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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Leviticus, Chapter XX].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC03019.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>L E V I T C U S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The laws which before were made are in this chapter repeated and
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penalties annexed to them, that those who would not be deterred from
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sin by the fear of God might be deterred from it by the fear of
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punishment. If we will not avoid such and such practices because the
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law has made them sin (and it is most acceptable when we go on that
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principle of religion), surely we shall avoid them when the law has
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made them death, from a principle of self-preservation. In this chapter
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we have,
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I. Many particular crimes that are made capital. I. Giving their
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children to Moloch,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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2. Consulting witches,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:6,27">ver. 6, 27</A>.
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3. Cursing parents,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:9">ver. 9</A>.
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4. Adultery,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:10">ver. 10</A>.
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5. Incest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:11,12,14,17,19-21">ver. 11, 12, 14, 17, 19-21</A>.
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6. Unnatural lusts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:13,15,16,18">ver. 13, 15, 16, 18</A>.
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II. General commands given to be holy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:7,8,22-26">ver. 7, 8, 22-26</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Le20_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Moral Laws.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1490.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake unto Moses, saying,
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2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever
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<I>he be</I> of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that
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sojourn in Israel, that giveth <I>any</I> of his seed unto Molech; he
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shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone
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him with stones.
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3 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off
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from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto
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Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
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4 And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes
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from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill
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him not:
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5 Then I will set my face against that man, and against his
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family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after
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him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
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6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar
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spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will
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even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from
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among his people.
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7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I <I>am</I> the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God.
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8 And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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which sanctify you.
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9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be
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surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his
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blood <I>shall be</I> upon him.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Moses is here directed to say that again to the children of Israel
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which he had in effect said before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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We are sure it was no vain repetition, but very necessary, that they
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might <I>give the more earnest heed to the things that were spoken,</I>
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and might believe them to be of great consequence, being so often
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inculcated. <I>God speaketh once, yea, twice,</I> and what he orders to
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be said again we must be willing to hear again, because <I>for us it is
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safe,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+3:1">Phil. iii. 1</A>.</P>
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<P>
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I. Three sins are in these verses threatened with death:--</P>
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<P>
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1. Parents abusing their children, by sacrificing them to Moloch,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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There is the grossest absurdity that can be in all the rites of
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idolatry, and they are all a great reproach to men's reason; but none
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trampled upon all the honours of human nature as this did, the burning
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of children in the fire to the honour of a dunghill-god. It was a plain
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evidence that their gods were devils, who desired and delighted in the
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misery and ruin of mankind, and that the worshippers were worse than
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the beasts that perish, perfectly stripped, not only of reason, but of
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natural affection. Abraham's offering Isaac could not give countenance,
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much less could it give rise to this barbarous practice, since, though
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that was commanded, it was immediately countermanded. Yet such was the
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power of the god of this world over the children of disobedience that
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this monstrous piece of inhumanity was generally practised; and even
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the Israelites were in danger of being drawn into it, which made it
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necessary that this severe law should be made against it. It was not
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enough to tell them they might spare their children (the fruit of their
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body should never be accepted for the sin of their soul), but they must
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be told,
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(1.) That the criminal himself should be put to death as a murderer:
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<I>The people of the land shall stone him with stones</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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which was looked upon as the worst of capital punishments among the
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Jews. If the children were sacrificed to the malice of the devil, the
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parents must be sacrificed to the justice of God. And, if either the
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fact could not be proved or the magistrates did not do their duty, God
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would take the work into his own hands: <I>I will cut him off,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Note, Those that escape punishment from men, yet shall not escape the
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righteous judgments of God; so wretchedly do those deceive themselves
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that promise themselves impunity in sin. How can those escape against
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whom God sets his face, that is, whom he frowns upon, meets as an
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enemy, and fights against? The heinousness of the crime is here set
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forth to justify the doom: it <I>defiles the sanctuary,</I> and
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<I>profanes the holy name</I> of God, for the honour of both which he
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is jealous. Observe, The malignity of the sin is laid upon that in it
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which was peculiar to Israel. When the Gentiles sacrificed their
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children they were guilty of murder and idolatry; but, if the
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Israelites did it, they incurred the additional guilt of defiling the
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sanctuary (which they attended upon even when they lay under this
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guilt, as if there might be an agreement between the temple of God and
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idols), and of <I>profaning the holy name of God,</I> by which they
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were called, as if he allowed his worshippers to do such things,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:23">Rom. ii. 23, 24</A>.
