“And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.”-Leviticus 18:21-22
The only way we’re going to comprehend the real meaning of verses 21 and 22 in Leviticus chapter 18 is to understand how they were connected to religious or shrine prostitution.
Let me start off by saying there is no Hebrew word that means “homosexuality” as we understand it today.
Today we treat homosexuality as a blanket term that refers to two or more men having sex with each other OR to two or more women having sex with each other.
But again, there is no Hebrew term in the Bible that carries such meaning.
If we’re going to use a term even remotely resembling homosexuality as us moderns understand it, it would be best to use the term “Sodomite“.
The original Hebrew for “sodomite” would be the word KADESH and contextually speaking it refers to male priests who engaged in sacred prostitution unto their pagan gods.
We also know the word KADESH has a religious connotation to it based on the root form of the word.
Doesn’t the word KADESH have a familiar ring to it?
It should, because it comes from the word KODESH which means “holy”.
For example, the Holy Spirit in Hebrew is “RUACH HA-KODESH“.
A literal English translation of KADESH would be “male holy one” (KEDESHAH would literally be “female holy one”) or it is sometimes translated as “temple holy one”.
Now what actually occurred during the religious observances?
Brace yourself because what I’m about to say might cause your stomach to turn.
The male “holy” priests would commit anal sex with another male worshipper unto their gods.
And even if a male participant had sex with a female temple prostitute, he didn’t have sex with her in the normal way but via anal penetration.
This makes sense.
If a female temple prostitute, who may have been having sex with literally hundreds of men over a given time period, had sex in the normal way, she would get pregnant real soon and be out of business.
So whether the temple priest was a male or a female, anal sex was par for the course at these religious shrines.
This was the disgusting reality that was prevalent in ancient Biblical times and God said and I’m paraphrasing here, “No way in hell is anybody who is to be a part of my people Israel to participate in such vile activities. It is an abomination!“
Even Paul referred to such activities in the Book of Romans.
“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”-Romans 1:26-27
I actually did a little research and I found something interesting about what the early church fathers said about these specific verses in Romans.
I’m talking about around 100AD to 300AD, so this would be referring to the disciples of the original apostles of Yeshua.
The early church fathers did NOT believe this was referring to homosexuality as we understand it today or even lesbianism.
Let me say that again.
The early church fathers did NOT believe Romans 1:26-27 was referring to male homosexuality or lesbianism.
They understood it as referring to UNNATURAL anal sex which was typical of pagan temple prostitution.
Paul, here, is NOT condemning homosexuality as we understand it today.
He was specifically referring to the widespread practice of anal sex unto false gods that took place daily in the pagan temples.
The conclusion?
I believe verse 22 goes together with verse 21.
Otherwise contextually speaking, it doesn’t make sense.
Because what in the heck is a commandment against child sacrifice doing smack dab amongst a list of thou-shall-NOT sexual commands?
It only makes sense when viewed through the lens of God condemning the activities that typically occurred at the pagan temples.
I believes verses 21 and 22 as a pair are referring to child sacrifice and the practice of anal sex between a male temple priest and a male worshipper unto the false god Molech.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness,
in the lusts of their hearts,
to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
who exchanged the truth of God for the lie,
and worshiped and served the creature
rather than the Creator,
who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.
For even their women exchanged
the natural use for what is against nature.
Likewise also the men,
leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lust for one another,
men with men committing what is shameful,
and receiving in themselves the penalty of
their error which was due.”
-Romans 1:24-27
You correctly stated, “The early church fathers did NOT believe Romans 1:26-27 was referring to male homosexuality or lesbianism. They understood it as referring to UNNATURAL anal sex …” Natural sex for humans is between a man and a woman as seen in , God’s perfect creation. God’s creation provides for other forms of sexuality but God made woman to be with man because that pairing pleased him. He declared it good. The male/female pairing served two purposes; 1) a binding together as one flesh and 2) procreation. Neither can occur in same sex relationships. Nothing not found in Eden can be righteous. The creation was good and not lacking anything. Woman are for man’s companionship if God had wanted to similar beings to pair, he would have created man that way.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 New International Version (NIV)
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
That Greek phrase “Para Phusis” Paul repeats in Romans 11 to describe what God does Grafting Gentiles into the House of Israel.
That last part of ROmans 1 was a rhetorical Rant, based on the UnBiblical ideas expressed in Wisdom of Solomon and the Platonic Influenced Greek Philosophy of Philo, that Paul spends the rest of the Epistle refuting.
“The early church fathers did NOT believe Romans 1:26-27 was referring to male homosexuality or lesbianism. They understood it as referring to UNNATURAL anal sex …? who is stupid here ? what in the hell did they think homos do? hello! anal sex and that is unnatural ,they Knew the truth of Romans 1:26-27 meant , you just trying to make it ok .you can fool yourself if you want but you cant fool god
I agree that is a twisted lie from the Devil that used to deceive the naive to Hell. This author, should remove this article, or be subject to greater damnation from God.
