Chapter 19

Holiness in Personal Conduct

    • The Lord told Moses to tell the Israelites, “Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” and to give them the following instructions:

        • Guzik writes, “The idea behind the word holy is ‘separate.’ As it is applied to God, it describes God’s apartness. It means that God is different than man and from all other beings in the greatness and majesty of His attributes. He has a righteousness unlike any other; a justice unlike any other; a purity unlike any other – and love, grace, and mercy unlike any other… Part of this idea is that God is not merely a super-man; His being and character are divine, not human…Being holy means being like God, separating ourselves unto Him and His truth – and naturally, separating ourselves from those things that are not like Him and not according to His truth.”

      • “Respect your mother and father. Keep My Sabbaths, don’t worship idols or make idols for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.”

        • Guzik notes, “The word for idols literally means nothings. Idols represent gods that are not real and do not really exist…Israel had significant trouble with the worship of idols until the Babylonian captivity (some 800 years from the time of Leviticus). The attraction was not so much to the molded gods themselves, than as to what they represented – financial success, pleasure, and self-worship…After the Babylonian captivity, Israel was cured of gross idolatry of molded gods and began a more insidious form of idolatry – idolatry of the nation itself, idolatry of the temple and its ceremonies, and an idolatry of tradition.”

      • “When you make a peace offering to the Lord, be sure you do it correctly so that it will be accepted. The sacrifice must be eaten within two days of offering it. If anything is left over on the 3rd day, it must be burned. If anyone eats the sacrifice on the third day I won’t accept it, and the person will be punished for defiling something that is holy to the Lord and cut off from the community.”

        • “A peace offering (signifying the enjoyment of peace with God and fellowship) was always to be made by one’s own free will. God did not want coerced fellowship from the people of Israel.” (Guzik)

      • “When you harvest your crops, don’t harvest the grain along the edges of your fields or gather the fallen grain that the harvester’s drop. Likewise with your vineyards, leave some bunches on the vines and don’t pick up the ones that fall on the ground. These are to be left for the poor and foreigners who live among you. I am the Lord your God.”

        • Guzik notes that this was Israel’s version of “public assistance” and is precisely what Ruth was doing when Boaz took notice of her. (Ruth 2:2-3)

      • NLT Illustrated Study Bible writes, “Israel’s covenant with God included a social structure that created a leveling effect and resisted social divisions. Families were required to provide for family members who faced difficulties. Widows and orphans (Exodus 22:22), the poor, and foreigners (Leviticus 19:10) were considered members of Israel’s extended family. The poor were not only given special consideration in the offering system (5:7-13), but positive steps were taken to make sure they had food to eat.”

        • HCSB makes an interesting note here, “Concern for the poor, the widow, and the orphan is widespread throughout the ancient Near East and in the OT. Israelite law is unique however, in mandating kind treatment for the alien or stranger. But the motivation for such benevolence is not derived from its social value; it is based on the need to reflect the Lord’s holiness.”

      • “Don’t steal, be deceptive or lie to each other. Don’t profane My name by swearing falsely on it. I am the Lord.”

      • “Don’t cheat or rob your neighbor. Don’t make your hired workers wait until the next day to be paid. Don’t insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear Me, I am the Lord your God.”

      • “Do not judge unfairly. Don’t show partiality to either the poor or the rich. Don’t spread slanderous gossip and don’t stand by doing nothing if your neighbor’s life is in danger.”

        • “These were primarily instructions to judges and magistrates, giving them principles for making legal decisions. However, they also are relevant to everyday relations with those around us.”

        • Guzik notes that a slanderous gossip is, “essentially…someone who cannot mind their own business (1 Thessalonians 4:11), and who delights in discussing the lives of others and spreading stories.”

      • “Do not have hatred in your heart for your brother. Confront people directly so you won’t be held guilty for their sin. Don’t try to get revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

        • “Love does not mean closing one’s eyes to wrong; reproof can help a person change.” (NLT Illustrated Study Bible)

      • “You must obey all of My decrees. Don’t crossbreed two types of livestock, plant two different types of seeds in a field, or wear clothing made from two different types of thread.”

        • “God created a natural order (Genesis 1:31; see Leviticus 18:22), and it is violated when God’s boundaries are crossed. The prohibitions against intermixing were also object lessons for the Israelites, who were not to intermarry with the Canaanites.” (NLT Illustrated Study Bible)

        • Guzik adds, “The mixing of these things – different species of livestock, seeds, and fabrics – was usually seen by pagans to be a source of magical power. God wanted Israel to have no association with these pagan customs.”

      • “If a man has sexual relations with a girl who is a slave and who’s freedom hasn’t been bought, but who is committed to become another man’s wife, the man must pay her master her full price. Since she is a slave, neither she nor the man will be put to death… However, the man must sacrifice a ram as a guilt offering to be purified by the priest so that his sin will be forgiven.”

