Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Holiness Is a Practical Thing
(Leviticus 17—20)
In his famous commencement address given at Harvard University on June 7, 1978, Russian novelist and social critic Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, “I have spent all my life under a Communist regime, and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one is not quite worthy of man either.”
With all due respect to hardworking legislators, judges, law-enforcement officers, and lawyers, I agree with Solzhenitsyn; it takes more than good laws to make good people and a good society. In our world today, not everything that’s legal is moral or biblical. Some human activities that courts sanction and society defends, God will one day judge as abominable sin.
Leviticus 17—20 constituted a legal code for the people of Israel, touching on many areas of their personal and public life. The emphasis isn’t simply on justice or civic righteousness, as important as they are, but on holiness. After all, Israel was God’s people and the law was God’s law. The Lord said to them, “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you” (20:7–8 NKJV).
The motivation for Israel’s obedience had to be more than fear of punishment. The people also needed in their hearts a desire to please God and a determination to be a holy people who would bring glory to His name (Ex. 19:3–6). Obeying the law and having holy character aren’t necessarily the same thing.
Twenty-four times in these four chapters you find the declaration, “I am the Lord!” God was giving His people divine laws that expressed His holy will, laws that He expected them to respect and obey. While obedience to the law isn’t God’s way of salvation (Rom. 3:19–20; Gal. 3:21–29), a love for holiness and a desire to obey and please God are certainly evidences that we are the children of God (1 John 3:1ff.).
These chapters deal with four special areas of life that must be respected and kept holy: the sanctity of blood, or life (chap. 17); the sanctity of sex (chap. 18); the sanctity of the law (chap. 19); and the sanctity of judgment (chap. 20).
1. THE SANCTITY OF BLOOD (17:1–16)
According to Leon Morris, the word blood is used 460 times in the Bible, 362 of them in the Old Testament. In Leviticus 17, you find the word “blood” 13 times; you also find in this chapter the key text in biblical theology on the significance of the blood in salvation: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (v. 11 NKJV).
Long before medical science discovered the significance of the circulation of the blood in the human body and its importance for life, Scripture told us that the blood was the life. When a sacrifice was offered and its blood was shed, it meant the giving of a life for the life of another. The innocent victim died in the place of the guilty sinner. Throughout Scripture, it’s the blood that makes the atonement. Any theology that ignores or minimizes the blood isn’t founded on the Word of God.
The offering of food (vv. 1–7). The Jews didn’t eat a great deal of meat because it was too costly to slaughter their animals. The law stated here prohibited them from killing their animals for food anywhere inside or outside the camp. Any animal used for food had to be brought to the altar and presented as a fellowship (peace) offering to the Lord.
This law accomplished several things. To begin with, it kept the people from secretly offering sacrifices to idols out in the fields. If they were discovered and questioned, they could claim that they were killing the animal only for a feast. But if that were the case, they should have taken the animal to the tabernacle altar. The blood of an animal must be offered only to the Lord and only at His altar.
Second, by this law the Lord dignified ordinary meals and made them a sacred experience. The slain animal wasn’t just a piece of meat; it was a sacrifice presented to the Lord. According to verse 4, slaying an animal away from the altar was the same as murdering the animal, and God wants us to treat His creation with greater respect. When we thank God at the table for our food, we’re not acknowledging only His goodness; we’re also sanctifying the meal and making eating it a spiritual experience.
Third, by bringing the animal to the altar, the offerer was seeing to it that the Lord (3:1–17) and the priest (7:11–18) each received their rightful portion. To be sure, the offerer wouldn’t get as much meat for himself and his family, but the principle behind Matthew 6:33 would compensate him in other ways. The fellowship meal at the house of God would glorify God and satisfy the needs of the offerer and those who ate with him.
The offering of sacrifices (vv. 8–9). This is a further application of the first law; even if you were bringing a legitimate sacrifice to God, it had to be brought to the altar and the blood shed there. No Jew was ever allowed to offer a sacrifice in the fields or at his tent. There was one tabernacle, one altar, and one ordained priesthood, and the people had to respect God’s orders.
These laws were modified slightly when the nation went into the land of Canaan (Deut. 12:1–16). In the camp of Israel, nobody would be too far from the door of the tabernacle. Thus bringing an animal for a fellowship offering wouldn’t pose a problem. But in the land of Canaan, distance would create a problem. Therefore, the Lord allowed the people to kill animals for food at home without having to bring them to the altar (vv. 15–16). However, all sacrifices had to be at the altar, and nobody was permitted to eat the blood.
