Chapter 19
Leviticus 19:2 - Holiness is separateness. It is being different from the others around you. It is having an air of the divine. There is an "other-world-liness" to your demeanor, like you somehow belong but don't belong on earth. The Lord is making a people for Himself that look like Him - a real family of God.
Leviticus 19:3 - Top on the list: Commandment number four and five out of the ten. Then it is followed by the divine name again.
Leviticus 19:4 - The next two commandments are reiterations of one and two. Again followed by the divine name.
Leviticus 19:9-10 - The "gleanings" of the field are the things that have fallen on the ground after they have been cut or picked. E.g., a man reaps a sheaf of wheat, but taking it to the cart, he drops a few on the ground. He's not to pick it back up. There are no accidents with God. That wheat that fell was meant to fall for sake of the poor. Ruth took advantage of this law when gleaning from Boaz's fields (Ruth 2). From Ruth's story, we learn that the reapers used to treat harshly the poor that came to the fields to glean (2:16). That would be a normal human reaction when you are trying to work, and someone is standing around waiting for you to drop something so he can pick it up and claim it for himself. You've worked hard, and he hasn't. Now he is getting profit from your labor. But that is how the Lord takes care of the poor. The rich always resent it - unless they have understanding. The key to understanding is in verse 10 "you shall abandon them" (NASB says "leave"). Whatever falls behind, you are to abandon. That is, you are to think no more about it. The problem arises when we keep thinking about what we've left behind for others to take. If we let it go and stop thinking about it, giving it up to the Lord, then we have understanding.
In our society, we have the same tension between those on "welfare" and those who fund it (taxpayers). But think about the life of those needing welfare. While they are benefiting from your work, you wouldn't want to live their life: never knowing where your meals are coming from, being always on the brink of destitution. The little they get from you is not sufficient to make their lives secure like yours. It also teaches us that being on welfare is not a place to stay. No one in their right mind would want to always live like that. The tension does serve a good person: It makes one on welfare uncomfortable and hopefully desire to make a better life for himself. Thus God does not waste any opportunity at shaping a person's life for the better.
Leviticus 19:11 - Here you have repetition of the 8 and 9 commandment with an expansion on their meaning to include dealing falsely with someone. There is a preposition (beyth) in front of "another" that has the connotation of acting against someone. When we lie, steal or deal falsely, we are harming the other person, even if there is no physical damage.
Leviticus 19:12 - Here is repetition and expansion of the 3 commandment. By swearing falsely in the name of the Lord, God says it is taking His name in vain, which is a sin that will not go unpunished.
Leviticus 19:13 - Repetition and expansion of the 8th commandment. The verse begins with not oppressing your neighbor or literally your friend. This command is the over-arching concept for the verse. Stealing from him or withholding his wages would be a form of oppression. Throughout the book of Judges, the Bible talks about nations that would oppress Israel in the form of stealing from them or destroying their means of livelihood. If you withhold a persons wages, they might not eat that night.
Leviticus 19:14 - This verse could also fall under the general prohibition against oppressing another person.
Leviticus 19:15 - The Lord is equitable. He indicates that we should show no favoritism to the poor or to the rich. Matthew Henry says regarding the poor, "Whatever may be given to a poor man as an alms, yet let nothing be awarded him as his right but what he is legally entitled to, nor let his poverty excuse him from any just punishment for a fault." We all know intuitively that the rich tend to be favored. But the Lord says neither the rich nor the poor should be favored. There are political parties in the USA that are built much upon showing favoritism to the poor (and parties built on favoring the rich too). The Lord says laws and decisions should be made fairly.
Leviticus 19:17 - The Hebrew grammar in this verse is significant. Moses uses an adjectival intensifier to give the meaning, "You may certainly rebuke your neighbor..." In other words, you may rebuke them for a wrong, but you may not harbor ill feelings toward them. "Let it flow, let it go." Matthew Henry has a wonderful explanation of this verse, and it is worth quoting in full: "Rather rebuke him than hate him for an injury done to thyself. If we apprehend that our neighbor has any way wronged us, we must not conceive a secret grudge against him, and estrange ourselves from him, speaking to him neither bad nor good, as the manner of some is, who have the art of concealing their displeasure till they have an opportunity of a full revenge (2 Sa. 13:22); but we must rather give vent to our resentments with the meekness of wisdom, endeavor to convince our brother of the injury, reason the case fairly with him, and so put an end to the disgust conceived: this is the rule our Saviour gives in this case, Lu. 17:3. 2. Therefore rebuke him for his sin against God, because thou lovest him; endeavor to bring him to repentance, that his sin may be pardoned, and he may turn from it, and it may not be suffered to lie upon him.
M. Henry is not giving us license to act in the flesh or flare up our anger when someone does us wrong. Notice that he says, "vent...with the meekness of wisdom...rebuke him...because thou lovest him, endeavor to bring him to repentance..." This is not lashing out at someone for wronging you. This is restoring someone who has sinned against you by gentle and loving confrontation.
The last part of the verse, "Shall not incur sin because of him," is teaching that we should not allow someone's sin against us to drive us to sin against them by holding a grudge, not confronting the sin, or taking revenge. In other words, do the two things prescribed previously and you won't fall into sin on account of him.
Leviticus 19:18 - Verses 17 and 18 belong together. You can see the theme in the two verses: Don't hate (17), don't bear grudges (18). Verse 18 has a summary statement of what we should do: Love our neighbors as ourselves.
