Chapter 20
I remember one time while in the service my squad and I were out doing map and compass training. We had a clear objective, a map, some ranger beads, and our trusted compass. But though the day started out with high hopes, it soon took another turn.
I had borrowed a compass from a fellow soldier at the last minute —one that looked new and fancy on the outside but had a slightly warped needle. Over time, I veered just a few degrees off track without noticing. By the time I realized something was wrong, we were several klicks off course, lost in unfamiliar terrain, and now facing a pending storm.
What saved us? A signal tower, shining faintly through the trees. That tower, that familiar landmark, guided us to our destination.
Leviticus 20 can feel harsh at first glance—full of warnings, boundaries, and consequences. But in truth, it’s not about punishment; it’s about protection. God is showing His people the danger of spiritual compromise. He’s saying: “Don’t follow the broken compass of the world. I’ve set you apart. Follow Me.”
In a culture today that celebrates whatever feels good or convenient, God’s call to holiness is like that signal tower—bright, unwavering, and life-saving. It’s not just about avoiding sin; it’s about living in closeness with God, becoming more like Him in thought, word, and action.
If you’re a follower of Jesus, Leviticus 20 is a call back to clarity. Every day, we choose which compass we follow—the worlds or Gods. Holiness isn’t about perfection, but direction. It’s choosing to walk in the Spirit, to resist compromise, to live clean in a culture that confuses light for darkness. Are there places in your life where you’ve let the worlds compass pull you off course? Are you watching, reading, or tolerating, or allowing influences from things that dull your sense of right and wrong?
If so, then know that God gives grace to repent, strength to change, and joy in obedience.
If you’re not sure where you stand with God, Leviticus 20 can sound condemning. But here’s the hope: Jesus already took every penalty listed in this chapter and bore it on the cross. Every sin that deserved judgment—He carried it so that you wouldn’t have to. He doesn’t shame you into holiness. He rescues you into it. After reading this chapter I am personally very grateful too! For the same God who says “Be holy” also says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28
You don’t have to clean yourself up to come to God. You come, and He makes you clean. Like my squad and I in the forest, the world may have led you off-course. But the tower still shines. Christ still calls. Holiness isn’t a prison—it’s freedom from everything that dims your soul.
Punishment for Sin
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. 3 I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4 If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, 5 I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.
6 ” ‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.
7 ” ‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
8 Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
9 ” ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.
10 ” ‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife–with the wife of his neighbor–both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.
11 ” ‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
12 ” ‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.
13 ” ‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
14 ” ‘If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you.
15 ” ‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he is to be put to death, and you must kill the animal.
16 ” ‘If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
17 ” ‘If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.
18 ” ‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.
19 ” ‘Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.
20 ” ‘If a man has sexual relations with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.
21 ” ‘If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.
22 ” ‘Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. 24 But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations.
25 ” ‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground–those that I have set apart as unclean for you. 26 You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
27 ” ‘A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.’ “