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(2.) That all his aiders and abetters should be cut off likewise by the
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righteous hand of God. If his neighbours concealed him, and would not
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come in as witnesses against him,--if the magistrates connived at him,
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and would not pass sentence upon him, rather pitying his folly than
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hating his impiety,--God himself would reckon with them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
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Misprision of idolatry is a crime cognizable in the court of heaven,
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and which shall not go unpunished: <I>I will set my face against that
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man</I> (that magistrate,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:1">Jer. v. 1</A>)
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<I>and against his family.</I> Note,
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[1.] The wickedness of the master of a family often brings ruin upon a
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family; and he that should be the house-keeper proves the
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house-breaker.
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[2.] If magistrates will not do justice upon offenders, God will do
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justice upon them, because there is danger that many will <I>go a
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whoring after those</I> who do but countenance sin by winking at it.
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And, if the sins of leaders be leading sins, it is fit that their
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punishments should be exemplary punishments.</P>
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<P>
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2. Children's abusing their parents, by cursing them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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If children should speak ill of their parents, or wish ill to them, or
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carry it scornfully or spitefully towards them, it was an iniquity to
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be punished by the judges, who were employed as conservators both of
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God's honour and of the public peace, which were both attacked by this
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unnatural insolence. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:17">Prov. xxx. 17</A>,
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<I>The eye that mocks at his father the ravens of the valley shall pick
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out,</I> which intimates that such wicked children were in a fair way
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to be not only hanged, but hanged in chains. This law of Moses Christ
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quotes and confirms
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:4">Matt. xv. 4</A>),
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for it is as direct a breach of the fifth commandment as wilful murder
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is of the sixth. The same law which requires parents to be tender of
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their children requires children to be respectful to their parents. He
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that despitefully uses his parents, the instruments of his being, flies
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in the face of God himself, the author of his being, who will not see
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the paternal dignity and authority insulted and trampled upon.</P>
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<P>
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3. Persons abusing themselves by consulting such as have <I>familiar
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spirits,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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By this, as much as any thing, a man diminishes, disparages, and
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deceives himself, and so abuses himself. What greater madness can there
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be than for a man to go to a liar for information, and to an enemy for
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advice? Those do so who turn after those that deal in the black art,
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and know the depths of Satan. This is spiritual adultery as much as
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idolatry is, giving that honour to the devil which is due to God only;
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and the jealous God will give a bill of divorce to those that thus
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<I>go a whoring from him,</I> and will <I>cut them off,</I> they having
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first cut themselves off from him.</P>
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<P>
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II. In the midst of these particular laws comes in that general charge,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>,
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where we have,</P>
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<P>
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1. The duties required; and they are two:--
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(1.) That in our principles, affections, and aims, we be holy:
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<I>Sanctify yourselves and be you holy.</I> We must cleanse ourselves
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from all the pollutions of sin, consecrate ourselves to the service and
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honour of God, and conform ourselves in every thing to his holy will
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and image: this is to <I>sanctify ourselves.</I>
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(2.) That in all our actions, and in the whole course of our
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conversation, we be obedient to the laws of God: <I>You shall keep my
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statutes.</I> By this only can we make it to appear that we have
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sanctified ourselves and are holy, even by our keeping God's
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commandments; <I>the tree is known by its fruit.</I> Nor can we <I>keep
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God's statutes,</I> as we ought, unless we first sanctify ourselves,
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and be holy. Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good.</P>
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<P>
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2. The reasons to enforce these duties.
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(1.) "<I>I am the Lord your God;</I> therefore be holy, that you may
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resemble him whose people you are, and may be pleasing to him. Holiness
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becomes his house and household."
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(2.) <I>I am the Lord who sanctifieth you.</I> God sanctified them by
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peculiar privileges, laws, and favours, which distinguished them from
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all other nations, and dignified them as a people set apart for God. He
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gave them his word and ordinances to be means of their sanctification,
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and his good Spirit to instruct them; therefore they must be holy, else
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they received the grace of God herein in vain. Note,
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[1.] God's people are, and must be, persons of distinction. God has
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distinguished them by his holy covenant, and therefore they ought to
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distinguish themselves by their holy conversation.
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[2.] God's sanctifying us is a good reason why we should sanctify
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ourselves, that we may comply with the designs of his grace, and not
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walk contrary to them. If it be the Lord that sanctifies us, we may
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hope the work shall be done, though it be difficult: the manner of
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expression is like that,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+5:5">2 Cor. v. 5</A>,
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<I>He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.</I> And his
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grace is so far from superseding our care and endeavour that it most
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strongly engages and encourages them. <I>Work out your salvation, for
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it is God that worketh in you.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Le20_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Le20_21"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 And the man that committeth adultery with <I>another</I> man's
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wife, <I>even he</I> that committeth adultery with his neighbour's
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wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to
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death.