        • Guzik explains this confusing passage, “This deals with a woman who was a concubine in the sense she was a slave girl, who was eligible to be married…This is the situation described: A slave girl is engaged to marry a free man, and then a different man has sex with her. Normally, the penalty was death; but because the woman was a slave, and was presumed to be not free to resist (or guarded by a father), the penalty was not death. Yet, she was not marriable to her fiancée, so he must be reimbursed (the punishment mentioned). Then the moral guilt would be settled by sacrifice, and presumably, the man who had sex with her would be obliged to marry her.”

      • “When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, you must not eat any of the fruit produced for 3 years. Consider it “forbidden.” In the 4th year, offer the entire crop as a praise offering. In the 5th year, you can eat the fruit. If you do this, your harvest will increase. I am the Lord your God.”

        • “For the first three years, a newly planted fruit tree was only to be pruned and cultivated. This allowed all the strength to go back into the tree.” (NLT Illustrated Study Bible)

        • HCSB notes, “The Babylonians, also, regarded the fruit of the first four years as unfit for food.”

      • “Don’t eat meat that still has blood in it. Don’t practice fortune-telling (divination) or witchcraft (sorcery). Don’t trim the hair off of your temples or trim your beards. Don’t cut your bodies for the dead or tattoo your skin. I am the Lord.”

        • HCSB notes, “Laceration was included in the rites of Baalistic fertility worship (I Kings 18:28), and may have been a universal religious practice in the ancient Near East.”

        • “Priests were permitted to consult the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:30) or to cast lots (Leviticus 16:8) to help decide cases not covered by Mosaic regulations. However, those who practiced fortune-telling or witchcraft were actually consulting a power apart from the Lord, which was forbidden under the first commandment (Exodus 20:3)….As discovered in Egyptian wall paintings, Canaanites carefully trimmed their hair and beards. The Israelites were not to imitate this practice so that they would not be influenced by Canaanite religion and ethics….Cutting oneself was associated with Canaanite mourning practices (21:5; Deuteronomy 14:1). The word translated tattoo might also refer to painting of the body, a practice also associated with paganism.”

Egyptian art depicting Canaanite beards

        • Is getting a tattoo a sin?

        • This is a polarizing question for many. In my opinion, this article from Compelling Truth addresses the question appropriately: Is Getting a Tattoo a Sin?

        • The article highlights the underlying reason for the commands given- to make Israel visibly separate from their pagan neighbors. While that spiritual truth applies to modern Christians as well (we live in this world, but we are not OF this world), many of the commands listed in Leviticus do not carry the same cultural or social implications in modern times. For example, crossbreeding livestock, planting mixed fields, and wearing mixed fabrics are no longer things that would identify us with pagan culture. Here’s an excellent example from the article:

          • “…today it is perfectly fine for women to wear pantyhose. However, pantyhose were popularized by prostitutes in Italy hundreds of years ago. So, if an Italian pastor back then asked the ladies of his congregation to not wear pantyhose, it would be because he didn’t want them to be identified with prostitution and thus telegraph the thought that the Church was involved in such immorality.”

        • The article posits the correct question to ask yourself if you are considering getting a tattoo: “A Christian considering a tattoo needs to honestly ask him/herself what they’re looking to achieve with it and if it would negatively impact their Christian witness. And as with any action, we need to remember Paul’s admonition: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).” How you answer THIS question is what matters.

      • “Don’t defile your daughter by making her a prostitute or the land will become filled with prostitution and wickedness. Keep My Sabbaths and show reverence to My Sanctuary. I am the Lord.”

        • “To prostitute your daughter in this context probably means to give her as a ritual prostitute at a pagan temple; this was of course forbidden, though in the eyes of the pagan culture, it was a religious thing to do.” (Guzik)

      • “Don’t defile yourselves by consulting mediums or spiritists. I am the Lord.”

        • “The Hebrew term for consult the spirits (yidde’oni) is derived from a root meaning ‘to know.’ It describes those who claim to have special occult knowledge and use it to communicate with the dead.” (NLT Illustrated Study Bible)

        • Harrison writes, “In some Near Eastern societies such mediums would dig a small hole in the earth to symbolize a grave, and then put offerings in it to attract the attention of the person whom the medium desired to contact.”

      • “Stand up in the presence of the elderly to show them respect. Fear your God. I am the Lord.”

      • “Don’t oppress foreigners who live among you. Treat them as though they are native to your land. Love them as you love yourself because you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

      • “Don’t be dishonest when measuring length, weight, or volume. Your tools of measurement for dry materials and liquids must be accurate. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. Keep all of My decrees and regulations, I am the Lord your God.”

        • “Merchants would sometimes use two different sets of weights, one heavy and one light (Deuteronomy 25:13-15), in order to cheat customers. The Bible makes it clear that this practice was abhorrent to God (Proverbs 11:1; 16:11; 20:10, 23; Micah 6:11).” (NLT Illustrated Study Bible)