Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
March 6, 2019
Leviticus 19:1-17
It is good to be back. During the month of February, we watched Black History films, but today we are back studying the word. Just to recap from our previous lessons. The 17th chapter of Leviticus was a warning to the Israelites to avoid the pagan rituals of the “goat demon.” Chapter 18 was another warning to not practice the pagan rituals of the pagan god Molech. God hates it when we don’t worship him and him only. God is a Jealous God in the sense that he hates for us to waste our time on worshipping things that have no power and are not responsible for our blessings. Due to their enslavement and being surrounded by folks who worshipped these false gods, the Israelites were saturated with people who loved to worship idols. The golden calf was actually a symbol of the goat demon (Baal). Because the horns of goats and rams were seen as phallic symbols (the male sex organ), it was not uncommon that the worship of the demon included sexual orgies. The demon Molech, his companion Ashtereth, and the goat demon both shared the practice of sexual orgies in their rituals. Chapter 18 prohibits the men of the community from these sexual orgies that often included sex with family members. Israel prostituted themselves with these gods for centuries. God intended to prevent His people from practicing the shrine prostitution of the Canaanites, which He warned against in Leviticus 18:3. The idea that the Israelites would commit adultery with false gods was a constant theme in the Old Testament. God called his people to be holy, not contaminated by the worship of false gods and idols. As we begin to study Leviticus 19, we will see another call to be holy. Leviticus 19 is also important to us because of the prominence of its teaching in the New Testament. Both our Lord (Matt. 5:43; 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31, 33; Luke 10:27) and the apostles (Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8; 1 Pet. 1:16) make a great deal of the two great commandments which are given here: “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy (Lev. 19:2b).” “You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (Lev. 19: 18b).”
Verses 1-2. God is Holy and God calls his people to be Holy. 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. 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. We can see from the previous chapters that God wanted his people to be holy or separate from the idol worship of the surrounding nations.
Verse 3. God makes a connection between putting him first and obeying your parents. The verse assumes that the parents are good parents. Honor for parents is an essential building block for the stability and health of all society. If the younger generations are constantly at war with older generations, the foundations of society will be destroyed. Reverence for parents is linked to reverence for the LORD. Submitting to parental authority is a step to submitting to Divine authority. Part of learning to trust God comes from learning to trust parents. It is important for parents to be good examples of what true love and tough love looks like. Parents have to be just, but abundantly merciful and gracious.
Verse 4. 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 or falsely promised - financial success, pleasure, and self-worship.
Verses 5-8. 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. Nor did God want stale fellowship with the people of Israel. The meat of a peace offering was considered no good after two days. God only wanted you to fellowship with him with fresh meat. God didn’t want to be associated with old dry rotting leftovers.
Verses 9-10. This was one of the public assistance programs in Israel. Farmers were not to completely harvest their fields, so the poor and needy could come and glean the remains for themselves. This is exactly what Ruth was doing when Boaz noticed her (Ruth 2:2-3). “You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger.” This was a wonderful way to help the poor. It commanded the farmers to have a generous heart, and the poor to be active and to work for their food. It made a way for the poor to provide for their own needs with dignity. It also taught the rich not to hoard the blessings of God.
Verses 11-13. These verses basically say that we have to deal with others like we would want folks to deal with us. You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. This was essential for real community. If folks began to deal dishonestly with each other, the community would crumble fast.
Verse 14. God commanded Israel to not mistreat the handicapped. Cursing the deaf is cruel because they can't hear your curse, though others can. To put a stumbling block before the blind is just mean. An accurate and revealing measure of our humanity is how we treat the weak and unfortunate. “Nor put a stumbling block before the blind.” This tells us the kind of people the Israelites were. They had to be specifically commanded to observe such laws of fundamental kindness. Their bondage had made them less than compassionate towards each other. Their bondage caused them to see each other as less than. God has to elevate their thinking of each other and the least among them.
Verses 15-16. 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. God instructed the judges to weigh the evidence regardless if the people were rich or poor. You shall not go about slandering your people: A slander is essentially a gossip, someone who cannot mind their own business (1 Thessalonians 4:11), and who delights in discussing the lives of others and spreading stories.
Verse 17. Instead of hating someone for doing wrong, rebuke them and call them to repentance. Repentance leads to reconciliation. If the goal is community, reconciliation is the endgame. Sometimes reconciliation can only occur after rebuke and repentance.
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