating people, stealing from them, or holding the wages of the worker past the end of his work day are forbidden. This makes all of our employers today with their one or two week withholding wages to be sinners. You were to be paid for that day’s wages when the day was done.

14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Abusing or mocking the handicapped is forbidden. It is put in contrast to fearing God. Oppressing those weaker than you does not show a fear of God, who will avenge them.
15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

They were called to do the right thing always in judgment. They were not to be favorable either to the poor or the powerful, but to do justice. It is an ethical standard that we adhere to but often don’t seem to follow as the inheritors of the Judeo-Christian way of thought.

16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.

Here we have an admonition against not only gossiping but also bearing false witness to get an innocent person punished.

17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

This is even more personal and shows God’s presumed command of our thoughts and His ability to read them. Obviously, considering other statements made, we are to tell our neighbor when we see him in open sin and not to give our approval by letting it pass. This is in opposition of our American ideal of freedom where you have the right to be wrong.

18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Revenge and bearing a grudge, loving your neighbor as yourself are good principles to follow in all dispensations. This is God’s standard of righteousness. Notice how a husband is to love his wife as he loves his own body here;

Ephesians 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

19 ¶ Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

This command specifically impacts the Hebrews nationally as it is along the lines of God wanting to maintain their separateness. It would be foolish and lacking in common sense if we tried to make it our own standard today. But, is there a greater truth in here than what we read. God’s standard calls for there to be differences and distinctions. The modern man’s hunger to make all things the same and to eliminate all differences seems to be at odds with God.
20 And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering.
22 And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.

Under the Law a woman who was engaged and a servant was scourged for having sex and man who had sex with her had to pay a trespass offering. Do you really want to be back under the Law?

23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.
24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.
25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the LORD your God.

New fruit trees were to have five years of produce before their fruit was to be eaten.

26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

Here, under the Law, as before and after the Law, eating blood is forbidden.

27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

Under the Law the Jewish man was not to trim his hair or bead in the manner of the gentiles.

28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

Here, tattoos are forbidden. I still don’t see any good in tats, but to each his own.

29 Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

This is an obvious reference to temple prostitution, to me, after reading Daniel Snell’s ‘Life in the Ancient Near East’.

30 ¶ Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

There are different Sabbaths other than just the last day of the week.
31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

Mediums and spiritualists are forbidden. Séance’s and attempts to contact the dead are totally in opposition to God.

32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Respect for age is commanded here, a fundamental part of any civilized nation.

33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.

Foreigners were not to be oppressed.

34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

A certain honor is to be given to the foreigner in deference to the Jews’ struggle in Egypt.

35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Do what is fair and equal, they were commanded. Do not cheat others.

37 Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.

The Hebrew was commanded to obey all of God’s laws, thus acknowledging Him as their Lord.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Mark, chapter 15

1 ¶ And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.

This Wednesday. I’m not going to get into a specific argument about the day of the week that Christ was crucified, though.

The council always goes against the truth of the Lord. The only reference to a council that is righteous is the one in the millennium that Christ talks about in the sermon on the mount.

These rulers are in subjection to the Roman governor.

2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it.
A Gentile like Pilate is only interested in who is going to be in charge. This was his first concern. Jesus says the equivalent of “you said it”.

3 And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.

You want to drive people crazy who are doing you wrong. Don’t say anything. Whenever I’ve had the moral courage to use it, it has done wonders. There is authority in silence.

4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.
5 But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.
6 Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.
7 And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
8 And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.
9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
11 But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.

The world will take a person who is guilty of murder over the sinless Son of God. That’s just the way the world is.

12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.
14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
15 ¶ And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.

Pilate is a typical politician, pandering to the people. All of them lie and are afraid of the people. Rarely do they have the courage of their convictions and usually too late after a long line of cowardice. Being a politician is not consistent with being a Christian.

16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.
17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,

The Romans put this robe on him. The robe is to make fun of him, a mockery of his kingship.

18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!
19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.
20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.

