All sacrifices had to be brought to the tent of meeting, not just sacrificed anywhere they liked. In fact if someone made a sacrifice in some other place they were guilty and were to be cut off from the people. Today there is a lot of talk about "spirituality" and "faith", and a tendency to think that any form of "spirituality" or "faith" has value. It does not. Faith and spirituality are of value only if they are faith in Christ and Godly spirituality.
Why were there commands against these things? Because the people had been offering things to goat idols and prostituting themselves. Wrong sorts of "spirituality" lead to wrong sorts of behaviour.
There have already been some instructions against eating blood, now we get more specific about the reason, namely that the life is in the blood, and it was for atonement.
Chapter 18 lists a whole load of forbidden sexual practices. The Israelites were to be different from other people, they were not to follow the sexual practices of the other people. Likewise we must not follow the immorality of the present age.
If we keep the Lord's commands we will live by them. God's commands are not arbitrary, but will bring life.
First there is prohibition on sexual relations with close relatives, something that is still observed today.
Then there are prohibitions on sacrificing children. We need to be very wary today about the increasing sexualisation of children, it is wrong and destructive.
Homesexual acts are forbidden. Whatever the laws of the land might say, the Bible is clear that homosexual acts are wrong.
Sex acts with animals are also forbidden.
Sexual immorality defiles a people and defiles a nation. It matters, and we should pray for the nation that we live in.
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