One thing is certain: knowing the Old Testament laws found in Leviticus can help bring into perspective some of the Old Testament stories. There are two in particular I'm thinking of in relation to this particular passage on child sacrifice and sexual impurity.
The first takes place during David's reign. Amnon, one of David's sons, lusted after his half-sister Tamar. By all accounts, Tamar was beautiful, and Amnon wanted her. But there was a serious problem here: she was his sister. In Leviticus 20:17, it specifically states that a man was never to have sexual relations with his sister, not the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother. As David had several wives, and children with many of them, it's possible that Amnon and Tamar weren't raised together and may not have even regarded one another closely as relations, except by their father. But the Law had made provision for that, and Tamar was off-limits. Rather than control his lust, however, Amnon tricks her into coming to his bedside to minister to him while he is "sick" and ravishes her. Before his attack, Tamar saw it coming and even begged that Amnon would allow them to go before David to be granted a marriage so that he might not defile her. It didn't work. And David would have been in contempt of the Law if he'd allowed it. (Whether Amnon really cared about this or not is doubtful; if he had no qualms about raping his sister, then I doubt he had qualms about any other moral issues.) The sticker here is that both Amnon and Tamar should have been cut off from Israel; in many ways, Tamar was. She went to live in her brother Absalom's house as a desolate woman: tainted by her rape, she was unable to marry or to live a productive life. Amnon, however, went unpunished. David knew of the instance, was incredibly angry, and yet did nothing. Here David and the priests failed to follow the Law. Amnon should have been cut off, at least, for his violation of his own sister; but nothing, at first happened. The consequences for this slip-up proved to be dire: Absalom, offended on his sister's behalf, held his grudge against Amnon and eventually killed him as a vigilante. His actions led to a chain of events where Absalom eventually participated in a conspiracy against his father, causing David to leave his throne and wander through Israel (for the second time), ending in Absalom's tragic death. If David had taken action and disciplined his son according to the Law, the chaos and heartache that later ensued would have been avoided: justice would have been done and God's own law appeased. (2 Samuel 13 is the story of Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom. The following chapters describe the conflict between Absalom and David.)
Or take this one: Manasseh, king of Judah. His father was Hezekiah, who was one of the few kings that devoted himself to the Lord (though not perfectly). Hezekiah, however, failed to teach his son to follow in his footsteps, and instead Manasseh erected altars to Baal and Asherah, even in the holy places. He sacrificed his son, consulted wizards and mediums, and pretty much violated every commandment in Leviticus 20:1-9. Reading through 2 Kings 21 gives you little doubt as to why the Lord punished Judah for their idolatry; it only makes you wonder that He waited so long to do it. Manasseh even went so far as to erect a graven image in the temple! Verse 9 describes Manasseh as more evil than the nations the Lord had driven out before Israel when they first conquered the land! Leviticus declares that any man who offers his child to Molech, and you know the same applies to any god that requires child sacrifice, is to be cut off, and that God would set His face against him: essentially, curse him. The same was to go for anyone who turned a blind eye towards this mans actions. As the king, the entire nation turned a blind eye to Manasseh, and some even willingly participated with him! Amon his son followed in his own footsteps. The brief description in 2 Kings is enough to understand how far the nation had strayed from the words of the Lord. Leviticus is clear about the depth of depravity child sacrifice and wizards and mediums presented; but Judah did not care. It isn't until Josiah is king and begins to restore the Temple (now in horrible disrepair from neglect during a time of blatant idolatry) and they find the Book of the Law, which Judah had forgotten, that they realize the depth of their depravity and sin. It is no wonder that the people tore their clothes in anguish! Imagine, hearing how detestable the actions of the past several generations had been and the punishment for continuing them! The Lord sent His prophets, promising punishment for Judah for their actions, and it came within a few generations: the Babylonians came and decimated Judah, leaving a small remnant in the land, and taking another remnant to Babylon. The people, as a people, were cut off, cut apart, and scattered, as the Lord had promised here in Leviticus.
It just proves to me again how well the Scriptures dovetail one another and to see how the Law was fulfilled, how God's promises were fulfilled among His people. It makes me so eager to continue to learn more, to piece more together and see the whole fabric of the Bible as a single piece.
Tomorrow's Reading! (Let's press on): Leviticus 21:1-22:16.
(Do you realize we only have a few days left of Leviticus? It's almost a shame.)
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