Notice the mockery of Jesus.

21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

Alexander and Rufus must have been important Christians eventually. Rufus is mentioned in Romans 16. There are a couple of Alexanders mentioned. But the one in 1 Timothy 1:20 might be him. Notice it doesn’t say Jesus fell down like the Roman Catholic myth states.

22 ¶ And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.

Golgotha is the Hebrew while Calvary is from the Latin. The place of the skull would be linked to cranium.

23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.

Psalm 22:18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.

This is nine o’clock in the morning.

26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.

The entire human race is on a cross. Either you are on his left hand or on his right. One will receive Him and one will reject.

28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,
30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.

Proverbs 22:7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
33 ¶ And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

This is noon, our time. Here is a physical sign for the Romans.

34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

This is 3pm our time. He is quoting Psalm 22 for you to see.

Psalm 22:1 To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

Read the rest of the Psalm and notice those of us who are born again through Christ.

Psalm 22:30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

We deserve to be forsaken by our God. If we had not received what Christ did for us on the cross, we would be doomed to Hell. At that point, God the Father turned his back on what was a worm on the cross. This is what Jesus Christ did for us. This makes me more ashamed when I am led apart by my own lusts and sin.

35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.

Psalm 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

The Jews are looking for Elijah to come back.

Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

But they didn’t know that a type of Elijah had already come but he wasn’t received.

Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

The holy of holies is open to all of us now. It was not torn from bottom to top by a man but by God from top to bottom. This is a religious sign for the Jews. Both nature and the temple have revealed Him.

39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

This person was saved at this point. The acknowledgement, responding to what he hears, understanding that Jesus is God in the flesh, is what is necessary for salvation.

40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
41 (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.

Women played a prominent role in Jesus’ earthly ministry but are not given a command to lead. They are not responsible for what the apostles are given. This does not imply inferiority. There are several Mary’s other than His human mother.

42 ¶ And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,

Here is why everyone says that Christ was crucified on Friday because the Sabbath would have been Saturday even though it is said in different places that he spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

But, this isn’t a regular Sabbath but a special Sabbath. This was a special high Sabbath.

John 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Read Leviticus 23 carefully.

Jesus spent three days and nights in the grave and at some point on Saturday night He arose. Jesus is killed on the Passover and the next day is a Sabbath and so is the next Wednesday in addition to the regular Sabbath.

43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.

It was very common for a person to stay on a cross for a long time before they died but usually not ripped to shreds like Jesus was. People under crucifixion often stayed up there and slowly died. It was a brutal death.

45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.

Here, he gives permission.

46 And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.

Isaiah 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Genesis 41:42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

Exodus 28:39 And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.

Revelation 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

By the way, the so called Shroud of Turin is a fraud.

John 20:4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

There are, in fact, two pieces; a wrapping for the body and a wrapping for the face. The Shroud of Turin is a one piece shroud that has the image of a complete man. It is a fraud, another Roman Catholic myth to con the suckers.

47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

Luke 8 tells us that Mary Magdalene had seven devils removed from her. The Bible does not say she was a prostitute, which is another Pagan/Christian myth.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Latest Reading

Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty by Dumas Malone, Little, Brown, and Company, 1962. This is an interested but dry work on Jefferson's career as Secretary of State under Washington and then as Vice President under Adams. If anything it underscores what a fascist Alexander Hamilton was and it is the end of the Jeffersonian Republic and the fulfillment of Hamilton's dreams that resulted from the Civil War. Jefferson represents the Libertarian ideal while Hamilton represents the dictatorship of the Federal Government we have today. This is an important book, I believe, though.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Latest Reading

Night of the Silver Stars, The Battle of Lang Vei, by William R. Phillips, Naval Institute Press, 1997. This is one of those riveting and truly great books about a little known battle in the Second Indochina War, which we usually just call the Vietnam War. It was a battle in which the North Vietnamese Army used tanks. This battle was a loss for the Americans and their indigenous allies but an incredible story of bravery. It is a must read for anyone who lived in that era or is interested in it, about the war we never were told the truth about in the news media and in popular entertainment. Get it and read it and you'll enjoy it.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Latest Reading

