Previously, we looked at God’s penalty for murder, the shedding of innocent blood, and we saw that God demands the death penalty in such cases. In addition, God holds the town or city or government responsible for not putting to death men convicted of murder (by at least two witnesses). God is not suggesting this; God mandates this for all mankind.
But wait…there’s more.
Now let us look at sins of a sexual nature.
It is good to begin with the positive understanding of God’s created purpose for sex, which is first found in Genesis 1 and 2. God intended for man and woman to join together in marriage (one man and one woman, to be precise—see Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 19.5) and to fill the earth with their children. God created us in His image and commanded us to populate the earth with His image, teaching our children to obey God and walk in His ways.
Because of our fleshly lusts, man has found all sorts of paths to corrupt the marriage relationship. Folks today want to redefine “marriage” to include homosexual relationships and others, but God has not left us that option. The Creator explains the blueprints for the creation.
Adultery
God teaches us from the beginning in Genesis 1–2 that He created sex holy in the relationship between one husband and one wife. In every wicked society, men and women profane that holy relationship in countless ways, but any of those ways are worthy of death. Adultery is defined as the breaking of a marriage vow. It’s a married person cheating on his or her spouse.
- If a woman was not a virgin when she marries a man (after presenting herself to him as a virgin), she shall be stoned to death (Deut. 22.1–21). In the Jewish society (and still in some societies today), a woman was betrothed, promised to a man before they were fully married, but that betrothal was as if they were married, legally and morally speaking. To have sex with another man in her betrothal state would be to adulterate and pollute her future marriage.
- If a man lies with another man’s wife, both shall be put to death (Deut. 22.22; Lev. 20.10).
- If a man lies with a betrothed woman in the city, both shall be put to death (Deut. 22.23–24)
- If a man lies with a betrothed woman in the open country, only the man shall be put to death (Deut. 22.25–27). The assumption is that he could have forced her, and she may have cried for help. This protected the woman. But in the city (as above), if she didn’t cry for help, she participated in adultery.
An interesting note at the end of Deuteronomy 22.28–29 shows that not all sexual immorality is worthy of death. If a man lies with a virgin, he must pay a fine to the father and marry her, and he is not allowed to divorce her all his days. Notice that the girl’s father can refuse to give her to the man, though, so she has some protection there, as well (Ex. 22.16–17). This case is different from the previous cases because the man is not lying with another man’s wife; he is not adulterating a marriage. God holds this sexual immorality in a different category.
Other Sexual Immorality
The category of adultery above includes sexual immorality in the context of someone’s marriage. Men and women commit many sexual sins while not married, but they are just as grievous and gross.
Incest
If a man lies with his father’s wife, both shall be put to death (Lev. 20.11). This is not necessarily his mother. I know of a family who tried to join a church, and they confessed to the elders that the mother had been convicted of sleeping with her oldest son. How do these things happen?
If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both shall be put to death (Lev. 20.12).
If a man takes both a woman and her mother, they shall all be burned with fire (Lev. 20.14).
God commands against all forms of incest (Lev. 20.17–21), adding after each that those who commit that sexual sin shall be cut off from among their people, indicating, I believe, the death penalty.
Homosexuality
If a man lies with another man, both shall be put to death (Lev. 20.13). Though many societies today in their “enlightenment” openly accept homosexuality, God says these are worthy of the death penalty.
After dealing largely with the sin of homosexuality in Romans 1.26–27, he adds, “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”
Bestiality
If a man lies with an animal, he and the animal shall be put to death (Lev. 20.15; Ex. 22.19).
If a woman lies with an animal, she and the animal shall be put to death (Lev. 20.16).
Conclusion
Why must God spell these things out for us? Isn’t it enough to tell us positively what we should do with regard to sex?
God clearly explains many ways we can abuse our sexual gift and gives the just penalty: death.
A society which wishes to remain strong and retain the blessing of the Holy Creator should take these commandments seriously. We should write our laws to match God’s heart on the matter.
You may bring up King David and his shameful sin with Bathsheba, but you must realize that God punished him for that, even after he repented and was forgiven. We will reap in our flesh the penalty of wandering off of God’s path (Psalm 1). That does teach us, though, that a man can sin grievously and still find forgiveness for his soul. If the civil government does not do their job and give a sexual sinner the death penalty, there remains a sacrifice for his sins, and he can still find forgiveness in Jesus Christ!
1 Corinthians 6.9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you.
But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.