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LEVITICUS 19–21; PSALM 37

Week 7, Day 3

As we said before, to be holy is to be different from those around us. But it is very difficult to live in the midst of a culture without taking on much of its style and standards. Chapters 19 and 20 deal with that problem. Some of the issues may sound trivial to us, but for the Israelites they were marks of distinction; if they became too much like their neighbors in these matters, they might easily slip over into their patterns of ethical conduct, too.

Other laws are fascinating for their practical social sensitivity. When reaping a harvest, leave some for the poor and the alien (19:9-10)—perhaps the only time Israelites were asked to be careless in their work! “You shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning” (19:13). Why not? Because in an economy of day laborers, many lived from one day’s pay to the next, and if the wages were held back, a family was left hungry for the night. Do not “revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind” (19:14); that is, don’t take advantage of someone’s limitations. In judgment, “you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great” (19:15)—a standard we still find it hard to fulfill even in a modern legal system. And “rise before the aged, and defer to the old” (19:32).

And the basis for all these commands: Because “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (19:36).

PRAYER: You have brought me from my own kind of bondage, gracious Lord, so I gladly acknowledge your right to my devotion. Amen.

List five or six of the highly practical laws in Leviticus 19.