Cursing Father and Mother

Leviticus 20 and the Holiness Code

We return once again to our study of the book of Leviticus, chapter 20. Leviticus, chapter 20. Before we delve into God's Word, let us ask His blessing upon our time. Once again, our Heavenly Father, we would ask that special gift from Your grace, the presence of Your Spirit amongst us to enlighten us, to help us to understand divine words.

Especially as we wrestle with Your law, that You would help us to make proper application, or that You would give us wisdom and insight, for we desire to be salt and light in a very difficult time. So give us understanding, meet with us by Your Spirit, we pray in Christ's name.

This morning I had intended to work through verse 6, which is why we read it at the beginning, but we did not get that far. So we will have to start at that point, but as you know, we have been studying through the Holiness Code, we've come to chapter 20, and chapter 20 condemns many of the same things that we saw in chapter 18, but the difference being here, as I noted this morning, in Leviticus chapter 20, we have specific law for the people of Israel, which includes what is called the penal code, the penology, the study of what the people of God were to do, there living in Israel, in regards to the punishment of these sins, that was not something that had been specifically addressed in that same context in Leviticus chapter 18.

And in the first five verses, we had looked at the sin of offering one's offspring to Mulloch, this morning we went into some depth in regards to the nature of that sin, and the punishment of that sin, and the fact that God's people, as a whole, were to be involved in the punishment of anyone who would engage in that sin, and yet, even if the people were to overlook that sin, they were to, in a really sinfully rebellious way, close their eyes to it, that God wanted to communicate the reality that he stood against it, and that he would bring punishment upon any individual, not only individual, but also against his family, as we see in verse 5, and the terminology used there is, those who play the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Mulloch.

This concept of playing the harlot, this unfaithfulness, these are words that are addressed to the covenant people of God, they bear the name of Yahweh, and so it is a form of harlotry, it is a form of unfaithfulness for them to seek to engage in any type of syncretistic worship, joining the worship of other gods together with Yahweh, all of this is a profaning of his name, remember to profane something is to take it from being special and holy, and to make it common, and so if you join the worship of the one true God with the worship of false gods, then you are bringing the one true God down to the same level as the gods that you worship, and this is one of the great sins of idolatry that we must recognize remains just as important for us to recognize today, even though we do not live in a land that, well, where was it, Detroit?

Did they unveil that statue of Satan, was it Detroit? Where else? Sorry if you're from Detroit, but I've been there a few times, and I consider it a mission field, but anyways, we don't have too many of those statues here in the United States, but I guess there are some now, but because of that, we tend to think that idolatry is something that primarily Israel struggled with or was something that was a sin of the past, and I hope that we all recognize that idolatry is a tremendous reality, not only in the experience of the society around us, in the construction of anti-biblical worldviews, that is a form of idolatry.

It is giving to the created order that which is due only to God, but that idolatry remains a concern that Christians must consider themselves. Covetousness is idolatry, we are told. Idolatry can possibly pop up in so many of the besetting sins that we all struggle with, and so when you think of what idolatry is, you think of profaning the name of God.

For all of us, for all of us as believers, when we sin, when we in a high-handed way or even just in ways of omission, we are in essence elevating ourselves to a position we should not have. We are demonstrating that our passion and love for God is not at the level that it should be, and our passion and love for ourselves is always at a level that it shouldn't be, and we are in essence profaning His name.

This is why we must be constantly seeking His assistance and must be so thankful for the forgiveness that is ours in Jesus Christ. So we turn back to Leviticus chapter 20, and now we pick up in verse 6 of Leviticus chapter 20.

Mediums, Spiritists, and Trusting Yahweh

As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists to play the harlot after them, same concept here, I will also set my face against that person, will cut him off from among his people. You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am Yahweh your God.

You shall keep my statutes and practice them. I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother.

His blood guiltiness is upon him. If there is a man who commits adultery with another man's wife, one who commits adultery with his friend's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

If there is a man who lies to his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood guiltiness is upon them. If there is a man who lies to his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death.

They have committed incest. Their blood guiltiness is upon them. If there is a man who lies than male, as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act. They shall surely be put to death.

Their blood guiltiness is upon them. If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality. Both he and they shall be burned with fire, so there will be no immorality in your midst. If there is a man who lies than animal, he shall surely be put to death.

You shall also kill the animal. If there is a woman who approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood guiltiness is upon them.

And so once again, we see that we enter into many of the same commandments that we have seen in Leviticus chapter 18, but now we have a sort of cluster of phrases, such as their blood guiltiness is upon them, or playing the harlot.

