Reading through the book of Leviticus, we encounter many commands. I get why the children of Israel would need steps to follow if they had some weird skin disease that may be contagious. I get the need for instructions if your tent has some green growing fungus that needs to be dealt with the right way. But did they really need to be told not to have sexual relations with a relative or an animal?! Did they really have to be told that it’s a perversion, and it shouldn’t be done? Was it really necessary to tell them that they shouldn’t place their child on the outstretched burning hands of a pagan god named Molech?

YES. They really needed to be told and so do we.

Leviticus 18 tells us that the place where Israel left (Egypt) was full of perversion, and the place where Israel was going (Canaan) was the same. God warns His people, “You shall not do as they do…you shall not walk in their statutes.” The people of Canaan were unspeakably perverse, and God knew that Canaan would influence His chosen people. God had to specifically warn His people not to be sexually perverse or worship pagan gods. And a careful study will show that sexual sins and idolatry go hand in hand. Where one is, the other is not far behind.

Sadly, Israel did not trust God’s counsel. Despite the clear warnings of God, despite His steadfast love, kindness, and wisdom, despite the ruthlessness of pagan gods, Israel caved under the pressure of the lust of their eyes, the lust of their flesh, and the pride of life. They offered their children to the pagan god, Molech. They embraced a god of lust and violence and defied the God of love.

So what? What do Israel’s choices have to do with me? 1 Corinthians 10:11-13 says, 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

God told us to look and learn from Israel. The command is to take heed or pay attention otherwise we are going to fall just like Israel. Pay attention to the temptations of a pagan people and culture. Believers, like Israel, are surrounded by a perverse culture. Does this point need to be proven? If we investigate the lyrics of popular songs will the message of sacrificial love in the protection of marriage be found there? How long do we need to investigate Hollywood to come to the conclusion that goodness, purity, and righteousness cannot be found?
Does God really need to tell us not to listen to music that glorifies sex, money, and violence? Does God really need to tell us that we should not be voyeuristic in what we watch? Is God pleased when we watch others commit sexual immorality? Does God really need to tell us that we shouldn’t view internet pornography? Apparently, He does because we are all tempted. The evil outside us is like a magnet to the wickedness inside us. The point being made is that we are more perverse than we would like to admit. Our self-righteous hearts will want to justify, but self-righteousness never helped anyone. We need an honest and humble heart that cries out to God. We are not hopeless. We do not have to make provision for our flesh. Though we cannot escape temptation, we can escape giving into temptation because God is faithful.

Believer, learn from Israel. We cannot spiritually afford to be naive about the wickedness inside us nor the wickedness of our land. As we hunger and thirst for righteousness, the lure of filth from this world will lose its pull. We will always need to resist. We often will have to flee. But one day we will rest.