February 13, 2011 – Leviticus 20

What I thought of for verses 15-16 was “the poor animal didn’t have any say in the matter, why does it have to die”?

Verse 20.  Dying childless?  Does this mean that God would just make them barren or would the children be executed.  And then when we hear about women being barren in the Bible, think what the community must have thought of them.  “Well, your barren so you must have done something to earn that.”

Verse 22.  It is pretty clear what God wants them to do.  When we see Israel go into exile, they must have, or should have, looked back at this and realized that they were being vomited out of the land God gave them.

Verse 24.  A land flowing with milk and honey?  Sounds sticky.  (that is not my joke.  Stole it from Veggie Tales.) 

Every time it says someone is or should be punished by death for their breaking of the laws it says that “they have forfeited their lives.”  I don’t know if I have ever thought about it that way.  It is not so much that they did something and are being punished, but more that they forfeited their lives in making the chose that they did.  It is not about the punishment as it is about the persons free will.  It feels like we can apply that to those people that are in Hell or going to be.  It is not so much punishment for their actions, but they forfeited their souls by their actions.  It takes the focus away from executing a punishment to the free will chose of the person and the repercussions from that chose.  Those in jail are not being punished, they forfeited their freedom by making the choses they did.