Chapter 19 contains a number of laws that are provided for the good of the individual and the good of the community as a whole. Some of these laws are given to help the people develop and maintain a good relationship with the Lord. Other laws are given to help the people respect and care about each other. It will take us several days to look at everything included in this chapter.
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.'" (Leviticus 19:1-2) The word translated into English as "holy" is the Hebrew "qadosh" which means "sanctified, set apart for a special purpose, separate, different". The Lord isn't saying to the Israelites, "Be perfect because I am perfect." He knows they can't be perfect while living in mortal human bodies in a fallen world. He's saying, "Be different because I am different. Don't be like the pagan tribes of the promised land. Don't be like the idolatrous citizens of Egypt. Don't be like any of the unbelieving tribes or nations anywhere in the world. You are My people and this should be reflected in the way you live." The laws given in Leviticus 19 are designed to help the Israelites achieve the goal of being different from the cultures of the world who do not serve the Lord as God.
As we move through this chapter we'll note that some of the laws are derived from the ten commandments. "Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe My Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 19:3-4) The first two of the ten commandments involve having no god but God and making no idols. The fourth commandment is an order to honor the Sabbath. The fifth commandment instructs people to respect their parents.
"When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. 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. If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because they have destroyed what is holy to the Lord; they must be cut off from their people." (Leviticus 19:5-8) We studied the regulations for the fellowship offering in Leviticus 7. In Leviticus 7:16-18 we learned that if a person brought a fellowship offering as the result of a vow or as a freewill offering, the meat could only be eaten on the first and second day. By the third day it was considered impure. The people had no refrigerators in which to preserve food. They had no springhouses in the desert to keep food cool. By the third day there would be too much bacteria, and possibly mold and even maggots, in certain types of quickly perishable items. It was an insult to the Lord to eat spoiled food in a fellowship meal (in which symbolically the Lord partakes along with the person). If the Lord came to our house in the flesh to sit down to dinner, would we serve Him meat that's three days old? No, not even in modern times when we can keep meat safely chilled for several days before it has to be discarded. We'd cook the finest, freshest food we have in the house for Him in order to honor our royal guest. When the people ate the meat on the third day it was like they served spoiled food to Him at the table. He says anyone who partakes in the offering on the third day is to be excommunicated because he has profaned the name of the Lord and has not regarded the Lord as holy.
"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of the field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 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." (Leviticus 19:9-10) The people aren't to be greedy. A person who makes sure to pick up every blade of wheat and every fallen grape can be compared to a person in modern times who pinches a penny until it squeals. Have you ever known anyone who is continually concerned with whether or not they pay a dime more than they think they should, or someone to whom it would almost literally cause pain if they had to donate money to any cause? The Lord is trying to prevent any of the citizens of Israel from turning into this kind of person. He wants them to care about their fellow man. The Lord has provided them with the harvest and with the fruit of the vine; if He had not given man everything he needs to make things grow, including rain, then man would have nothing. How dare man, then, begrudge the poor man and the weary traveler something to eat? Man didn't invent seeds and vines. Man didn't put the nutrients in the soil that are needed to make things grow. Man didn't invent rain and send it down from the skies. God did that. How then does man dare to behave as if he alone is responsible for his blessings? How does he dare to behave as if everything is his while allowing others to go hungry? A greedy spirit is an ungrateful spirit. A person who is grateful for their blessings is a person likely to share their blessings.
"Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord." (Leviticus 19:11-12) The eighth commandment orders people not to steal. What belongs to other people is not ours to take. The prohibition against being a liar and a deceiver is related to the ninth commandment, as is the prohibition against making false oaths. The ninth commandment says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." But here in Leviticus the Lord takes the ninth commandment a step further to include all forms of false witnessing. A lie is a lie, whether it's told in court under oath or whether it's spoken in conversation, which is why the Lord says, "Do not deceive one another."
It's difficult for us to ever trust a person again after we've caught them in a lie, isn't it? We can sometimes gloss over a lie that was told to spare our feelings, even though what's called a "white lie" is still a lie and still a sin. But the bigger the lie we've been told, the harder it is to repair our relationship with that person. Depending on the nature of the lie, and depending on what the lie was intended to cover up, we may never feel safe letting that person close to us again. The Lord is saying to the Israelites, "Don't be the kind of people that others can't trust. You are the people of God. Your word should be your bond. If you attest to the truth of something, it must actually be true. If you lie and deceive your fellow man then you're behaving just like the heathen peoples around you. No one will accept your testimony about Me if they can't trust the other things you say."
Join us tomorrow as the Lord instructs the people further about how to show love to their neighbors, to their employees, to the handicapped, and to the poor.
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