THE LEVITICAL PASSAGES
THE
ABOMINATIONS OF THE CANNANITES
The Canaanites were descendants of Canaan, the
fourth son of Ham (see Gen. 9:18) and the grandson of Noah (see Gen. 6:9).
While Ham’s other descendants probably settled Egypt and parts of Africa,
Canaan’s family migrated to Phoenicia and Palestine. There they developed a
highly advanced culture.
Canaanite society was organized into
city-states, each ruled by its own king. Some of these cities were fairly
large, important commercial centers such as Hazor, Megiddo, Jericho, Jebus
(Jerusalem), and Debir. They were walled, some extremely well (see “The Wall of
Jericho” at Josh. 6:20)
In the Canaanite religion, homosexuals and
prostitutes were employed to raise money for the support of the temples. It is
not an exaggeration to say that these pagans elevated sex to the status of a
god [that sounds rather modern, doesn’t it?]. Many scholars believe that there
are hints of this sordid background in such Old Testament passages as
Deuteronomy 23:18-19 — where a prohibition is given against bringing the “hire
of a harlot or the wages of a dog (a male prostitute; see Harris, et al., 1980,
1:439) into the house of Jehovah.”
The LORD referred
to the Canaanite practices as “abominations” for which “the land vomits out its
inhabitants” (Lev. 18:25–26).God’s concern had to do with religious as well as
sexual purity. The chapter opens and closes with warnings to avoid the ways of
the Canaanites (18:3, 30). Among the practices mentioned was sodomy, or
homosexuality. Yahweh warned them not to commit any of these abominations;
either them or the strangers that lived among them.
No comments:
Post a Comment