Leviticus 19

In his famous commencement address given at Harvard University on June 7, 1978, Russian novelist and social critic Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, “I have spent all my life under a Communist regime, and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one is not quite worthy of man either.’’

With all due respect to hardworking legislators, judges, law-enforcement officers, and lawyers, I agree with Solzhenitsyn; it takes more than good laws to make good people and a good society. In our world today, not everything that’s legal is moral or biblical. Some human activities that courts sanction and society defends, God will one day judge as abominable sin.

Leviticus 17—20 constituted a legal code for the people of Israel, touching on many areas of their personal and public life. The emphasis isn’t simply on justice or civic righteousness, as important as they are, but on holiness. After all, Israel was God’s people and the law was God’s law. The Lord said to them, “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you’’ (20:7–8 nkjv).

The motivation for Israel’s obedience had to be more than fear of punishment. The people also needed in their hearts a desire to please God and a determination to be a holy people who would bring glory to His name (Ex. 19:3–6). Obeying the law and having holy character aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Twenty-four times in these four chapters you find the declaration, “I am the Lord!’’ God was giving His people divine laws that expressed His holy will, laws that He expected them to respect and obey. While obedience to the law isn’t God’s way of salvation (Rom. 3:19–20; Gal. 3:21–29), a love for holiness and a desire to obey and please God are certainly evidences that we are the children of God (1 John 3:1ff.).

These chapters deal with four special areas of life that must be respected and kept holy: the sanctity of blood, or life (chap. 17); the sanctity of sex (chap. 18); the sanctity of the law (chap. 19); and the sanctity of judgment (chap. 20).

In chapter 19, the Ten Commandments are applied to various areas of life; in chapter 20, the penalties are stated that must be imposed on those who disobey His commandments. God expected His people to take His law seriously and to apply the penalties obediently and without favoritism.

The regulations given in chapter 19 aren’t arranged in any discernible order, but the one thing that ties them together is their relationship to the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–17), which is the basis for all Jewish law and should be the basis for all moral law. Perhaps the easiest way to classify these laws is to see them in their relationship to God, to others, and to things.

Precepts relating to God. Since He is a holy God, we must be a holy people (Lev. 19:1–2). We’ve noted that the phrase “I am the Lord your God’’ is repeated over forty times in Leviticus 18—26 to remind us that we belong to Him. He warns us, “Fear your God: I am the Lord’’ (19: nkjv). Note that God calls these laws “my statutes’’ and “my ordinances’’ (v. 37), that the Sabbath is “my Sabbath’’ (vv. 3, 30) and the tabernacle is “my sanctuary’’ (v. 30). The law brings sinful people into the presence of a sovereign God who has every right to tell us what is right and wrong.

Honoring the Sabbath (vv. 3, 30) reminded them of the fourth commandment (Ex. 20:8–11) and of the fact that the Sabbath was a special “sign’’ between God and Israel (31:13–17; Neh. 9:13–14). When we study Leviticus 23, we’ll discover that Jewish life was based on a system of sevens, beginning with the seventh day. Violating the Sabbath Day was a capital offense (Num. 15:32–36).

The law against idolatry (Lev. 19:4) focuses on both the first and second commandments (Ex. 20:2–6), and it carried the death penalty (Lev. 20:1–5). We could include here the prohibition against indulging in the occult (vv. 26, 31), a form of idolatry that Scripture clearly condemns (Deut. 13:1–5; 18:9–22).

Leviticus 19:5–8 emphasizes the importance of following God’s instructions for worship. He told them how to present the peace offering (3:1–17; 7:11–21), and He expected them to obey. We can also include 19:27–28, which are prohibitions against imitating the practices of unbelievers. Christians today may consider styles and fashions morally neutral, but this isn’t always the case. While Christians shouldn’t look like they came from “out of this world,’’ they certainly ought not to imitate the world. “Be not conformed to this world’’ (Rom. 12:2).

The name of the Lord (v. 12) is sacred and must never be used blasphemously or in an oath that the person has no intention of fulfilling. This is the import of the third commandment (Ex. 20:7). If we fear the Lord, we’ll respect His name and sincerely pray, “Hallowed be Thy name’’ (Matt. 6:9).

Precepts relating to others. These begin with respect for one’s parents (Lev. 19:3), which is the fifth commandment (Ex. 20:12; Matt. 15:3–6; Eph. 6:1–4). Related to this is respect for the aged (Lev. 19:32), for God is concerned about the elderly (Isa. 46:4; 1 Tim. 5:1–2, 4, 8; 1 Peter 5:5), and we should be too. God is also concerned for those with physical handicaps (Lev. 19:14). Jesus healed the blind and the deaf; we can’t do that, but we can help protect them and enable them to live better lives. God is also concerned for strangers in our midst (vv. 33–34), and He often reminded the Jews that they had been strangers in Egypt (Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 25:23; Deut. 10:19). When you consider the thousands of foreign students who attend our colleges and universities, a mission field at our doorstep, this admonition becomes even more significant.

God’s concern for the poor and needy is seen in the “harvest laws’’ (Lev. 19:9–10; see 23:22; Deut. 23:24–25; 24:19–22; Ruth 2). It is also seen in the regulation about wages (Lev. 19:13). Since workers were paid daily, any delay would cause hardship (Deut. 24:14–15; James 5:4), and employers must never take advantage of their employees. Rich and poor stand equal before God and the law, and justice must not be partial (Lev. 19:15; see Ex. 23:3), because God hears the cries of the poor when they are oppressed (Ps. 82:3–4). The nation must be careful to have just weights and measures, lest unscrupulous merchants rob innocent people (Lev. 19:35–36; see Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:10, 23; Amos 8:5; Mic. 6:10–11).

The eighth commandment says, “You shall not steal’’ (Ex. 20: nkjv); the ninth commandment warns against lying (v. 16), and both are included in Leviticus 19:11. Respect for truth and for property is the foundation for a just and orderly society. The liar and talebearer (v. 16) is a menace to public safety and peace, particularly if he or she is a lying witness in court.

Sexual morality is demanded in verses 20–22 and 29. The phrase “she shall be scourged’’ is translated “there must be due punishment’’ in the NIV, which could mean the offender had to pay the woman’s fiance an amount of money. It is difficult to understand why a Jewish father would want his daughter to become a prostitute in a pagan temple (v. 29; Deut. 23:17). Both of these laws apply to the seventh commandment, “You shall not commit adultery’’ (Ex. 20: nkjv).

Getting along with people, especially our neighbors, isn’t a matter of obeying laws but of having love in our hearts (Lev. 19:18). “Love is the fulfilling of the law’’ (Rom. 13:10). The new commandment to love one another helps us handle human relationships and treat people the way God treats us (John 13:34–35).

Precepts relating to things. The strange regulation in Leviticus 19: seems to prohibit imitating practices related to heathen worship, or, it may simply be a reminder that Israel is a separated people. Hebrew scholar R. Laird Harris translates the first clause, “Do not make your animals fall down with an unequal yoke.’’ This would parallel Deuteronomy 22:10. It would be cruel to yoke to the same heavy load two animals of unequal stature and strength.

That God is concerned about ecology is seen in Leviticus 19:23–25, and note also Deuteronomy 20:19–20. Fruit, of course, can’t be “circumcised’’; the word simply means “forbidden.’’ By the fourth year, the fruit would be more mature, since it would be the third crop since planting; this belonged to God. The firstfruits should always be His (Prov. 3:9–10).