These are now terms that come to have special meaning, once again, within the context of the covenant people of God and the relationship that they are to have to their God and the fact that they are representing him as his people.

The first of these sins that is addressed in verse 6, as the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists to play the harlot after them, I will also set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

Now, you'll notice that there is no specific punishment. It doesn't say the people shall gather together and stone him and so on and so forth. And I wonder if the reason for this, even though it's still playing the harlot, God sets his face against that person, will cut him off from among his people, it's not that it's a less serious sin, but that the nature of mediums and spiritists, just when you think about them.

I mean, OK, other than the, I'm not sure, I forgot to look as I was driving in on Indian School, but is the spiritist guy, gal, I don't know, still over there around, what is that, about Ninth Street or somewhere on the south side of the road, there's a little shack over there and you've got the all-seeing eye and the hand thing and the hours and we're open and stuff like that.

I've always wondered, why should they have to have an open sign? Shouldn't they know you're coming? Thought that crossed my mind. You didn't like that? Oh, OK, fine. Well, I was just, that was the thought that I had.

Why put our sign out? You just know when people are going to come and you'll be waiting for them. But be it as it may, we look at folks like that and we sort of sigh and you sort of chuckle, but when you really think of serious mediums and spiritists, you don't think of people that have neon signs in the window and a list of credit cards that they'll accept in the doorway.

You're thinking much more of what's done in the darkness, in the night, and in secrecy. And it just strikes me that probably the reason you don't have a specific civil penalty specifically mentioned here is, how do you get two or three witnesses?

Most of these, obviously, the mediums and the spiritists aren't going to be testifying and shouldn't be a part of the people of God in the first place. And so it's normally a one-on-one type thing. And so how would you even have the opportunity of testimony?

It's a possibility. Maybe just the fact that God says, I will set my face against that person, will cut him off amongst his people, would indicate that if it were to become known, if the person were to be so foolish or so bold as to advertise and to be causing others to maybe seek to go after mediums and spiritists, then there would be a basis for applying the same kind of penalty that we see in regards to this type of sin elsewhere.

But the fact of the matter is that God forbids his people. Notice it says, who turns to mediums and to spiritists. I think there's an idea there of turning away from God and turning to. There's clearly an intentionality on the part of the individual who does this.

And the only thing that could drive that intentionality would be a dissatisfaction with the faithfulness and promises that Yahweh has provided to his people. Because remember, we've had the blessings and the cursings.

Are we there? No, we're not there yet in Deuteronomy. We've read some portions of the blessings and the cursings. And we're going to get to Deuteronomy 28 and 29 here pretty soon. But you recognize that in God's law, there are promises that God makes to his people.

And those should be enough for us. When we start trying to pry into the future, there is an implicit unbelief in our hearts that would cause us to turn to mediums and spiritists to try to get information that clearly, for the faithful follower of Yahweh, there should be trust that he is in control of all things.

And therefore, there is not a need for this information. So there is an implicit distrust that is a part of this kind of sin. And it remains the same today. In fact, I'll be honest with you. Sometimes I wonder at people.

And it's not so much in our circles. But certainly, I have traveled in circles in my past where you do anything about prophecy, and you could pack the place out. I mean, man, alive people, people want to know the future.

I was surprised a number of years ago when I attended a very scholarly symposium on Islam. And one of the speakers spoke about Islamic eschatology and was saying that our eschatology, the number of books that we produce on end times prophecies, is minorly in comparison to what the Muslims produce about eschatology and end times things.

I had no idea. There is a real, real desire on the part of many people to gain some kind of insight into what the future is going to be. And I'm not just talking about people who want to be able to corner the market or whatever else it might be or any of the science fiction movies and all the rest of that kind of stuff.

I'm talking about this desire to be the one who finds that one key. I remember before we had come to this church in the early 1980s, I came out of the church we were members of at that time. And I went to my, I think it was to my big brown bomb, my 1972 Buick LeSabre.

Oh, my. That baby, when it was tuned up, got about 12 miles a gallon. But when it wasn't tuned up, it was single digits. And under the windshield wiper was this little booklet. Yeah, it had to be mid-'80s.

So I'm not sure it still would have been the brown bomb. Anyways, on my vehicle was, what was it, 88 reasons why Christ was going to return in 1988? Edgar Wiseman was the author. And so maybe it was 84 reasons it was 1984.

