Tag Archives: Leviticus 19-21

Daily Bible Study

February 8, 2023 Bible Study — Be Holy, Because the Lord Our God is Holy

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 19-21.

Today’s passage starts off with God telling Moses to tell the people to be holy because the Lord their God is holy.  We also should seek to be holy because the Lord ,our God, is holy.   After this introduction, God gave Moses a bunch of commands to give the people.  Many of these commands were followed by one of two statements: either “I am the Lord your God,” or, “I am the Lord.”  I think that this statement refers us to the first of the Ten Commandments (or, Ten Words): “I am the Lord your God.  You shall have no other gods before me.”  Personally, I think the reference Jesus makes to the greatest commandment from Deuteronomy makes that meaning even clearer: “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  So, the point of following these commands with one of those two statements is designed to remind us that following these commands is how we follow that first, most important one.  Oh, I know that some of these no longer govern our behavior as followers of Christ (e.g. “Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.”).  However, I do not see a single one which is directly followed by one of those statements which I do not believe represent behavior which we should model.

 

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

February 8, 2023 Bible Study — Being Holy Because The Lord Our God Is Holy

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 19-21.

Every time I read this passage I am struck by the very first of the commands it contains: “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”  Then throughout the rest of the commands concerning the average person some variation of the phrase, “I am the Lord” is repeated.  I believe that the phrase “I am the Lord” is repeated in order to refer us back to that first command.  As I read this passage I see that, for the most part, these commands all serve as instructions on how to be holy as the Lord our God is holy.  In fact many of them are summed up by what Jesus says is the second most important command, “love your neighbor as yourself.”  And while those many other commands can be summed up with “love your neighbor as yourself”, those other commands are a reminder that at least some of us need about what it means to love our neighbors. So, let us seek to be holy even as God is holy…and the first step in doing that is to love our neighbors, even those we think of as unlovable.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

February 8, 2022 Bible Study — Be Holy Because The Lord Our God Is Holy

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 19-21.

While many of the commands in this passage have been deprecated by Christ’s death on the cross, the central theme remains: “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”  We might argue over what that means, over what it means to be holy, but looking at some of these commands which are still entirely relevant reveals the answer to that.

  • Do not steal
  • Do not lie
  • Do not deceive one another
  • Do not defraud your neighbor
  • Do not hold back wages
  • Do not do anything which endangers your neighbors life
  • Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge, but love your neighbor as yourself

That last one really sums it all up, love your neighbor as yourself.  One of the things which is often pointed out is that if you are to love your neighbor as yourself, you need to love yourself.  The passage even contains a lesson on how to go about that, and it is a difficult one.  It tells us not to bear a grudge, which is really hard.  We are not loving someone if we seek revenge against them or bear a grudge.  What makes that even harder for many people is that they bear a grudge against themselves for things they did, or did not, do in the past.  In order to love others you must love yourself and you cannot love yourself if you harbor a grudge against yourself for your past actions.  We must accept God’s forgiveness and forgive ourselves so that we can love others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

February 8, 2021 Bible Study Being Holy Because We Are Made In The Image Of God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 19-21.

At the beginning of this list of laws which God gave the Children of Israel, He says, “Be holy because I am holy.”  This was not, “Be holy because that will make you better than other people.”  Nor was it, “Be holy because you are better than other people.”  No, this was a call to be like God, because God had made us in His image.  This was a call for everyone, because everyone has been made in God’s image.

Thinking about the call to be more like God because we are made in His image puts the command not to sacrifice children to Molech (or any other god) in a whole new light.  When we kill anyone, but especially a child, we are destroying the image of God.  To me, this understanding just cements my belief that abortion falls under this command.  This verse talks about how when a man sacrifices one of his children he profanes God’s name.   Further, it tells us that if the community looks the other way when someone sacrifices their child, God will intervene and cut that person off from their people.  It really puts the disconnectedness of our society in a new light.

Daily Bible Study

February 8, 2020 Bible Study — Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 19-21.

There are a lot of very basic, good life rules in today’s passage. 

  1. do not deceive and cheat
  2. do not twist justice to favor the poor or show partiality towards the rich
    3. I think it is worth noting that this command spells out our human tendency to twist justice in favor of the poor when we don’t twist it to gain favor with the rich and that both are wrong.
  3. Do not spread slanderous gossip
  4. help people when they are in danger
  5. do not nurse a grievance, instead confront the person directly whom you believe to have wronged you

All of these represent good rules to follow and are summed up by the one which Jesus listed as the second most important command (which is in this passage): Love your neighbor as yourself. 

There are more rules that are worth noting in chapter 19, then I see a kind of transition and a series of rules with a different focus in chapter 20.  While the rules in chapter 20 can also be summed up by loving others as you love yourself, I see a somewhat different common thread among them.  I am not quite sure how to summarize these rules, but I think they are tied together.  Here God forbids sacrificing children, attempting to communicate with the dead, dishonoring your parents, and a laundry list of sexual acts.  All of these involve putting yourself and your own pleasure over the best interest of others.