Leviticus 19:19 - This verse is a prohibition of mixing things that would not normally be mixed: Mules don't normally mate with horses. Wolves don't normally mate with dogs, etc. Commentators are at a loss as to exactly why the Lord would make these prohibitions. The above mentioned one seems logical enough. However, sowing a field with two kinds seems to be a practical consideration (hard to separate wheat from rye if sown together). And the last seems to be symbolic of a higher reality. I can only take a stab at the meaning: In the Trinity, the Three Persons (Father, Son, and Spirit) are of the same substance, yet they are distinct in personality, and have wills that are unmixed and unconfused. Furthermore, God is pure through and through. So, with the garments, we are to take a pure but distinct thread and weave it together without mixing and without confusing it with another substances.
Are these regulations still in force today? I say, don't mix animal species. Farmers would probably tell you not to sow your field with two types of seed for practical reasons. What to do with the last one? Let's think about it more.
Leviticus 19:23 - This verse employs a rare phrase. Literally, the Hebrew reads, "It's uncircumcision you will consider as uncircumcised." In the first instance uncircumcision refers to "fruit" and in the other it means "consider as prohibited." When Moses tells God he is unable to speak, he literally says, "I am uncircumcised of lips" (Exodus 6:12).
Gill gives a good explanation for why the Israelites could not eat the fruit the first three years: (1) Gardners recommend that newly planted trees have their fruit picked off early - before it is ripe. This will help the tree establish better roots and be more fruitful later. In Israel's earnestness to cultivate the land and bring forth food, they were not to sacrifice the long-term sustainability of their sojourn in the promise land. Fruit trees don't last forever. So if the existing trees die, and the Israelites didn't properly care for the newly planted trees, then they will really suffer. Following God's plan will ensure food for years to come. We can be too eager to reap the benefits of our labor and thus jeopardize the long-term outcomes by our short sightedness. (2) Gill cites Aben Ezra as saying the 3rd year fruit is actually harmful to humans to eat. Notice that the Lord didn't even want the fruit in the first 3 years. It was only in the 4th year that He wanted it dedicated to Him. The fourth year is the first year the Lord saw the fruit as beneficial to eat.
This may seem restrictive, but note all the things they were permitted to eat: Any tree that was planted before they came there. And the Israelites said that if a tree was not chiefly planted for food (so to make a hedge or for timber), it was free to eat from. If a tree grew up by itself, i.e., it was not intentionally planted, then they could eat of its fruit any time. Thus, we should not imagine that the Lord was putting an undue hardship on His people. In actuality, He was looking out for their long-term ability to remain in the land.
Leviticus 19:24 - This verse has interesting accenting. There is a major accent break after the words, "its fruit shall be..." But then it picks up after the break with "holy." It is as if the Moses is trying to keep the reader in suspense. "The fruit shall be...yes, yes,...what shall it be?" "It shall be HOLY." Notice too that it is an offering or praise to the LORD. It is not a guilt offering, a peace offering, a wave offering, or any other thing but a praise offering. I can find no other place in the Bible where the phrase "offering of praise" occurs. I think that is significant. Why was the fourth year's fruit an offering of praise? If the tree survived into the fourth year, and if the Israelites kept the law and picked the fruit off the tree early, then this fourth year's fruit should look beautiful. It was a praise offering because the Lord had made them able to sustain life in the promised land. It was a praise offering because it linked to their ability to stay in the promised land.
Leviticus 19:25 - The promise of increase was given after 4 years of deprivation. This does not directly apply to Christians today who need increase in finances. Some may say, "I've been deprived for longer than 4 years, where's my increase?" There are a few possible reasons for your deprivation: (1) I believe that some receive all the money from God they need to live comfortably. However, their poor spending habits and far-reaching lifestyle requires more money. If they learn to live more modestly and humbly and spend more wisely what they are given, they would not feel any deprivation. This was our experience. (2) It is possible that because of one's own sin, a family may suffer deprivation. A father may have turned from following the Lord, may be lazy, may be prone to dissipation (spending on costly nothings like alcohol or tobacco). Notice in the text that the Israelites had to obey a specific command of the Lord to deprive themselves of possible increase for 4 years. I may be presumptuous, but most Americans do not deprive themselves of possible increase for anyone, let alone God. Notice also the amount of faith the Israelites would have to have to agree to this. It wasn't just a year but four years! Think also of the perseverance in faith and obedience they must have had. I'm sure there were bad years when the fruit looked so good on those trees while some of the pre-existing trees they could eat from did not have such good fruit. Do you see the parallel to the Garden of Eden temptation? It is implied here. Though we do not know how the Israelites faired compared with Adam and Eve.
Leviticus 19:27 - The hair cutting pattern prohibited here was practiced by pagans in the worship of their gods. This verse is followed by other prohibitions about pagan worship.
Leviticus 19:30 - Notice the "Sabbaths" are plural, which is meant to include not just Sabbath days but years as well (e.g., Ex 23:10). This command is a repetition of verse 3, chapter 19.
Leviticus 19:32 - It was the custom of the Israelites, and the Gentile nations at the time as well, to rise before those who were 70+ years old. It was also the custom for a boy to rise before a man with a beard. The question is: Does this apply to us now? It follows the principle of deference. The aged deserve respect from the younger. It is a morally despicable society that does not treat with deference the aged. But do we need to stand up, really? Your body follows your heart, and your heart will follow your body. Some think it is a one-way street. But it is not so. Even some of our modern sages have said, "Fake it until you make it." That means, even if you don't *feel* like it (in your heart), do it anyway (your actions). Your feelings will follow your actions. They use this principle in marriage counseling as well. Ever heard of the "Love Dare"?
I think it is a good practice to stand before the aged. I would recommend it especially to those who do not respect their elders enough.