The eating of blood (vv. 10–14). Because the blood is the life of the creature and the God-ordained means of atonement, it must not be treated like ordinary food. This prohibition goes all the way back to Noah (Gen. 9:1–4) and was repeated often in the law (Lev. 3:17; 7:26–27; Deut. 12:16, 23–25; 15:23). The early church included this regulation in its instructions to Gentile converts (Acts 15:23–29). In many heathen religions, it was a common practice to use blood for food, which explains why God warned even the non-Jews in the camp not to violate this law. How easy it would be for a Jew to follow the bad example of his heathen neighbor and thus incur the wrath of God!
Before preparing his meal, a Jew out hunting had to be careful to drain out the blood of the animal or bird he had caught. The blood then had to be covered with earth, giving it a decent burial, as it were. Orthodox Jews today are very careful to purchase kosher meat from which the blood has been drained in the prescribed manner.
The eating of animals found dead (vv. 15–16). Since meat was scarce and expensive, the chance finding of a dead animal in the field might appear to be a favorable event. But the carcass was obviously unclean because the blood hadn’t been drained out, and it had been exposed to whatever vermin were available. No Jew would want to take a chance in becoming unclean by eating the meat. If he did, he had to stay out of the camp until evening, then bathe himself and his clothing to be made clean.
Believers today need to appreciate the importance of the “precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19). Among other things, through His blood, we are justified (Rom. 5:9), redeemed (Eph. 1:7), washed (Rev. 1:5), sanctified (Heb. 13:12), brought near (Eph. 2:13), and cleansed (1 John 1:7). The church was purchased by the blood of Christ and therefore is very precious to God (Acts 20:28).
We live in a sex-saturated society. It smiles at monogamous marriages, encourages abortion as a means of birth control, promotes and endorses kinky sex as a means of entertainment, claims that moral absolutes don’t exist, and really believes that people can violate moral standards and escape the consequences. Fulton J. Sheen was right when he said, “The Victorians pretended [sex] did not exist; the moderns pretend that nothing else exists.”
Authority (vv. 1–5). There are several reasons why the Lord gives clear instructions concerning personal sexual hygiene, sexual morality, and marriage. For one thing, we’re created in the image of God, and the Creator knows what’s best for His creation. God certainly wants married couples to enjoy the beautiful gift of sex, but He also wants them to avoid the terrible consequences that come when His laws are violated.
God had chosen Israel to be the channel through which His Son would come into the world, and it was important that the channel be sanctified. The breakdown of marriage in the Jewish society and the adopting of pagan practices could threaten the plan of God for their redemption. This seems to be the emphasis of Malachi 2:15. The Lord was “seeking godly offspring” (NIV) who can come only from godly marriages.
A Christian marriage should be a witness to the world of the love Christ has for His church (Eph. 5:25–33), but if that marriage isn’t pure and faithful, the witness is destroyed. If husbands and wives can’t love each other as Christ loves the church, why invite their unsaved friends to be saved and share in Christ’s love?
Three times in this passage God said, “I am the LORD” (Lev. 18:2, 4–5). The phrase is used forty-two times in Leviticus 18—26. That’s all the authority we need for the standards that we hold! The Lord warned Israel not to look back and imitate the sins they saw in Egypt, nor to look around and imitate the sins of the Gentile nations (18:3). When the Jews entered Canaan, they would discover that the people there were unspeakably immoral; Israel would have to maintain a position of separation in order to be pleasing to the Lord. The church today must maintain that same position (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1; Eph. 5:1–14; Col. 3:1–7).
Obedience to God’s commandments brings life (Lev. 18:5). Indeed, other biblical writers often quoted this verse (see Neh. 9:29; Luke 10:28; Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:12). If people could perfectly obey God’s law, their obedience would save them, but, of course, nobody can. Therefore, salvation is wholly by faith, totally apart from the works of the law (Rom. 3:19–31). However, after we’re saved, our obedience to the will of God, as revealed in the Word of God, is the basis for fellowshipping with God and enjoying the abundant life He wants us to have.
Standards (vv. 6–23). Since God invented sex and ordained marriage, He has every right to establish the regulations that control them, and our obedience will help protect these wonderful blessings from the defilements of the world. The laissez-faire attitude of the humanistic world that says “anything goes” is not for the Christian. When it comes to moral standards, we’re becoming more and more of a persecuted remnant, but we dare not retreat.
