Leviticus 19
Religious and Social Regulations
19:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:
Jehovah gave direct verbal revelation to Moses.
19:2 “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Israel was to be set apart to become a holy nation. They were set apart to accomplish a specific purpose for God.
19:3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.
Mothers and fathers were to be respected. The Sabbaths were to be kept.
19:4 Do not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the Lord your God.
Idols were not to be worshipped.
Eating the Peace Offering
19:5 “ ‘When you sacrifice a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is accepted for you. 19:6 It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and on the following day, but what is left over until the third day must be burned up. 19:7 If, however, it is eaten on the third day, it is spoiled, it will not be accepted, 19:8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity because he has profaned what is holy to the Lord. That person will be cut off from his people.
The Peace Offering was to be eaten by the family on the first or the second day of the ritual. If it was eaten on the third day, the Israelites would lose their Jewish citizenship and be excommunicated from the community.
Leaving the Gleanings
19:9 “ ‘When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. 19:10 You must not pick your vineyard bare, and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
God created His own poverty program. The poor did not receive a welfare check without working. The landowners were not to glean the corners of their fields. They were to leave the corners for the poor. The rich had to leave food for the poor. The poor had to work for their own food. There were no socialized food banks nor food stamps where people received food without working
Dealing Honestly
19:11 “ ‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen.
Stealing, lying and false business practices were forbidden by Mosaic Law.
19:12 You must not swear falsely in my name, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
False oaths were not to be made in the Lord’s name. Juries often use this verse in courts of Law to motivate their witnesses to report the truth. Oaths are not part of New Testament doctrine. The Biblical doctrine for the church is to let one’s “yes be yes, and no be no.”
19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. You must not withhold the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning.
Robbery was a crime. Wages were to be paid daily, because often the wages were used to purchase food for that very night.
19:14 You must not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.
Deaf and blind people were not to be cast out of society. This was common in many warrior cultures, such as the Spartans.
Justice, Love, and Propriety
19:15 “ ‘You must not deal unjustly in judgment: you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.
Judges were to judge fairly. They were not to favor the rich or poor.
19:16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people. You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the Lord.
Slandering the name of others was not allowed under the Mosaic Law. Today, slander is a weapon used against one’s enemies. It is best to remain silent if to tell the truth would ruin a neighbor's reputation. It is said, “You cannot believe everything that you hear, but you can repeat it.” James teaches that the tongue is like a consuming fire. The tongue is a dangerous thing that can cause much damage.
If a neighbor’s life was at stake, the Israelites were commanded to help the victim. There was no “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” Jesus taught that one was “to love His neighbor like yourself.”
19:17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him.
The Israelites were not to hate their brothers. Many ancient cultures possessed brother killing brother for the patriarchal rights.
If a fellow Israelite was committing a sin, it was to be made known to him.
19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Jesus taught the second half of this verse as the second greatest commandment in the Bible.
19:19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed, you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear a garment made of two different kinds of fabric.
If Israel loved God, they would keep the commandments of God. The same is true for Christians today. Many say they love Jesus, but they do not keep His commandments. They do not even know what His commandments are, because they rarely study the Bible. The commandments of Jesus are Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God.
God protects animals. Animals were only to breed with their kind.
Cross-pollination detracts from the production of the best crops.
Many of the Gentile cultures mixed their fabrics. This may have been an occultic pagan ritual.
Lying with a Slave Woman
19:20 “ ‘When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation. They must not be put to death, because she was not free.
God made men. Men made slaves. God is not approving of slavery. Like divorce, God is recognizing the hard hearts of men. He is offering protection to the slave woman. Israel was the only ancient nation who protected slaves from their masters.
Jewish slaves were those who fell into debt. They paid off their debt with their labor. A strong message was sent to the Israelites about going into debt. They needed to be careful with their business investments and their debts.
19:21 He must bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, a guilt offering ram, 19:22 and the priest is to make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he will be forgiven of his sin that he has committed.
Notice that it was a sin for an owner to abuse his slaves.
The Produce of Fruit Trees
19:23 “ ‘When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, you must consider its fruit to be forbidden. Three years it will be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. 19:24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, praise offerings to the Lord. 19:25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit to add its produce to your harvest. I am the Lord your God.
Dendrologists teach that young fruit trees will grow faster and yield better fruit if the buds are nipped off for the first few years. All of the first fruits belong to God.
Blood, Hair, and Body
19:26 “ ‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. You must not practice either divination or soothsaying.
The pagans drank the blood of their enemies to gain occultic power. They also were involved in the occultic practices of divination and soothsaying. Divination was attempting to tell the future with snakes. Soothsaying was similar, but with clouds. Israel was established as a nation that would look to God and not the occult.
19:27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard.
This law prohibited the shaving around the temples and ears, leaving only a crown of hair on the top of the head, as well as mutilating the beard. These were practices of the pagans (Jer. 9:26; 25:23; Ezek. 5:1). The bowl around the head represented worship of the sun gods. Many Catholic priests shave a bowl around their head. This ritual most likely came from the Babylon religious system and was infiltrated into Catholicism.
19:28 You must not slash your body for a dead person or incise a tattoo on yourself. I am the Lord.
These pagan practices were most likely associated with Egyptian idolatry. Many pagan cultures cut deep gashes on their bodies in times of grief. It was seen as a mark of respect for the dead, as well as a sort of propitiatory offering to the gods who presided over death. The Jews learned this custom in Egypt (Is. 22:12; Jer. 16:6; 47:5). Tattoos also were connected to names of idols. One who was tattooed was being branded as a servant to a demon god.
19:29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness.
The ancient cultures practiced temple prostitution to demonic gods. The most beautiful women of ancient cultures would be sold by their fathers into either the king’s harem, or into the prostitution temples. There are those today who sell their wives into prostitution so that they can pay for their college education.
Purity, Honor, Respect, and Honesty
19:30 “ ‘You must keep my Sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
The Sabbaths were to be kept by Israel. The Israelites were not allowed to miss doctrinal instruction on the Sabbath. Many modern believers find too many excuses to miss church. Those who love Christ will place the learning of Bible doctrine on Sunday above work, sleeping, family, entertainment, or study.
19:31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God.
Demons disguised themselves as spirits of the dead in order to deceive those involved in these occultic practices. The ancestor worship of many ancient cultures was actually trafficking with demons. The Ouiji board is sold as a toy to children today, but it is actually an occult device in which children are taught to communicate with demons.
19:32 You must stand up in the presence of the aged, honor the presence of an elder, and fear your God. I am the Lord.
Many ancient cultures, such as the Spartans and Indians, eliminated their elders when they became a burden upon society. Israel was commanded to respect their elders.
19:33 When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 19:34 The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Israel was a foreigner in Egypt. They knew what it felt like to be mistreated. Therefore, they were to treat foreigners with respect.
19:35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or volume. 19:36 You must have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt.
Business transactions were to be honest.
19:37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations. I am the Lord.’ ”
God is God, so He is to be obeyed.