Leviticus 20 emphasises the need for God’s people to be holy in every way. Today, we finish up this chapter by taking a look at what holiness looks like, and how we ought to reflect it.
(A) How to be holy? Instructions to be holy
Verses 20 to 26 contain a list of instructions in holiness. The table below summarises these commands from God, but when reading it, it is helpful to pay attention to the key action words, and think about what these actions mean:
| Instructions on holiness from Lev 20:22-26 | Key action words | Meaning (i.e. how can we paraphrase) |
|---|---|---|
| "You shall therefore keep my statues and all my rules and do them." (Lev 20:22a) |
Keep and do | It involves hearing, understanding, obeying and committing to the statues and rules of God. "To keep" also has with it the idea of holding closely, guarding, protecting. It was a command to the Israelites to treasure God's word, all of it and not just the ones they want. But first, they need to know God's Word, savour it, then do it. |
| "And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you." (Lev 20:23a) |
Not walk | It means observing, contrasting, resolving and living differently. This is carefully thought through before an action is taken. What is unique about the word "walk"? When the Bible talks about it, it speaks of a continuous action in one direction. It's not a one-off action, but a persistent trajectory. Thus, this command is not just about not doing bad things, but carries with it the idea of a resolve through a series of events. |
| "You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean." (Lev 20:25) |
Separate and not make yourselves detestable | It means understanding, assessing, deciding and separating. It is a command to resolve in your heart to please Him in every way. From this verse, do you realise that the God of the Bible says things and think things. God cares enough to speak to us. This God created the world, but did not leave it to run on its own. He does not stand idly by, observing from a distant but He is still involved in the world. It is this God that has a view on things in the world that He has created. It is this holy God that commands His people to live lives that are separate and not make themselves detested by God. Have you made yourself detestable to God today? Do you understand and know the view of God? |
| "You shall be holy to me." (Lev20:26) |
Be holy | In 1 Pet 1 :14-19, like the Israelites, the believers that Peter wrote to have also been ransomed. But unlike the Israelites, these believers (and us!) have been bought by His blood! |
What can we learn from these verses? These verses have many practical implications for us. Lev 20:22a means that we ought to take active steps to plan your obedience. This means that obedience doesn't always come conveniently. It may mean removing obstacles that stand in the way of our obedience. As Bible teacher Don Carson puts it, "people do not drift towards holiness". Are you committed to God's law in this way? These verses also present a counter-cultural faith, and teaches us that grace always results in a transformed life. Do you believe in the gospel, that you have been saved from a life of fruitless mess and idolatry?
(B) Why be holy? Reasons for holiness
Buried in the passage for each instruction are reasons for holiness. God gives us instructions, but also gives us reasons for these instructions. God commands us, but also, in this case, bothers to explain Himself. Have you considered why God bothers to give His people these reasons for holiness? What purpose do they serve?
| Reason | Implication |
|---|---|
| Because of the peace of the land (Lev 20:22) |
This land is the land that God promised to them, and He is going to bring them to it. Notice that the rules for holy living have been given before they entered that land. This was supposed to be a land of their home and peace. Finally, a people that were once slaves were supposed to enter the land and rest.It was a given that they would enter this land, and now, they are being told how to live in a way that is compatible with the place that God prepared for them. What are the consequences otherwise? They would be vomited out, a picture of a violent rejection. They ought to be holy in order to stay in the place that God has prepared for them, and live in a way that reflects His character. |
| Because of the covenant (Lev 20:23-24) |
God was fulfilling the promise made to Abraham in the past. We see God's faithfulness and special commitment to His people here. They were also not people with whom he has a transactional, contractual relationship with, but they were really people that belonged to Him. God's people are special to God. |
| Because of cleanness (Lev 20:25) |
God reminds His people of the principles on cleanness He gave earlier in Lev 11. In Lev 11, the principle of cleanness and uncleanness was based on death, defilement, imperfection and flaw. He is repeating the teaching that to be holy is to be clean. By extension, to be unclean is to make yourself detestable to God. God wanted to show His people life as it is best lived and meant to be lived. |
| Because they are God’s (Lev 20:26, c.f. 1 Pet1:17-19) |
They ought to be holy because God is holy, and they belong to Him. What is His emphasis when He says "you should be mine"? He is not threatening them but He is reminding and appealing to them that they belong to Him in the way that a child belongs to his father. Do you hear the tenderness in these words? |
Through these reasons, the people could see God's character. These also provide motivation for obedience. It speaks of their:
destiny ("the land where I am bringing you to live", Lev 20:22b)
past (in the promise of the Land, going back to Abraham in Gen 12)
culture (how they lived in the present)
identity (God's people, "separated from the peoples", Lev 20:24b)
Holiness is not just a standard that God imposed on His people. It is so much more, and God's people see the character of God, but also their identity in all its fullness. This led the Psalmist to write Ps 19 in worship, because only those who love His law, and the God behind these laws, can say these things.
(C) If not holiness, then what? Stories of unholiness
The passage concludes in Lev 20:27 with specific instructions on false representatives of God, anti-Moses-es. This an appropriate conclusion to the teaching on holiness, and a transition to the next section, which focuses on the priests (Lev 21:1). Thus at the end of this section, it ends with God's resolve to put false leaders away.
Elsewhere in the Bible, we can read stories of unholy Israel. Judges 17-18 presents one such example later on in Israel's history. In this account, many crazy things happen -- God's people made an idol from stolen money, made one not from the tribe of Levite a priest, hired a priest to serve personal needs, the false priest becomes the priest of a clan, a group of enter a city, took it over, and established false gods. Over and over again this phrase is repeated in Judges -- "they did what was right in their own eyes". The problem was that they took "right" and "wrong" by their own standards, when God had clearly given them the law that reflects His holiness.
Judges 17 and 18 should make us weep. These accounts show us plainly what happens when God's people stop being God's people, God's priest stop being priests and when there're no leaders to lead God's people. When we read Leviticus 20 today, we are tempted to think that these have no real application for us Christians in a modern world. But God's laws for holiness are meant to reflect His character, and He doesn't change. Are we obeying Him by living in holiness, or do we resemble the people in the book of Judges, doing what is right in our own eyes? Are we walking in God's ways, or walking in such a way that the church no longer looks like the church, and looks no different from the world around us?
Leviticus 20 is very much applicable to us today. But we also know something that the Israelites did not fully understand. These verses show us how we do not always walk and live in holiness. But the solution is not to try harder, and one day we will succeed. The solution is that we need a Savior. Jesus came into the world not to call the righteous, but the sick, and He came to call them to repentance (Luke 5:32). As these verses confront and show us our sins, let us run to the One who was holy and obeyed the Law fully.