Law as it Relates to The Ten Commandments
September 30, 2020
Commentary
Chapter 19 deals with the sanctity of law. The regulations given here aren’t arranged in any particular order, but that which ties them together is their relationship to the 10 commandments.
1. Be holy (vv. 1-2)
2. Honor to parents (v. 3).
3. Honoring the Sabbath (v. 3).
4. Avoiding idolatry (v. 4).
5. God’s instruction for worship (vv. 5-8).
6. Consideration of the poor (vv. 9-10).
7. Robbery, deceit and falsehood (v. 11).
8. God’s name is not to be lightly used in oaths (v. 12).
9. Employer is warned against taking unfair advantage of the employee (v. 13).
10. Care for the helpless (v. 14).
11. Righteous judgements (v. 15).
12. Warning against tale-bearing and ill feelings toward a brother (vv. 16-18).
13. Each species was told to reproduce “after its kind” (v. 19).
14. Sexual morality is demanded (vv. 20-22).
15. The law of the harvest in Canaan (vv. 23-25).
16. The eating of blood was forbidden (vv. 26-29).
17. Honor of the Sabbath and the Sanctuary (v. 30).
18. Avoid “familiar spirits” and “wizards” (v. 31).
19. Honor the aged (v. 32).
20. Deal kindly with strangers (vv. 33-34).
21. The standard of righteousness (vv. 35-37).
Application
These commands reach beyond outward behavior to inward motivation. I want to glorify God!
Leviticus 19:1– 37 (NET)
1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the Lord your God.
5 “‘When you sacrifice a peace-offering sacrifice to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is accepted for you. 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. 7 If, however, it is eaten on the third day, it is spoiled; it will not be accepted, 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.
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. 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 resident foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
11 “‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen. 12 You must not swear falsely in my name, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. 13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against your neighbor. You must not withhold the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning. 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.
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. 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. 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. 18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. 19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed together, 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 material.
20 “‘When a man goes to bed with a woman for intercourse, 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. 21 He must bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, a guilt offering ram, 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.
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. 24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, praise offerings to the Lord. 25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit to add its produce to your harvest. I am the Lord your God.
26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. You must not practice either divination or soothsaying. 27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard. 28 You must not slash your body for a dead person or incise a tattoo on yourself. I am the Lord. 29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness.
30 “‘You must keep my Sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. I am the Lord. 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. 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. 33 When a resident foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 34 The resident foreigner who lives with you must be to you as a native citizen among you; so you must love the foreigner as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. 35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or volume. 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. 37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations. I am the Lord.’”
Illustration: When Pride Goes Out The Holy Spirit Comes in
D. L. Moody said, “I believe that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride, selfishness and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts.” (Source Unknown).