Year 1, Day 108: Leviticus 19

A Grab-Bag of Laws

As emotionally rigorous as Leviticus 18 was – and there’s a commentary about how much sexuality dominates the typical human existence – Leviticus 19 seems like a general overview of various topics.  It is.  We have a bunch of related rules for social living in this chapter.  In many respects, this is a great chapter to follow a chapter on sexuality according to the human condition.  It is though God is giving us this message: If we can get a handle on human sexuality, the hardest part of being a society will have its problems handled.  What’s left will seem minor in comparison, just as Leviticus 19 seems like a survey compared to the topical depth of Leviticus 18.

Holy Is the Lord

So where does the chapter that follows sexual regulations begin?  With the holiness of the Lord, of course!  “Holy” means separate.  How many times in this section do we hear God repeat Himself by saying “I am the Lord.”  It’s as though He knows we are easily distracted.  It’s as though He knows that we are constantly pulled away from keeping our eyes on Him.  God – our very creator – already knows that we struggle in this respect.  So he regularly reminds us about His greatest characteristic: He is different from anything else in this world.  His difference, His uniqueness, His separateness, His holiness can be found nowhere else except in Him.  We are called to participate and mirror that very holiness.

Holy Are His People

So what does a holy person do?  How do they act?  Well, that is what the rest of Leviticus 19 addresses.  This isn’t a complete list, but it gives us a hint at general guidelines.  It can be summarized by this statement: The holy person thinks of the other.

• The holy farmer doesn’t scrimp for every piece of harvest, rather the holy farmer leaves some behind for the poor and the sojourner, who may not be able to feed themselves
• The holy person does not steal and thus doesn’t think highly of increasing their own wealth at the deceptive cost of another person
• The holy person does not lie
• The holy person does not intentionally cause the blind to stumble
• The holy person does not harm his neighbor
• The holy person respects justice enough to refrain from manipulating the courts to get the verdict they want
• The holy person honors creation by allowing developing plants time to grow and bear fruit
• The holy person cares more about people than money and thus has nothing to do with prostitution
• The holy person honors the elderly and aids them

All of these concepts are really about one thing: thinking more of the other person than the self.  That is really where the holy person shines.  When we think more of ourselves than the other, we are not holy anymore but worldly.  The world expects us to “look out for number one.”  When we care more about ourselves and less about the other, how are we in any way different than the world?

When we do that, what have we gained? 

But when we look past “number one” and look to someone else, then we are different from the world and we have proven ourselves different and separate from the world.  When we look to consider others before ourselves we mirror God’s holiness.

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