Leviticus 5

Chapter 5. Holiness

Leviticus 18-22

After the revelation in the preceding chapters of our reconciliation to God and access to His immediate presence through the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ and the cleansing of His blood and Spirit, it follows in logical order, that the life and conversation of God’s separated and reconciled people should be prescribed and unfolded. This is the true divine order: first, reconciliation, then holiness. It is not only that we are brought near to God through the blood of Christ, but that through Him we can also walk in His commandments. And it is required of those who have been redeemed at such cost and brought into this place of privilege, that they should be holy even as He is holy. Therefore the Apostle Peter, in his profound epistle, connects our holiness immediately with our redemption and separation to our spiritual priesthood.

Be holy, because I am holy. (1 Peter 1:16)

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light…. Live such good lives among the pagans… that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. (1 Peter 2:9, 1 Peter 2:12, 1 Peter 2:15)

The four chapters from Leviticus 18-22 contain a great number of promiscuous injunctions and precepts with regard to the personal, domestic and social purity and righteousness of the people; and while not presenting a complete or systematic code of morals, yet they embrace the most essential principles and practices of a truly upright and holy life.

The Ground of Holiness

1. This section is preceded by that which is the ground of all true holiness, namely: a reminder of the covenant relation of the people to God as their covenant God, expressed by the special name of Jehovah.

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “I am the Lord your God”’” (Leviticus 18:1-2).

“I am the Lord your God” occurs no less than 19 times in the 19th chapter, and repeatedly in the others (Leviticus 18:2, Leviticus 18:4, Leviticus 18:30; Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 19:4, etc.). The similar expression, “I Jehovah am holy,” is also repeated many times in these chapters. These two together express the two great truths of God’s covenant relation and of His personal holiness as the ground of our holiness.

This is really the New Testament conception of holiness, and the one which throughout this entire series of scriptural expositions we shall endeavor to unfold; that we are not sanctified by law or conscience, or our own efforts or works, but by the grace of God and the imparted holiness of the personal Christ Himself. The two grounds of holiness are: Be holy, because I am your covenant God and, “Be holy, because I am holy.” In the same spirit the apostle says to the disciples at Rome, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1). That is the same as if he said, “I urge you by the fact that God is your covenant God and Redeemer.” The other truth, God’s holiness as the pattern and source of ours, is a still more profound and emphatic teaching of the New Testament. We can only become holy through the holiness of God. It is not merely that we imitate Him; we must receive Him and then reflect His own life and nature in our lives. “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God— that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Separation (Leviticus 18:3)

2. The next element in the life of holiness, as here revealed, is Israel’s separation from the spirit and character of the nations of Egypt and Canaan.

So we are called in the New Testament to be a peculiar people, separated from the spirit of the world even as Christ is not of the world. There can be no holiness without this. Therefore, in exactly parallel order, the apostle follows the call to consecration with the injunction, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). The telegraph wire can only retain the celestial fluid as it is insulated, and the soul can only keep its purity when separated from the touch of the world.

Obedience (Leviticus 18:4-5)

3. They are next required to obey the judgments, ordinances and statutes of the Lord. These are described as intended for their good, rather than merely to gratify God’s despotic will. The habit of implicit obedience and recognition of God’s absolute authority and the sacredness of all His commandments constitute the very groundwork of a holy life. To Joshua it was enjoined as one of the conditions of victory: “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7). And so the Lord Jesus Christ has made this the chief condition of His fellowship and blessing:

If you love me, you will obey what I command. (John 14:15)

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 7:24)

He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. (John 14:24)

It is not a new condition of self-righteousness or legal obedience. Our salvation is not earned by it, but, being saved by His very grace and received to the fellowship of His love, He expects it from us as the service of loving children, and it is the practical test of true holiness. “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him” (1 John 2:5).

Purity (Leviticus 18:6, Leviticus 18:17-30)

4. Personal purity in all our habits and social relations is next required under the most solemn sanctions.

This is amplified in a great number of particulars, which at first sight might seem to shock our finer sensibilities; but that they are mentioned implies the necessity of the warning and of our ceaseless vigilance, if we would maintain our character and life unspotted and unblamable. In keeping with this thought is the admonitory fact, that in the most elevated and spiritual of the New Testament epistles, the picture of our innermost communion with God and our partnership in the exaltation of our risen Lord is followed by the most explicit warnings to the very persons who had been thus represented as sealed by the Spirit and seated with Christ in heavenly places to watch against lying, anger, lust, covetousness and the most gross and abominable sins (Ephesians 5:3-18). These warnings were the more necessary because of the gross licentiousness and unnatural wickedness of ancient heathen nations (Leviticus 20:10-21).

Idolatry and Sorcery (Leviticus 19:4, Leviticus 19:26, Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:1-6, Leviticus 20:27)

5. They are next warned against idolatry and sorcery.

And this was one of the most deeply rooted and widely prevalent enormities of ancient times. Sorcery was connected with every form of paganism, and constituted, in chief part, the very religion and worship of the heathen. It was really the literal worship of the devil and a counterfeit of true religion. It was always associated with the sin referred to in the previous paragraph, sanctioning the most abominable impurities and even consecrating them to religious worship. Its power was the greater because it could lay some claim to supernatural manifestations and was undoubtedly accompanied in many instances by the miraculous working of Satan. It was the same in kind as modern spiritism. It was called necromancy even by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:10), and this word literally means communing with the dead. It is the most portentous form of Satanic power in the world today, and it is to continue with more marked developments down to the latest ages, and break out in unprecedented energy just before the coming of Christ (Revelation 16:14).

There is still much need to caution those that have entered upon a deeper spiritual life against the subtle counterfeits that follow spiritual illumination and deep emotion. The Adversary is always watching to lead the susceptible into these perils which become the more dangerous the more light we have. Through humble vigilance and holy faith and obedience we shall always be safe in His keeping (1 John 2:26-27).

Benevolence (Leviticus 19:9-10, Leviticus 19:33-34)

6. Kindness and benevolence toward the poor, the suffering and the stranger are next required.

This is the law of love. It is developed in the New Testament with still greater fullness, as a constant test of our true love to God (James 1:27; 1 John 3:17-19).

Honesty (Leviticus 19:35-36)

Strict integrity and honesty in all our commercial dealings with others were part of the ancient code of holiness.

7. It is indispensable to anything that presumes to bear the name of righteousness and practical Christianity in the present day. The apostles continually insist upon the commonplace virtues of industry, uprightness and strict integrity between man and man (Leviticus 19:35-36; Romans 12:17; Romans 13:7-8; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:6).

More than 18 centuries have made no advance on the beautiful statutes of love and righteousness which we find in this ancient code. “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest…. Leave them for the poor and the alien…. Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight…. Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly” (Leviticus 19:9-10, Leviticus 19:13, Leviticus 19:15).

Love (Leviticus 19:16-18)

8. Brotherly love one to another and love even toward enemies are next required.

How much is expressed in these few sentences, “Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life…. Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself” (16-18). What a heaven the Church would be if she would even return to the simplicity and purity of this life of primitive piety decreed nearly 15 centuries before the day of Pentecost.

Reverence (Leviticus 19:32)

9. Reverence for the aged is another of the beautiful traits of the ideal life of the ancient covenant. “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:32).

It would seem as if God made the aged His own representatives, and the spirit of reverence toward men a steppingstone toward the higher veneration we owe to God. Is not this true of the loss of this spirit in our time, through the overgrown license of modern democracy? It is one of the most appalling signs of the times of degeneracy, and harbingers of the age of lawlessness which is to close the tragedy of time.

Stewardship (Leviticus 19:23-25)

10. The recognition of God’s ownership in their property, and of their stewardship in their earthly substance, was another important ingredient in their consecrated life.

Filial Piety (Leviticus 20:9)

11. Reverence and honor to parents was not only embodied in the Decalogue as the first commandment in the second table, but was also included in those detailed prescriptions respecting the practical life of the people, and the severest penalties were visited upon disrespect to the father or mother. The parental relation, even more than the place of the aged, was regarded as the very type of the divine relationship.

Purity of the Priests (Leviticus 21:1-23)

12. Peculiar holiness on the part of the priests in their domestic relations and their personal purity was emphasized at great length in the 21st and 22nd chapters.

The priest was to be married only to a pure virgin; their families were to be holy; they themselves must avoid all uncleanness, and not even defile themselves by mourning for the dead, except only for their immediate relatives. This of course, refers to the priesthood of Christians and teaches us the necessity of entire sanctification, if we expect to walk in priestly fellowship and abiding communion with Jesus Christ. It was also required that the priests must be free from all blemishes and physical defects, even as the offerings of the people must be without blemish. This would seem to imply that Christ both requires and will supply perfect strength and soundness to those who minister to Him (Leviticus 21:17-23; Leviticus 22:1-21).

In the closing book of Malachi it is represented as the shame and sin of using blind and the lame animals for sacrifice (Malachi 1:8). The blemished priest was cared for and fed, but he might not minister before the Lord. So God has provided for His feeblest children and will not cease to love and keep them, but He requires power on the part of those who minister for Him (Leviticus 21:16-23). “None of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God…. He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord who makes them holy” (Leviticus 21:17, Leviticus 21:22-23).

Service Voluntary (Leviticus 22:18-22)

13. And finally, the person and offerings of the priesthood must not only be unblemished, but they must be voluntary.

So our service must be the service of the whole heart; we must cry, like our Great Master, “Here I am— it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:7). “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23).