In my previous post, I mentioned that after some input, I would post a response to Jay Michaelson’s article which suggests that Homosexuality in the Old Testament is simply a cultural taboo that should not be thought of as sinful in our modern context.  He writes,

…a close reading of the term toevah suggests an entirely different meaning: something permitted to one group, and forbidden to another.

But is Michaelson right?  Is this really the meaning and context for the Hebrew word “toevah”  I suggest he is wrong for a variety of reasons.  In making my point, I only need to analyze this one simple sentance.

The term toevah (and its plural, toevot) occurs 103 times in the Hebrew Bible, and almost always has the connotation of a non-Israelite cultic practice.

1. Michaelson Can’t Count

This is just a real basic point, but the term “toevah” occurs 117 times in the Hebrew Bible, not 103.  This, in and of itself, is a minor point, but gives me pause in trusting Michaelson’s ability to deal with more difficult issues.  For the record, the following diagrams show the frequency and occurrences of toevah (click the image to see it larger).

okay, so now on to the real problems with Michaelson’s article.

2.  Michaelson Creates a False Dichotomy

It has long been the contention of Homsexual advocates that while the Bible condemns the cultic forms of homosexuality (ie homosexuality in worship to false gods), it never condemns the “loving act” of sex between two men or two women.  Michaelson writes:

In five instances, Ezekiel mentions toevah together with both idolatry and zimah or znut, “whoredom” (Ez. 16:22, 16:36, 16:58, 23:26, 43:8), strongly suggesting that the nature of sexual toevah is not mere lewdness, and certainly not loving intimate expression, but sexuality in a cultic context

Michaelson is not the first to make these self-serving interpretations.

John J. McNeill³², James Nelson³³ and Peter Coleman³⁴ argue that the specific instructions given in Lev. 18:22 and 20:13, which are part of the Holiness Code, must be understood in the context of cultic defilement. This is supported by biblical commentaries on Leviticus by Martin Noth³⁵ and Norman Snaith³⁶, and by Marvin Pope’s article on “Homosexuality” in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible.³⁷ The use of the Hebrew word ‘abomination’ [to ‘ebah] in this context clearly relates this to Canaanite idolatry and to the rituals–sexual or otherwise–practiced in it.³⁸ Israel’s prostitution and sexual practices characteristic of Canaanite fertility worship. Such sexual rituals expressed the view that sexuality was a mysterious sacred power, related to the power of the deity that was worshiped. This is why Canaanite worship frequently involved overt sexual acts. Israel was required to reject all such pagan practices both to affirm the transcendence of God and to distinguish Him from all creaturely powers.

The conclusion that is drawn from this is that with the change of the social horizon, such injunctions are no longer valid. Or if they are, the reason for their continuing applicability must be found elsewhere than their inclusion in the Levitical Holiness Code.

Trinity College and Seminary. Global Journal Volume 1, Trinity College and Seminary, 1999; 2006.

The problem here is that this interpretation makes no sense. If God is only condemning cultic-behavior, and not the act itself, then how do we understand this passage?

““You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her. You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion. “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. ” (Leviticus 18:19–25, ESV)

It is true that often the religious (cultic) nature of these acts is lost on the modern mind.

Modern readers of the ot doubtless miss occasionally the import of Canaanite idolatry. The worship of a Canaanite god or goddess was no minor blemish in Israel’s history. Besides having a devastatingly debasing effect on the practitioner, the acts of worship, which included male and female cultic prostitutes in hetero- and homosexual liaisons, were fundamentally opposed to the worship of the living God, and were, in fact, acts of treason against his suzerainty. R. K. Harrison, after describing the gross and savage worship system of the Canaanites, concludes that “its sordid and debased nature stand in marked contrast to the high ethical ideals of Israel. The absolute lack of moral character in the Canaanite deities made such corrupt practices as ritual prostitution, child sacrifice, and licentious worship the normal expression of religious devotion and fervor. In consequence there could be no compromise between the morality of the God of Israel and the debased sensuality of Canaanite religion”

Harris, R. Laird, Robert Laird Harris, Gleason Leonard Archer and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. electronic ed. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999.

However, this does not mean these actions are abomination only in cultic context.  if God is only condemning as “taboo” the cultic practice of these actions, then does Michaelson also find acceptable for Christians to practice non-religious forms of child sacrifice when it is not done to Molech?  If it is okay for two Christian men to have sex when it is “loving”, is it also acceptable for a Christian woman to have sex with an animal if it is a “loving act” of shared intimacy?  This passage must be interpreted as a whole and taking one part out of context to serve ones sexual passions does not represent a Christian approach to applying Scripture.

Michaelson’s invocation of the “cultic clause” is simply foolishness in light of how these passages are revealed to us by YHWH.  There is no “right” way to worship God when we abuse our sexuality; that is the message of what God decrees as toevah.

3. Michaelson Fails to Take Seriously the Decrees of God

Ultimately the problem is that Michaelson, and homosexual advocates who are looking for any excuse to justify their sin, simply don’t take seriously the commands of God.  Michaelson asks, “is toevah a cultural taboo or abomination?”.  I think this passage from Ezekiel makes it clear, YHWH takes toevah very seriously and it is not just a cultural taboo.

““Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them. “Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them. ” (Ezekiel 5:5–13, ESV)

Application

I will let the Scripture speak directly to Michaelson, and anyone who shares his view, on the meaning of toevah.

“A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools. ” (Proverbs 13:19, ESV)

 

“Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord, but those of blameless ways are his delight. ” (Proverbs 11:20, ESV)

 

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. ” (Proverbs 6:16–19, ESV)

 

“The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who pursues righteousness. ” (Proverbs 15:9, ESV)

 

“He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord. Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense? ” (Proverbs 17:15–16, ESV)

 

“Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer. The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind. If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? ” (Proverbs 24:8–12, ESV)

 

“An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked. ” (Proverbs 29:27, ESV)