Day 36: Leviticus 19-21

(The previous post concluded the theme from Chapters 11-16 which covered sanitation. Also, God explained specifics concerning sacrifices and sexual morality.)

Leviticus 19

(This chapter covered a repetition of diverse laws.)

¹ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
² Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy; for I Jehovah your God am holy.

(God continued to speak to Moses and introduced this set of laws with a call to holiness.)

³ Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father; and ye shall keep my sabbaths: I am Jehovah your God.

(God explained how to act towards your parents.)

⁴ Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am Jehovah your God.

(Idolatry was banned.)

(Verses 5-8: Laws regarding offerings.)

⁵ And when ye offer a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto Jehovah, ye shall offer it that ye may be accepted.
⁶ It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if aught remain until the third day, it shall be burnt with fire.
⁷ And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it shall not be accepted:
⁸ but every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the holy thing of Jehovah: and that soul shall be cut off from his people.

(Details of the offering laws: made by free will, meat was eaten within two days.)

⁹ And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest.
¹⁰ And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am Jehovah your God.

(God spoke of leaving food in the field for the poor. God said to let the poor and strangers glean the harvest. This was a critical component of the Book of Ruth.)

¹¹ Ye shall not steal; neither shall ye deal falsely, nor lie one to another.
¹² And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.
¹³ Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him: the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
¹⁴ Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind; but thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah.
¹⁵ Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.
¹⁶ Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am Jehovah.

(God covered being honest and just to others.)

¹⁷ Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
¹⁸ Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah.

(God said to "love thy neighbor as thyself" (Luke 10:30 – Parable of the Good Samaritan). Leviticus 19:18 was central to understanding this parable. James 2:8 referenced this verse.)

¹⁹ Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seed: neither shall there come upon thee a garment of two kinds of stuff mingled together.

(Cross-breeding, cross-planting, and blends of fabrics were forbidden. This was a classic verse for people to use to show that we are clearly not under the Law today.)

²⁰ And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to a husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; they shall be punished; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
²¹ And he shall bring his trespass-offering unto Jehovah, unto the door of the tent of meeting, even a ram for a trespass-offering.
²² And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass-offering before Jehovah for his sin which he hath sinned: and the sin which he hath sinned shall be forgiven him.

(God covered unlawful sex with someone else’s concubine.)

²³ And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as their uncircumcision: three years shall they be as uncircumcised unto you; it shall not be eaten.
²⁴ But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy, for giving praise unto Jehovah.
²⁵ And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am Jehovah your God.

(God explained the how for dealing with the fruit in Canaan.)

(Verses 26-31: Laws to insure separation from pagan practices.)

²⁶ Ye shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantments, nor practise augury.

(Saul's men ate the blood with the meat after they defeated the Philistines according to 1 Samuel 14:32.)

²⁷ Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
²⁸ Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am Jehovah.
²⁹ Profane not thy daughter, to make her a harlot; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
³⁰ Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am Jehovah.
³¹ Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God.

(King Saul sought out a familiar spirit: 1 Samuel 28.)

(Verses 32-37: Further laws regarding kindness and Justice.)

³² Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah.
³³ And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong.
³⁴ The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God.
³⁵ Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity.
³⁶ Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
³⁷ And ye shall observe all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them: I am Jehovah.

(God finished this section by stating to observe His statutes and ordinances and to do them.)




Leviticus 20

(This chapter covered punishments for laws already given.)

(Verses 1-5: Molech worship.)

¹ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
² Moreover, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

(Molech meant "king." He was the "god" of the Ammonites and Phoenicians. As we saw in the previous post, this "god" was used to rid people of unwanted children.)

³ I also will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
⁴ And if the people at the land do at all hide their eyes from that man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and put him not to death;
⁵ then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that play the harlot after him, to play the harlot with Molech, from among their people.

(Worshipping Molech resulted in death.)

(Verses 6-8: the penalty for involvement with the occult.)