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11 And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered
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his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to
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death; their blood <I>shall be</I> upon them.
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12 And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them
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shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their
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blood <I>shall be</I> upon them.
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13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman,
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both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be
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put to death; their blood <I>shall be</I> upon them.
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14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it <I>is</I> wickedness:
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they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no
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wickedness among you.
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15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to
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death: and ye shall slay the beast.
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16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down
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thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall
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surely be put to death; their blood <I>shall be</I> upon them.
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17 And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter,
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or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his
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nakedness; it <I>is</I> a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in
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the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's
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nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
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18 And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and
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shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and
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she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them
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shall be cut off from among their people.
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19 And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's
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sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near
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kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
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20 And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath
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uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they
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shall die childless.
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21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it <I>is</I> an
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unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they
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shall be childless.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Sins against the seventh commandment are here ordered to be severely
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punished. These are sins which, of all others, fools are most apt to
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make a mock at; but God would teach those the heinousness of the guilt
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by the extremity of the punishment that would not otherwise be taught
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it.</P>
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<P>
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I. Lying with another man's wife was made a capital crime. The
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adulterer and the adulteress that had joined in the sin must fall alike
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under the sentence: they shall both be <I>put to death,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Long before this, even in Job's time, this was reputed a <I>heinous
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crime</I> and an <I>iniquity to be punished by the judges,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:11">Job xxxi. 11</A>.
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It is a presumptuous contempt of an ordinance of God, and a violation
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of his covenant,
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+2:17">Prov. ii. 17</A>.
|
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It is an irreparable wrong to the injured husband, and debauches the
|
|
mind and conscience of both the offenders as much as any thing. It is a
|
|
sin which headstrong and unbridled lusts hurry men violently to, and
|
|
therefore it needs such a powerful restraint as this. It is a sin which
|
|
defiles a land and brings down God's judgments upon it, which disquiets
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|
families, and tends to the ruin of all virtue and religion, and
|
|
therefore is fit to be animadverted upon by the conservators of the
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|
public peace: but see
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+8:3-11">John viii. 3-11</A>.</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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II. Incestuous connections, whether by marriage or not.
|
|
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1. Some of them were to be punished with death, as a man's <I>lying
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|
with his father's wife,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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|
Reuben would have been put to death for his crime
|
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+35:22">Gen. xxxv. 22</A>)
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|
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if this law had been then made. It was the sin of the incestuous
|
|
Corinthian, for which he was to be <I>delivered unto Satan,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+5:1,5">1 Cor. v. 1, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
A man's debauching his daughter-in-law, or his mother-in-law, or his
|
|
sister, was likewise to be punished with death,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:12,14,17"><I>v.</I> 12, 14, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Others of them God would punish with the curse of barrenness, as a
|
|
man's defiling his aunt, or his brother's wife
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:19-21"><I>v.</I> 19-21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They shall die childless.</I> Those that keep not within the divine
|
|
rules of marriage forfeit the blessings of marriage: <I>They shall
|
|
commit whoredom, and shall not increase,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:10">Hos. iv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay it is said, <I>They shall bear their iniquity,</I> that is, though
|
|
they be not immediately cut off by the hand either of God or man for
|
|
this sin, yet the guilt of it shall lie upon them, to be reckoned for
|
|
another day, and not be purged with sacrifice or offering.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The unnatural lusts of sodomy and bestiality (sins not to be
|
|
mentioned without horror) were to be punished with death, as they are
|
|
at this day by our law,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:13,15,16"><I>v.</I> 13, 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Even the beast that was thus abused was to be killed with the sinner,
|
|
who was thereby openly put to the greater shame: and the villany was
|
|
thus represented as in the highest degree execrable and abominable, all
|
|
occasions of the remembrance or mention of it being to be taken away.
|
|
Even the unseasonable use of the marriage, if presumptuous, and in
|
|
contempt of the law, would expose the offenders to the just judgment of
|
|
God: they <I>shall be cut off,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
For this is the will of God, that <I>every man should possess his
|
|
vessel</I> (and the wife is called the weaker vessel) <I>in
|
|
sanctification and honour,</I> as becomes saints.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Le20_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Le20_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Le20_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Le20_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Le20_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Le20_27"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my
|
|
judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to
|
|
dwell therein, spue you not out.
