In my study of the Old Testament, the Lord says over and over "these things have happened unto you (Israel) because you have not kept My statutes and My commandments and My Judgments and kept My sabbaths holy."

I pondered in my mind if these things are so important, why wasn’t I taught them in Bible School or why haven’t I heard teachings or sermons along this line, or even a Sunday School lesson, in my almost sixty years in the church? To my knowledge, I can remember none ... so I have started on a study of the subject and have been astonished at my findings. For the last eight Sunday mornings, I have been teaching on this subject and find I have not even begun to uncover the depth of it. I could not explain to you the difference between the commandments, statutes, ordinances, precepts and judgments until I began to study.

Psalm 19 tells us, that the law of the Lord is "perfection" in our minds. The statutes of the Lord are right; the commandments of the Lord are pure for enlightening of our eyes. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous. The fear of the Lord is clean, causing us to hate everything that is evil.

Each one of us is warned; and in the keeping of them ... THERE IS GREAT REWARD!

I believe the Lord has given me a simple understanding of these: 

Commandments are personal - "Thou shalt not."

Precepts and statutes are interchangeable - they are national or apply to the local community or Body of Christ.

Judgments are God’s penalties for not keeping or disobeying the above.

Sacrificial ordinances - Jesus fulfilled these when He became the Lamb.

We all know and have been taught about salvation, water baptism, the Holy Spirit and healing, but not those precepts which show that God’s judgment is exactly equal to His grace through Jesus Christ. We have been taught God is love and grace, but not the fear of His judgments.

There are many things the Lord says is an abomination unto Him forever. One of the major items was sexual uncleanness. In Leviticus 18: 1-30; 20:8-22, and Deuteronomy 27:10-26, He tells the children of Israel not to defile themselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations are defiled. The children of Israel came out of Egypt, but they brought the ways of Egypt out with them. They are examples. Are we defiled today?

Leviticus 18:1-30, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do My Judgments, and keep Mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore keep My statutes, and My Judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.

None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord. The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness. The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.

The nakedness or thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her lifetime.

Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness. Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her. And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: and the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

Ye shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. Therefore shall ye keep Mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God."

Leviticus 20:8-22, "And ye shall keep My statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he that curses his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them. If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.

And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people. And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, nor of thy father’s sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.

And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

Ye shall therefore keep all My statutes, and all My judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out."

Deuteronomy 27:10-26, "Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do His commandments and His statutes, which I command thee this day. And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin: And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law.  And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen."

We are going to take out of these chapters ... Leviticus 18:7-16; Leviticus 20:8-22 and Deuteronomy 27:10-26, a subject that is rampant in our nation and even among Christians. These verses tell us that God forbids "the uncovering of the nakedness" in the family. Today it is called INCEST.

Almost everyone needs deliverance in these areas because many of these abominations are carried for ten generations, and we are bearing the sins and iniquities of our forefathers. (That is 400 years.) See Exodus 20:5; 34:7, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 5:9 and 23:2.

Exodus 20:5, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me."

Exodus 34:7, "Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."

Numbers 14:18, "The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation."

Deuteronomy 5:9, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me."

Deuteronomy 23:2, "A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord."

Psalm 78:1-10 tells us to give ear to God’s law that we might not be as our forefathers. "Give ear, 0 My people, to My law: incline your ears to the words of My mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath dlone. For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments: And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in His law."

We then need to come and ask God, through Jesus, to cleanse us of our sins and the sins of our forefathers in these areas by Jesus’ blood, that the curses visited on us will be lifted according to Galatians 3:13, for it is written that, Jesus became a curse so that we don’t have to bear the curse. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" Then deliverance will come in these areas. We, and our families can then be set free.

You may find that as you have read these above Scriptures they may be as important to you as Isaiah 53 or Psalm 23 in setting you and your family free from this curse.

(Reprinted from January/February 1981 edition, Voices From His Excellent Glory)

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