⁶ And the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the wizards, to play the harlot after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

(Those who did pagan/occult practices were cut off from the people.)

⁷ Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am Jehovah your God.

(They were told to sanctify themselves.)

⁸ And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you.

(They were told that God would sanctify them.)

⁹ For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.

(Cursing a parent resulted in death.)

¹⁰ And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

(Adultery resulted in both parties being put to death.)

¹¹ And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
¹² And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.

(Incest resulted in both parties being put to death. Remember, Judah did this in Genesis 38 before the Law was established.)

¹³ And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

(Homosexuality resulted in both parties being put to death.)

¹⁴ And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.

(Marrying a woman and her mother resulted in death for all involved.)

¹⁵ And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
¹⁶ And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

(Bestiality resulted in both parties (including the beast) being put to death.)

(Verses 17-21: the penalty for other sexual sins.)

¹⁷ And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a shameful thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
¹⁸ And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath made naked her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
¹⁹ And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister; for he hath made naked his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
²⁰ And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
²¹ And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is impurity: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

(The detail for other sexual sins: not put to death. Remember, Abram and Sarai did v. 17 in Genesis 20:12, Moses' dad did v. 19 in Exodus 6:20.)

(Verses 22-26: Summary of this chapter.)

²² Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them; that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, vomit you not out.
²³ And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
²⁴ But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who hath separated you from the peoples.
²⁵ Ye shall therefore make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by bird, or by anything wherewith the ground teemeth, which I have separated from you as unclean.
²⁶ And ye shall be holy unto me: for I, Jehovah, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that ye should be mine.

(God summarized this section and finished it by saying they should be holy unto God for God is Holy. God did not require the Israelites to do something He wasn't already doing.)

²⁷ A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them.

(Lastly, God covered those who had a familiar spirit (medium) or a wizard (practitioner) were to be put to death.)




Leviticus 21

(This chapter covered instructions specific to priests.)

(Verses 1-4: Priests were forbidden from touching dead bodies.)

¹ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none defile himself for the dead among his people;
² except for his kin, that is near unto him, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,
³ and for his sister a virgin, that is near unto him, that hath had no husband; for her may he defile himself.
⁴ He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

(Being forbidden from touching a dead body was referenced with the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:31.)

⁵ They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

(The priests were not allowed to mourn like the pagans.)

(Verses 6-9: the marriage practices of priests.)

⁶ They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God; for the offerings of Jehovah made by fire, the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
⁷ They shall not take a woman that is a harlot, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
⁸ Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I Jehovah, who sanctify you, am holy.
⁹ And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the harlot, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

(God explained that priests were not to marry harlots (prostitutes) or women who had been put away.)

(Verses 10-15: the responsibility of the high priest.)

¹⁰ And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head go loose, nor rend his clothes;
¹¹ neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
¹² neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am Jehovah.
¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
¹⁴ A widow, or one divorced, or a profane woman, a harlot, these shall he not take: but a virgin of his own people shall he take to wife.
¹⁵ And he shall not profane his seed among his people: for I am Jehovah who sanctifieth him.

(Some details of those responsibilities: more specific about marrying a virgin, etc. Notice, the divorced woman was treated the same as the widowed woman.)

(Verses 16-24: Ministering priests had to be free from physical defects.)

¹⁶ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
¹⁷ Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed throughout their generations that hath a blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
¹⁸ For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or anything superfluous,
¹⁹ or a man that is broken-footed, or broken-handed,
²⁰ or crook-backed, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or is scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
²¹ no man of the seed of Aaron the priest, that hath a blemish, shall come nigh to offer the offerings of Jehovah made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.
²² He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy:
²³ only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I am Jehovah who sanctifieth them.
²⁴ So Moses spake unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.

(Moses relayed God’s words to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites.)

(This post covered the punishments for previously mentioned sins and instructions specific to priests.)

Day 37