back to index2018-08-22 Wed Bible Study: Leviticus 19
00:00:00.000 |
Okay, so obviously, hopefully you have your Bible with you. 00:00:19.040 |
See, if you didn't bring it, I encourage you to bring it. 00:00:22.040 |
It's a Bible study, so you should be bringing it, right? 00:00:25.700 |
But if you have the electronic version of it, you're going to have to turn it there 00:00:29.360 |
and keep it there because we're going to just be going through the passage systematically. 00:00:34.540 |
And so I'm going to be reading some of it, and I'm just going to be going over some of 00:00:38.760 |
So again, I encourage you to just open it up to Leviticus 19, just keep it there because 00:00:42.640 |
we're going to go over the passages verse by verse. 00:00:51.600 |
And as I mentioned to you, we're going to be in the NASB. 00:00:55.000 |
So I'm not saying you have to change, but your life will be much easier. 00:01:04.320 |
All right, let me pray for us and we'll jump in. 00:01:08.440 |
Heavenly Father, we just want to thank you, Lord, for to be able to come together. 00:01:21.920 |
However we've spent our week, however the rest of the week will look, we know that we 00:01:27.960 |
need to be constantly reminded of who you are so that we do not drift. 00:01:33.480 |
We live in a physical world, Lord, with temptations all around us. 00:01:38.420 |
We need you, Lord God, to continually open our eyes, soften our hearts, Lord God, that 00:01:48.280 |
So we pray, Father God, that your word would grip our minds, our hearts, and our lives, 00:01:54.520 |
that we would be guided not by our flesh, but by your spirit. 00:01:59.480 |
We pray for insight and wisdom as we study your word. 00:02:05.600 |
So Leviticus chapter 19, I wanted to just kind of look at the kiastic structure just 00:02:15.680 |
So I found another picture that I thought maybe would be helpful, the kiastic structure 00:02:21.760 |
So if you look at it, this one instead of just kind of going over the outline, it gives 00:02:26.920 |
And on the bottom, chapter 1 through 7, is about the rituals, right, about the five different 00:02:33.440 |
And then chapter 8 through 10 is about the priesthood, 11 through 15, about all the purity 00:02:38.340 |
laws of different animals, what's clean and unclean. 00:02:41.280 |
And at the peak of it was the day of atonement. 00:02:43.140 |
So the main thrust of the book of Leviticus is explaining the day of atonement, right? 00:02:50.960 |
We're talking about purity where we are now, chapter 17 to 20. 00:03:00.900 |
And then chapter 19, we're going to be talking about what does it mean to be holy. 00:03:08.240 |
So what is the difference between the structure to the left and structure to the right, if 00:03:16.160 |
If 11 through 15 and 17, 20 is talking about purity, remember, what is the distinction 00:03:21.960 |
between the chiastic structure to the left versus the right? 00:03:27.260 |
What does the left emphasize and what does the right emphasize? 00:03:54.620 |
So the left side is more of a pure ritual in the context of the tabernacle, right? 00:04:09.600 |
So what is pure and impure and why do you need to be pure, impure? 00:04:14.980 |
You can't come in and offer sacrifices or give worship to God if you don't have these 00:04:20.100 |
So the right is about life within the context of the Israelite community. 00:04:27.700 |
Chapter 18, we talked about sexual immorality and that specifically is pertaining to the 00:04:33.580 |
So chapter 19, when he says, "Be holy," he's talking about in the context, again, of the 00:04:44.180 |
So the primary theme of this section and the whole book of Leviticus is found in verse 00:04:47.820 |
2, which is, "You shall be holy for the Lord your God am holy." 00:04:53.620 |
Obviously, this is repeated several places in the Bible, in particular in the epistles 00:05:03.500 |
See, this commandment is the central commandment of the book of Leviticus. 00:05:08.860 |
And it's probably, you can say that this commandment is really the central commandment of the Bible. 00:05:17.500 |
Everything that God is doing is to make us holy, to be set apart, to become more like 00:05:26.900 |
Underlying the motivation of this commandment, "Be holy because he is holy." 00:05:31.980 |
A non-believer of Yahweh, non-worship of Yahweh, this would not be a motivation. 00:05:39.460 |
This motivation to be holy because he is holy, there's a prerequisite that you or he is talking 00:05:51.580 |
I'm not really much into shoes, but I've read in, I think it was a Facebook article somewhere 00:05:58.300 |
that new Kobe Bryant shoes is coming out, the Mamba shoes, number 24. 00:06:07.740 |
I heard that it's coming out and it has his name, it has his number, it has his little 00:06:12.300 |
logo and he sells millions of dollars worth of shoes because of his name. 00:06:21.940 |
If you put my name on it, no one's going to buy it. 00:06:44.900 |
And so if that's a person that you admire and you worship and you enjoy watching him 00:06:49.620 |
play and having his name on that shoes makes it attractive. 00:06:55.660 |
