WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY
The Bible is a collection of books inspired by God but with human authors written over a period of more than a millennium but with great intellectual cohesion. It is customary to divide the Old Testament from the New Testament, but other divisions can be made, between: books of the law, history, wisdom, prophets, Gospels (reports of the ministry of Jesus) and letters or epistles to the early churches. The Bible is an account of God's dealings with men, and how He became man himself at a particular time in human history. Its culmination is the account of how God in the person of Jesus the Messiah voluntarily suffered death in order that mankind might enjoy fellowship with God. And rose from the dead, and ascended into glory.
The names of the books of the Bible are commonly abbreviated, and the books themselves are separated into chapters and verses, so it is easier to find our way around. So Gen. 1:27 means the 27th verse of the 1st chapter of the book of Genesis. The other abbreviations used below are these:
(All the Bible quotations below are taken from the Authorised or King James Version of the Bible. Although translated almost 400 years ago, it was an honest attempt by the greatest scholars of their day to produce a timeless, faithful translation, as close to being word for word of the Hebrew and Greek texts as was possible.)
SO WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY?
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Gen. 1:27
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Gen. 2:24
(There was always going to be some ceremony involved in the 'leaving' process, so the idea that marriage is a recent social construct is a bit weak, but that is an aside. God has separated woman from man and our reproduction is going to be sexual. We aren't going to reproduce like amoeba.
The sexual organs of man and woman bear witness to God's plan. They are complementary and designed to fit perfectly. They express at a physical level that men and women are spiritually made for each other. Sexual intercourse becomes an outward expression of the way a man and a woman can form a life‑long union with each other at an emotional level. So in sexual intercourse, man and woman come together again totally in the purpose of God, and become 'one flesh' as two homosexuals never can.
Frustrated by their inability to engage in normal sex, homosexuals must either limit themselves to manual or oral manipulation performed to orgasm, purchase artifacts for the same purpose, or press a part of the anatomy designed for extracting water from bodily waste into a service its Maker never intended. All of that might be why God did not say: "A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave either to his wife or to his boyfriend," and why He made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.)
But the men of
And there came two angels to
And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. Gen. 19:2
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. Gen. 19:3
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of
And they called unto
And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Gen. 19:7
And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even
But the men put forth their hand, and pulled
And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. Gen. 19:11
And the men said unto
For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. Gen. 19:13
(
Second problem is that the word is used again in the
So is the proposed gang rape the issue? Is homosexuality OK otherwise? No, because the cry of the sins of
Then the LORD rained upon
And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. Gen. 19:25
So what does it say in Leviticus? There is a whole chapter devoted mainly to sexual sin. It starts with incest and concludes also contains these five verses:
Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her. Lev. 18:20
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. Lev. 18:21
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Lev. 18:22
Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: Lev. 18:24
(The same word translated 'abomination' in verse 22 is previously used in Genesis, where certain people and animals are described as "an abomination" to the Egyptians. So, yes, it does have religious overtones. (A totally different word meaning 'filthy' is translated as abomination in Lev 11, by the way.) The Hebrew word in Lev 18:22 is "to'ebah" which means disgusting, abhorrent, abomination, and by extension, a pagan idol.
Perversely, some theologians insist that because of the association with pagan worship, things regarded by God as an abomination are no longer proscribed. All that has passed, gone, done and dusted, they say. But hang on a minute, in Deuteronomy 12:31, sacrificing children, forbidden in Lev 18:21 above, is also said to be an abomination. So is that alright now as well? The fact is, if you are going to say homosexuality is OK now, then you must say that bestiality, incest, adultery and child sacrifice are OK, and moving to the next chapter of Leviticus, Ch 19, that stealing, lying, cursing, blaspheming, injustice, gossip, hatred, vengeance, fraud and oppressing the working man by keeping back his wages are also OK.