I don't know. You know how you do all those numbers things. But oh, he made a splash for a while until that year passed. And then you've always got to come up with some 85th reason or 89th reason or whatever else it might be to continue your prophetic debacle for a little bit longer.

But there's always an audience. And I would imagine in that large church that there were probably a number of people that read that with great interest. And there probably were a few people that ended up in one of the pastor's offices talking about whether they should close down all their investments and move out to the woods to make it through the tribulation or something.

I don't know. But that kind of thing happens a lot. There is a real, real interest in that. And when it gets to that level, it involves a fundamental distrust that God has given us enough to be faithful in our service to him.

And God says, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. And then we looked briefly at verses 7 and 8 because it's the positive. It's the positive aspect that makes the negatives here understandable.

It is an important element that we need to communicate to anyone. There is obvious instances for all of us these days where we might end up discussing Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20, especially verse 13, Leviticus 18 .22.

You may not even have to bring those verses up. They may well be brought up to you. But what a wonderful thing if in these discussions that we can have with the people in our society, we can do so with knowledge of what the context of these texts is and to enlighten others.

At the very least, it might be used to silence someone or even to increase their guilt, sadly. But our hope is, of course, it would be used by our Lord and Savior to reveal himself to those individuals and draw them to himself.

But it's important that we know that verses 7 and 8 are there. You shall consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I, Yahweh, I am Yahweh your God. You should keep my statutes and practice them.

I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. All of this, the profaning of his sanctuary, the profaning of his name, all these things come back to a recognition. The grave nature of the punishments that are given in this text come back to and can only be made sense in light of these commands of consecrating yourselves to be holy.

There is very little understanding amongst Christians of what holy living is. And certainly amongst the people of our land, to talk about holy living is to talk about some kind of hypocritical, pious, in their mind, Puritanism that has little to do with how anyone actually lives their life.

It's sad that it's difficult for us to point to people, because the most holy people are generally not the most well-known people. They're the people who live consistent lives of service, and hence are not the best-known people out there.

But we need to understand what holiness is, and that to be set apart from the practices of this world is a positive thing. It's not merely a negative thing. And even though we are looking at the negatives here, that should only help us to emphasize the fact that there is a positive aspect of holiness that is first and foremost in light of what is being said in the text.

The Seriousness of Cursing Father and Mother

Which then brings us to a text that, quite honestly, is one that has apologetic relevance. When I say apologetic relevance, what I mean is you may well get hit with verse 9 of Leviticus chapter 20. If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death.

He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood guiltiness is upon him. Now, elsewhere in the law, we will see that there needs to be a particular process that is invoked in this situation, specifically the bringing of this individual to the elders at the gate of the city.

There is inquiry that is made, because it seems so very obvious to all of us that there could be tremendous abuse of just a blanket check that one might read into a text like this. At the same time, what you'll normally hear is some kind of almost light-hearted, blasphemous, well, I suppose if you think there's something wrong with homosexuality, verse 13, then only a few verses later you think you ought to be able to knock off your eight-year-old when they spill their cereal, or something along those lines.

That's the kind of thing. I've certainly seen it. If you haven't, then you're obviously not reading as much social media as I am, unfortunately. Which may say more about you than me, I don't know. But that's the kind of thing that you're going to encounter.

How do you respond to that? Well, again, you need to not duck anything that is there. Simple fact of the matter is, the cursing of father or mother was considered in God's holy law, amongst God's holy, covenanted people, to be a capital offense.

What does that communicate to us? That the law of God is designed to allow parents to get rid of their children when their children misbehave? Well, of course not. To curse one's father or mother is not when Junior, in the worst fit of anger and depravity that he has ever illustrated, screams at mommy and daddy, I hate you.

I wish you'd die. And they run into their room. That's a bad thing. But that's not really what is in view here. That's a bad thing. It needs to be dealt with. But it's rather obvious, especially in light of the examination that is to take place, that would have to take place, for any kind of capital offense to be brought to the final stage of punishment.

Now, we're talking about an older person here. Because the cursing would require a certain level of maturity and a certain level of understanding to be truly a curse. Now, obviously, in our day, we consider cursing, well, when I was raised, there were certain words that you couldn't say.

And that would have been considered cursing. Very, very mild words, indeed. That's not what's being referred to here. That's not saying to your parents some kind of unkind thing. To utter a curse, I mean, you think about the curse, let he who presents a different gospel be anathema, which anathema means accursed by God.

And so God pronounces curses. And they are curses of absolute judgment. And in that day, to curse someone, to pronounce a curse like that, was a considerably more considered action than the mere speaking of certain words and in a sudden fit of anger.