And so when God says, "Be holy for I am holy," there's a preconceived understanding that 00:07:03.060 |
that would only be a motivation towards somebody who has already an affection for God. 00:07:12.180 |
So if you're not worshiping God, there's no affection for him, that is not a motivation. 00:07:23.820 |
So this command in and of itself, it's a central command, but it would only be a motivating 00:07:30.140 |
factor that he is holy so I need to be holy because he's talking to people who are already 00:07:38.700 |
So when we come to the New Testament, when Peter says, repeats the same phrase, "Be 00:07:42.180 |
holy for I am holy," for the Lord your God is holy, he's talking to people who have already 00:07:51.460 |
So the prerequisite for any sanctification, prerequisite for any desire to honor God and 00:07:57.060 |
to live a holy life is a desire to worship him. 00:08:01.620 |
An affection for him has been restored because of the blood of Christ. 00:08:06.340 |
He opened our eyes, regeneration already happened. 00:08:09.220 |
And so again, Jonathan Edwards says in his book, Religious Affection, one of the greatest 00:08:14.900 |
marks of a genuine Christian is that there is a genuine affection for God that's been 00:08:24.940 |
So the beginning of this chapter begins in verse 12, "Be holy because he is holy," and 00:08:29.660 |
that's the motivating factor and that's what we're going to continue to see. 00:08:33.160 |
Only those who already worship God would this motivation be of any relevance. 00:08:42.280 |
We were originally created to be God's image bearers. 00:08:47.400 |
Israel's calling was to reflect his image, to restore the large image of God in the world. 00:08:51.700 |
So the whole point of redemption is to restore that image. 00:08:58.980 |
The whole point of calling Israel and what makes them unique is that he called them, 00:09:05.020 |
set them apart, made them holy to be different from the world, not simply for their sake 00:09:11.700 |
but by God restoring that image upon them that they would restore that image in the 00:09:18.980 |
Israel was a tool for the purpose of restoring image in the world. 00:09:22.740 |
So everything about what God is doing is really wrapped up in this command, "Be holy for 00:09:27.060 |
I am holy," because that's what was lost at the fall and that's what he's trying to restore, 00:09:39.420 |
The phrase, "I am the Lord your God," occurred 16 separate times. 00:09:45.620 |
He mentions, "I am the Lord, I am the Lord," and so when he says that, it is to emphasize 00:09:53.780 |
These are not just suggestions, these are not just things that we're hoping, like Proverbs, 00:10:00.540 |
He says, "No, I am your God, I am your King." 00:10:03.260 |
So it's to establish his authority and to remind Israel whose command that they need 00:10:11.660 |
Remember last week, to not to be like the Egyptians, not to be like the Canaanites. 00:10:17.020 |
He says, "I am the Lord, you are to follow my statutes, you are to follow my rules, my 00:10:23.100 |
And so he, again, establishes that here 16 separate times, right? 00:10:34.340 |
So up to this point, Leviticus, holiness primarily referred to ritual holiness related to the 00:10:40.900 |
Remember we talked about that, the chiastic structure? 00:10:43.460 |
When he talked about holiness, he's talking about how to stay pure so that they can offer 00:10:49.740 |
From this point on, there is a transition that takes place where holiness will be used 00:10:54.900 |
primarily in reference to a personal or national moral quality. 00:11:02.140 |
Left is for the purpose of tabernacle, right is for the purpose of community. 00:11:09.620 |
So most, if not all of the Ten Commandments are mentioned in the call to be holy in chapter 00:11:15.140 |
So if you studied chapter 19, you probably already saw that, right? 00:11:19.540 |
Now when I say most, or if not all, it really depends on how you interpret that, right? 00:11:27.020 |
But you can easily make the case that in chapter 19, all 10 of the Ten Commandments are repeated, 00:11:36.300 |
Most of the application of being holy in the context of human relationships. 00:11:41.820 |
Usually when we think of holiness, we think of what you shouldn't do, right? 00:11:46.980 |
When you say, "Man, I need to really live a holy life." 00:11:57.940 |
I should maybe, if you're cursing, I should stop cursing." 00:12:02.020 |
So there's things that we say, "Well, we shouldn't do it because these are things that 00:12:07.380 |
Well, in chapter 19, he calls the nation to be holy, but the practical application of 00:12:18.100 |
It's the context with how we interact with people, right? 00:12:23.980 |
He said, "I don't know, when was the last time you really considered holiness is the 00:12:29.620 |
way you treat people, of being gracious and compassionate?" 00:12:32.900 |
Because we typically think holiness and mercy and grace are two different things. 00:12:39.060 |
So whenever we talk about holiness, we say, "Well, you know, I think we need to emphasize 00:12:45.940 |
Or maybe if somebody emphasizes mercy and grace too much, "Hey, what about holiness?" 00:12:50.180 |
And we talk about it in the church as if these are two separate things. 00:12:57.900 |
The word holiness does mean to be morally upright, right? 00:13:04.140 |
That is the overarching meaning of the word holiness. 00:13:08.700 |
But there's another word for holiness, a literal understanding of the word holiness. 00:13:13.940 |
What is the literal understanding of the word holiness? 00:13:27.060 |
So an article that was set apart from common for God's use became holy. 00:13:35.180 |
An individual who became a priest when he was anointed, it was set apart for God's use, 00:13:41.580 |
So the overarching meaning of the word holy is to be set apart, unique, right? 00:13:51.980 |
In the overarching meaning, there are specific things what God tells you to do. 00:13:56.100 |
There's certain things for you not to do, right? 00:13:59.580 |
So in the meaning of the word holy, love and mercy is also holy. 00:14:15.260 |
So when we talk about the love of God, the love of God is holy because His love is unlike 00:14:23.280 |
His mercy is also holy because His mercy is unlike the mercy of the world, right? 00:14:30.420 |
His justice is holy justice because His justice is unlike any other justice in the world. 00:14:38.540 |
So within the understanding of the word holy, love is incorporated in that. 00:14:45.300 |
Are we going to talk about holiness or are we going to be talking about love? 00:14:53.260 |
So people say, you know, oftentimes you'll see people saying like, oh, you know, the 00:15:00.780 |
And the reason why He doesn't say love, love, love is because holy, holy, holy encompasses 00:15:06.620 |
Do you get, do you understand what I'm saying? 00:15:13.380 |
The reason why I'm saying this is because the application of holiness in the chapter 00:15:30.940 |
If you haven't read it, you'll find out, right? 00:15:34.220 |
So the primary application is that be holy for I am holy. 00:15:44.180 |
You don't have this on your outline because I just couldn't fit it. 00:15:47.220 |
I'd have to print another 120 pages just because of this. 00:15:52.420 |
So this is the sphere, the arena of life where holiness is to be practiced to the left. 00:15:58.940 |
In your family, in worship, business practices, treatment of poor, disadvantage, in the court, 00:16:04.180 |
ritual practice, all of these are in the context of showing mercy and compassion, to be generous 00:16:12.540 |
And these are the passages that describe that. 00:16:25.100 |
So what I'm going to do is, again, I'm going to go over all these passages. 00:16:28.820 |
There's more than 30 separate commands given in chapter 19. 00:16:34.440 |
So I'm not going to go over every single one of these commands. 00:16:36.460 |
So I grouped them so it's easier for us to follow. 00:16:42.580 |
So if I stand, sit here and just spend even two minutes on these, it's going to take us 00:16:53.940 |
This is where you need to have your Bible open. 00:16:57.180 |
So if your Bible is not open, if your phone is not too in that text, I encourage you to 00:17:03.540 |
So in 1 Corinthians 4, it deals with fifth, fourth, first, and, fifth and fourth, I spelled 00:17:10.980 |
the fourth wrong, and the first of the Ten Commandments. 00:17:17.380 |
The commandments to be holy begins with the first of the horizontal relational aspect 00:17:22.500 |
of the Ten Commandments, instead of the first of the vertical relationship with God. 00:17:27.820 |
He says to practice holiness, and the application of that practice is to show mercy and grace 00:17:37.300 |
So if you look at verse three, "Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his 00:17:42.100 |
father and you shall keep my Sabbath and I am the Lord your God." 00:17:46.820 |
Do not turn to the idols or make yourselves molten gods. 00:17:50.700 |
So there's three commandments that are mentioned here. 00:17:54.220 |
Honor your father and mother, which is the fifth commandment, right? 00:17:59.540 |
Keep the Sabbath, which is the fourth commandment, and then don't worship any other gods, which 00:18:07.360 |
He starts, typically if you were to list the Ten Commandments, the very first thing that 00:18:13.020 |
you would think when he says God says to be holy for I am holy, you would think the very 00:18:18.100 |
first commandment would be the one that comes out, right? 00:18:25.340 |
You know, you would think that that's the first thing that comes out. 00:18:31.720 |
The fifth commandment is the first of the second set of commandments, which deal with 00:18:42.980 |
So the first four commandments is loving God with all your heart. 00:18:46.260 |
And then the number five through ten is love your neighbors as yourself. 00:18:51.460 |
But he starts by saying the first of the second set. 00:18:56.140 |
So it kind of, you understand where I'm going with this, right? 00:18:59.220 |
So he begins with that, honor your father and mother, which comes with the promise if 00:19:03.300 |
you want to live long and prosper, you must honor your father and mother, right? 00:19:11.220 |
The fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath bridges the vertical relationship, right? 00:19:19.140 |
The first three commandments is commandment to God, and then the fourth commandment bridges 00:19:27.460 |
The way it bridges it is because the Sabbath was to be set apart to rest, to give worship 00:19:36.860 |
But it was meant to be done in the context of community, right? 00:19:41.300 |
So that's why keeping the Sabbath bridges the first four commandments with the second 00:19:47.500 |
And then he ends with the first commandment, okay? 00:19:52.300 |
Now why, I'm not going to spend this kind of time with all of these, all of this section, 00:19:55.860 |
but I'm telling you this because this sets the tone for what he's about to say for the 00:20:03.740 |
I want to make sure you guys are following, so I don't want to go too fast and then you're 00:20:07.100 |
just giving me a blank stare like you're doing right now, all right? 00:20:12.260 |
You follow, tell me you're following up to this point. 00:20:25.100 |
Now when you offer sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you 00:20:32.540 |
So five through eight basically is about the peace or the fellowship offering, right? 00:20:42.220 |
Right, it was the only offering where they actually ate the meat. 00:20:48.780 |
They burned up the things that are not edible and then they saved the choicest part and 00:20:54.700 |
then they went to the side of the tabernacle and they had a picnic. 00:20:58.520 |
So the point of this offering wasn't simply about God, but it's having our sins forgiven 00:21:05.480 |
by God and the ramification is restored fellowship. 00:21:14.320 |
Honor your father and mother, which is the beginning of the second set of commandments, 00:21:20.320 |
And then the second set basically says to make sure that you do this peace offering 00:21:25.560 |
And then he repeats what he says in the earlier chapters about the peace offering. 00:21:37.400 |
This offering was given to remind the Israelites that holiness is directly linked to the community 00:21:43.680 |
And again, 1 Corinthians 3, 16, 17 reminds us that do you not know that you are a temple 00:21:52.120 |
If a man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him for the temple of God is holy 00:22:01.560 |
A group of people in Corinth who are being divided. 00:22:06.640 |
And he says, do you not know that your community is a temple of God and is holy? 00:22:13.320 |
So if you do not acknowledge them, if you do not care for them, if you do not work to 00:22:17.160 |
keep the unity, you are defiling the temple of God. 00:22:26.320 |
So this is all linked to practice of holiness, community. 00:22:35.960 |
Verses 9 through 10 teaches Israel to be mindful of people who are in need. 00:22:42.840 |
Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of 00:22:47.000 |
your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest, nor shall you glean your 00:22:51.120 |
vineyards, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyards. 00:22:54.000 |
You shall leave them for the needy, for the strangers. 00:22:59.520 |
And this was given strictly for the purpose of the people who are walking through your 00:23:09.480 |
I mean, I don't know about you, but when we think of the Old Testament God, superficially, 00:23:17.440 |
we think of, you know, the Jericho, we think of him conquering Pharaoh, we think of the 00:23:24.640 |
flood where he kills, you know, the nation because he's angry. 00:23:29.320 |
And so a lot of times we have an image of this God who is vengeful and wrathful, and 00:23:33.600 |
then he kind of disappears in the New Testament, and then we see that same God in the book 00:23:37.800 |
of Revelation, when you read it superficially. 00:23:41.440 |
But when you really dig into the Old Testament, this is what you see, right? 00:23:49.260 |
Why would a God be concerned about poor people walking through someone else's field in a 00:23:57.900 |
But that's the God that he wanted to make sure was restored. 00:24:01.760 |
So when he says, "Be holy," restore the image that was lost at the fall, right? 00:24:08.400 |
That's what being holy means, to restore the image that we lost. 00:24:14.240 |
Part of the image that God wants us to restore back to us individually and as a community 00:24:29.400 |
So again, this is a crucial part of God desiring to be represented in the world as being merciful 00:24:40.680 |
And it is because that is his nature why you and I are alive. 00:24:49.680 |
It deals with stealing and bearing false witness, right? 00:24:53.040 |
And how the Israelites are commanded to practice holiness by practicing honesty and having 00:24:59.360 |
You see how any one of these things, right, can either ruin the community by not practicing 00:25:09.520 |
Every one of these commandments, if we practice it the way God practiced it, what kind of 00:25:24.500 |
And so imagine if you live in a community where everybody is just looking out for themselves, 00:25:30.320 |
And the only reason why they're being nice to you is because they got something to gain 00:25:38.320 |
So what God is doing is restoring what was lost because of sin, right? 00:25:47.960 |
Verse 13 and 14, dealing with integrity, okay? 00:25:52.960 |
You should not oppress your neighbors nor rob him. 00:25:55.160 |
The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. 00:26:00.040 |
You should not curse a deaf man nor place stumbling block before the blind, but you 00:26:06.960 |
Again, when you just read it out of context, it may just seem random, but basically he's 00:26:11.200 |
restricting people who have authority to abuse their authority, right? 00:26:19.480 |
Because that's just a natural tendency, right? 00:26:22.960 |
If you happen to be the boss, if you're not careful, you can abuse your authority, like 00:26:31.600 |
If you're in a position of power, right, be careful that you're not wielding that for 00:26:39.920 |
Then you're not oppressing people simply because you can, right? 00:26:46.400 |
So part of the reason years ago why I stopped going out to feed the homeless, and I shared 00:26:54.480 |
this with you before, that we were doing this for seven years and then there was another 00:26:58.240 |
larger church that came down on the street and they started feeding the homeless. 00:27:03.880 |
And then we said, "Hey, we've been here seven years, but they were a larger church. 00:27:07.000 |
They had better food than us, so we ended up joining them." 00:27:10.520 |
So we're feeding them one way or the other, who cares what name we put on it? 00:27:15.040 |
So we just joined them for about a year or two. 00:27:17.480 |
Then after about a year of doing that, I noticed that when they were feeding the homeless, 00:27:23.440 |
the lady that was in charge of it would end up yelling at the homeless, "If you want to 00:27:31.800 |
Sometimes she would be in the middle of singing or something, and then if somebody's not paying 00:27:35.880 |
attention, she would go like 10 minutes just ripping into them. 00:27:39.800 |
"And if you don't listen, I'm not going to give you the food. 00:27:42.920 |
If you don't shut your mouth, we're not going to feed you." 00:27:47.200 |
And I remember just sitting there thinking, "Man, I don't want to be a part of this." 00:27:51.880 |
So I would, for a time, wait until the feeding is done, and then we would wait until they're 00:27:58.080 |
eating and then we would sit down and talk with them. 00:28:00.000 |
But more and more, I could tell that people were being offended, but they had to eat, 00:28:05.120 |
Or they would stay away from the preaching, and then they would come and get the food 00:28:09.920 |
This is exactly what this section is talking about. 00:28:13.360 |
When you're in the position to be able to give, and you're domineering and you're abusing 00:28:20.400 |
the position that you're in, and he's warning against that. 00:28:25.680 |
Verse 15 and 16, "Prohibit unjust legal actions. 00:28:32.160 |
You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbors 00:28:39.600 |
You shall not go about as a slander among your people, and you are not to act against 00:28:49.240 |
Verse 15 addresses those charged with responsibility of deciding cases that they don't, again, 00:28:57.520 |
Verse 14, 16, "Deals with witnesses who may be tempted to pervert justice by slandering 00:29:04.520 |
Right testimony was crucial during this time to carry out justice." 00:29:12.800 |
And so an eyewitness, if he chose to say something and completely ruin somebody's life, and again, 00:29:20.800 |
Again, let me just reiterate, all of this, when you study it individually, it's so tedious, 00:29:30.280 |
But again, don't forget the big picture, right? 00:29:34.080 |
He's talking about a holy community, and holy community is not just a community who does 00:29:45.640 |
Cultural immorality, like God wants us to be holy, and he's telling us that you shall 00:29:50.120 |
not do this, you shall not do this, but in chapter 19, right, he's building a community 00:29:57.280 |
And fairness, and righteousness, and justice. 00:30:00.920 |
Ultimately, this is what God is going to restore in heaven. 00:30:06.120 |
What we have now, what everything that he's saying here is a picture of what God desires 00:30:15.080 |
In the old covenant, obviously, he desires a nation of Israel, right? 00:30:19.480 |
So we experience it now in part, but all of this will be experienced and be glorified 00:30:33.280 |
Verses 17 and 18 teach the Israelites how to respond when wronged. 00:30:37.920 |
You shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart. 00:30:40.340 |
You may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. 00:30:44.560 |
In other words, if you've been wronged, you can try to correct that by confronting him 00:30:53.400 |
You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but 00:31:03.640 |
Love God, love your neighbor as yourself, right? 00:31:21.340 |
So again, I mean, he doesn't just say love your neighbor. 00:31:27.480 |
