Chronological Bible Study – Feb 19

What I Noticed Today (Leviticus 19-21)

Leviticus 19

There can be no doubt reading Leviticus 19 that God intends for His people to be special, separate from the nations surrounding them.

In verses 1-2, God begins by telling Moses to tell the people, and you are to be holy because I am Holy, and I am your God.

In verses 3-10, God gives Moses instruction regarding religious requirements:

• You must respect your mother and father (Exodus 20:2-17).
• You must honor the Sabbath (Exodus 20:2-17).
• You must not turn to idols or make images of other gods (Exodus 20:2-17).
• You must eat Fellowship offerings the same day they are offered or the next day. Anyone who eats it on the third day must be cut off from their people.

In verses 11-18, God gives Moses instructions regarding holiness among the Israelites:

• When you harvest your land, you must leave gleanings for the poor.
• You must not steal, lie, or swear falsely by My name (Exodus 20:2-17).
• You must not oppress your neighbor.
• You must pay the hired hand daily.
• You must not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind.
• You must act justly when deciding a case.
• You must not slander others (Exodus 20:2-17).
• You must not jeopardize your neighbor’s life.
• You must not hold a grudge against your neighbor (Exodus 20:2-17).

In verses 19-37, God gives Moses instructions regarding a number of miscellaneous situations:

• You must not cross-breed two kinds of animals or two kinds of crops.
• If a man has intercourse with a slave who has not been redeemed, he must bring a restitution offering to the priest at the tent of meeting. The priest will make atonement for his sin.
• When you come into the promised land a plant a tree, you must not eat its fruit for three years. In the fourth year, its fruit will be consecrated to the Lord. In the fifth year, you may eat the fruit.
• You are not to eat anything with blood in it.
• You are not to practice divination.
• You are not to your sideburns or your beard.
• You are not to mar your skin with gashes or put tattoo marks on yourself.
• Do not debase your daughter by making her a prostitute.
• Do not turn to mediums or spiritists.
• You are to rise in the presence of the elderly and honor them.
• You must not oppress the foreigner who lives in your land.
• You must not use dishonest scales, weights, or measures.

Leviticus 20

Leviticus 20 is focused on punishments for a variety of offenses. Much of chapter 20 reinforces what is said in chapter 18.

In verses 1-8, the Lord told Moses any man who offered one of his children to Molech was to be put to death by stoning (see also Leviticus 18:21). If the people do not stone him, God will turn against him, his family, and anyone who followed him in prostituting himself to Molech. God warns the people to consecrate themselves and keep themselves holy because He is Holy.

In verses 9-21, the Lord continues giving Moses a list of sins against the family deserving of capital punishment:

• Anyone who curses their father or mother must be put to death.
• Any man who commits adultery with a neighbor’s wife must be put to death.
• Any man who sleeps with his father’s wife must be put to death.
• Any man who sleeps with his daughter must be put to death.
• Any man who sleeps with a man as he does with a woman must be put to death.
• A man who marries a woman and her mother must be burned with fire.
• Any man or woman who has intercourse with an animal must be put to death.
• Any man who marries his sister or step-sister must be cut off from his people.
• Any man who has sex with a woman during her period must be cut off from his people.
• Any man who has intercourse with an aunt has shamed his uncle and will die childless.
• Any man who marries his brother’s wife has shamed his brother and will remain childless.

In verses 22-27, the focus is on the need for God’s people to be Holy because God is Holy. If they keep His statutes, He promises a land of milk and honey, but if not, the land will vomit them out.

• Any man or woman who is a spiritist must be put to death by stoning (v. 27).

Leviticus 21

Leviticus 21 describes the priests, as spiritual leaders, who were expected to set an example for the people.

In verses 1-15, the Lord tells Moses to instruct Aaron on the importance of the priests to remain holy:

• A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person except for members of his immediate family (father, mother, son, daughter, brother, unmarried sister
• A priest must not shave the sides of their heads or the edges of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.
• Priests are to remain holy to the Lord because they present the fire offerings to the Lord.
• A priest must not marry a prostitute or a woman divorced by her husband.
• If a priest’s daughter defiles herself with promiscuity, she shames her father and must be burned up.
• The high priest must not dishevel his hair or tear his garments (signs of mourning).
• The high priest must not make himself unclean by going near a dead body, even his father or mother.
• The high priest must not leave the sanctuary (for funerals) because he is consecrated to the Lord.
• The high priest must marry a virgin. He is not to marry a divorced woman or a prostitute.
• The high priest must marry a woman from his own bloodline.

In verses 16-24, The Lord gave Moses instructions for Aaron regarding physical defects and priests:

• No man who has a physical defect is to come near the Lord to present an offering.
• This includes a man who is blind, lame, disfigured, a broken foot or hand, a hunchback, a dwarf, an eye defect, festering sores, a rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.

• A man with such a defect may eat the food from what is especially holy as well as the holy, but he is not to come near the curtain in the holy of holies or approach the altar.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• There can be no doubt here that God takes these commands very seriously. He wants His people to be special, to be different from the people in the surrounding nations, and every aspect of their lives should reflect the fact that they are God’s Holy people because He is Holy!
• While we are not under the Law today, God still wants His people to be Holy because He is Holy, and He still wants us to stand apart from the world!

What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.

Tomorrow: Day 51 Leviticus 22-23