S1. Engaging in Homosexuality. [Make a Comment]
We are not to have sexual contact with persons of our own gender.
This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):
Key Scriptures
Genesis 19:4-7
But before they could go to bed, the men of the city surrounded the house -
young and old, everyone from every neighborhood of S'dom. They called
Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight?
Bring them out to us! We want to have sex with them!" Lot went out to them
and stood in the doorway, closing the door behind him, and said, "Please, my
brothers, don't do such a wicked thing.
Leviticus 18:7a
(Maimonides RN351; Meir MN111; Chinuch C189)
You are not to have sexual relations with your father ...
Leviticus 18:14
(Maimonides RN352; Meir MN114; Chinuch C199)
You are not to disgrace your father's brother by having sexual
relations with his wife, because she is your aunt.
([Included here because
the classical commentators interpret this Scripture as our not having
homosexual relations with our father's brother.])
Leviticus 18:22
(Maimonides RN350-RN351; Meir MN116; Chinuch C189, C199,
C209)
You are not to go to bed with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 20:13
If a man goes to bed with a man as with a woman, both of them have committed
an abomination; they must be put to death; their blood is on them.
Deuteronomy 23:18(17)-19(18)
(Maimonides RN350; Chinuch C209)
No woman of Isra'el is to engage in ritual prostitution, and no man of
Isra'el is to engage in ritual homosexual prostitution. Nothing earned
through heterosexual or homosexual prostitution is to be brought into the
house of ADONAI your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are
abhorrent to ADONAI your God.
Romans 1:26-28
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women
exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one
another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in
themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased
mind, to do those things which are not fitting
1 Corinthians 6:9
Don't you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the
Kingdom of God? Don't delude yourselves - people who engage in sex
before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with
someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive
homosexuality ...
1 Timothy 1:9-11
We are aware that Torah is not for a person who is righteous, but for those
who are heedless of Torah and rebellious, ungodly and sinful, wicked and
worldly, for people who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the
sexually immoral - both heterosexual and homosexual - slave dealers, liars,
perjurers, and anyone who acts contrary to the sound teaching that accords
with the Good News of the glorious and blessed God. This Good News was
entrusted to me
Jude 1:7
And S'dom, 'Amora and the surrounding cities, following a pattern
like theirs, committing sexual sins and perversions, lie exposed as a
warning of the everlasting fire awaiting those who must undergo
punishment.
Supportive Scriptures
Matthew 15:19-20
For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other
kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies, slanders ... These are what really
make a person unclean, but eating without doing n'tilat-yadayim does
not make a person unclean.
Romans 13:13-14
Let us live properly, as people do in the daytime - not partying and getting
drunk, not engaging in sexual immorality and other excesses, not
quarrelling and being jealous. Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord
Yeshua the Messiah; and don't waste your time thinking about how to
provide for the sinful desires of your old nature.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
In my earlier letter I wrote you not to associate with people who engage in
sexual immorality. I didn't mean the sexually immoral people outside
your community, or the greedy, or the thieves or the idol-worshippers - for
then you would have to leave the world altogether! No, what I wrote you was
not to associate with anyone who is supposedly a brother but who also
engages in sexual immorality, is greedy, worships idols, is abusive, gets
drunk or steals. With such a person you shouldn't even eat! For what
business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Isn't it those who are part
of the community that you should be judging? God will judge those who are
outside. Just expel the evildoer from among yourselves.
1 Corinthians 6:13
"Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"? Maybe, but God
will put an end to both of them. Anyhow, the body is not meant for sexual
immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
1 Corinthians 6:18-19
Run from sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the
body, but the fornicator sins against his own body. Or don't you know
that your body is a temple for the Ruach HaKodesh who lives inside you, whom
you received from God? The fact is, you don't belong to yourselves
1 Corinthians 10:8
And let us not engage in sexual immorality, as some of them did, with the
consequence that 23,000 died in a single day.
Galatians 5:19
And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in
sexual immorality, impurity and indecency
Ephesians 5:3
Among you there should not even be mentioned sexual immorality, or any kind
of impurity, or greed; these are utterly inappropriate for God's holy
people.
Colossians 3:5
Therefore, put to death the earthly parts of your nature- sexual immorality,
impurity, lust, evil desires and greed (which is a form of idolatry)
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
What God wants is that you be holy, that you keep away from sexual
immorality, that each of you know how to manage his sexual impulses in a
holy and honorable manner, without giving in to lustful desires, like the
pagans who don't know God.
Commentary
Homosexuality in the Bible means any sexual contact with a person of one's own gender. As in much in the Bible, the relevant verses of Scripture read as though they are written to men, but the New Covenant Scriptures make it clear that they apply to women as well (Romans 1:26). The prohibited sexual contact referred to is not limited to physically touching another same sex's genitals; it includes any display, touching, conversation, and probably even intentionally evoked personal thoughts of a homosexual nature, engaged-in in order to cause sexual arousal. All homosexual acts are sinful.
On the other hand, the Scriptures do not call homosexual feelings (or any feelings) sin. There are some among us who (for reasons that only God knows) were born with a dysfunction such that their sexual feelings are not consistent with the gender of their physical genitalia. This is a most unhappy condition that they must deal with by control and abstinence (i.e. not allowing their actions to fulfill their desires), much as a heterosexual person must abstain from heterosexual activity that is scripturally prohibited. Persons having homosexual feelings that they do not act on should be received within the body of believers without reservation, but their condition should be viewed as abnormal, and prayer should not cease for their healing. Also, it is important that their congregation's elders know about their condition because any slippage of the flesh in this area is almost certain to adversely affect others with whom they relate and come in contact.
Classical Commentators:
Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch only address male on male homosexuality in
their mitzvot; they do not discuss women. They opine that the
expressions "uncover one's nakedness" or "lie with" in the Bible mean to have
sexual contact in which a male's sex organ is physically inserted into
another male's orifice (mouth or anus). This is sometimes referred to as
"sodomy".
Special mention is made here of all three commentators' peculiar interpretation of Leviticus 18:14, which they interpret as not having homosexual relations with one's father's brother despite the Scripture speaking of one's father's brother's wife.
NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm