Leviticus 19:1-8--The Lord Is Holy

Leviticus 19:1-8
English Standard Version

The Lord Is Holy
19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.

5 “When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. 7 If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, 8 and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

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Leviticus 19:2 is probably one of my "life verses."  This command is not just for the priests, but for all the people.  We are all called to be holy, because we are to made in the image of God and as His people are to be reflectors of His character and nature--and I'd say the overarching characteristic that is incorporated into every other attribute of God is His holiness.  That is not to say that holiness is even its own separate attribute, but it is descriptive about how everything about God is separate, unique, and "uncommon."  God's love is holy, His wrath is holy, His jealousy is holy (yes, God says He is a jealous God and even says His name is Jealous), His grace is holy, as is His mercy.  It is not just His character that is holy, but His actions as well.

Now we come to verse 3 and it starts to get practical about how the people are called to be "holy" and to be "separate" and "uncommon" from among the peoples.  First is that everyone is to revere his father and mother.  This should be a distinguishing characteristic of God's people that is visible to all nations.  Another visible sign should be that the people should keep all the Sabbaths.  This plural here is different than when we normally talk about "the Sabbath" or "the Sabbath day" and refers more generally to all the holy days (what we now call holidays) that have been outlined in the Law--these would include some "fast days" as well as several "feast days," but it would probably also include all the of the regular Sabbath day celebrations as well.  These days and celebrations are all opportunities to be separate and holy among the nations as we proclaim the gospel story through the celebration of deliverance and redemption as we celebrate the story of Passover (which we know Christ fulfilled with a better salvation and deliverance when He died on the cross on Passover); we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost (and not just the gift of a physical harvest, but also the harvest of nations as the Lord gave the Holy Spirit and made a harvest of firstfruits from among the nations in the book of Acts); we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles where we remember our journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land, but also how Christ tabernacled among the people and how we are now Tabernacles of the Holy Spirit; we celebrate the Day of Atonement realizing that a better Scapegoat and a better atonement has been made so that Jesus died once for all not only to cover our sins temporarily, but to permanently take them away and scatter them as far as the east is from the west.  we celebrate the Feast of Trumpets (the celebration of the new year known as Rosh Hashanah that comes immediately before Yom Kippur) as a time of repentance; we celebrate the Year of Jubilee where all things are restored and the slaves are set free and all debts are forgiven (doesn't this sound like what Jesus did at the cross?);  There are other days that God will command his people to remember later on like Purim, but we won't get to that one one until the book of Esther, and there are some days that the people choose to remember even though they were not commanded to, like Hanukkah, in which we can still find fulfillment in Christ as the Light of the World.  Our story as Christians is intertwined with the way that God has always been dealing with His people through all generations and we too can celebrate these holy days, but with a fuller understanding of what was once concealed in the Old Testament, but has been revealed in the New Testament as the fulfillment of these feasts and festivals in Christ, but also as God telling us what He is doing through the Church and what He will do in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

A third way that the people were supposed to be called apart and separate from the nations is that they were not to make idols or worship idols.  God ends this like he did with each of the other "signs" of the covenant that we are to observe--"I am the Lord your God."  We do these things because this is a true statement.  When the people fail to do these things, it is a sign that they have stopped believing in who He is.

Lastly, there is a section here that no longer applies to us as the Church since we no longer bring animal sacrifices--since Jesus' sacrifice put an end to the sacrificial system.  Whenever the people brought a peace offering (a fellowship offering), it was to be offered in the way that was prescribed so that it would be acceptable to the Lord and it must be eaten on the day of the sacrifice or the next day, but anything left on the third day must be burnt up.  Is there more to this than God trying to keep his people safe from contaminated meat that would get spoiled on the third day?  There probably is, but I'm not sure that I know any passage in the New Testament that further explains this in the light of Christ, the Church, or heaven, so I'll let it stand for what it appears to be on face value here.  If the sacrifice was not given correctly or if any of it was eaten after the third day when that was forbidden, then the offering would not be acceptable to the Lord and anyone who ate of it would bear his iniquity.  That person has profaned (made unholy) that which is holy to the Lord and God demands such a person be cut off from the people of God.  Profaning that which is holy to the Lord is a big deal to God.  We see this in Acts 10:15, "15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”"

Let's look at one more New Testament passage that we've already studied together that echoes much of what was said here in Leviticus.


1 Peter 1:13-21
English Standard Version
Called to Be Holy
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Holiness is no small thing to God. It is the theme of the entire book of Leviticus and it is something that has not gone away in the New Testament.  We must be made "clean" so to that we do not approach the holiness of God in an "unclean" state and so be killed, consumed or cast out of His presence to protect His holiness.  The gospel is the story of how that is accomplished.