READ IT! - Introduction to Leviticus 14-20

Readings for this week

Monday: Leviticus 14

Tuesday: Leviticus 15

Wednesday: Leviticus 16

Thursday: Leviticus 17

Friday: Leviticus 18

Saturday: Leviticus 19

Sunday: Leviticus 20

Introduction to Leviticus 14-20

Chapters 14-17

The “Laws of Sanitation” continue… and we get some beautiful regulations about “Discharges Causing Uncleanness,” where we learn that having a bodily discharge makes you sanitarily “unclean,” but not sinfully “unclean.”

And the people get another friendly reminder to wash their clothes… and to clean their beds… and not to spit on people… and to wash their hands… and wash their dishes… and clean themselves up after having sex… and to clean period blood off themselves.

Chapter 18

We then get into some fun laws about… “Unlawful Sexual Relations.”

And to the men, are given the commands:

Don’t have sex with your mother.
Don’t have sex with your sister.
Don’t have sex with your granddaughter.
Don’t have sex with your half-sister.
Don’t have sex with your aunt.
Don’t have sex with your daughter-in-law.
Don’t have sex with your sister-in-law.
Don’t marry a woman and her sister simultaneously.
Don’t have sex with a woman on her period.
Don’t have sex with your neighbor’s wife.
Don’t sacrifice your kids to Molech. (What does this have to do with sex? Well...they had sex while they sacrificed their kids...but more on fertility cults some other time...)
Don’t have sex with men.
Don’t have sex with animals.

And to the women are given the command:

Don’t have sex with animals.

Chapters 19-20

We then get a bunch of “Various Laws” before the book begins to speak to the priests directly. We’ll look at that priestly stuff next week, but for now, here are the highlights of those various laws…

Such as…

“Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.”
“Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.”
“Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God.”
“Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”
“Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.”
“Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.”
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.”

This last command is, according to Jesus, the second most important command of all time after loving God.

We also get laws such as…

“Do not mate different kinds of animals.”
“Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.”
“Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.”
“Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.”
“Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.”
“Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute…”
“Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them.”
“Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.”

And finally…

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”