This is a settled desire on the part of an individual for the damage and death of his progenitors, his father and his mother. This indicates a fundamental, not only break, but perversity in a relationship that is supposed to be central and important to all of social stability.

I mean, the bond that exists between parents and children is supposed to be, and clearly is, a bond that is lifelong. And even though we live in a day where there is tremendous sin and a diminishing of the true value of those bonds, still we look at, for example, we know in our day, for example, that man in his fleeing from God is choosing to use science in such a way as to short circuit the way that God has chosen for the human race to properly be proliferated.

And there are children who have now been born who do not know who their natural mothers and fathers are. And I'm not just talking about adoption here, though this is true amongst adopted children as well.

But now test tube babies and the like, what do we discover? A very large percentage of those individuals want to know. They want to know. Whose genetics do I carry? Who is my father? Who is my mother?

There is a natural desire. Some people, I realize, some people, for this reason or that, they don't do that. But there are many people, even though they've been given a good upbringing, as they become adults, they want to know.

There is a relationship there. It is a natural inborn desire. And yes, sin always does mar every parent-child relationship. And there is not a parent in this room that has been a perfect parent. Every child in this room has seen the sin of their parents and knows that their parents are fallen and knows that their parents have selfishness and everything else within them.

And every parent knows the reverse as well. Every parent has seen that child and seen that every child when he's born, every one of us, the whole world revolves around us. And we've watched that process over time where hopefully in maturity that changes and you see the service to others and the maturity that comes, et cetera, et cetera.

But obviously, none of us have been perfect in our lives. And yet, there is still that relationship. There is still that bond that exists. And so a person who would curse his father or his mother is, in essence, doing something very similar to the person who goes to the spiritist or the medium, doing something similar to the person who offers offspring unto Mulloch.

There is a fundamental rejection of the ordained order that God Himself has established. For you to curse father or mother is to question God's very act in having caused you to be born to that father and that mother.

And there is a social order as well that is absolutely central to the beneficial progress of the human race, the term that Al Mohler uses, human flourishing. That involves the continued stability of that relationship.

Even as Jesus taught, a man shall leave whom? His father and his mother and be joined to his wife. Well, that relationship wouldn't exist if you've already cursed your father and your mother and sought to break that relationship and to destroy that which God has established.

And so it is a part of a well-functioning society that you have respect for the family, which is why what's going on in our society is so devilishly evil, because there truly is a cursing of father and mother when you redefine what those relationships actually are in a rebellious, autonomous act on the part of man.

And so when we have a capital offense that is listed here, it's interesting. I am unaware, maybe someone could correct me, but I am unaware of this penalty ever having taken place, not only in the biblical account, but in any extra-biblical accounts either.

I can't think of one. Maybe I am in error in that, and it would certainly not be the first time. But I've heard other people make the same comment, that they're unaware of ever having heard of anyone ever bringing this penalty to bear in regards to a child.

Does its purpose then only exist as a boundary marker? I remember Brother Callahan read from Deuteronomy 19, and there's that text there. When you go into the land, you don't move the boundary markers that were set up by your ancestors.

Now, there was a specific application to that, and that was the land was passed down through families. That was how it was to be done. That was one of the ways you kept the rich from oppressing the poor, is that there were markers.

There were physical markers on the land, and you weren't supposed to be able to one person or group gather it all up and then enslave everybody else. So there is a specific application, but there is also, I think, a general application to make sense, and that is when the generations before you have set out certain boundaries, don't think you're smarter than all the generations before you, and just come along and start throwing everything all a kilter in a kimbo, which, of course, is exactly what the millennial generation is all about, is deciding that everybody before them was a pile of bigots and idiots.

That's certainly the way that they're acting, in any case. And so here you have a laying down of what is good for man, good for the people of God, good for mankind as a whole, in regards to the nature of the family, and hence, to fundamentally reject that, and to take what is a very close relationship, ordained by God, of mother and father and child, and to have the child seek to break that through the cursing, the bringing of a curse upon father or mother, is considered to be a capital offense.

And notice, his blood guiltiness is upon him. That's a phrase that's going to be used over and over again. And the point is that there are certain actions, there are certain sins that are so grievous, that are so detrimental to oneself, to those close to oneself, and to the people around you.

We don't live on islands. A lot of people think that we do. That there is a blood guiltiness. Now, it's interesting, again, Brother Callahan read about the cities of refuge, and the concept of blood guiltiness, and that there were these cities that you could go to, where the avenger would not be able to kill you for having accidentally killed someone else.

