Translation: ESV
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Challenges to God's holiness destroy the community, and serious accountability follows.
▸Leviticus 20 prescribes penalties for the prohibitions of chapters 18-19.
Leviticus 20 prescribes penalties for the prohibitions of chapters 18-19. It enumerates in particular the crimes punishable by death, showing how important it is to maintain the holiness of the Israelite community.
"Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
Harming the most vulnerable (children) makes one subject to the most severe punishment.
▸Giving children to Molech (prohibited in 18:21) is a capital crime.
Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
Holiness is something God accomplishes, but it is also a goal we must actively pursue.
▸A command for holiness is inserted in the middle of the penalty regulations.
"You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.
Disobedience to God's commands affects not only individuals but the entire community and the land.
▸'That the land may not vomit you out' is a striking expression.
You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
Israel's distinctiveness comes not from racial superiority but from God's gracious election, and its purpose is to manifest God's holiness to the world.
▸This is the conclusion of Leviticus 20 and summarizes the core theology of the entire Holiness Code.