Leviticus 19:1-18 - Law and Order

How do we know what OT laws to keep or set aside?

Image Credit: Ivan Bandura via Unsplash

Leviticus 19:1–18 (NIV)

19 The LORD said to Moses, ² “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

³ “ ‘Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

⁴ “ ‘Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

⁵ “ ‘When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the LORD, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. ⁶ It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up. ⁷ If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. ⁸ Whoever eats it will be held responsible because they have desecrated what is holy to the LORD; they must be cut off from their people.

⁹ “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

¹¹ “ ‘Do not steal.

“ ‘Do not lie.

“ ‘Do not deceive one another.

¹² “ ‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

¹³ “ ‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.

“ ‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.

¹⁴ “ ‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.

¹⁵ “ ‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

¹⁶ “ ‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

“ ‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD.

¹⁷ “ ‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.

¹⁸ “ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Belgic Confession

Article 25: The Fulfillment of the Law

We believe

that the ceremonies and symbols of the law have ended

with the coming of Christ,

and that all foreshadowings have come to an end,

so that the use of them ought to be abolished

among Christians.

Yet the truth and substance of these things

remain for us in Jesus Christ,

in whom they have been fulfilled.

Nevertheless,

we continue to use the witnesses

drawn from the law and prophets

to confirm us in the gospel

and to regulate our lives with full integrity

for the glory of God,

according to his will.

Summary

We probably could have picked any of the remaining chapters of Leviticus to dive into today, for they're all quite similar to one another. But here in this 19th chapter, the LORD makes clear why it is that He has so many laws for His people:

Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Here's how one Hebrew dictionary defines what it means for a person to be holy:

Being unique and pure in the sense of superior moral qualities and possessing certain essential divine qualities in contrast with what is human.

It's not surprising to see words like pure and moral in that definition - especially the way that morality is framed: that it's superior. This is the way holiness is often caricatured in our society - as viewing your own ethical choices as being better than those around you. But if everyone is their own judge and definer of what holiness is, then everybody will naturally see their own morality as superior.

This is why it's so critical to understand the second component of this definition - that holiness involves possessing certain essential divine qualities. In other words, your morality must be patterned after God's. Not only must your choices reflect what God has defined as good and right, but the way you enact those choices must embody God's character: His love, mercy, justice, and goodness.

  Dig Deeper  

It can be hard to read from books like Leviticus because it can seem so... so irrelevant. After all, when's the last time you've heard of somebody who was cut off from their people because they ate leftovers more than three days old? And it doesn't really make sense to not harvest our land to the very edges of our field. The poor and foreigners aren't going to come to glean our corn and beans!

Our Confession can bring some clarity here. Some of the particular aspects of the Old Testament Law are no longer binding on Christians, but the truth and substance of these things remain.

God's Law can often categorized. Some of it is applicable to the civil realm. Many of these laws were designed for a particular people in a particular place at a particular time, not for universal application. Much of God's Law had a ceremonial aspect to it, which, as the Confession describes it, symbolized and foreshadowed the coming of Christ. Since Christ has come, the use of them ought to be abolished among Christians.

But even civil and ceremonial laws have moral components. We need not leave a couple of rows of corn standing on the edge of our field, but our society must maintain a strong social safety net. And so many of the Law's provisions are completely in the moral category and very much still applicable: Do not steal, lie, deceive, defraud, curse, pervert justice, spread slander, or hold back wages.

Categorizing God's Law isn't always easy, and often times good Christians will come to very different conclusions about how an Old Testament law applies to us still or doesn't. But remember, our motivation isn't to check off boxes or just stay legal. Our motivation is to look as much like God as we can. We must be holy, because the LORD our God is holy. And such a lifestyle will always "contrast with what is human."

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the LORD, who is holy;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for giving us His Law, and pray for the wisdom to properly live it out in holiness;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

---