Leviticus 20:1-8, 27 – The call to purity in worship

Leviticus 18-19 set the list of actions the people shouldn’t do whereas Leviticus 20 provides the why. Here we see the discipline that would ensue if they did not keep what God had prescribed in Leviticus 18-19. It clearly shows that the LORD desires His people to practice holiness. In Leviticus 20:1-8, 27 God expects His people to venerate and worship Him alone. So here He elaborated on the issue of Molech worship which He briefly alluded to in Leviticus 18:2.

Who was Molech and why was God against Molech worship so strongly? Molech or Moloch was a cultic Amorite god of fire of Canaan. He was thought to be the principle of life and reproduction for the male, whereas his female counterpart, Asheroth represented fertility for the female. As a pair, they were worshipped long before Israel went into the promised land. It was a common thing for Molech’s worshippers to solicit the services of the temple prostitutes and engage in sexual orgy. They did so to arouse the sexual desires of Molech and Astheroth, believing that when this couple engaged in sexual intimacy, the world – people, animals, and land - would become fertile. One other practice common in Molech worship was child sacrifice of making children pass through the fire. To venerate Molech was an affront to God. So, any of His people or foreigners dwelling among them, if found practicing it, would be cut off from God and be stoned to death.

In addition, verse 6 tells us that God forbade His people from engaging the services of a medium to consult the dead. To do so would result in God turning away from them and they would be cut off from the community of God’s people. Instead of engaging in such activities, God’s people were exhorted to consecrate themselves and give their allegiance to Him alone. God, as we know, is a jealous God and He will not allow His people to compromise their commitment to Him. Hence, He strongly admonished the people of Israel not to practice Molech worship. This warning against the worship of Molech tells us that God expects us to give our total allegiance to Him. We can surmise that God does not want us to give our allegiance to any other gods. Instead, we must worship the Lord our God alone and Him only shall we serve.