What is the meaning of Leviticus 18:24?

Do not defile yourselves

Leviticus 18 opens with the Lord calling His people to live differently from Egypt and Canaan. Here He makes the call personal—“Do not defile yourselves.”

• Defilement is spiritual contamination, not mere ritual uncleanness (1 Corinthians 6:18–20).

• Holiness is expected of every believer (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15-16).

• Obedience is the safeguard; when God says “Do not,” He protects rather than restricts (Psalm 19:7-11).

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by any of these practices

The practices are the specific sexual sins listed in verses 6-23.

• “Any” removes loopholes—nothing on that list is negotiable (James 2:10).

• God’s moral law is consistent across covenants (Matthew 5:27-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).

• Purity protects families and society from chaos (Proverbs 14:34).

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for by all these things

God now explains the “why.”

• Sin has measurable consequences; nothing is harmless or private (Galatians 6:7-8).

• The wording stresses totality—“all” the listed acts were practiced (Romans 1:24-27).

• Judgment is never arbitrary; it rests on accumulated, unrepented sin (Genesis 15:16).

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the nations I am driving out before you

Israel is about to occupy Canaan, but God is the One displacing its inhabitants.

• The land is His to give or reclaim (Exodus 19:5; Psalm 24:1).

• This is divine courtroom language: God is both Judge and Executor (Acts 17:30-31).

• Israel’s presence is tied to obedience; later disobedience brings their own exile (Deuteronomy 28:63-66).

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have defiled themselves

Canaan’s culture did not merely contain sin; it was permeated by it.

• Self-corruption precedes divine expulsion (Leviticus 18:25; 2 Kings 17:7-18).

• Moral decay always works from the inside out; judgment is the final stage, not the first (2 Chronicles 36:15-17).

• God’s warning to Israel doubles as a timeless warning to every nation (Proverbs 14:35; Revelation 18:4-5).

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summary

Leviticus 18:24 is God’s loving call to personal holiness, reinforced by the sobering example of nations that ignored Him. The verse ties purity to divine blessing, showing that defilement brings judgment while obedience sustains life and inheritance.