Daily Bible Study

February 8, 2019 Bible Study — “I Am the Lord Your God”

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 19-21.

As I read today’s passage I noticed that every couple of verses the writer includes the phrase, “I am the Lord your God”.  As the passage continues, he includes two variations.  Considering that most people would have learned these by hearing them recited (either from memory or by someone reading it to them as part of a group) both this phrase and the fact that it varies make it easier to remain focused on what is being read.  The first variation, “I am the Lord”, seems to be there just to provide variety. 

The second seems designed to remind us that God will hold us accountable even when our fellow man cannot or will not: “Fear your God. I am the Lord.”   The first time this variation appears it comes right after warning against insulting the deaf or causing the blind to stumble (both instances of taking advantage of someone’s disabilities for your own amusement).  Right after this variation is the warning against favoring the poor or the rich.  The next time it occurs is right after telling us to respect the aged and before telling us not to take advantage of those without connections living among us (foreigners).  I am not sure that this was intended to bring these commands into special focus, because I think that most of the commands in chapter 19 contain variations of treating others with respect and concern.

Daily Bible Study

February 8, 2018 Bible Study — Commands For Us, Not Someone Else, To Follow

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 19-21.

    Today’s passage begins with a series of commands about personal behavior, most of them form the basis for having a civil society. Some of them are obvious:

  • “Do not steal.”
  • “Do not deceive or cheat one another.”
  • Do not rob or defraud your neighbor.”

But some of them we need to take special note:

  • “Do not favor the poor, or be partial to the rich, in legal matters”

    • Notice that it is not enough not to be partial to the rich, we also must not favor the poor over the rich.

  • “Do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s life is threatened.”
  • “Do not nurse hatred in your heart.”
  • “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge.”

These last two I dropped off the qualifiers which the passage contained based on what Jesus had to say about who is our family and who is our neighbor. There are a couple of these which I do not quite understand: “Do not mate two different kinds of animals,” “Do not plant two different kinds of seed.” However, since I am not a farmer, I do not need to figure out how either of those applies. The key to all of these is that they apply to ourselves, not someone else. The command is not “Do not let your neighbor steal.” it is “Do not steal.”

Daily Bible Study

February 8, 2017 Bible Study — Social Justice and Providing for the Poor

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 19-21.

    Today’s passage contains many miscellaneous rules. Some of them I do not understand why they were given, some I do not consider to apply to those who are followers of Christ, but some contain principles which teach us how we should behave. Several of them deal with social justice and making provision for the poor. The law regarding harvesting is a great example of how we should provide for the poor. The instruction is clear that we should run our businesses in a way which leaves room for the poor to provide for their needs. The instruction is to leave the grain, or grapes, which would require extra effort to gather for the less fortunate to gather. There are two separate aspects to this. The first, and more important aspect, is that it allows the poor to provide for themselves by making an effort. The second is about how this is accomplished. We are not to every last penny from our business transactions, leave opportunities for others to make, or save, money. There is a second command which relates to this as well. It concerns paying your workers promptly. I believe that this verse is a condemnation of the practice of large businesses delaying when they will pay their smaller suppliers in order to maximize the interest they can earn on the money involved (it also applies in the obvious way to employees as well).
    There is one other verse which strikes me. It is a verse against twisting justice. There it warns against favoring the poor over the rich before it tells us not to be partial to the rich. I think it presents it in this manner because the latter is somewhat obvious to anyone who reads the Bible. However, it is easy to make the mistake of siding with the poor in a conflict with the rich because, “Well, they are so poor, and he can afford it.” We are not to favor the poor over the wealthy, nor are we to allow the wealthy to buy our favor. We should judge a dispute between the rich and the poor on the merits, not on the economic status of those in the dispute.

Daily Bible Study

February 8, 2016 Bible Study — Making Sure That the Poor and the Foreigner Has the Opportunity to Provide for Their Own Needs

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 19-21.

    Today’s passage contains more details on how the children of Israel should apply some of the rules God had given them previously. Among the instructions given here were instructions about how they were supposed to care for the poor among them. They were told not to harvest the grain along the edges of their fields, leaving it there for the poor. There were a couple of other things in this instruction. The point is that they were to leave the poor the opportunity to work to provide for themselves. Actually, as I read it, it was intended that they were to create opportunities for the poor to work to provide for themselves. A little later they are instructed not to favor the poor in legal matters, but neither are they to be partial to the rich and powerful. Overall, I think the passage makes it clear that God wishes us to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to provide for their, and their family’s, needs.

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    There are two ways this applies. First, we should run our businesses in such a way as to leave opportunities for the poor to make a living “around the edges”. We should not run our business so as to capture every little efficiency and every dollar possible. We should strive for the “high margin” aspects of the business, allowing those less fortunate to capture the “low margin” productivity around the edges. I will note that this allows the more industrious among the poor to perhaps find a way to turn those “low margin” things into “high margin” things and thus move themselves out of poverty. The second way this applies is that the government should not establish laws and rules which freeze the poor out of finding ways to provide for themselves.