What is the meaning of Leviticus 20:6? Whoever turns The opening word “Whoever” reminds us that no one is exempt. Every Israelite—leader or laborer—was accountable for where he set his heart. Turning implies deliberate movement away from God’s revealed will. • Deuteronomy 30:19 records the same universal call: “I have set before you life and death… now choose life.” • Joshua 24:15 shows Joshua pressing the people to “choose this day whom you will serve.” God honors freedom, yet holds each person responsible for the direction chosen. to mediums or spiritists Mediums and spiritists were people who sought knowledge or power from the dead or evil spirits. Scripture repeatedly brands such practices an abomination. • Leviticus 19:31 says, “Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out.” • Deuteronomy 18:10-12 lists necromancy among practices the LORD detests. • Isaiah 8:19 asks, “Should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?” • Saul’s desperate visit to the medium at Endor (1 Samuel 28:7 ff) illustrates how rebellion leads to occult dependence. to prostitute himself with them God describes this pursuit in marital terms—spiritual adultery. Israel was His covenant bride; seeking other sources was betrayal. • Exodus 34:15 warns against making covenants with idolaters “and they prostitute themselves to their gods.” • Judges 2:17 laments that Israel “played the harlot after other gods.” • Hosea 4:12 pictures a people whose “spirit of prostitution has led them astray.” • James 4:4 applies the same truth to believers: “friendship with the world is hostility toward God.” Occultism is not harmless curiosity; it is an intimate unfaithfulness that wounds the heart of God. I will also set My face against that person The phrase signals active, personal opposition from the LORD. He is not indifferent; He becomes the adversary of the unrepentant offender. • Leviticus 17:10 uses identical wording for blood-eaters. • Psalm 34:16 affirms, “The face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” • Isaiah 1:15 shows God turning His face away from a sin-stained nation. • Ezekiel 14:7-8 warns idolaters that God will “set My face against that man.” When God’s face is against someone, blessing is cut off and discipline is certain. and cut him off from his people “Cut off” conveyed expulsion from the covenant community and, in many cases, an early death (Numbers 15:30-31). • Genesis 17:14 speaks of the uncircumcised male being “cut off from his people.” • Exodus 12:15 declares the same for eating leaven during Passover. • Leviticus 18:29 applies it to sexual immorality. The penalty underscores how seriously God values spiritual purity. Tolerating occultism would infect the whole nation, so removal protected both the people and the offender from deeper judgment. summary Leviticus 20:6 crystalizes God’s zero-tolerance policy toward occult involvement. Any person—without exception—who deliberately seeks forbidden spiritual power commits covenant infidelity. The LORD responds by turning His face against the offender and excluding him from the life of the community. These stern words call us to exclusive loyalty to the living God, trusting His guidance alone and rejecting every counterfeit source of spiritual insight. |
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