Leviticus 18

Chapter 18 deals with a topic that you don't want to bring up in polite conversation: vomiting (verses 25 and 28). Vomit is undeniably disgusting, and its noisome odor can make you want to upchuck yourself, but God's not talking about humans barfing. He's talking about land barfing, so disgusted with its inhabitants that it spews them out as violently as the girl in The Exorcist did when she turned her mouth into a Super Soaker for puréed peas.

Vomiting is, of course, the focus of this chapter, but as a side note, God also mentions all those commandments about sex. In all honesty, the vast majority of them make sense, especially the ones dealing with incest and bestiality. Scientifically, we know that inbreeding has adverse effects on the offspring, as the lack of genetic variation makes one more susceptible to recessive genetic disorders. (And the topic of genetics brings us back full circle to peas via Gregor Mendel.) Even the laws that don't deal with blood relations, like verses 14 and 15, are just common sense. Even if you're not related to a family member by blood (consanguine, to use a fancy scientific word), you don't have sexual relations with your parent's sibling's spouse or your daughter-in-law. You just don't.

More troubling, though, is the implication that all these practices were de rigueur for most of Israel's neighbors. (Yes, I know they're technically not called Israel yet, but what else am I going to call them? The Tribe of String Cheese? The Knights Who Say "Ni"?)  They may have just left Egypt, where such deplorable incestuous practices may have been commonplace, but their neighbors in Canaan also accept such practices (verse 3). The Israelites may be tempted to think, "When in Canaan, do as the Canaanites do," but God calls His people to a higher standard.

How are these regulations relevant in an age when the vast majority of us understand that incest is a no-no? I think the answer may lie in this concept of the higher standard, which also relates to the "in the world but not of the world" message of John 17. Christians do not automatically behave better than others, but knowing that Christ is in us, we should. We are not made superior people because we choose to believe in Christ. Instead, Christ in us makes us the best we can be (he said sententiously).