The book of Leviticus is named after the family of Levi who gave Israelites the priests. But, this chapter especially emphasizes that the book of Leviticus was not just for the priests. The whole nation was to understand the responsibilities of the priests and hold the priests accountable just as the priests were to teach the law to the nation and hold the nation accountable – a system of “checks and balances” if you will. One theme I want to draw out is how similar the Law of Moses is to Christianity and I make that point in order to make this point: The lifestyle of Christians and Jews, from a spiritual perspective, were very similar and that lifestyle revolves around Israelites and Christians living holy lives and that’s where chapter 19 begins…
19:1-2 – “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”
God is emphasizing in this verse how important it is for Israel to be holy. In fact, in both statements about being holy, God says the word “holy” first for emphasis: “Holy you will be because holy, I myself the Lord your God,” to translate the statement literally. Man must be holy because God is holy and only holy things can come into God’s presence. It was not just the priests who were to live holy lives; all Israelites were to live holy lives. Even today, there is not a separate standard of holiness when it comes to Christianity. All Christians are held to the same standard: the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The word “holy” is found in the OT a whopping 116 times. In Leviticus… twenty times. It is used in Exodus 19:6 where God tells Israel that they are to be “holy.” Several times the word refers to the tent of worship. In Lev. 11:44-45, we have the same statement as we have here: Israel must be holy because God is holy.
Something does not have to be inherently holy to be in God’s presence. In fact, the only entities that are inherently holy are God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God can dwell in or be worshiped by things that are common and ordinary if they are made holy by obeying the commandments of Jehovah God. That’s how God could dwell in a tent made by sinful man’s hands – the priests sprinkled blood on the tent to make it holy so that God could dwell in the tent.
Holiness – “Be holy, for I am holy” – is the key phrase of Leviticus. This shows that the contents of the book, dealing with the lifestyle of the typical/average Jew was to be based on the holy character of God. The fire that comes from the presence of God to consume the offerings made biblically (chapter 9) and to consume the worshippers acting unbiblically (chapter 10) illustrates the holiness of God.
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You and I are called to be “holy” as well: 1 Peter 1:15-16. Consider this:
“holy” is used in the NT 185 times! It is the description of Christians washed by the blood of Christ.
“sanctification” or “sanctify” are used 8 and 26 times! This is the process by which Christians are made into the likeness of Christ.
“saint” is used 61 times! A “saint” is someone who has been washed clean of sin by the blood of Christ; i. e., a Christian.
To live holy lives, let us respect our parents; honor our God; help the poor; be honest; serve the disadvantaged; be fair; and love our neighbor as ourselves (the rest of Leviticus 19).
Paul Holland
