Close Quarters – The Kingdom Curriculum XI (5)

Close Quarters

“You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18

“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 18:6

Lust Lurks on Every Hand

The people of ancient Israel lived in pretty close quarters. They also lived a good deal more “out in the open” than we do in our day (think: Bathsheba bathing on the roof in the cool of the evening; people going “outside the camp” to relieve themselves, and so forth). It may well have been a not infrequent occurrence to encounter a neighbor something less than fully clothed. This being the case, the people of Israel were commanded to prepare their hearts against any intentional looking upon the nakedness of their neighbors.

Leviticus 18:6-18 provides a long list of the people we are not supposed to lust after. It includes all our close relatives and in-laws of every sort. What is the point of this litany of proscriptions? Isn’t v. 6 alone sufficient? No, because God is sending an important secondary message here: the invitation to lust lurks on every hand, even when you least suspect it. The people closest to us are the very ones we might be tempted to think about in an unlawful way. Watch out! God seems to be saying. The opportunity for sin is always present with you (cf. Gen. 4:7; 1 Pt. 5:8).

If God had written this statute today He might have put it differently. He might have included people at our workplace, neighbors across the street, those we see on TV and in all kinds of advertisements, and those who star in the films we watch. Pop culture thrives on lust, precisely because our society today has decided that lust is inevitable and, thus, must be harmless (I wonder if they feel this way about death?), and so the practice of sinful lust is rampant in our society. But we know better; we know where lust can lead, and the destruction it can wreak, and so we need to be always aware of the ways that lust can suddenly present itself, and be ready to deal with it accordingly.

How we prepare for the temptation to lust–the course of action we decide upon in advance–will make all the difference in whether or not we manage to resist the devil, send him fleeing, and get on with seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

How can we use the Law of God to make wise ethical choices? Order your copy of The Ground for Christian Ethics today. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.