This article will not be removed. But thanks for your comment. Be blessed and Shalom.
I tell you one thing, right or wrong, the over arching message in the Bible is LOVE . If I am wrong believing this article, God will not be condemning me because I lived my life sharing the Love of God, accepting everyone, not causing devision. He will smile at me because of how much I studied to come to the belief I have about this topic- how much I wrestled with it which draws me closer to Him. So go ahead and be divisive and spread the hate. I might not see you at the east gate. But I hope you figure out the bigger picture for your sake.
My testimony is that I was once gay and without God, but He redeemed me by his sacrificial death, washed me clean, saved me from perversion and sin and I am cleansing myself from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for my AWESOME GOD! (1 Corinthians 6:11 & 2 Corinthians 7:1). So, I have both the right and the authority and obligation to say homosexuality is sin.
There are many modern words not used in scripture: Trinity, abortion, communion, pedophilia, host (wafer), pornography, gun, pope, hacker. The fact that a word is not used does not mean that the Bible is silent on the righteousness or morality of modern concerns. It is simple; in God’s perfect plan seen in Genesis and the kingdom that is to come, will whatever the concern is exist? Did God’s design man for man or man for woman? Homosexuality, or Biblically a man being with a man, is against nature and God’s perfect will. It does not matter if you call the sin homosexuality, being Gay, being queer, or any of a multitude of slang terms or slurs. Biblically, the only proper term is SIN.
Thanks for sharing Tom. Be blessed.
Truth!
Your personal experience is not a basis for Doctrine.
David Loved Johnathon more then any woman.
Where am I talking about my personal experience in this post?
That God apparently wanted you to stop engaged in same gender sex acts after your conversion doesn’t mean that’s what he wants for everyone. Many believers have experienced the exact opposite.
homosexuality is a sin
Good article! But didn’t u correctly say in your article L18-1 that sex between men is a sin?
Also you forgot the parallel verse in Leviticus 20:13. Here it clearly says that male homosexuality is a sin. This verse makes clear that it’s even a sin if it’s not ritual to pagan deities:
“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
On the other hand, to me it looks like sexual activities between women are not considered SEX according to the bible. It’s not even mentioned in Leviticus 20. This chapter bans women from having sex with animals etc….but having sex with women isn’t banned.
That’s why even the relationshipo between Naomi and Ruth can be considered lesbian. . .
On the other hand it’s clear that lesbian women have to get married to a man and submit to male authority….
The Torah also does not explicitly state that a father can’t have relations with his daughter. No really – it doesn’t. God didn’t need to spell out every possible way a man could possibly sin with sex – looking at what God DOES approve and His design for marriage would rule the rest out by default. If God commands you to be kind to the needy, He doesn’t need to go on to list every possible way you could be unkind to the needy.
Regardless of whether the exact term for homosexual that we know in the 21st century was used in the Bible, we can know it’s a sin. We can know it’s a sin because God gave us a crystal clear example of what marriage and sex SHOULD look like in the Garden of Eden. Jesus also confirmed this when He said in Mark 10 “Moses wrote this commandment for you because your hearts were hard. However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh.” Jesus cites the example in Eden as the basis for making righteous decisions about marriage. Tom Wolfe is correct.
In the Ephesians 5:22-32, Paul tells us just how important this man-woman model of marriage is to God. The man-woman relationships between a husband and wife is intended to be a witness to the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church. Even more, Paul goes back to the EXACT same passage Jesus uses in Mark 10 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
A man-man or woman-woman relationships corrupts the witness of His Son that God created marriage and sex to be. God does not need to spell out for us that man-man and woman-woman sexual relationships are sin.
In this article, the reason listed for anal sex being considered an abomination because it is “unnatural”. A man – man or woman- woman sexual relationship could never involve natural sex, and thus it’s ruled out by the this article’s own reasoning and sources. If anything, it appears the early church fathers had an even stricter and narrower view of what constituted “natural” sex than even we do today.
In no way is this response intended to condemn a person struggling with same-sex desires. We live in a fallen world and Jesus has understanding, grace, and mercy for the person struggling with same-sex desires just as much as He does for the heterosexual struggling. Jesus was tempted in EVERY way we were and understands the temptations you, whoever you are, are feeling perfectly.
Leviticus 18 says you can’t have Sex with the Daughter of someone you’ve had sex with. Since there was no artificial insemination back in antiquity that pretty firmly includes your own daughters.
The Whole of The Law is to Love God with all your Hear,t Mind, body and Saul and to Love your neighbor as yourself.
People who try to ‘reason’ somehow that homosexuality is not forbidden in the Bible are possessed of an unclean spirit and sin. It’s called guilt by association and accessory before and after the fact.
Homosexuality is a sin.
Promoting it and or misleading others about sin is a sin.
