MVP asked...
Why the singling out of homosexuals for death when, as you believe, ALL 'sexual immorality' is condoned as a sin?
@MVP
You, and many others, are wrong about this. The truth is that the Bible does not "single out" out homosexuals for death.
Your question reveals something about you MVP. Either you are ignorant of what the Bible says and don't care to learn. Or, you are purposefully deceitful, and choose to mislead people with your wrong teaching.
The Law of Moses was handed down only to the the descendants of Jacob, and was not given to non-Jews:
"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession." Deuteronomy 7:6
God calls for the Jewish tribe to set themselves apart from everyone else for God's special purpose:
"You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." Leviticus 20:26
God calls for them to set themselves apart, and to be clean and pure:
"For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves " Leviticus 11:44
All of the rituals of the Levitical priesthood, the prescribed sacrifices and ritual washings, the entirety of the Law of Moses can be summed up, all of them serving a single purpose, in a few short words:
"keep yourselves pure"
Because a "little bit of sin" is like a "little bit of yeast" that permeates the whole loaf, the descendants of Jacob (the Jews) were not to allow sin to abide within them. This was important to God, that sin be purged, removed, cast out and kept out.
Yes, the penalty for sin within the tribe of Israel was severe. Let's review penalties of some of the offenses:
for blasphemy: DEATH
for committing adultery: DEATH.
for gathering firewood on Saturday: DEATH.
for rejecting the verdict of a judge: DEATH
for witchcraft: DEATH
for a bride found not to be a virgin: DEATH
for striking one's mother or father: DEATH
for going near the tabernacle: DEATH
for fortunetelling: DEATH
for cursing one's mother or father: DEATH
These penalties were severe. The purpose of the penalties wasn't just punishment of the individual.
The ultimate purpose was to purge sin from Israel. Sin was not to be tolerated, or allowed to abide within the tribe.
"Such evil must be purged from Israel." Deuteronomy 17:12 (NLT)
"'I will set my face against the person ... and I will cut him off from his people." Leviticus 20:6
Any and all sin was to be cut off, to be cast away and kept out of the tribe. There is not "singling out" of homosexuals for death. Homosexual behavior within the tribe of Israel (according to God's word) was not accorded any special penalty.
You can choose to rail against God's morality. You can complain at the harshness of the penalties. You can resent that God identifies things as right and wrong.
You are free to choose. But you are not free to choose the consequences of your choice.
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