And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “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. (Leviticus 19:1-2)
We continue where the previous lesson left off, where the Lord God was giving the children of Israel the laws regarding holiness and justice. ‘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. (Leviticus 19:19)
When God created everything, He created everything according to its kind, Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;... So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:24-27)
God created everything exactly as He wanted it to be and to mate with the opposite sex of its kind. Yet again, this goes along with the law regarding homosexuality and bestiality. 'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.' (Leviticus 18:22-23) These kinds of sexual relationships are not according to its kind, that's why the Lord God referred to them as an abomination, a perversion.
‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is betrothed to a man as a concubine [bondmaid, slave], and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be scourging [inquiry]; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. 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. (Leviticus 19:20-22)
This law deals with the sin of fornication. A man has a sexual relationship with a woman who is not married, but she is a slave of another man. The use of the word "scourging" here is not the same as when used when Christ Jesus was beaten. (Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; Luke 18:33; John 19:1) The use here means to inquire, and if the priests or judges confirm that a sexual relationship had occurred between the two unmarried people involved, they had to offer a sacrifice as a trespass offering. Now, had she been betrothed or the man married, the penalty would have been much more severe, which we will study in the next lesson.
‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:23-25)
This again is a form of tithes and offerings, of giving God our firstfruits, so that He will continue to bless us with increase. Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:8-9) This is also a practice of farmers and growers today, to allow trees time to mature, so that over time, they will produce more fruit.
‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:26-28) ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:31)
We are not to practice any form of witchcraft or occult worship, and the Lord God was very clear as to what those things are.Tattoos are very popular in our society today, but they are also a pagan practice that we who profess and call ourselves Christians should not engage in. Again, God's laws are not about making us happy , but about instructing us on what it takes for us to represent His Holiness in this world.
‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness. (Leviticus 19:29) Why do so much of the laws of holiness deal with sex? Because sex outside of the guidelines of God's Word represents the epitome of unholiness. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. (I Corinthians 6:13-14)
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”[Genesis 2:24] But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (I Corinthians 6:15-17)
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (I Corinthians 6:18-20)
‘You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:30) Again, the Lord God is reiterating one of the Ten Commandments, when He said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11)
‘You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:32) Older people are to be treated with and shown the ultimate respect. Not all people are the same, but we are not to judge; we are just to Render therefore to all their due:... fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. (Romans 13:7) The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is their gray head. (Proverbs 20:29) The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness. (Proverbs 16:31)
‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34) When a lawyer, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) Christ Jesus responded by telling him the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37) The point being, we are to treat all people as our neighbor, regardless of race, for He made all of us in His image, according to His likeness.
‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 19:35-36) The point it we are to treat everyone fair and be honest, especially in how we handle our business dealings. We can't just represent God's Holiness among other Christians, but we must represent Christ before the world, in every area of our life.
The Lord God summarized these scriptures through the prophet Malachi this way, "And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien— because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:5) We don't want to receive the judgement of God for being disobedient to His Word; ‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the Lord.’” (Leviticus 19:37)
We mentioned this in the previous studies and we've repeated it in several study, that God's ultimate goal is not our happiness or comfort or pleasure, but our holiness. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (I Peter 1:13-16) AMEN!
We continue where the previous lesson left off, where the Lord God was giving the children of Israel the laws regarding holiness and justice. ‘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. (Leviticus 19:19)
When God created everything, He created everything according to its kind, Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;... So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:24-27)
God created everything exactly as He wanted it to be and to mate with the opposite sex of its kind. Yet again, this goes along with the law regarding homosexuality and bestiality. 'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.' (Leviticus 18:22-23) These kinds of sexual relationships are not according to its kind, that's why the Lord God referred to them as an abomination, a perversion.
‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is betrothed to a man as a concubine [bondmaid, slave], and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be scourging [inquiry]; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. 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. (Leviticus 19:20-22)
This law deals with the sin of fornication. A man has a sexual relationship with a woman who is not married, but she is a slave of another man. The use of the word "scourging" here is not the same as when used when Christ Jesus was beaten. (Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; Luke 18:33; John 19:1) The use here means to inquire, and if the priests or judges confirm that a sexual relationship had occurred between the two unmarried people involved, they had to offer a sacrifice as a trespass offering. Now, had she been betrothed or the man married, the penalty would have been much more severe, which we will study in the next lesson.
‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:23-25)
This again is a form of tithes and offerings, of giving God our firstfruits, so that He will continue to bless us with increase. Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:8-9) This is also a practice of farmers and growers today, to allow trees time to mature, so that over time, they will produce more fruit.
‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:26-28) ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:31)
We are not to practice any form of witchcraft or occult worship, and the Lord God was very clear as to what those things are.Tattoos are very popular in our society today, but they are also a pagan practice that we who profess and call ourselves Christians should not engage in. Again, God's laws are not about making us happy , but about instructing us on what it takes for us to represent His Holiness in this world.
‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness. (Leviticus 19:29) Why do so much of the laws of holiness deal with sex? Because sex outside of the guidelines of God's Word represents the epitome of unholiness. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. (I Corinthians 6:13-14)
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”[Genesis 2:24] But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (I Corinthians 6:15-17)
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (I Corinthians 6:18-20)
‘You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:30) Again, the Lord God is reiterating one of the Ten Commandments, when He said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11)
‘You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:32) Older people are to be treated with and shown the ultimate respect. Not all people are the same, but we are not to judge; we are just to Render therefore to all their due:... fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. (Romans 13:7) The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is their gray head. (Proverbs 20:29) The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness. (Proverbs 16:31)
‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34) When a lawyer, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) Christ Jesus responded by telling him the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37) The point being, we are to treat all people as our neighbor, regardless of race, for He made all of us in His image, according to His likeness.
‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 19:35-36) The point it we are to treat everyone fair and be honest, especially in how we handle our business dealings. We can't just represent God's Holiness among other Christians, but we must represent Christ before the world, in every area of our life.
The Lord God summarized these scriptures through the prophet Malachi this way, "And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien— because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:5) We don't want to receive the judgement of God for being disobedient to His Word; ‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the Lord.’” (Leviticus 19:37)
We mentioned this in the previous studies and we've repeated it in several study, that God's ultimate goal is not our happiness or comfort or pleasure, but our holiness. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (I Peter 1:13-16) AMEN!
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