We don't read God saying, "Oh, by the way, I don't mind if you do child sacrifice, bestiality and homosexuality just so long as they aren't part of pagan worship." God rather gives the impression He does not want them done at all. Of course, we can argue, as the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul does later in Romans, that they are always part of pagan worship, because they always put some aspect of creation (ourselves, for instance) above God. Nor was it just
The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. Deut. 22:5
(It's not just transvestism, but by implication changing the roles of men and women, which is condemned here as an abomination. Any dominant lesbian or submissive 'gay' does exactly that.)
There shall be no whore of the daughters of
Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God. Deut. 23:18
(Pagan worship involved ritual prostitution and homosexuality as well as human sacrifice. It always has, and it still does. The people of
(An account of an incident very much like that of
And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD did cast out before the children of
(The sodomites (see above) are singled out as the worst aspect of the abominations of the land.)
And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father. 1 Ki. 15:11
And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 1 Ki. 15:12
And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he (king Jehoshaphat) took out of the land. 1 Ki. 22:46
And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. 2 Ki. 23:7
And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of
Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in
And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 2 Chr. 36:15
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 2 Chr. 36:16
(Heathen nations, like ours is fast becoming, or has become, always end up doing abominations. They can't help it. It's nice to know God does not give us His laws and send out His word because He hates us, but because He has compassion on us.)
Everyone knows the 23rd Psalm ‑ 'The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.' The Psalms, right there in the middle of the Bible, have been a comfort to so many down the centuries. They express the enduring truth of God's mercy and lovingkindness towards us. They also express the enduring truth of God's word and His demand to rule over all the kingdoms of the world for ever:
But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. Ps. 9:7
And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. Ps. 9:8
(For those who love righteousness, those verses are an inspiration. Psalm 9 concludes:)
The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. Ps. 9:15
The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Ps. 9:16
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. Ps. 9:17
(That's rather worrying for us.)
For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. Ps. 9:18
Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Ps. 9:19
Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Ps. 9:20
(Too often men think they are cleverer than God. God has a habit of putting men in their place. 'As a man sows, so shall he reap.')
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Ps. 100:5
(So if God says something is true then it is true for ever.)
O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. Ps. 117:1
For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD. Ps. 117:2
(So all the nations must praise Him. That must include our own.)
Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. Ps. 119:160
(So God's law was always true and will never be repealed.)
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. Ps. 145:13
(God demands to rule over all mankind for ever. We had best get used to it.)
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister
And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. Eze. 16:50
(The prophets spoke the word of God to the people of their day, mainly to
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matt. 5:18
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:19
(It's common today to say that Jesus abolished all the Old Testament law, not just the sacrificial, ceremonial elements. How reassuring to have it from His own mouth that that is just not the case.)
And thou,
But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the
(Here is Jesus using the example of
But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. Mark 10:6
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; Mark 10:7
And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. Mark 10:8
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Mark 10:9
(They say: 'Jesus never said anything about homosexuality.' Well, as He is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, he wrote the whole Bible, including Genesis, Leviticus, Kings and the books of the Prophets like Ezekiel. So He said quite a lot about homosexuality. Here, He endorses the creation rule that men marry women and they become united as one flesh for life.)
Likewise also as it was in the days of
But the same day that Lot went out of
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. Luke 17:30
(Odd that. The men of
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son. John 5:22
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. John 7:24
(When we judge righteous judgment, we judge according to the eternal standards of God. That's what the followers of Jesus are called to do. Jesus is the righteous judge Himself, on the instructions of Almighty God, so that must make Him judgmental as well! At least by making judgments about right and wrong we are in good company.)
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, Rom. 1:22
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
(Idolatry doesn't always involve a statue of some pagan god or other. Every time you set something up higher than God, that's idolatry. If you set yourself up as a higher authority than God, which you do when you either go judgmental against God or His word in the Bible, you are an idolater. You're worshipping yourself.)
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
(There you are ‑ you are the creature and you are worshipping yourself instead of the Creator.)