The repeated phrase “uncover the nakedness” simply means “to have sexual relations with.” These laws would apply not only to marriage but also to casual contacts that were immoral. The prohibitions are listed in this chapter; the penalties are spelled out in chapter 20.
Leviticus 18:7–18 deal with incestuous relationships. These regulations are based on the fact that, in marriage, the man and woman are one flesh (Gen. 2:21–25; 1 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 5:31). A person who had relations with his stepmother, for example, would be “uncovering the nakedness” of his father; for the father and stepmother would be one (Lev. 18:8; see 1 Cor. 5:1ff.). Most modern societies prohibit consanguineous marriages, not because of what the Bible says but because of the consequences of such unions. There is a tendency for their children to inherit the recessive detrimental genes and bring out the worst in the family tree rather than the best.
Leviticus 18:16 did not prohibit what is known as “levirate marriage.” (“Levir” is the Latin word for “husband’s brother.”) This occurred when a deceased husband’s brother married the widow so as to beget sons who would continue the family name and protect the family inheritance (see Deut. 25:5–10). The law stated in Leviticus 18:16 prohibited only illicit relations between brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
The seventh commandment, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14 NKJV), is expressly stated in Leviticus 18:20 (see Deut. 5:18). A man might argue, “I can enjoy my neighbor’s wife because she isn’t a relative, so it’s legal.” But God said it was wrong, and that settled it. The Bible repeats the stern warnings against adultery (see Prov. 2:16–19; 7:5–22; Matt. 5:28; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:19; James 2:11).
The warning about Molech (Lev. 18:21) will be dealt with when we study 20:1–5.
This section climaxes with prohibitions against homosexuality (18:22) and bestiality (v. 23; see Ex. 22:19; Deut. 27:21), with the warning that these sins are defiling, detestable (NIV), and a perversion (NIV). The best commentary is Romans 1:24–32 (see also Gen. 18:16—19:38; Judg. 19; Deut. 23:17–18, where a male cult prostitute is called a “dog”).
That people who have committed any of these sins can be forgiven and become God’s children is clear from Matthew 12:31 and 1 Corinthians 6:9–11; that God expects them to repent and forsake their old lifestyle is clear from 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 5:1–10; and Colossians 3:1–7.
Consequences (vv. 24–30). The picture here isn’t a pretty one. Sexual perversions are like disease germs; they make a society and a nation sick. Then the land itself becomes sick and must vomit out its filthy people the way a human body vomits out poison. How tragic that people made in God’s image should end up as vomit! Please note that these were Gentile nations that were judged—peoples with whom God had not made any covenants, but He still held them accountable for their filthy deeds against nature (Rom. 1:18ff.).
If God so dealt with Gentile nations, to whom He’d never given His law, how much more will He hold accountable those who claim to know Him and possess His Word? There are dire consequences to sexual sins, and the judgment is greatest where the light has been the brightest. Alas, the nation of Israel disobeyed God, defiled their land, and were vomited out into captivity. Today, there are both secular and religious organizations that openly espouse an immoral lifestyle contrary to God’s Word; in God’s eyes, they’re making society sick.
In chapter 19, the Ten Commandments are applied to various areas of life; in chapter 20, the penalties are stated that must be imposed on those who disobey His commandments. God expected His people to take His law seriously and to apply the penalties obediently and without favoritism.
The regulations given in chapter 19 aren’t arranged in any discernible order, but the one thing that ties them together is their relationship to the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–17), which is the basis for all Jewish law and should be the basis for all moral law. Perhaps the easiest way to classify these laws is to see them in their relationship to God, to others, and to things.
Precepts relating to God. Since He is a holy God, we must be a holy people (Lev. 19:1–2). We’ve noted that the phrase “I am the Lord your God” is repeated over forty times in Leviticus 18—26 to remind us that we belong to Him. He warns us, “Fear your God: I am the LORD” (19:32 NKJV). Note that God calls these laws “my statutes” and “my judgments” (v. 37), that the Sabbath is “my Sabbath” (vv. 3, 30) and the tabernacle is “my sanctuary” (v. 30). The law brings sinful people into the presence of a sovereign God who has every right to tell us what is right and wrong.
