“You shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.”
Leviticus 20:23
As we continue our journey through The Bible in a Year, today’s reading places us in a section of Scripture that is often uncomfortable, yet deeply revealing. Leviticus 20:23 confronts us with a sobering truth: God not only instructs His people in what pleases Him, but He also names what He abhors. That word—abhor—is strong by design. It signals moral revulsion, not indifference. The verse reminds Israel, and by extension us, that covenant life with God involves discernment. Faithfulness is not merely believing the right things; it is walking in ways that reflect God’s holiness rather than absorbing the patterns of the surrounding culture.
The immediate context of this command is Israel’s preparation to live in a land previously occupied by the Canaanites. God makes clear that the removal of those nations was not arbitrary or ethnic, but moral and spiritual. Their practices had crossed lines that God had long tolerated but would no longer endure. As Old Testament scholar Gordon Wenham observes, “The laws of Leviticus are not random taboos but expressions of God’s concern for life, order, and holiness.” Israel was warned not to repeat those practices, not because they were culturally foreign, but because they were fundamentally destructive to human dignity and covenant faith.
The text identifies two broad categories of sin that brought about God’s abhorrence: spiritual corruption and sexual disorder. The spiritual sins addressed here strike at the heart of worship and allegiance. The worship of Molech, which involved the sacrifice of children, represents the ultimate distortion of devotion—offering life itself to a false god. Scripture treats this not merely as bad theology but as moral violence. Likewise, the prohibition against consulting mediums and spiritists underscores God’s insistence that His people seek guidance from Him alone. Spiritual curiosity untethered from obedience becomes spiritual rebellion. As Leviticus 20:6 makes clear, turning to such sources fractures covenant trust.
These warnings invite reflection rather than mere condemnation. They ask us to examine where we look for security, identity, and direction. The temptation to outsource wisdom—to forces that promise control, insight, or power apart from God—has always been present. The forms may change across generations, but the heart of the issue remains the same: whom do we trust to define truth and guide life? Moses’ instruction reminds us that holiness is not isolation from the world but discernment within it.
The second category—sexual sin—is addressed with equal seriousness. Adultery, incest, and other distortions of sexual relationship are condemned not out of prudishness but because they unravel God’s design for covenant faithfulness, family stability, and personal integrity. Scripture consistently treats sexual ethics as theological, not merely personal. Our bodies matter because they belong to God. As theologian Christopher Wright notes, biblical law “protects relationships that sustain community and life.” When those boundaries collapse, the consequences ripple far beyond individual choice.
It is important to read this passage devotionally rather than defensively. Leviticus is not inviting us to measure others, but to examine ourselves. The question is not merely whether a society tolerates what God forbids, but whether God’s people quietly adapt to what He has clearly named as destructive. Holiness begins with humility—recognizing that God’s standards are not shaped by majority opinion or cultural momentum, but by His unchanging character. “Be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2) remains the heartbeat of this entire book.
For those walking through The Bible in a Year, passages like this serve as moral guardrails. They remind us that grace does not erase God’s holiness, and love does not negate moral clarity. Instead, grace empowers obedience, and love calls us into faithful living. God’s warnings are not arbitrary restrictions; they are acts of care meant to preserve life, worship, and community. When God says He abhors something, it is because it corrodes what He created to flourish.
As we reflect today, the invitation is simple but demanding: to let Scripture shape our conscience rather than allowing our conscience to reshape Scripture. Continued study keeps us anchored, discerning, and responsive to God’s voice. The goal is not fear, but faithfulness—walking attentively with God in a world that constantly presses us to walk another way.
For further biblical insight into holiness and God’s moral purposes, see this article from The Bible Project:
https://bibleproject.com/articles/what-does-it-mean-to-be-holy/
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