Dj – Conforming to God’s Holiness 19: 19-37

Conforming to God’s Holiness
19: 19-37

Conforming to God’s holiness DIG: Of all these mitzvot, which seem to apply universally, to all people, and which seem to have their application limited to the ancient Israelites? How do you make the distinction? Who is your neighbor and how should you act towards him or her?

REFLECT: In your own life, how has God delivered you from some sin mentioned here? How does deliverance help you live better with your God? Do you see tattoos today as being reflective of a pagan culture? Why? Why not? How do you honor your body as a temple?

We follow these commandments not to gain our salvation, but as our blueprint for living.

The emphasis now shifts to focus on the proper distinctions that the covenant people should make. They had to follow YHVH, the God of creation (Genesis 1:1). And because He made divisions in all of creation – light from dark, land from sea, day from night, animals from humans, men from women – they had to follow the same principles in their lives.

Observe my statutes (19:19a). Of the many occurrences of the word statutes (Hebrew: hachukkim, meaning to write into law permanently) in Leviticus, there is a constant pattern of applying it specifically to mitzvot that concern religious matters. For this reason, the term refers only to the three indented statutes below.

Crossbreeding: The Israelites learned from these statutes to keep separate what YHVH had divided. Don’t let your livestock mate with those of another kind, don’t sow your field with two different kinds of grain (Genesis 1:11-12), and don’t wear a garment of cloth made with two different kinds of thread (19:19b). These statutes are parallel with the ones in Deuteronomy 22:9-11, which forbid sowing of different seeds together and wearing cloth made out of wool and linen. These statutes for Isra’el’s daily life were not retained in the B’rit Chadashah. Like the regulations for diet and ritual purification, these statutes were temporary, but they reveal eternal truths. The principles of separation, order in creation, and purity in life all emerge in the New Covenant to guide the believer in the way to live.³³³

The betrothed maidservant: In another improper mixture: If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave betrothed to another man, and she has neither been redeemed nor given her freedom, there is to be an investigation. Since betrothal carries the status of full marriage in the Torah, this would ordinarily be construed to be adultery. And adultery meant the death sentence for both the adulterer and the adulteress. However, in this case, the betrothed woman was not a free agent, she was a slave, not yet redeemed, or set free to be married. In that case, the act was not considered tantamount to adultery, but simply a violation of her would be to her husband’s rights. They are not to be put to death, because she was not free.

It would appear that the Torah intends to protect the enslaved woman. In all likelihood, a slave woman be betrothed to be married without her consent. No one consulted her about the decision. Therefore, she would not be treated as an adulteress if she violated her marriage prior to its consummation. Were she to do so after the marriage was consummated, then it would certainly be considered adultery. So, too, if she had freely willingly consented to the marriage. This was the problem Mary faced when she found out that she was pregnant (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Al – The Birth of Jesus Foretold to Mary).

Instead of a death sentence, the couple was to be punished and the man was required to bring a guilt offering (see Am – The Guilt Offering: Evidence of Repentance) for the offense of misusing that which lawfully belonged to another. The exact nature of the punishment is not specified. In reparation he is to bring a ram as a guilt offering for himself to the entrance of the tent of meeting. The priest will make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before ADONAI for the sin he committed, and he will be forgiven for the sin he committed (19:20-22). The point of the mitzvah is that the couple was not to be put to death for an indiscretion that happened outside of marriage and proper betrothal. This mitzvah doesn’t tell us how the story ends. Hopefully, the offending couple went on to be married and lived happily ever after.

The mitzvah of the fruit trees: Holy people, called to sanctify and redeem the Land, must obey YHVH by not eating fruit from a forbidden tree. Firstfruits of a newly planted tree are considered unfit and must not be eaten for the first three years. This fruit is referred to as orlah, literally, uncircumcised, unfit like a foreskin. When you enter the land and plant various kinds of fruit trees, you are to regard its fruit is forbidden – for three years it will be forbidden to you and not eaten. In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, for praising ADONAI. Considered a second tithe, all the fruit is picked and carried up to Jerusalem, and eaten before God amidst praise and thanksgiving. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, so that it will produce even more for you. Practicing the mitzvah of orlah weans people away from selfishness. By devoting the fruit exclusively to God’s praise and service, one learns the lessons of prosperity. In this way, the creation is redeemed. Obeying Torah redeems eating fruit from the forbidden tree! The motivation for keeping this mitzvah is expressed by: I am ADONAI your God (19:23-25).³³⁴ The holiness of the Israelites needed to stand in stark contrast to the lifestyle of the idolatrous Gentile nations which would surround their nation. Leviticus 19:26-28, therefore, gave specific instructions which had to do with certain Canaanite practices.