But all are spirits are unclean and we all do and poses and commit sin Jesus or yeshua did not eat with believers who were perfect models of what was included in gods wonders plan he ate with unbelievers and sinners and most likely homosexuals. Do not forget friend that your spirit is unclean and you sin everyday as well besides we are not fit to say who our lord and savior will judge and condemn for he is the only one fit to do so.we are all guilty in the eyes of the lord we are also forgiven in his eyes.
“The early church fathers did NOT believe Romans 1:26-27 was referring to male homosexuality or lesbianism. They understood it as referring to UNNATURAL anal sex …? who is stupid here ? what in the hell did they think homos do? hello! anal sex and that is unnatural ,they Knew the truth of Romans 1:26-27 meant , you just trying to make it ok .you can fool yourself if you want but you cant fool god
If anybody should be ashamed of themselves, it should be you. I hear you go on and on about homosexuality being a sin but have you ever stop to consider all the other things that you have done and that you need to be forgiven for, One of them being judging other people based on your interpretation of the Bible. And you don’t know a thing about the people that you’re judging. The Bible also said “never to let corrupt communication come from your mouths” and every single one of us are guilty of that. I know this is not the mouth, but it’s the Internet. But “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” so I believe everything that you’re typing has been spoken at some point and has yet to be repented of. Calling people “stupid”. Calling people “Homos”. What if you were on the other side of the fence?
It amazes me that Christians have not learned yet that it is not what it said that is the turning element, it is how it’s said and the context by which it is studied. You can even speak things in strong rebuke but if there’s no love in what you’re saying, my Bible likens it unto a “tinkling brass”. Furthermore, it would behoove you to read the whole Bible and not just suss out whatever it is that you want to use to justify YOUR words. That is the sin of pride and that is one of the seven deadly sins. Think about that. now, I’m not gonna say that I am perfect. Far from it. There are things about my pride that I have to work on but it’s important to my heart to love my neighbor, regardless of where they come from and if it’s something that I don’t understand, I pray to ask for that understanding. And the Bible itself said, “In all thy getting, get understanding”
Speaking on the subject at hand, why not go to the authentic Hebrew text to be sure as to what it is that you’re saying and not just go off of the Bible you read that PEOPLE have edited and omitted things that may be key to the faith. But sadly, I believe that many of you would look on two men embracing each other in close platonic love due to true brotherhood of the heart and see that as sinful based off of what you see from your human eye. You would do the same thing with two women who share a holy kiss or a holy hug in church. You would say that they are a little bit too close then go home And create scenarios that don’t even exist by gossiping about them. The Lord judges from the heart and the meditations therein and he may be talking to that very “homosexual” that you are pointing your finger at. You never know. That very person may be one of God’s anointed and probably is in tune with the still small voice spoken of in Kings that guides him and divines him to where all he sees is Christ and in Christ alone come the changes predicated upon what He thinks best, while many of us only listen to the sound of our own voice and the voices of those who share our opinions.
There is room at God‘s table for everybody and the thing that gets me is that we have people like you that want to keep other people away from God’s table. I have never known anybody to dine with the Lord and leave his table the same so if you’re that concerned with who lays down with who, maybe you need to go back to God‘s table and look to see the different faces and the different lives represented at that table that were brought to the table in love by Christ himself and told they were embraced, then go to the altar and repent for your folly. You sound just like the Sadducees and the scribes and the Pharisees, and Jesus himself called them vipers brood. Hypocrites. You think that by following the letter of the laws of Moses, that earns you a place in heaven and it’s not so. The law of the Lord is mercy, otherwise known as love. The Bible says that “God is love and whomever abides in love abides in God and God in him.” “Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy or boast. Love does not keep a record of wrongs.” And I also believe that Love does not gossip or put others down. Love is not puffed up or arrogant. The sooner everybody understands that, the more we will be in tuned with Christ.
We can quote the Bible all day long but the main and simple truth is that we’re supposed to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. Loving is not deriding or belittling. And the main thing we need to ask ourselves is what is a motivation for quoting scripture. People not of the faith do not respond to a Bible being beaten over their heads. They respond through true love and acceptance, and wherewith (yet I say again) come to changes That the Lord deem necessary.
You write much and miss even more. What IS written in Scripture is a reflection of the character of God: His declarations as to what is acceptable to HIM and what is not. Secondly correcting errors is not judging. We are given the responsibility to correct errors and therefore the authority to declare what is right and what is wrong according to God’s word. Yes God does the judging, BUT we are to correct and to expose the unfruitful works of darkness. And you’re wrong when you say who will sit at God’s table – God is the only one who can declare and permit that which He has done in His word; The Bible
Thank you for sharing this Tom. This is so true.
I find it interesting that there is not a Hebrew word for homosexuality-that is telling in itself. I believe that the “early church fathers” could be mistaken. Paul’s words in Romans couldn’t be more succinct.
Interesting point.