Honoring the Sabbath (vv. 3, 30) reminded them of the fourth commandment (Ex. 20:8–11) and of the fact that the Sabbath was a special “sign” between God and Israel (31:13–17; Neh. 9:13–14). When we study Leviticus 23, we’ll discover that Jewish life was based on a system of sevens, beginning with the seventh day. Violating the Sabbath Day was a capital offense (Num. 15:32–36).
The law against idolatry (Lev. 19:4) focuses on both the first and second commandments (Ex. 20:2–6), and it carried the death penalty (Lev. 20:1–5). We could include here the prohibition against indulging in the occult (19:26, 31), a form of idolatry that Scripture clearly condemns (Deut. 13:1–5; 18:9–22).
Leviticus 19:5–8 emphasizes the importance of following God’s instructions for worship. He told them how to present the peace offering (3:1–17; 7:11–21), and He expected them to obey. We can also include 19:27–28, which are prohibitions against imitating the practices of unbelievers. Christians today may consider styles and fashions morally neutral, but this isn’t always the case. While Christians shouldn’t look like they came from “out of this world,” they certainly ought not to imitate the world. “Be not conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2).
The name of the Lord (v. 12) is sacred and must never be used blasphemously or in an oath that the person has no intention of fulfilling. This is the import of the third commandment (Ex. 20:7). If we fear the Lord, we’ll respect His name and sincerely pray, “Hallowed be Thy name” (Matt. 6:9).
Precepts relating to others. These begin with respect for one’s parents (Lev. 19:3), which is the fifth commandment (Ex. 20:12; Matt. 15:3–6; Eph. 6:1–4). Related to this is respect for the aged (Lev. 19:32), for God is concerned about the elderly (Isa. 46:4; 1 Tim. 5:1–2, 4, 8; 1 Peter 5:5), and we should be too. God is also concerned for those with physical handicaps (Lev. 19:14). Jesus healed the blind and the deaf. We can’t do that, but we can help protect them and enable them to live better lives. God is also concerned for strangers in our midst (vv. 33–34), and He often reminded the Jews that they had been strangers in Egypt (Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 25:23; Deut. 10:19). When you consider the thousands of foreign students who attend our colleges and universities, a mission field at our doorstep, this admonition becomes even more significant.
God’s concern for the poor and needy is seen in the “harvest laws” (Lev. 19:9–10; see 23:22; Deut. 23:24–25; 24:19–22; Ruth 2). It is also seen in the regulation about wages (Lev. 19:13). Since workers were paid daily, any delay would cause hardship (Deut. 24:14–15; James 5:4), and employers must never take advantage of their employees. Rich and poor stand equal before God and the law, and justice must not be partial (Lev. 19:15; see Ex. 23:3), because God hears the cries of the poor when they are oppressed (Ps. 82:3–4). The nation must be careful to have just weights and measures, lest unscrupulous merchants rob innocent people (Lev. 19:35–36; see Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:10, 23; Amos 8:5; Mic. 6:10–11).
The eighth commandment says, “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15 NKJV); the ninth commandment warns against lying (v. 16), and both are included in Leviticus 19:11. Respect for truth and for property is the foundation for a just and orderly society. The liar and talebearer (v. 16) is a menace to public safety and peace, particularly if he or she is a lying witness in court.
Sexual morality is demanded in verses 20–22 and 29. The phrase “she shall be scourged” is translated “there must be due punishment” in the NIV, which could mean the offender had to pay the woman’s fiancé an amount of money. It is difficult to understand why a Jewish father would want his daughter to become a prostitute in a pagan temple (v. 29; Deut. 23:17). Both of these laws apply to the seventh commandment, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14 NKJV).
Getting along with people, especially our neighbors, isn’t a matter of obeying laws but of having love in our hearts (Lev. 19:18). “Love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10). The new commandment to love one another helps us handle human relationships and treat people the way God treats us (John 13:34–35).
Precepts relating to things. The strange regulation in Leviticus 19:19 seems to prohibit imitating practices related to heathen worship, or, it may simply be a reminder that Israel is a separated people. Hebrew scholar R. Laird Harris translates the first clause, “Do not make your animals fall down with an unequal yoke.” This would parallel Deuteronomy 22:10. It would be cruel to yoke to the same heavy load two animals of unequal stature and strength.