Blood: Do not eat anything with blood (19:26a). This is the fourth time Leviticus commands not to eat meat with the blood still in it (3:17, 7:26-27, and 17:10-14). This basic prohibition of eating blood is found in the Noahic Covenant (see the commentary on Genesis Cz – Whoever Sheds Human Blood, by Humans Shall Their Blood Be Shed), but the expression here is literally, to eat upon the blood. The verb to eat with this idiom occurs only in three other places: First Samuel 14:32-33 and Ezeki’el 33:25. The first two describe a condemned practice by Sha’ul’s warriors, who were famished after a successful battle and ate the enemy’s livestock after butchering them on the ground without a stone or platform that could drain the blood. The Ezeki’el context, however, associate’s idolatry with this practice; therefore, there is more involved than the prohibition of eating meat with blood in it.³³⁵ The Jerusalem Counsel’s letter to Gentile believers said that they should abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. By keeping away from these things, you will do well. Shalom (15:27-29)!

Witchcraft: Do not practice divination or fortune-telling (19:26b). We know ADONAI’s feelings about this (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Dj – God Hates Sorcery), but humans have always been naturally curious about the future, wondering whether blessings or dangers possibly await them. In the pagan world of the ancient Near East many believed that insight into the future was possible through divination and sorcery. This was especially true in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Techniques involved inspection of water in a goblet or water basin (Genesis 44:4), the use of arrows (Ezeki’el 21:26; Hosea 4:12), or dreams (First Samuel 28:6; Genesis 37:5-11 and 41:1-36). The Israelites had access to information about future events only if God chose to reveal it to them. Thus, revelation was diametrically opposed to divination.³³⁶

Haircuts and beards: Don’t round your hair at the temples or mar the edges of your beard (19:27). Among the ancients the hair was often used in divination. The worshipers of the stars and planets cut their hair evenly round, trimming the extremities.³³⁷ Today, observant Jews follow this mitzvah. However, Ha’Shem still wants us, as His representatives today, to look different. If we appear modest in our skin, hair and clothing, we will certainly be different, set apart for holiness.

Tattoos: The Torah expressly forbids cutting one’s flesh or getting tattoos. The text from Leviticus 21:5 is specifically speaking to the priests who served ADONAI in the Tabernacle. Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies. However, here, the text from Leviticus 19:28 is speaking for all the people of Isra’el, “Don’t cut gashes in your flesh for the dead (Hebrew: nephesh).” In Elijah’s contest with the cult prophets of Ba’al (First Kings 18), the pagan priests gashed themselves as they called upon Ba’al to answer their prayers. The Hebrew word nephesh may connote a dead body as well as a living person. “Or tattoo yourselves; I am ADONAI” (19:28). The custom of cutting the arms, hands, and face as tokens of mourning for the dead is said to have existed among the Babylonians, Syrians, Romans, and practiced by the Arabs of the present day. It was sometimes accompanied by shaving off the hair from the head.

The Orientals were very fond of tattooing. Figures of birds, trees, flowers, temples, and gods were carefully and painfully marked in their flesh with colors by the puncturing of sharp needles. This is still done in India for idolatrous purposes, and, in Moshe’s day, probably had some connection with idolatry.³³⁸ Though tattoos have become enormously popular, they are not for God’s holy people. We are different from the rest of the world (James 1:27; First John 2:15-17). We are to act differently; we are married differently; we are to work differently; live differently, and look differently. This prohibition against tattoos is not a matter of legalism, but a matter of holiness.

