“The person who turns to spirit-mediums and sorcerers to go fornicating after them — I will set myself against him and cut him off from his people. Therefore consecrate yourselves — you people must be holy, because I am Adonai your God. Observe my regulations, and obey them; I am Adonai, who sets you apart to be holy. A person who curses his father or mother must be put to death; having cursed his father or his mother, his blood is on him.”-Leviticus 20:6-9
In verse 6, we are again given a stern warning to stay away from spirit-mediums and sorcerers.
For those who commit such idolatry, the Lord makes it clear that He Himself will take responsibility for punishing the transgressor.
Again, the theme being expressed is that of SEPARATION.
Israel is NOT to imitate their neighbors by doing such abominations like trying to contact the dead.
Israel is to quite literally separate from the world and surrender themselves to the God of Israel.
They are to separate themselves in order to be HOLY.
Next we come across another death penalty violation for those who “curse” their parents.
The Hebrew word for “cursed” here is QALAL.
QALAL means “to treat with disrespect” or “to vilify”.
Literally, it means “to make light of” and is the opposite of KABAD (honor) which literally means to “make heavy”.
So what God is saying here is that to not give proper “weight” to honoring our parents is deserving of the death penalty.
In the midst of our busy lives, we put our parents low on the list of priorities.
How does this play out in terms of practical application?
Well, when we’re young, it’s all about being respectful and obedient.
That’s right!
When your parents tell you to clean your room, you clean your room.
When your parents tell you to eat your greenies, you eat your greenies.
Once you get married and have your own children, it’s about accepting their hard-earned wisdom that they’ve gained from many years of hard living.
And finally, once our parents reach that final stage of their life when their bodies have become frail and weak, it’s about lovingly caring for them and helping them with their problems and needs.
If we don’t properly fulfill this obligation, YHVH says we should die.
Whoa, that’s severe!
While going through all of these commands, I find it really interesting how the world has literally turned God’s Laws upside down.
We put people in prison long term for theft.
But God’s law says keep them in society and have them work to pay restitution.
We try to “educate” murderously violent people into being better people.
But God says such people are to be destroyed.
We put our children above our parents.
But God says put our parents above our children.
That’s right!
Nowhere does Scripture say we’re to make our children the most important thing in our lives.
And nowhere in Scripture does it say if we “dishonor” our children, we’re to be put to death, like for dishonoring our parents.
Elevating our own manmade ways of thinking above God’s HOLY commands has led to nothing but confusion and a steady downhill slide for our world.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
Someone came to Yeshua with this question:
“Rabbi, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
“Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied.
“There is only One who is good.
But to answer your question—
if you want to receive eternal life,
keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?” the man asked.
And Yeshua replied:
“‘You must not murder.
You must not commit adultery.
You must not steal.
You must not testify falsely.
Honor your father and mother.
Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
-Matthew 19:16-30
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