36. The Expulsion (Leviticus 18:24-30)

• Jun, 23 2025

Chapter Thirty-Six Summary: The Expulsion (Leviticus 18:24–30) Rushdoony on Defilement, Judgment, and the Land’s Moral ResponseThis closing passage of Leviticus 18 contains one of the Bible’s most solemn warnings: if God’s laws are defied, the land itself will expel its inhabitants. Rushdoony draws out the full theological and historical significance of this truth, connecting it to Eden, the Flood, Israel's exiles, and modern civilizational collapse. 🔑 Key Themes and Insights 1. Double Defilement = Divine VomitingTwo things are defiled:Man defiles himself through sinThe land is then defiled through man’s moral pollutionThe result? The land “vomits out” its inhabitants (vv. 25, 28).“The people become a poison to the land, and the land therefore vomits out the people.” – RushdoonyThis is no poetic metaphor—it’s a spiritual law woven into creation. Sin alters not just personal destiny, but the very relationship between people and their environment. 2. God’s Judgment Is Impartial and UniversalRace, nationality, and covenant identity offer no immunity:Canaanites were expelledIsrael could be expelled (and later was)Any nation that defiles itself may face the same fate“Divisions which are important to men are unimportant to God: His law is.”God's judgment is covenantal, not cultural. 3. The Earth Responds to SinRushdoony—citing Genesis 3, Leviticus 26, Isaiah 24, and Jeremiah 6—argues that the land reacts to sin physically and judicially:Droughts, poor harvests, disease, or war may follow societal rebellionProsperity and blessing follow obedience (Lev. 26:4; Deut. 11:17)This is a biblical worldview where ecology, ethics, and eschatology are interwoven.“The physical condition of the land… depends upon the moral conduct of man.” – C. D. Ginsburg4. The Land as a Witness and Agent of JudgmentRushdoony highlights the striking idea: the land is not a passive victim of man’s sin—it’s an agent of God's judgment. It spues out the defilers.Drawing from African tribal customs involving poison ordeals, he notes that innocence is revealed when the body quickly vomits poison—mirroring the land’s rejection of moral corruption.“Central to this fact of vomiting out a poison was innocence… The land is innocent. The transgression… is by man.”5. Historical Fulfillment of the Expulsion PrincipleFrom Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden to the judgment of the Flood, and from Israel’s exile to the fall of modern nations, Rushdoony traces a pattern of divine response to lawlessness.Examples include:Eden → exile (Gen. 3)The Flood → global reset (Gen. 6–9)Canaanites → destroyed (Lev. 18:27)Israel → exiled (Jer. 6, 7, 8)Modern West? → currently under judgment“The judgment promised in Leviticus 18:24–30 is one often repeated in Scripture in word and deed.”6. Application to ModernityRushdoony sees direct parallels between ancient judgment and today’s decadence—especially with societies that:Celebrate sodomyReject God’s lawEmbrace statism and moral relativism“Today, also, these judgments apply to an age arrogant in sin and given to making saints out of sodomites.”Unless repentance and obedience to God's law return, modern cultures too will be spued out—politically, ecologically, or even existentially. 📌 SEO KeywordsLeviticus 18:24–30 explainedRushdoony on the land vomiting outsin defiles the landbiblical environmental theologyexpulsion from Eden and the landmoral pollution and judgmentcovenant and ecology in LeviticusChristian response to cultural collapsespiritual cause of national declineland judgment in the Bible🧭 Practical ImplicationsPersonal sin leads to national consequencesEcological crisis may be spiritual in originNations are accountable to God’s lawJudgment begins when the land revoltsRevival requires return to covenant obedience📖 Summary Quote“Because they had defiled themselves and the land, the Lord would cast them out of the land. Because there was a breach between God and the people, there would soon follow a breach between the land and the people.”

Author

R.J. Rushdoony

Chalcedon Founder

Narrated by

Nathan F. Conkey

Narrator, teacher, missionary