Bloody Bill Anderson, The Short, Savage Life of a Civil War Guerrilla, by Albert Castel & Thomas Goodrich, Stackpole Books, 1998. This is a terrific and exciting historical account of the subject. If you remember the movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and the line, "My name's Anderson. They call me Bloody Bill." you'll know the type of action written about very credibly and very carefully. Now, I know why John Wayne's character in "True Grit" called his cat what he called him. Worth reading.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Leviticus, chapter 18

1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.

What a profound statement, “I am the Lord your God”. Is the Lord your God? Who is leading you; your flesh? The world? At various times all of us Christians have our “Self” on the throne of our hearts. It is a daily and constant struggle to exalt and glorify our Creator over ourselves. We even pretend to be honoring our Creator while we are, in fact, honoring Self.

We need true worship, true obedience. My flesh is very powerful and it does not diminish its power as I grow old. Its demands hardly change. I want the Lord to be my God in every thing. My flesh demands worship. The world insists on it.


3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

We are not to be like the world we came out of and we are not to live the way they live.

4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.

If we are to have the Lord as our God we are to obey him and keep his testimonies and ordinances.

Psalm 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.

For the Christian, there is this warning akin to this verse;

Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Lest you think that you have won a great victory because you haven’t done the following things in your body, keep this admonition to the Christian in mind;

2Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

In this I have failed repeatedly. How about you?
6 ¶ None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.

Here is a Biblical euphemism for sexual contact; to uncover someone’s nakedness. Note this in Genesis;

Genesis 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

The nakedness of one’s mother is called “thy father’s nakedness” in verse 8. This will give you a hint as to the origin of the American black slang word, “mother......”. Ham’s sin is very clear on this regard. He either saw his mother naked or he had sex with her, indicating his lack of sexual impulse control, his basic tendency toward deliberate immoral behavior.

7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

It is very clear here that sex with father or mother is forbidden, or, for that matter, to even see them naked.

8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.

Even though the father’s wife might not be one’s actual mother, it is forbidden to have sexual contact with her.

9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

One’s sister, whether she be step or half sister, no matter where she is from is not an appropriate sexual partner.

10 The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.

Your granddaughter is not an appropriate sexual partner.

11 The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

Your half sister is still your sister.

12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.

It is forbidden to have sexual contact with your aunt.

13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.

Again, this is about your aunt on your mother’s side.

14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.

This is very clear.

15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

Okay, your daughter in law is out of bounds.

16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.

So is your sister in law.

17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.

Taking a woman and her daughter, or her daughter in law, or her granddaughter is forbidden.

18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

Your wife’s sister is out of bounds.

19 ¶ Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

As was a woman in menstruation.

20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.

Here, our common understanding of adultery is clearly shown.
21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

The ancient near eastern religious practice, as some scholars point claim, of putting your infant into the arms of a superheated statue of Baal while trumpets and drums drowned out the screams of the dying baby, to appease the Devil, was forbidden. It is in this way, it has been said that 300 babies were killed in one day in Carthage during a siege.

Our passion for aborting our babies on the altar of affluence and ease of living is similar. Only we kill 4,000 a day on a regular basis.

22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Male homosexual behavior is here condemned.

23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

What we call bestiality is condemned.

24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

It is clear that these things were practiced by the nations, ethnic groups, which resided in Canaan and which God had chosen to be displaced. These things are also openly practiced in America and the West today. There is no reason for us to assume that God won’t judge us similarly.

26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.

True submission to God involves obedience. Doing the above mentioned sins, even in thought, is not obedience. We can’t come close to obedience because we haven’t learned to submit to Christ as our authority and as our Master.

29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
Romans 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

These are some of the restrictions that set the Hebrews off from other peoples and that set Christians off from non-Christians.