The seventh commandment

7.3 Do not commit other unlawful relations

Leviticus 20.14

“If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you.”

This statute is guards against a violation of marriage on two levels – a man’s own marriage and that of his mother-in-law. The fact that God considered such a rule necessary indicates His understanding of the depths of human depravity. He knows that what, for the most part, we may consider unthinkable, is hardly that, so strong is the law of sin in our hearts. Doubtless among the pagan nations, this practice was not uncommon. It was not to be permitted among the people of Israel. Here again the Law erects a hedge for marriage, which, as we have seen, is the foundational institution of a just and ordered society. The penalty for this act of depravity, being especially severe, was intended to have the effect of squelching even the thought of so depraved a transgression.

This series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.