Leviticus 19 Commentary
The LORD demands holiness. The reason given is that the LORD Himself is holy. Then the LORD provides a long list of what it means to be holy.
It’s so strange that the LORD keeps referring to His name after every instruction. It’s like the LORD is telling us, “This is because of me”. Indeed every one of these laws exists because of the LORD.
Sin is always a transgression against the LORD. A lie may help you. It may injure your neighbor but importantly, it angers the LORD. It is a minus on man but importantly, it affects the holiness of God.
Generally, these are laws on personal holiness. Respect for one’s parents is repeated and so is the law on the Sabbath. We have laws on idolatry, generosity, and respect for elders. The list is long. Again we do well to read these lines regularly.
The ‘I am the LORD’ phrase after every line hints at the need to relate every piece of the law to the LORD God. It’s about the character of the LORD. Since the LORD doesn’t change, the laws here remain unchanged and relevant even today.
Humans have categorizations like the “Ten Commandments” or the “sub-laws”. You hardly find these classes in scripture! We simply have laws and they all come with the same level of seriousness!
“Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives.” Verse 17a. This verse directly addresses unseen sin which happens in a man’s heart. Even here, we can see that the law wasn’t as raw and unpolished as we think of it today.
Indeed, the New Testament repeats all of these in finer detail. We have hints here that the LORD is interested in what happens in a man’s heart. Sin is birthed here.
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