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: Rom. 1:26
(Since Paul has been talking about creation, it is obvious that the word 'natural' means what God has put in place by His creation ‑ in the sexual context, the union of man and woman. This appears to be the only reference to lesbianism in the Bible, but it is highly significant because we live in exactly the sort of society Paul is describing ‑ one which has junked God and His laws and worshipped man and invented man‑made laws instead. And note that Paul does not say 'that which is against their nature, as some theologians try to get away with. He says 'against nature' and we are back with the created order again.)
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
(No‑one can pretend that this verse does not refer to and condemn male homosexuality, and the Apostle was quite familiar with homosexual relationships ‑ he was a Roman citizen. There is nothing new under the sun. So the best liberals can do is pick on a word further down the page, 'asunetos' in verse 31, in the midst of a whole list of evils ‑ which are all, incidentally, rife in Britain today. The word means literally 'unintelligent' and is translated in KJV as 'without understanding'. Then they say, 'look that's silly. God wouldn't condemn the stupid, so he won't condemn homosexuals or anyone else in the list of Romans 1:28‑31 either. Well, they are 'without understanding'! It is a moral foolishness Paul is referring to, just like he does in verse 22 above.)
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
(This list begins in this verse with the sexual sin of harlotry or fornication, which are synonymous in the mind of God, moves to idolatry, which as we saw from Romans is at the root of rebellion from God, goes on to adultery, which God often links to idolatry, and after that distinguishes two forms of homosexual. The word 'malakos', literally 'soft to the touch', can mean someone who is sick or someone who is expensively dressed. Here the context can only allow the third meaning, an effeminate homosexual or catamite. 'Abusers of themselves with mankind' is the Greek word 'arsenekoitai' ‑ literally 'man on couch' ‑ which is used to distinguish the active partner in a homosexual act.)
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor. 6:11
(“such were some of you” So there were even ‘ex-gays’ back then! It is a great joy to know that the Christians in
(It is impossible to deny that homosexual practice involves uncleanness.)
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Gal. 5:20
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Gal. 5:22
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Gal. 5:23
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: Col. 3:5
(There is 'uncleanness' again, and having got fornication out of the way, 'inordinate affection' must refer to homosexual practice.)
For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: Col. 3:6
In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. Col. 3:7
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Col. 3:8
Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 1 Tim. 1:9
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; 1 Tim. 1:10
('Whoremongers' comes from the Greek 'pornos' which means prostitute, and 'them that defile themselves with mankind' is that word 'arsenekoitai' again ‑ 'man on couch' ‑ the word Paul always uses to mean 'active homosexual man'.)
According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. 1 Tim. 1:11
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 1 Tim. 1:12
Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 1 Tim. 1:13
And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 1 Tim. 1:14
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 1 Tim. 1:15
Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. 1 Tim. 1:16
(So, if Paul was chief sinner, and did it ignorantly in unbelief, and was saved by the grace of Jesus, there is hope in Jesus for us all.)
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 1:7
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Rev. 21:8
(The abominable are those who do abominations, fairly obviously, and the standards of Almighty God have not dropped from when He described homosexual acts as ‘an abomination’ back in the days of Leviticus. Active homosexuals are not the only ones in the lake of fire, but in it, sadly, they are, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.)
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. Rev. 22:11
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Rev. 22:12
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Rev. 22:13
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Rev. 22:14
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. Rev. 22:15 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. Rev. 22:16
(Looking back to Deuteronomy 23:18, the ‘dogs’ are likely to be homosexuals as well. But it makes no difference if they are not. The filthy are outside heaven, with those who love and make a lie. Those in heaven are they that believe and trust in Jesus and “that do his commandments.” That’s not just His verbal ones in the Gospels, its His written ones in the Law as well. Active homosexual men and women don’t do His commandments, and will be left outside. It would be unfair to admit them, since righteousness and holiness are the hallmarks of heaven, and they will hate such an atmosphere. But thank God He is merciful. Anyone who turns from a life of sin, and calls on the name of Jesus will be saved right now, his name entered in the book of life. We have that from the same authority as everything on this page: The Holy Bible, the true word of Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.)
For a more indepth and scholarly look at this subject, go to this article by American Joe Dallas: http://www.leaderu.com/jhs/dallas.html