|
|
23 And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I
|
|
cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and
|
|
therefore I abhorred them.
|
|
24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I
|
|
will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with
|
|
milk and honey: I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, which have separated
|
|
you from <I>other</I> people.
|
|
25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and
|
|
unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not
|
|
make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner
|
|
of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have
|
|
separated from you as unclean.
|
|
26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>am</I> holy, and
|
|
have severed you from <I>other</I> people, that ye should be mine.
|
|
27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is
|
|
a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them
|
|
with stones: their blood <I>shall be</I> upon them.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The last verse is a particular law, which comes in after the general
|
|
conclusion, as if omitted in its proper place: it is for the putting of
|
|
those to death that dealt with familiar spirits,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
It would be an affront to God and to his lively oracles, a scandal to
|
|
the country, and a temptation to ignorant bad people, to consult them,
|
|
if such were known and suffered to live among them. Those that are in
|
|
league with the devil have in effect made a covenant with death and an
|
|
agreement with hell, and so shall their doom be.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The rest of these verses repeat and inculcate what had been said
|
|
before; for to that unthinking forgetful people it was requisite that
|
|
there should be line upon line, and that general rules, with their
|
|
reasons, should be frequently insisted on, for the enforcement of
|
|
particular laws, and making them more effectual. Three things we are
|
|
here reminded of:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Their dignity.
|
|
|
|
1. They had the <I>Lord for their God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were his, his care, his choice, his treasure, his jewels, his
|
|
kingdom of priests
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>That you should be mine.</I> Happy the people, and truly great, that
|
|
are in such a case.
|
|
|
|
2. Their God was a holy God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
infinitely advanced above all others. His holiness is his glory, and it
|
|
was their honour to be related to him, while their neighbours were the
|
|
infamous worshippers of impure and filthy spirits.
|
|
|
|
3. The great God had separated them from other people
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
and again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Other nations were the common; they were the enclosure, beautified and
|
|
enriched with peculiar privileges, and designed for peculiar honours;
|
|
let them therefore value themselves accordingly, preserve their honour,
|
|
and not lay it in the dust, by walking in the way of the heathen.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Their duty; this is inferred from their dignity. God had done more
|
|
for them than for others, and therefore expected more from them than
|
|
from others. And what is it that the Lord their God requires, in
|
|
consideration of the great things done and designed?
|
|
|
|
1. <I>You shall keep all my statutes</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>);
|
|
|
|
and there was all the reason in the world that they should, for the
|
|
statutes were their honour, and obedience to them would be their
|
|
lasting comfort.
|
|
|
|
2. <I>You shall not walk in the manners of nations,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Being separated from them, they must not associate with them, nor learn
|
|
their ways. The manners of the nations were bad enough in them, but
|
|
would be much worse in God's people.
|
|
|
|
3. You shall <I>put a difference between clean and unclean,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is holiness, to discern between things that differ, not to live at
|
|
large, as if we might say and do any thing, but to speak and act with
|
|
caution.
|
|
|
|
4. <I>You shall not make your souls abominable,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Our constant care must be to preserve the honour, by preserving the
|
|
purity, of our own souls, and never to do any thing to make them
|
|
abominable to God and to our own consciences.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Their danger.
|
|
|
|
1. They were going into an infected place
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>You shall inherit their land,</I> a land <I>flowing with milk and
|
|
honey,</I> which they would have the comfort of if they kept their
|
|
integrity; but, withal, it was a land full of idols, idolatries, and
|
|
superstitious usages, which they would be apt to fall in love with,
|
|
having brought from Egypt with them a strange disposition to take that
|
|
infection.
|
|
|
|
2. If they took the infection, it would be of pernicious consequence
|
|
to them. The Canaanites were to be expelled for these very sins:
|
|
<I>They committed all these things, therefore I abhorred them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
See what an evil thing sin is; it provokes God to abhor his own
|
|
creatures, whereas otherwise he delights in the work of his hands.
|
|
And, if the Israelites trod in the steps of their impiety, they must
|
|
expect that the land would spue them out
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+20:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
as he had told them before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:28"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
If God spared not the natural branches, but broke them off, neither
|
|
would he spare those who were grafted in, if they degenerated. Thus the
|
|
rejection of the Jews stands for a warning to all Christian churches to
|
|
take heed lest the kingdom of God be taken from them. Those that sin
|
|
like others must expect to smart like them; and their profession of
|
|
relation to God will be no security to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
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