Lie Down שָׁכַב

We are in chapter eighteen of Leviticus with our word for today. שָׁכַב lie down, lie, lie asleep, lie sick. It is used 213 times in the Old Testament. Most of the time our word is used to simply lie down to rest or sleep. Genesis 28:11, 13 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב and lay down in that place to sleep … And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you שֹׁכֵ֣ב lie I will give to you and to your offspring. It is used in a figurative or euphemistically to refer to death. Deuteronomy 31:16 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to שֹׁכֵ֖ב lie down with your fathers. 1 Kings 2:10 Then David וַיִּשְׁכַּ֥ב slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. Another way it is used euphemistically is to refer to sexual intercourse. Genesis 26:10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have שָׁכַ֞ב lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 2 Samuel 12:24 Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her וַיִּשְׁכַּ֣ב and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. This is how our word is used in our chapter today. Leviticus 18:22 You shall not תִשְׁכַּ֖ב מִשְׁכְּבֵ֣י [We have another word that is not translated so both together literally are lie in the place of lying or bed. So this is clearly referring to sexual activity] lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. God clearly condemns this sin throughout the Bible regardless of what any particular culture may say about it. The Holy Spirit speaking through Paul clearly identifies God’s view in instructing the churches in Rome. Romans 1:24-28 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. When talking about sexual sin God emphasizes that there are consequences to them. At the same time God reminds us that the corrupted culture around us teaches that there are no consequences to sin. This is why God started our chapter with the warning of not being influenced by Egypt and Canaan. We will look at these consequences in the next few days as we look at more of the details in the rest of the chapter. I’ll close with this great reminder about how dangerous sexual sin of any kind is to us and what God says we should do when we are tempted. 1 Corinthians 6:13-19 The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.