This is a way of dealing with the tribal relationships that existed at that time, especially. But you have this concept of blood guiltiness. And here, a person who curses father or mother, his blood guiltiness is upon him.

Now, obviously, in our day and age, this is where this remains extremely relevant. A person who curses father or mother, who rejects that position of authority that his parents have over him, rejects that God has even ordained the family structure.

And this would be a, I'll be honest with you, the secular worldview breeds this kind of attitude. Because when you view yourself as the mere accidental result of the evolutionary process, and your father and mother are just simply the genetic contributors to who you are, and there is really no other connection other than that, then it would breed the kind of attitude that would lead a person to curse father or mother.

And the reality is, his blood guiltiness is upon him. You know, we have so many people that we encounter today who think themselves sinless. They think themselves to be relatively good. And it is helpful to be able to bring to bear the word of God and to ask, do you curse your father or your mother?

Not in the sense of using profanity, but have you cursed them? Your blood guiltiness is upon you. And there is only one way of receiving forgiveness. And of course, the whole idea for many people is, well, forgiveness for my sins, you know, it's just this, you know, I haven't maybe done everything just right.

But so many do not understand the severity of God's wrath against sin and the tremendous payment that had to be given. And for Christians, when we think of the burden that Christ bore, should it not ever cross our minds that one of the reasons that we should hate our sin and that we should recognize the true depth of our sin and that we should not minimize it and we should not reason it away is because we do not want to, by our actions, increase the burden that he bore in our behalf.

I know it's a time thing because he did it in the past and all the rest of that stuff. But I think it makes perfect sense for a Christian to go, I do not want to add to the burden that he bore in my place.

Should that not be a valid reason for us to hate our sin and to seek to avoid? I mean, if we really say, I love my Savior, I love Jesus, will we then use him as an ever-increasing sin bearer in our place?

So I'm just going to throw my sin upon Jesus. Well, yes, that's what he calls us to do, but that doesn't mean that we, therefore, want to live in that sin. It means that we should hate it. Every single time we come and cast our burdens upon Christ, should it not be something, oh, Lord, I am so sorry that I have loved myself so much more than I've loved you.

Something to consider. It's so easy for us. It's so easy for us to get into a routine. It's so easy for us to stop thinking about the true weightiness of sin. So here we have what the world looks at this and says, oh, disobedience to parents, huh?

Well, specifically cursing parents. Ah, you Christians, you think, why don't you go out and start killing kids, right? No. But at the same time, you who would answer back to God, you think it a light thing that you as the creature would be willing to disrupt the very way that God has ordained us to relate to one another, that you would disrupt the relationships that should be precious and should give us so much.

I know that in my reading, it is very, very common on the field of battle, in the storming of the beaches in Normandy and storming of the islands in the Pacific, in many situations where men are in mortal combat and death can come quickly, it is very, very common for one of the last things a man to say as he's dying is to call out for his mother.

And he can be the most manly man in the world, but as that last bit of life is fading away, there is that relationship, that relationship that is to be there. And we think ourselves so wise, we think ourselves so autonomous that we can do better than God, we can break that in our sinful rebellion?

No. I am thankful for my mother and my father. My mother died a number of years ago now, but I can still hear her voice, and I still hear her admonitions. I would imagine even Josh still remembers some of grandma's axioms, not all of which made a whole lot of sense all the time, but they were precious anyway.

And my father is still alive, and I am thankful that I can say that in my heart I have never cursed my parents. I have been thankful for my parents, and I am thankful that God used them. Were they perfect?

No. But I am thankful that I had them. I am thankful that they have been a testimony to me. And as we look to God's law, we gain insight, a recognition, a recognition of the gifts He gives to us, that sometimes the world causes us to cheapen because we don't really think about what God has given to us.

Let us not let that happen to us. Let us look into His law, understand it, and be guided by it. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, once again, we thank You for these ancient words. We thank You that even though they are ancient words, You are the Ancient of Days, and therefore they remain true.

They remain valid. They are a light to our path. They keep us from stumbling. May we indeed honor our father and our mother. If we still have them, and even if we have lost one or the other, both, may we honor their memory and honor the grace that You gave to us through that very special relationship.

And if we still have father and mother, may we be reminded to express to them our great love and respect. Lord, as we have opportunity this week, we may even be given the opportunity to speak about these texts.

We may be given the opportunity to speak about Your law. If we do so, may we do so with accuracy in such a way as to bring honor and glory to Your name. We do pray these things in Christ's name.