Categories
Discussions Torah

Levitucus 20:1-5: Molekh vs. priesthood of Israel

The mysterious deity-king Molekh appears in the Bible for the first time. Canaanites and later Israelites sacrificed their babies in fire to Molekh. What power did this worship hold then and does it unsuspectingly hold now?

Categories
Discussions Torah

Leviticus 18: Why is God so concerned about nakedness?

The descendants of Israel had been in bondage in Egypt for 400 years. That’s not simply being slaves in Mitsraim (Egypt) but also being surrounded by Egyptian morals and cultural norms for all that time. After that long of a period of time, many were culturally Egyptian — assimilated — even though they were treated horribly by the Egyptians. And that is something that God caused to happen.

In this chapter, we have the first time that a pagan deity is specifically mentioned by name, but it’s a name with profound meaning.