by Kyle Pope
Synopsis: While the homosexual lifestyle is widely promoted today, it has always been inconsistent with God's plan and purpose. Kyle surveys this subject, noting that the ancients (like moderns) sought to justify such behavior as sacred and holy.
In Deuteronomy 23:17, God commanded the Israelites, "There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel" (NKJV). The word translated "perverted one" in this text is the Hebrew word qedesh, meaning "temple prostitute (man)" (BDB, 873). The old King James and American Standard versions rendered this term "sodomite" because of the fact that qedeshim (in the plural) were usually ones "practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals" (footnote from NKJV).
In much of the ancient world, homosexual temple prostitution was quite common. Many in ancient Canaan saw it as something good. When God revealed the above prohibition to Moses, He was condemning something that the world of Moses's day would have seen as an act of religious piety. Ironically, this very word comes from the root qdsh which means "separated, or holy" (BDB, 871). Such a person was (as their world saw it) a "sacred person, temple prostitute" (Koehler, 826). It is God who told the Israelites that this was not holy, but instead, an abomination to Him (see Deut. 23:18).
Despite this prohibition, the Israelites, on various occasions, allowed this very practice to occur. When Rehoboam, Solomon's son, reigned, the Bible tells us, "And there were also perverted persons (qedeshim) in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel" (1 Kings 14:24). The Israelites even corrupted their own religious practices to allow this practice in their false worship. This is evident from what the Bible tells us about the reforms of Josiah, of whom it says, ". . . tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons (qedeshim) that were in the house of the Lord. . ." (2 Kings 23:7). As difficult as it is to consider, God's chosen people had become so wicked that they had come to the point of committing homosexual acts with male prostitutes in the temple courts itself and imagining that it was holy!
In August of 2003, the Episcopal Church appointed their first-openly practicing homosexual as a bishop. This denomination long ago abandoned any pretense of following and respecting biblical authority. In their teachings and practice, they in no way resemble the Lord's church that is described in the New Testament. Even so, they continue to appeal to the name of Jesus and call themselves "Christians." Scripture teaches, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Tim. 2:19). Can I consider myself a "Christian" if I continue in behavior that the Lord condemns?
As the years have passed, more and more religious groups have come to accept homosexual behavior, with a multitude of preachers, members, and religious leaders openly embracing it. Years ago, when this first made the news, an Episcopalian bishop stood in front of a building called "St. Paul's Church," defending this appointment by saying that it is only people's "interpretation" that the Bible condemns homosexuality. I don't think the apostle Paul would agree with this! Some of the strongest prohibitions against homosexuality in Scripture were penned by the apostle Paul (see Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:8-11). No church that truly follows Paul's teaching can accept this sinful practice.
When I first learned about all of this, I was reminded of the Israelites. Isaiah warned, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isa. 5:20). Our world may not yet have come to the point that the Israelites did, but with events such as this occurring and "religious" leaders twisting and ignoring Scripture to defend it, I wonder, how long will it be before our world reaches that point? "'All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.' Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you" (1 Pet. 1:24-25). May God's people retain the courage and the love for the Lord and His word to cling to the truth no matter how far away from it our world turns.
Brown, Francis, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs. Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1958.
< p>Author-Bio: Kyle preaches for the Olsen Park Church of Christ in Amarillo, TX. He has written several books published by Truth Publications including How We Got the Bible. The church website is olsenpark.com. He can be reached at kmpope@att.net.