Temple Prostitution: These verses contain contrasting commands. Verse 29 prohibited the Israelites from a temptation they faced because of poverty or greed: Do not debase (Hebrew: chol, meaning profaneness or commonness) your daughter by making her a prostitute. To do so was to debase her, the same word used in 19:8 to describe profaning that which is holy. Like every Israelite, daughters were part of ADONAI’s holy people, and needed to be treated as such. They were not to be treated like a common thing that anyone could use. To do so was not only to disregard their holy status but also to set a pattern many others would follow. The entire Land would quickly be infected with that degrading and wicked behavior. So that the Land will not fall into prostitution and become full of shame. The obvious result would be the LORD’s judgment.³³⁹

Pornography is a modern-day form of prostitution. As a holy people we are to be different from the culture around us. We are not to be feasting our eyes on the unclean lewdness of the pagan world or tantalizing our flesh with their lewdness. What has light to do with darkness (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Bi – Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers)? David counsels us: I will not allow before my eyes any shameful thing. I hate those who act crookedly; what they do does not attract me (Psalm 101:3).

Instead, the Land was to be filled with those who embraced the covenant from the heart. Keep my Shabbats, and revere my Sanctuary; I am ADONAI (19:29-30). The Sabbath’s are God’s appointed times (see Dw – God’s Appointed Times), and the Temple is God’s appointed place. A proper reverence for God’s Holy House – the Temple – will help us attain a proper reverence for the people of God, the body of Messiah and the eternal, heavenly Sanctuary – all of which are represented by the earthly temple. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies (First Cor 6:19-20).³⁴⁰

The occult: The Israelites were prohibited from consulting with the dead. Do not turn to spirit-mediums or sorcerers; don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them. Isaiah 19:3 and Deuteronomy 18:11 explicitly associate these terms with consultation with dead spirits. The terms for spirit-mediums and sorcerers occur together in similar prohibitions in Leviticus. And Leviticus 20:27 demands the death penalty for any who practice the occult. Manasseh is condemned for his consultation with them (Second Kings 21:6; Second Chronicles 33:6), and King Sha’ul had Samuel brought up (see the commentary on The Life of David Bv – Sha’ul and the Medium at Endor). Josiah, on the other hand, attempted to rid the Land of them (Second Kings 23:24). Again, the expression I am ADONAI your God is nestled in among these verses (19:31).³⁴¹

Rising before the elderly: The commandment to stand up in the presence of a person with gray hair, and to show respect for the old is tied to the fear of ADONAI, which is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10a). When we respect the elderly, it is credited to us as reverence for YHVH. If we are unable to honor our seniors, neither will we find reverence for God within us. Imagine a culture where the young people stood up from their chairs when the elderly entered the room. Imagine a culture where, rather than brazen disrespect for seniors, honor and admiration were accorded them on account of their years of wisdom. Such is the Torah culture. We are to be a holy people. We are to be different. Again, the motivation for obeying this mitzvah is stated: I am ADONAI (19:32).

Love the foreigner: It is not only a mitzvah to love your neighbor as yourself (see Di – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself), it was a mitzvah to love the foreigner as yourself. If a foreigner/stranger stays with you in your Land, do not do him wrong. Rather, treat the foreigner staying with you like the native-born among you – you are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. The Israelites were strangers in Egypt, so they were to be sensitive and compassionate to the foreigners who lived among them. Thus, the Jews were commanded to love the Gentiles among them. These are the brothers and sisters from the nations that have chosen the Messiah of Isra’el and the Torah of Isra’el as a matter of choice rather than family heritage. God has a special love for such foreigners who have sacrificed their former ways of life in order to follow His Son and keep His commandments (see the commentary on Ruth An – Your People Will Be My People and Your God My God). Therefore, He tells the Israelites to love the foreigner. Once again, God forcefully states: I am ADONAI your God (19:33-34).

On the other hand, the foreigner could be anyone. This explains the Master’s broadening of Leviticus 19:18, love your neighbor as yourself. When asked: Who is my neighbor, Yeshua pointed to “the stranger” in a parable (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gw – The Parable of the Good Samaritan). It was not just one’s fellow Jew to whom love must be shown, but also to the strangers. We are therefore responsible to demonstrate an attitude of love to all mankind.