When Jesus said, "Love God and love your neighbor as yourself," like, "Well, what does that 00:31:38.640 |
So next time you go back to that passage and somebody asks that question, read chapter 00:31:46.360 |
Again, they are allowed to rebuke for the sake of restoration, but ultimately to love. 00:31:59.360 |
Verse 19, "Prohibits attempt to breed and fertilize across categories." 00:32:04.400 |
On the surface, this is one of the strangest things. 00:32:07.280 |
You can't wear material with two separate materials woven together, right? 00:32:16.860 |
The meaning behind this is not 100% sure, but most scholars believe that the breeding 00:32:23.600 |
of animals had to do with some sort of a cultic idol worship and the weaving of two materials. 00:32:31.320 |
It's found in Exodus chapter 28, 6 through 8, where it says that the only garment that 00:32:39.160 |
was allowed in the nation of Israel that was able to have two separate materials woven 00:32:49.040 |
So God is prohibiting the nation of Israel to separate the servants of God who are priests 00:32:55.840 |
who are allowed to come into the tabernacle versus those who are not, right? 00:33:00.960 |
So again, no one knows that for 100%, but to me it makes the most sense. 00:33:05.640 |
The reason why he gives that command is to separate from the common and uncommon through 00:33:19.560 |
In this section, I'm going to go pretty rapidly. 00:33:32.320 |
So verses 20 to 22 gives guidelines on how to deal with a man who had sexual relations 00:33:38.080 |
They are not to be put to death if she was a slave. 00:33:41.760 |
If he is to bring a guilt offering for violating someone else's slave. 00:33:55.120 |
So if the slave girl was betrothed to be married and a man comes in and violates her, basically 00:34:04.720 |
And so committing adultery requires putting up death, right? 00:34:10.040 |
If she was not betrothed and if she is violated, she is considered property. 00:34:14.760 |
So therefore, the restitution for what happened is the guilt offering as mentioned in the 00:34:29.440 |
I'm not saying it makes sense, but do you understand what it's saying here? 00:34:41.040 |
Do you understand the distinction between the two? 00:34:44.920 |
Now I'm not explaining is that fair, is that not fair, why is that okay, why is it not 00:34:50.440 |
I'm just explaining what he is saying, distinguishing between when is it adultery and when is it 00:34:58.320 |
So if it is an adultery, then the man is put to death. 00:35:02.600 |
If it is a violation of someone's property, she needs to be compensated. 00:35:20.760 |
You're probably frustrated now, but pay attention. 00:35:23.640 |
Verses 23 to 25 teach how to behave in the Canaanite land as it pertains to fruits from 00:35:30.680 |
You notice in verse 23 to 25, "When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for 00:35:36.920 |
food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. 00:35:40.000 |
Three years it shall be forbidden to you, it shall not be eaten. 00:35:42.920 |
But in the fourth year, all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. 00:35:47.660 |
In the fifth year, you are to eat of its fruit that its yield may increase for you. 00:35:55.040 |
So he says when you go into the promised land, first year you plant, first three years that 00:36:05.640 |
Fourth year, it's to be offered to the Lord as an offering. 00:36:10.200 |
And on the fifth year, whatever fruits come out on the fifth year, you are free to eat. 00:36:18.180 |
To explain, when they go into the promised land, the first three years, he's not saying 00:36:24.440 |
let the fruit grow and then just dry up and die. 00:36:29.180 |
What do you think is the reasoning behind why for the first three years? 00:36:44.640 |
That before you begin to enjoy its fruit, to take time to cultivate and to prune. 00:36:55.280 |
Not to abuse the land, not to abuse the fruits. 00:37:02.540 |
And then when it is time to enjoy it, before you enjoy it, you give it to the Lord. 00:37:10.760 |
And then the fifth year, after you have cultivated the fruit, after you have offered it to the 00:37:19.680 |
And that's the principle that he told the nation of Israel when they go into the promised 00:37:29.160 |
Now remember we talked about that, that when Adam and Eve fell, what fell with Adam and 00:37:42.900 |
Remember we talked about that in the book of Romans? 00:37:45.180 |
How creation eagerly waits for the sons of God to be revealed. 00:37:49.360 |
And then how when we get to the book of Revelation, there's going to be a restoration of the earth. 00:37:55.420 |
So along with the fall of Adam and Eve, so did creation. 00:38:00.640 |
And so part of redemption, redemption of mankind, is tied to the land. 00:38:09.100 |
And the final glorification is also going to see the land also be restored. 00:38:14.160 |
So the principle here, again, it's not just the restoration of mankind, but just general 00:38:22.680 |
I might be milking it, but I see a clear, to me, I see this pointing to something very 00:38:48.160 |
