Leviticus 19:1-22
Moral and Ceremonial Laws
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
4 Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your God.
5 ‘And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it of your own free will. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. 7 And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted. 8 Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from his people.
9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
11 You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. 12 And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
13 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. 14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
19 ‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
20 ‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is betrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 21 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. 22 The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
These various laws covered holiness through the lens of morality which pit God above all else, including lifeless idols, as well as telling the truth as a faithful witness keeping from theft and deceit and to live with a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:5, Hebrews 13:18, 1 Peter 3:16) before God and man. The opening sentence summarizes all these and more, “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” as we see repeated in 1 Peter 1:15-16 to love as we are called in Christ with morality in a good conscience as we strive to put sin to death (Romans 8:12-13, 29-30) and pursue our relationship with our Lord and Savior who Him is our pattern to imitate (1 Corinthians 11:1) in conformity to such godliness. These moral principles of the law are still in effect, unlike the ceremonial laws designed to teach faith and willing obedience only possible by the power and wisdom of God’s indwelling Spirit reading His laws written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, 2 Corinthians 3:3) to follow. We are still to pursue holiness to see our Lord face to face in all His purity and glory. In all our dealings we are to do all as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:17, 23-24, 1 Corinthians 10:31-33) in honoring Him and all Jesus has given us, as well as towards one another in honesty, morality, and with a good conscience. We are to speak and deal honestly with one another and not make false promises as a sworn declaration in the name of the Lord, but simply let our yes and no (James 5:12) speak clearly our intentions to each other. We are to willingly obey all God has to say in the Bible with joy and not begrudgingly just to check a box of compliance to avoid punishment. He desires our hearts in our hands and feet so our words express the desire to please Him and honor one another as His fellow children. We are to be forgiving and not vengeful or holding grudges with justice and mercy and not hate in response to the evil of others to us. The golden rule to do as we want done to us should keep us on the level track of holiness therefore. We seek the forgiveness of those we offend and make restitution in peace that our relationship with the Lord is kept by His forgiveness (1 John 1:9) as well. These words here of holiness in our morality, truthfulness, and keeping a clear conscience with God and man are the lessons of the Lord given to shape us into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ our Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment