Homosexuality in the Church Pt. 2

Homosexuality In The Church

Archived on December 4th, 2004

Part II - The Commandment and the Temple

Let's begin our look into what the Word of God says about homosexuality and how it has been in the "church" for a long time. Beginning in the Old Testament, the true foundation of the Christian Faith.
Leviticus 18:22
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
A second witness follows:
Leviticus 20:13
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
It's plain and simple, if a man lies down in a sexual way with another man, it is an abomination to God. Once again, Lust conceives sin. It is no other thing, but lust. Nothing natural or innate about wanting to have sex with another man. Are you dead or alive? A follower of the flesh or, a follower of Yahshua that bought you for an awesome price?!?!?!
He is the Word, will you heed His word and become a doer of it, not just a hearer. Obey and be blessed. Repent, turn from this abomination and Father will forgive.
He has commanded that we do not have homosexual relationships, so will you not obey Him? If you won't, then you are not living, but dead.
Now, as time marched on, the people began disobeying God and committing the abominations he told them not to do. There is nothing new under the sun, everything has already happened in one form or another. This includes open homosexuality in the Church. Once again, I emphasize: If you are struggling with homosexuality, and know that it is wrong and want to change, then God loves you and will give you a way to resist that temptation. However; If you are open about it, AND express that you think that "being gay is a blessing from God", then you are a child of the darkness. Repent and come into the light. Churches who allow these people to be leaders in the church, are churches who are not in the Will of God and will receive their just reward in that great day of judgement. Just like those who were found near the temple during the reign of Josiah. These events occur in II Kings Chapter 22:1-23:8 and I want to take you on a verse by verse journey through these scriptures, because they have an important parallel in the churches of today.
2 Kings 22:1-23:8
(1) Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
(2) And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
So here we have Josiah, his name means founded of Yah or BY Yah. In fact, he laid his foundation in Yah, the God of Abraham, his fathers before him.
(3) And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying,
(4) Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people:
Shaphan was to go to the high priest and collect the tithes that had been brought in from the people.
(5) And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,
(6) Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.
They were going to give it to those who repaired and kept up the House, the Temple of the Lord to repair it after years of neglect. In other words; King Josiah was about to clean house.
(7) Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.
They gave the money to them and didn't try to plot against them for the money, because they knew they were dealing righteously with them.
(8) And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
Ole Shaphan must have been amazed at the book, it had not been read in a long time, especially by the leaders, sound familiar? even the priests in the temple had the book, but never read it, never studied it to see what it contained.
Unfortunately; this is all to true for today's religious community as well.
(9) And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.
(10) And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
So Shaphan, told Josiah about the book of the law, the Torah and read it to King Josiah. When someone reads the Word of God and what he has commanded, and they want to do right in his eyes, Do they simply cast it aside and say,"well it's alright, we'll keep doing what we are doing. God doesn't mind, it's a blessing."?? NO!
Because if God has taught against it and we have been doing it, then we should have learned that we sin, that we transgress the law and should feel sorrowful and repent just like Josiah.
(11) And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
(12) And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying,
(13) Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
Josiah was highly upset, Shaphan read the commandments and statues and ordinances and Josiah realized that they had been committing sins against Jah all this time. Josiah wanted to have a foundation in God, to do what he has commanded. Not what the religious community wanted to do, or what was politically correct, but what was right to do in the Lord's eyes.
(14) So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her.
(15) And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
(16) Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:<
(17) Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
Father had already said that he would lead them away into captivity and scatter them among the nations. They burned incense to other gods, they totally left the true way that had been shown their Fathers. So God would visit his wrath upon them.
(18) But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
(19) Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.
(20) Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
God heard Josiah, and loved Josiah for wanting to build that foundation in Him. So he would give him rest, and would allow him to die before he brought his wrath upon Israel.
Now Josiah is about to really clean some house here. We will see some of the things they were doing in the house of God all the time thinking nothing of it. II Kings Chapter 23.
(1) And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
(2) And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
(3) And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
Josiah brought all the people before the temple and read the Torah to them. The people themselves agreed to follow these laws. To keep the covenant made with their fathers.
(4) And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
The priests brought out all the idols, ritual items belonging to the worship of Baal or Bel. A phonecian deity who was brought in, during the time of Moses even, through the Midianites.
We also see here, that they were to take out all those things used during worship. Some of these relate to the worship of Asherah, or Ashtoreth, who was female divinity in relation to Baal. These were the forerunner of the Easter rituals that are practiced today in the church.
The rolling of eggs, and hunting them are traced back to the ancient fertility rites of this religion. Brought into the Christian church by Contstantinople.
They took all of these idols and items used in the rituals and burned them, then carried the ashes and dumped them.
(5) And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
Notice they were worshipping Planets, Angels, and various other things that were not the true God. They had turned the house of God into a house of whoredoms. Remember, idolatry is the spiritual twin of Adultery.
(6) And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
Here we see the images and other items being destroyed and their ashes being spread over the graves of those who worshipped them. Amazing how people will worship something that can be burned and destroyed by their own hands.
Now we are about to see the main reason we came here...
(7) 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.
Here we see that the "houses of the sodomites" were torn down. What are these houses and who are these sodomites?
The word "house" is the Hebrew word, bayith, transliterated that would be Beth. A house or dwelling.
Now the Hebrew word translated into "sodomites" is the hebrew H6945: a quasi-sacred person, i.e. a male devotee(by prositution) to licentious idolatry.
We have here those that pretended to be sacred or were protrayed as being holy, yet they were involved in some very abominable heresies directly transgressing the laws of God. Selling themselves even. These are male prostitutes, male concubines. This in the temple of the living God! Allowing those who will lie down with anything to service in the house of God. Yet Josiah broke down their little party and brought it back under submission to God.
Oh stifnecked people, better start doing the Will of God, follow His words, not the words of man. Come out of idolatry and remove sin from the house of the Lord.
You see, this same thing is happening now. Every week it seems some church has brought another homosexual behind the podium. If they would confess that what they do is wrong then it would be different, but they declare their homosexuality as a gift from God.
Do you think God would give something to someone that He Himself condemns! O Wicked and adulterous generation, who shall save you from the wrath to come?!?!?!
Only Jesus can, repent, turn your back to that disgraceful act and follow the truth of the Father.
(8) And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
So Josiah repented, and brought the whole kingdom back under the wisdom of God. He destroyed all the abominations in the House of the Lord and began the true way of worship again.
This is a much needed lesson to the churches today. So many have strayed from that path of truth. Not only in homosexuality but in many other acts.
This "reformation" would not last long, mankind has and always will turn to the path of sin, the lusts of the flesh. That is the nature of the flesh, to appease the desires thereof.Yet we have one who can cleanse from those things, if we only believe in Him and confess our sins to Him with our mouth.
Now let's continue this journey into the New Testament and see why homosexulaity is not acceptable in the church, under today's covenant.

| Part I: The Introduction | Part III - The New Covenant and The Church |

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Note: I do not hate those who follow the homosexual lifestyle. But I do not condone it, either.
If you claim to be a follower of Christ, and continue in this sin, please consider this teaching.
We all sin, and fall short of the glory of God. Repent and change, to conform to the image of Christ, which is pleasing to God.