I see justification, sanctification, glorification. 00:38:56.520 |
For the sake of time, I'm not going to go into it. 00:39:00.080 |
You can make the connection and I'll try to explain more later if you come and talk to 00:39:04.400 |
But I see justification, the initiation, and the cultivation, regeneration, repentance. 00:39:15.440 |
And then I see sanctification, dedication, declaration. 00:39:23.900 |
And then I see glorification, where we're seeing the final fruit of our salvation. 00:39:33.000 |
I was staring at it for a long time today, and that's what it seemed to point to, to 00:39:39.160 |
Verses 26 through 28, again, prohibition against a series of pagan practices. 00:39:46.040 |
This is where you get, "Do not tattoo yourself." 00:39:53.120 |
So if you have tattoos, you are in violation of verse 27 and 28. 00:40:03.760 |
Now obviously here, when he's talking about a prohibition against tattooing, it is connected 00:40:11.920 |
Obviously that's not why people do it today, so it is not the same. 00:40:15.120 |
But there are people today who will take this literally and will not practice this. 00:40:21.480 |
I am neither condoning it or saying it's okay. 00:40:25.280 |
But it is not a direct connection to what we see being done today. 00:40:36.600 |
Verse 29, prohibits offering their daughters as prostitutes, and by doing so, defiling 00:40:44.120 |
So remember, we pointed that out last time, how what defiles a man also defiles the land 00:40:53.120 |
Verse 30 is a calling to keep the Sabbath and to revere God's sanctuary. 00:40:57.680 |
Not only the Sabbath, but to keep the sanctuary, revere it. 00:41:01.760 |
Verse 31, prohibits Israel from going to those who perform divination. 00:41:08.240 |
A medium is one who conjures up spirits, who speaks to the dead. 00:41:12.960 |
A spiritist is one who communicates to the dead for the sake of power. 00:41:19.400 |
So it may sound similar, but the difference is a medium is the one who is just for the 00:41:27.880 |
A spiritist is the one who is trying to get the power of the dead. 00:41:31.920 |
And he says that this is an abomination to God. 00:41:40.160 |
So I was just kind of thinking about that, like how many games that we play, and when 00:41:47.840 |
I say we, I'm talking about just people in general, that play on this thought, idea, 00:41:54.680 |
even if it's just a game of conjuring up spirits. 00:42:01.480 |
I became a Christian early on enough and I was never into these games, but I remember 00:42:05.480 |
hearing pockets of things, and if I mention it, I know some of you guys will already know. 00:42:16.980 |
Maybe it's a previous generation, some of you guys may or may not play. 00:42:20.040 |
Again, tell me if I'm wrong, but it was explained to me that it was casting spells and spirits. 00:42:34.600 |
But there are games where you play, whether it's the Ouija board or magic or, I don't 00:42:47.320 |
Okay, but I got saved in a charismatic circle where this was very sensitive, right? 00:42:57.480 |
We didn't play around with this, but that has nothing to do with being charismatic or 00:43:04.920 |
I think Christians need to be more discerning of what we are entertained by and what we 00:43:12.960 |
I'm not saying that these are things you can't do and these are things you can do, but if 00:43:17.000 |
it is an abomination to the Lord and it is messing around with the spirit world, even 00:43:23.200 |
as a joke, even as a game, we shouldn't do it, right? 00:43:33.400 |
I'm telling you, yeah, you shouldn't do it, right? 00:43:37.560 |
Because it is, even as a game to call up spirits to cast spells on people, this is not a joke 00:43:54.080 |
Verse 32 calls Israel to show respect for the elderly. 00:43:59.440 |
You shall rise up before the gray-headed and honor the age and you shall reveal your God, 00:44:05.360 |
Now why is honoring the elderly revering the Lord, right? 00:44:13.240 |
Because if we don't know how to honor the people who are right above us, how do we honor 00:44:21.240 |
Usually somebody who can't handle authority usually has a problem with the authority that's 00:44:32.960 |
They usually shake their fists at whoever is right above them. 00:44:39.360 |
It could be, you know, like a manager, right? 00:44:45.720 |
Typically when we have a rebellious heart and we have a problem with submission, it 00:44:49.840 |
usually is shown with whoever is right above, whoever is nearest to us. 00:44:55.880 |
He says honoring the gray-headed, right, honoring elders is a way of revering God. 00:45:03.940 |
So when we talk about submission to God, we say, "Oh, I submit to God. 00:45:08.240 |
Typically, the way the rubber meets the road is whoever is nearest to you, right? 00:45:18.240 |
And he said, again, so he says respecting elders is a way to respect God. 00:45:31.520 |
Again, 33 and 34 teach us not to mistreat aliens in the land, verse 33 and 34. 00:45:37.160 |
When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 00:45:42.100 |
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall 00:45:46.360 |
