Gives נָתַן

We are in moving into chapter twenty of Leviticus with our word for today. נָתַן give, hand down, set, place, lay, put. It is used 2,010 times in the Old Testament, 4 times in our chapter. This is the word used for the very common word to give, transfer possession. This is how our word is used 4 times in our chapter. Leviticus 20:1-5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who יִתֵּ֧ן gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he נָתַ֣ן has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when בְּתִתּ֥וֹ he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech. Other translations like the NIV translate our word give as sacrifice. They do this because of the context and what Molech was all about. This is exactly what was going on it was giving over one’s child as a sacrifice to Molech. We have already looked at the words Molech and sacrifice previously. We have also seen that this practice was condemned by God with the strongest words that exist. And that it was the farthest thing from who God is and what God desires. It was evil whereas God is good. The other way our word is used in our chapter shows this extreme difference between Molech and YHWH. Leviticus 20:24 But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will אֶתְּנֶ֤נָּה give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations. Did you notice the difference. The false god Molek who is really just about being influenced by demons as we have seen, takes. He demands sacrifice. But God the true YWHW reality God gives. He is the one gives to his people. In the Old Testament the promise was the land. Now God gives us eternal life because God gave his own son to be the sacrifice for our sins. I’ll close with these great passages. Genesis 22:7-8 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 1 John 2:2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Romans 3:23-26 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.