The Holiness Code:
This section of Leviticus repeatedly states the mantra: “Be holy as I the Lord your God is holy.”  All must bring sacrifices to the Meeting Tent, and sacrifice to Yahweh alone.  There must be no sacrifices outside in the wilderness to the “goat demons,” satyrs, and other such pagan practices.  For serious sins the person will receive a “kharat” severe punishment, that is, either: excommunication and cut-off from the camp, or the death penalty. Leviticus gives 19 different instances where kharat punishment is recommended.  These include things like missing the Sabbath, drinking blood, idolatry to Molech, illicit sexual relations, etc.  Some sins are so grave that they “defile the land,” and nothing else is left to be done than to wipe all inhabitants clean from the land. No incest, no adultery, no fornication, no homosexual relations, and no bestiality.  These are called abominations.  “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination.” (Lev. 18:22) The Hebrews consider these contrary to Creation-order, or contrary to pro-creation.  They are contrary to the design the way the Creator intended them. The Hebrews were very pro-family and pro-life, and followed what Catholics call “Natural Law.” Our morality displayed in the design of nature.  For example, male and female are made with a complementary way for reproduction. Anything against that complementariness is against Natural Law, or against the created order of things.  It is against the way the Creator designed it.  Leviticus, like Genesis and other parts of the Bible, use the idiomatic phrase to “see the nakedness” or “uncover the nakedness of” someone, means essentially to have sex with that person.  So, when Ham “sees the nakedness” of Noah, he actually has incestuous sex with Noah’s wife, Ham’s own mother.  For that sin, Noah curses Canaan, the apparent offspring of Ham and his mother.  Hence, the cursed Canaanites are a troublesome people for the Israelites throughout their history.

Lev.19: the “Mini-Torah”:
This chapter mirrors the statements of the Ten Commandments and re-emphasizes them again.  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18) These words were quoted by Jesus as part of the summation of the Commandments, along with the Shema.  It also adds other admonitions: “Do not practice divination or soothsaying.” (v.26); “Do not go to mediums or consult fortune-tellers, for you will be defiled by them.” (v.31) These occult practices are to open oneself up to influence by other “gods” or demonic spirits.

Lev. 20: Prohibitions on Other Various Sins:
“Anyone . . who gives any of his offspring to Molech shall be put to death. Let his fellow citizens stone him.” (Lev. 20:2)  Then, a litany of sins and death penalties follow, particularly for breaking the Ten Commandments.  “Anyone who curses his father or mother shall be put to death.” (v.9)  “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives.” (v.13)  “If a man has carnal relations with an animal, the man shall be put to death, and the animal shall be slain.” (v.15)  Yahweh then warns them to observe all His statutes lest the land “will vomit you out.” (v.22)  “Do not conform, therefore, to the customs of the nations whom I am driving out of your way, because all these things that they have done have filled me with disgust for them.” (v.23)

Summing Up the Holiness Code:
“But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who have separated you from the peoples. You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” (Lev. 20:24-26) Holiness is about distinctiveness. Don’t do what the pagans do. Yahweh is about life, completeness, wholeness, perfection. If we want to share this living space with God, this sacred space, we must conform to His life, wholeness, completeness and perfection. God chooses to be in relation with us. He made a Covenant with the Israelites, and ultimately, with us. We must be holy as God is holy.