That God is concerned about ecology is seen in Leviticus 19:23–25, and note also Deuteronomy 20:19–20. Fruit, of course, can’t be “circumcised”; the word simply means “forbidden.” By the fourth year, the fruit would be more mature, since it would be the third crop since planting; this belonged to God. The firstfruits should always be His (Prov. 3:9–10).
This chapter states the penalties imposed on those who broke God’s law. The same Lord who declared the precepts also declared the penalties.
Fifteen offenses in Israel were capital crimes: striking or cursing a parent (Ex. 21:15, 17); breaking the Sabbath (31:14); blaspheming God (Lev. 24:10–16); engaging in occult practices (Ex. 22:18); prophesying falsely (Deut. 13:1–5); adultery (Lev. 20:10); rape (Deut. 22:25); unchastity before marriage (vv. 13ff.); incest (Lev. 20:11–12); homosexuality (v. 13); bestiality (vv. 15–16); kidnapping (Ex. 21:16); idolatry (Lev. 20:1–5); false witness in a case involving a capital crime (Deut. 19:16–21); killing a human intentionally (Ex. 21:12).
The people of Israel were the covenant people of God. Therefore, the law of God was the law of the land. Except perhaps in some Muslim societies, there isn’t a crime in the above list that would merit capital punishment in most nations today, including murder. But the biblical view of law is different from the modern view. God gave His law to restrain sin, not to reform sinners; the penalties He imposed were for the purpose of upholding His law, not improving the offenders. However, this doesn’t mean that Christians today should lobby for the death penalty for all these offenses. While we want to do what we can to see just laws enforced justly, our main task is winning people to Christ and our main weapons are the Word of God and prayer (Acts 6:4).
The Jews usually stoned capital offenders to death (Lev. 20:2; Deut. 13:10; 17:5; 22:21, 24), but Leviticus 20:14 and 21:9 speak of offenders being burned with fire. We’re not sure what the phrase “cut off” means (20:3, 5–6, 17–18); in some places, it seems to be equivalent to being killed. It may also have meant expulsion from the camp and the loss of all covenant privileges. Some offenders God inflicted with childlessness (vv. 20–21), and of others He said, “They shall bear their iniquity” (v. 19).
Molech (vv. 1–5) was the god of the Ammonites. His metal image was heated red hot and little children were placed in his arms and burned to death (see 2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chron. 33:6; Jer. 32:35). People who practiced such idolatry were inhuman, and their presence in the camp defiled God’s sanctuary and profaned His holy name. Idolaters were not tolerated because they influenced others and led people away from the worship of the true God.
The offenses mentioned in this chapter have been dealt with in our study of Leviticus 18—19, particularly those relating to sexual sin. Note that this chapter closes with another reminder that the sins of the people can defile the land (20:22–27). This warning looked forward to the time when Israel would enter Canaan and claim her inheritance. As a chosen and separated people, they were obligated to make a difference between the clean and the unclean and not to live like the pagans around them.
While law can be a light that exposes evil and a guard that restrains evil, it can never change the human heart. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can do that. God has ordained authorities to keep peace and order in society (Rom. 13); Christians should obey the law, do good, and pray for those in office. God’s moral law is the revelation of His holy will for humanity, and individuals and nations can’t despise God’s law and escape judgment.
Over two centuries ago, the American patriot Thomas Jefferson wrote in his Notes on the State of Virginia, “Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”
Sober words for us to reflect on today.
QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION OR GROUP DISCUSSION
1. Why was blood not to be treated as ordinary food for the Jews?
2. How is “the blood” sacred for Christians? (See 1 Peter 1:18–19; Rom. 5:9; Eph. 1:7; 2:13; 1 John 1:7.)
3. How would you describe the relationship between personal salvation through Christ (Rom. 3:19–28) and personal holiness in Christ (1 John 3:1–10)?
4. Wiersbe states, “Not everything that is legal is moral.” What are some examples of activities our society calls legal, but which Christians ought to avoid?
5. God invented sex, but we are often embarrassed to discuss this topic in the home and in the church. Why? What does God’s invention tell you about Him?
6. What does it mean, in practical terms, when the Scriptures proclaim that “love is the fulfilling of the law”? (See Rom. 13:8–10; John 13:34–35.)
7. How do you reconcile your own view of capital punishment and your desire to model Christ’s compassion for sinners?
8. What are some guidelines for developing a “Christian point of view” on debated social issues such as abortion, gay rights, crime, and the death penalty?