love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 00:45:50.820 |
This is God teaching his nation to be kind to aliens, right? 00:45:58.960 |
I mean, and all of this is what was lost at the fall. 00:46:08.600 |
Strangers, people who can't possibly pay you back, right? 00:46:14.240 |
People who are not your family, they can't pay you back. 00:46:17.520 |
There's no reason to do it because they're strangers, they're aliens, they're just passing 00:46:26.480 |
So everything that we see of the kindness and grace and mercy of God in the New Testament, 00:46:31.440 |
it's because he's the God of the Old Testament. 00:46:35.240 |
He said, "Treat them as if they were our own." 00:46:42.320 |
I think every religion calls people to be kind, right? 00:46:52.400 |
It's one thing for God to say, you know, "Love your neighbor, love your family, but love 00:47:02.440 |
That is not something that our world can even understand. 00:47:23.640 |
35 to 36 teaches us to be honest in doing business, to wait. 00:47:27.840 |
So he keeps saying, "Just balances, just waits, just ephah, and just hymn," right? 00:47:34.000 |
To be righteous in all that we are doing, right? 00:47:37.960 |
And this is what he means to be holy, to be set apart. 00:47:42.400 |
That the people of God, the nation of Israel, the church is to be set apart in our grace, 00:47:49.520 |
set apart in our integrity, right, set apart in our mercy, set apart in generosity, right? 00:47:56.480 |
Set apart in not taking vengeance, set apart in turning the other cheek, set apart in being 00:48:01.640 |
concerned for the poor, set apart by being generous, right? 00:48:09.080 |
When he says to be holy is to be unlike the world. 00:48:12.620 |
Everybody else in the world will give a little bit, right? 00:48:17.560 |
They live their life, you know, like selfishly self-focused, and then when they have abundance, 00:48:31.640 |
Christians are called to deny ourselves and live for God, meaning to live for other people, 00:48:40.600 |
To be God-centered means to be other-centered. 00:48:44.160 |
On church, you're God-centered because we worship God. 00:48:47.040 |
Outside the church, we're God-centered because we're other-centered. 00:48:50.720 |
That's what sets us apart from the world, that we are no longer pursuing our glory, 00:48:59.520 |
Our goal as Christians is to ultimately glorify God by loving others first, right? 00:49:07.160 |
That's what he means in chapter 19 by being holy, not simply not watching movies and not, 00:49:19.360 |
But this side of it, in his grace and his mercy, we are to be different than the world, 00:49:26.020 |
So verse 37, the concluding remarks, "You shall thus observe all my statues and all 00:49:32.200 |
my ordinances and do them, I am the Lord," right? 00:49:35.800 |
You're not to pick and choose some of this, right? 00:49:38.960 |
You're not to pick, "Well, I can do the first part, but I can't do the second part, and 00:49:41.840 |
I do, I can obey the three commandments, but the other seven commandments is not for me." 00:49:48.560 |
This is what it means to be a follower of Christ, a worshiper of God. 00:49:53.960 |
So the three questions I have for you tonight, have you ever considered holiness and compassion 00:49:59.920 |
In what area of holiness do you struggle the most? 00:50:03.100 |
And I want you to include both chapter 18 and 19 in this, right? 00:50:10.720 |
How much time, effort, and even money do you think you deliberately allocate for the purpose 00:50:16.040 |
Now, some of you guys are just generous by nature, right? 00:50:19.300 |
Some of you guys are just kind and giving every time by nature. 00:50:23.700 |
But the question that I'm asking, number two, is how much of it is deliberate planning, 00:50:29.160 |
That you plan to live your life for other people, for God's glory, right? 00:50:38.480 |
Or do you just end up using your time and money for yourself until there's an opportunity, 00:50:47.940 |
But you can live a self-centered life and give a little money. 00:50:51.440 |
You can live a self-centered life and then be compassionate, right? 00:50:56.660 |
We're talking about a life centered around glorifying God by living other-centered, right? 00:51:02.460 |
How much of your time, money, and effort is deliberately for that purpose? 00:51:07.320 |
Third, how do you respond when you think you are wronged? 00:51:14.720 |
Or do you have a tendency to sweep it under the rug, right? 00:51:18.420 |
And this is, again, because it's mentioned in chapter 19, all right? 00:51:23.160 |
So let me pray for us, and then I'll give you time for your small group. 00:51:33.240 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your word. 00:51:36.120 |
We pray, Father God, that all that we have studied in chapter 19 would take its root 00:51:45.160 |
And I pray that in our discussion, help us, Lord God, to be open and vulnerable, that 00:51:49.880 |
in our weakness that we may find strength in Christ. 00:51:52.880 |
So we pray for your blessing and your Holy Spirit to guide us.