This is an important mitzvah of holiness, perhaps one of the most important. We are markedly different from the rest of the world by our attitudes of love. As Torah-faithful disciples of Messiah, we must excel in this area. We will constantly encounter situations that demand a demonstration of love for strangers, for we have been estranged from the entire world. As we share the gospel of Messiah and goodness of His grace, we must do so with love. As we communicate the Torah as our blueprint for living, we must do so with love. We must hold tightly to our high standards of holiness without passing judgment upon those who do not. We must show acceptance while demonstrating righteousness. For the mitzvah, “Don’t commit adultery,” “Don’t murder,” “Don’t steal,” “Don’t covet,” and any others are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does not do harm to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fullness of Torah (Romans 13:9-10).

Love does no harm to the stranger, but we must also remember that the stranger shouldn’t do any harm to us. When people travel to a foreign land for better financial opportunities or to flee oppression that is one thing. But today, many strangers are coming into your country to sell drugs to your children, to rape your daughters and to murder you and your neighbors. In that case, to protect your country, your neighborhood, your family and yourself, you must not allow them to stay. It is not loving to fail to protect the vulnerable.

Righteous weights and measures: The mitzvot of the Torah are very much concerned with righteous weights and measures. Don’t be dishonest when measuring length, weight or capacity. Rather, use an honest balance-scale, honest weights, an honest bushel dry-measure and an honest gallon liquid-measure; I am ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt (19:35-36). Jewish observance of these mitzvot is demanding. The surface of scales are frequently cleansed off less an accumulation of dust or grime tip the scale. Scales and measures are checked and double-checked against a common standard.

In terms of modern application, the commandment is considerably more complicated. We must be scrupulously honest in our business affairs. Prices, discounts, sales, advertising claims and so on must be carefully measured and accurately represented. Holiness demands integrity, and the high level of integrity mandated by the Torah will make you holy. A person who figuratively wipes the dust from his scale will stand out as different from the rest of the world. Everyone else in the world is trying to cheat you. Their main concern in business is to make as much money as possible. A disciple of Messiah’s main concern is that he is not cheating you. He is happier taking a loss than wondering if he might have inadvertently cheated a person.

The demand for righteous weights and measures is a demand for a fair and equitable standard of measure. This is a principle which must be extended into every area of our life. Whether in work, academics, sports, conversation, bible study, politics, or any area of life, we must strive to judge ourselves and others with an equal standard. This is a very difficult task. Our fallen human nature tends to give ourselves a lot of slack while viewing others with a very critical eye. We favor those who are kind to us, and disfavor those we don’t like. We are quick to speak in negative terms or people who have offended us, while letting the same sorts of behaviors slide among others. In our marriages we consider our own blunders to be temporary lapses in judgment and unfortunate mistakes, while we perceive our spouses blunders as serious character flaws and moral failures. Ha’Shem requires us, as a holy people, to rise above the subjective, relativism of the human perspective, and deal with life objectively. We are to be fair and careful, because the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure you (Matthew 7:2b).³⁴²

Then Chapter 19 closes with a general reminder for the people of God to observe all of His statutes and ordinances, and do them; I am ADONAI (19:37). The message of Leviticus 19 is clear and practical. A summary could be worded this way: God’s people must conform to His holiness by keeping His mitzvot (the letter of the Torah), by dealing with others in love (the spirit of the Torah), by living according to His standards of separation in the world, and by demonstrating kindness and justice to others.³⁴³

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that Your holiness extends to everything that You do. There has never been, nor ever will there ever be, even the tiniest thought or action of Yours that is not totally holy. That means that when You guide me, all that You tell me to do, is for their best! Your holy standards are meant to bring overflowing joy and complete fullness to life!  I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10c)!

It is such a comfort to trust You with my life. You know exactly what will happen in the future. You may allow a trial so that I will grow stronger in You. Trials have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory and honor when Yeshua Messiah is revealed (First Peter 1:7).

As Your child, I love You and want to follow You in everything that I do. Loving You means that I want to obey all You say in Your Word. You are the One I long to please. So obeying You is not hard; rather obeying you is like doing what our new Bridegroom asks us to do. May my life be filled with holy thoughts, holy actions and holy plans that bring You much joy and pleasure. In Your holy Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen