The Boundaries of Fairness (Leviticus 19:15-16)

15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16 ‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD.

 

The boundaries of fairness in our relationships are not to be determined by the external circumstances of poverty or wealth.  Instead, all people are to be treated with an equality that is based on our recognition of them as our neighbors.  We are not only to see that all are treated fairly in whatever dealings we may have with them, be it the PTA, Little League, the gas station, or simply the service counter at our local store.  And we are to practice fairness in our dealings with each other even when we are apart; we are not to slander our neighbor.  To slander someone simply means to speak of them in their absence in a way that is false, incomplete, or simply damages their reputation.  It stands to reason if someone isn’t present to defend themselves concerning what is being said about them, they aren’t really being treated fairly, are they?  In short, we are not to take any action, or utter any word, that detracts or diminishes the life of our neighbor.  Honestly, when it comes to dealing with living beings, we are simply not to act or speak against the life itself of that person.  “Who is my neighbor?” is a question once asked of the Lord Jesus by a man who wanted to draw some boundaries between the people he bore an obligation to and those he didn’t.  The Lord’s answer forever erased the lines people draw between those considered worthy of protection and those considered unworthy (Luke 10:25-37).  But let me put a different spin on the question:   Ask yourself, “Who isn’t my neighbor…and why aren’t they?  Your answer will reveal your boundaries. 

Leviticus 19:13-14

13 ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. 14 ‘You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.

 

The theme of these verses is exploitation of the relatively weak by the relatively strong.  The people of God are to abhor any act or word that takes advantage of the vulnerability and need of anyone.  Should our neighbor be found in any circumstance in which we could take advantage of him for our own gain or benefit, we are to avoid doing so at all costs.  We are not to take advantage of opportunities to gain our neighbor’s material possessions unfairly.  Should we owe anything to someone who has worked for us—we are to see that the worker is paid in a timely fashion and in such a way that he or she does not live in lack and uncertainty while we sleep soundly in relative security.  We are not to express disdain towards a person whose physical disabilities, such as the inability to hear or see, may cause inconvenience to us—in fact, besides not making life hard for them, we are to see that obstacles and hindrances are removed from them, so that their disability creates as little negative impact in their lives as possible.  And all of this protective, thoughtful, kindhearted behavior is to be pursued because we live in awe of the God of the deaf, blind, underemployed, needy and vulnerable.  It is because of who He is that we are to model and reform our behavior toward others—not because of the inherent goodness in ourselves!

How might these commands play out in our lives today, especially if we want to truly fulfill the law of love, and not just cross t’s and dot i’s?  For starters, I can see them making a difference in how we respect and care for others.  Don’t take advantage of other people’s misfortune for your own enrichment.  Whether its at a garage sale of a family under eviction, or a real estate broker’s office—be sure that you are not getting ahead at the expense of your neighbor who has fallen behind.  Just say no!  Don’t withhold money that you owe others, for any reason.  Be sensitive and pre-emptive in meeting the needs of those with disabilities.  Don’t disdain those who live with disabilities and weaknesses.  If someone has a tough time making it through life—good grief, don’t make it harder for them!   

And finally, remember Who commands such sensitivity and costly righteousness in our daily dealings—it is our holy God.  For though a deaf man cannot hear a curse spoken against him—his holy God hears the faintest whisper of any foul thought that lives in any heart on earth. 

Leviticus 19:11-12

11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. 12 ‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.

Everything you have is something somebody worked for. The clothing you wear, the car you drive (should you be so blessed!), the food you held on your fork when you last ate. Everything material possession was created or obtained or procured by somebody. Verse 11 of chapter 19 in Leviticus clarifies for the reader that hopefully, what you have is what you own, and not what you have stolen. To live in a community of faith is about much more than simply sharing the same creedal affirmations—it is all about sharing life together. This means sharing our material possessions, and knowing that, while we choose to share what we have, nonetheless, what we have does in fact remain our own. Notice, this law precludes an idea of communal possession of goods. People owned their things. The day a faith community prohibits individual ownership it threatens the possibility of true generosity; you can’t give away what really isn’t yours. God’s community must also be a community of truth. When lying and deceit are tolerated in a community of faith, trust is the first causality. To tolerate lies and deceit in our relationships rips out the very basis of community itself—the sharing of our (real) self. In its place it leaves a false community—the sharing of the apparent self. Also, children cannot grow up healthy and secure in an environment in which the truth is distorted or routinely compromised, particularly by their parents and religious leaders. So, when we lie to one another, and allow lies to exist in our faith communities, we inevitably sabotage our own future. Finally, it is sad but true, that rarely is lying, deceit, and theft practiced in a faith community in which the will and nature of the Lord Himself is not appealed to as a means of justifying such behaviors. Whether in Jonestown, Waco, or simply a Sunday School classroom where a person is told that God supports an attitude or action that is wrong—the most destructive of our leaders seem to be the most skilled at convincing followers that the Lord Himself is behind their shenanigans. God’s followers, whether in the deserts of the Sinai Peninsula 3500 years ago, or in church today—are called to live out lives respect, truthfulness and trust before the eyes of a ripped-off, over-hyped, thick-skinned world that looks on to see if the people of God are really what they’re cracked up to be.

Leviticus 19:9-10

9 ‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 ‘Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.

 

What startling thing it would be today if a farmer somewhere instructed his workers, “Don’t pick everything.  Leave a bit behind for any homeless transients or our local poor neighbors who might need to come by and pick some for themselves.”   I suppose he’d be seen as very foolish in our efficiency-at-all-costs, harvest-every-last-pea type of thinking today.  “He’ll be out of business in a year, running a farm like that!” they might say.  But what if this generous (naïve is the word that would be most used of him, I think) farmer had a different goal than simply making as much money as he could off of his land, or of strictly limiting its produce to only he, his family, and whomever could afford to buy his fruit?  What if his goal were also to be known as a generous, kindhearted, caring man who refused to be a part of an economic or political system where men, women, and children routinely went to bed as hungry as they were when they woke up that morning?  What if he insisted on being a part of a solution to the problem—even if it cost him a few beans or apples at the end of the day?  What if he actually believed that they way he treated those with less would play a part in introducing them to the Creator who’d made the trees and plants and land?

The new nation, Israel, was to be different.  It was to have a different religion, a different culture, a different calendar, than all the nations around it.  And it was to be different kind of a place to travel through, too.  Can you imagine the report that tradesman, merchants, and laborers might bring back to their homes after passing through this amazing land of generous, kindhearted citizens?  “No one goes hungry in Israel.  No one is turned away.  As a matter of fact, it’s a LAW in their land—all the farmers are to leave some of their crop in the filed for anyone passing by who is in need of a meal.”   And note this: God Himself is the defender of the poor and the stranger when it comes to how His people treat them.  Hold back from the poor, and you’re messing with God.  Mistreat the stranger, you’re mistreating God.  In these matters, the Lord is on the side of those who don’t have when those that have withhold what they have to maximize their profits.  Note also, it’s a law, yes, but not one easily enforced.  Who knows how much produce left in the field truly is a reflection of obedience, and how much is merely a nod to this inconvenient law?  Who can say how many apples left on a tree make one generous and obedient to the Lord’s law, and how many testify to one’s hypocritical, give-as-little-as-necessary lifestyle?  As far as I can see, only two people really know when enough is enough in this issue of generosity and giving, and when what’s given is not enough:  The believer and God.  It’s a matter between the two of them alone.

We were poor, but when Christ found us we became rich in Him.  We were away from God, estranged and wandering through life.  When He found us, we were adopted and taken into His family, the Church, and shown to a place at His table.  Dare we close the door of our hearts, and our wallets, to those who remain lost and poor?   

Leviticus 19:5-8

 5 ‘Now 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, and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. 7 ‘So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted. 8 ‘Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from his people. 

The sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD was a burnt (animal) sacrifice offered by the worshipper to the Lord in celebration of the fellowship and atonement (the peace) that was enjoyed by the worshipper (See Lev 3:1-17).  The sacrifice itself did not achieve this fellowship, but was a celebration of it, offered completely by the free will of the worshipper.  But the sacrifice was not to be taken lightly:  the worshiper was not to offer a large, impressive animal and then live on the leftovers for the rest of the week!  Instead, he and his family and friends would enjoy the meals that that sacrifice provided, but dispose of the leftovers after three days.  To neglect or “blow off” such a treasure as the restoration between the believer and God was a terrible crime, a public travesty, and such a person would be cut off from his people—in other words, the community would break off peaceful, harmonious relations with the person.  He would lose the community peace that was the privilege of God’s people. The reason for the rule concerning how long the food could be eaten was tied to the worshipper’s commitment to treat the Lord as holy, and the treat his restoration and fellowship with the Lord as a very precious thing.

For the Christian, Jesus Christ Himself as become our sacrifice of peace, and was raised on the third day as a result and sign of God’s acceptance of the sacrificial death of His Son for sinners (Col 1:20, Eph 2:14, Rom 4:25).  If the ancient Israelites were strictly commanded to treat their peace offering to the Lord with the utmost sincerity and care, how much more should we spend our lives in enraptured in wonder and gratitude that we now enjoy restoration and peace with our God, solely on the basis of our eternal Peace Offering, Jesus Christ?  And how might our fellowship with other believer’s be strengthened and blessed as we keep our focus on reconciliation given to us by the cross?  Also, how might our fellowship be injured and sullied by our neglect to continually acknowledge and live in celebration of this restored peace with God?

 

Leviticus 19:1-4

  1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “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. 3 ‘Every one of you shall reverence 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 molten gods; I am the LORD your God.

 

Well, what would being holy, showing deep respect for their parents, keeping the Sabbath, and avoiding idolatry have to do with one another as an ancient Jew sought to live a faithful life before God?  Are there any principles that Christians today can glean from these verses?

Why would the LORD tell the Israelites to reverence their parents?  Who exactly should do the “reverencing”?  Adults?  Teens? Little ones?  Well, first of all, the command is given to the sons of Israel, a term used to describe the entire community—so no one’s off the hook!  To reverence means “to regard somebody or something with deep respect.”  There was to be a lifelong commitment to love and respect of parents.  Just think of what life in the world would be like today if, along with parents worthy of such respect, this “reverencing” were a community value in our land!  Without ignoring the fact that there are some very inept, uncaring parents in the world, hasn’t most of the trouble we’ve ever gotten ourselves into come about from actions that our parents would have forbid?  But even more poignantly, the holiness of a believer’s life before the LORD God was tied into, perhaps demonstrated in, a commitment to honor, love, and obey parents.  It was also demonstrated in the believer’s commitment to keep the Sabbaths of the Lord.  The Sabbath (Saturday) is the day of rest for Judaism.  Its significance to the ancient Israelites was that on one day of the week they would not work—no plowing, sowing, reaping, cooking, roof-fixing, etc.  On that day they would spend time with their families, eat good food, and worship.  This day was a day of trust, for by not working, a Jews demonstrated his trust in the LORD to keep His promises to bless and provide for the families of Israel.  It celebrated past acts of deliverance, such as the great Passover itself, the present goodness of God, and the confident expectation of God’s continued blessing.  Finally, with the Jewish God being so different from the surrounding gods of Canaan, who were represented by material idols and shrines—it was important that the Jews never find themselves tolerating the worship of a mere representative image of a god.  They were not to create such images (Thousands of these idols, most of them very portable, only inches in size, have been uncovered in the ruins of Canaanite and Philistine cities today by archeologists).  They were not to turn to them—or, seek assistance, answers, or satisfaction from any mere idea of god, but only from a life of faith in the true God Himself, the LORD.

So what might this passage say to Christian today?  For starters, it makes a solid tie between our view of God, and our families (particularly our parents), and the importance of faith in the beliefs and practice of the family.  Our God is interested in the details—how we worship, how we think, how we treat parents, and where we look for answers in life.  Do we worship Him as He has revealed Himself to us in His word, or do we worship our own, personalized idea of Him?  An idol is anything that we give our greatest degree of attention and regard to in the expectation of reward or satisfaction in life.  Who, or what, gets your attention?

 

Leviticus 18:1-5, 30

 1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the LORD your God. 3 ‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. 4 ‘You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. 5 ‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.  …30 ‘Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the LORD your God.’”

 

So, who determines what is right, acceptable behavior in human relationships—particularly human sexual relationships?” God, religious folk, individuals, or the government?

The deliverance and formation of the nation of ancient Israel did not happen in a political vacuum.   The government of Egypt was old, well-established, and culturally of a higher caliber than any government surrounding it.  It had its own rules, or statutes, that its citizens lived by.  (A statute is a law that has been formed by a governing body.)  Likewise, the land of Canaan also had its own cultural lifestyle and statutes.  The Lord commanded that Israel not live according the lifestyle and laws of either government.  In Leviticus 18 Moses provided a listing of various practices, “abominable customs,” which the Israelites were familiar with but were to avoid.  Today, governments routinely address the the very same practices and customs—often through the judiciary process of law, and often through the mere tolerance of various lifestyle options.  Most of these practices censured by the Lord have to do with sexual intimacies and religious customs.  But a deeper look will reveal that they expose the underlying currents of pragmatism and human autonomy that govern the actions of most people.   

Pragmatically, material and political gain could be found in certain kinds of incestuous relationships.  For instance, the title of Great Royal Wife was given to the Pharaoh’s first and most important spouse—who was routinely his sister or other close relative.  In the same way, a man might be tempted to marry sisters as a means of creating a rivalry to manipulate for his own gain in the home.  (Though not by Jacob’s design, an example of such rivalry is found in the Bible itself… just take a look at the home life of Jacob, Rachel and Leah!)  Also, in Canaanite infants were routinely sacrificed by fire to the god Molech, presumably in the parents’ bid for continued (or desired) prosperity.

Autonomy is simply the belief that a person has the inherent power and right to determine his or her own moral conduct in life—based on whatever he or she feels will bring the most happiness and satisfaction at a particular point in time. Such an insistence in personal autonomy led to various sexual practices deemed abominable by the Lord.  You know, “If it feels good…”

Today, our government enacts laws that determine acceptable sexual behavior amongst our citizens.  Some of those laws are consistent with Leviticus 18, such as laws prohibiting incestuous relationships, polygamy, and bestiality.  Some of them are not consistent with it, such as laws that recognize and protect homosexual relations and abortion (the taking of an infant’s life by the will of the parent).  As God’s people, we are called to order our lives, including our sexual and religious lives, around obedience to the Word of God—regardless of what the surrounding culture may deem as acceptable or unacceptable in the behavior of its citizens.  We’re to be different, because we serve a different God than the culture we live in—we’re citizens of a different government, a different system of morals and ethics.  That is why it is inconsistent with our beliefs to bend or disregard the Biblical statutes given to us concerning our behavior.  Christians do not condone such destructive behaviors, even though they are sometimes legitimized by our government.  We do tolerate legal, though immoral behaviors.  (Tolerance does not mean we agree with those whom we feel are wrong—it means we acknowledge our very clear differences; and fairly and magnanimously accept the right of others to disagree.  There is a lot of “tolerance talk” going on these days, both from within and without the Christian community that is actually a veil for rank intolerance!)  So, given the fact that we Christians live in a time and culture where God’s standard of sexual and cultural righteousness (think, right living) are neither accepted nor enforced by our government, how should we think about the immoral practices that are tolerated by that government?

1.         We should remember that the regulation of sexual practice is not an idea that began in the mind of some puritanical or Victorian prude, but such regulation is found in the most ancient of (non Judeo-Christian) cultures.  Even the loosest, most non Judeo-Christian governments in the world have still assumed the role of determining acceptable behavior in their citizens.  Christians shouldn’t take the rap as if they were the first group in history to care about the prevailing sexual norms and laws that they live under.

2.         God still reserves the inviolable right to judge all governments and cultures, whether Judeo-Christian or not, on the sexual and cultural practices that they legislate and allow.  He’s not in heaven, fretting and waiting with bated breath to hear our latest decision on what parts of His word are binding, and what parts we’ve decided to discard.  It is we, the creatures, who should be concerned with what our Creator has said concerning our lives. 

3.         God’s commands concerning culture and sexuality are not based in human autonomy or prevailing political ethics.  It doesn’t matter who votes for what, or how many people march in the streets for whatever laws they desire—in the end, God determines and judges correct behavior, not the general, voting citizens of the land, and not the religious folk of it either!  The pronouncement, I am the LORD your God introduces and concludes the underlying reason and authority of the commandments found in the passage.  How we think about the issues found in the passage is completely dependant on whether or not we believe that God is still the LORD our God, and whether or not we believe that the Bible is an accurate accounting of His standards of behavior and policy—regardless of what any temporal government determines.

I stand by the door…

Samuel Shoemaker (1893-1963) was an Episcopal priest who clearly understood his personal mission in life.  Shoemaker was instrumental in the Alcoholics Anonymous movement, and wrote the following,

I stand by the door,

I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,

The door is the most important door in the world–

It is the door through which men (and women) walk when they find God.

There’s no use by going way inside, and staying there,

When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,

Crave to know where the door is.

…The most tremendous thing in the world

Is for men (and women) to find that door–the door to God.

The most important thing any man (or woman) can do

Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands.

And put it on the latch–the latch that only clicks

And opens to man’s own touch.

…So I stand by the door and wait.

for those who seek it.

“I’d rather be a door-keeper…”  So I stand by the door.

From The Life God Blesses–weathering the storms of life that threaten the soul, by Gordon MacDonald (Parentheses mine!)

Let’s meet at the Door!

Ken

Leviticus 10:1-3

 1Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.

 

It should have been one of the greatest days of their lives.  Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, nephews of Moses, were to offer up incense to the Lord as they led the nations in worship.  Instead, the day ended with their bodies carried outside the camp for burial, after the Lord God Himself judged them for failure in the duties as priests.  What happened?  The text tells us that they offered up the incense with strange fire.  Apparently the combustible material or perhaps the mixture of the incense itself was an aberration of the exact ingredients required by the Lord.  The underlying reason for the Lord’s response, of course, had little to do with measurements and ingredients, and more to do with the attitude behind the strange fire—Nadab and Abihu had treated the Lord as unholy, and not worthy of honor; and they had done it before all the watching nation of Israel.  They were immediately killed by the Lord, by the fire of the Lord, no less.  How can this tragic account take hold in our lives today?

We Christians are not entrusted with the daily offering of incense to the Lord, but a daily offering of ourselves.  We are called to be a kingdom of priests, entrusted with the ministry of proclaiming his wonderful mercy to the world around us (1 Peter 2:9).  Could it be that we often treat the Lord as if He were unholy, or, common?  Could it be that we often find ourselves speaking of the Lord and living before Him as if He had to earn our honor?  Could this be the reason that the Christian church in our country often appears to be a mere G-rated version of the culture around us, sharing the same core values and lifestyles, but leaving out the parts that might seem a bit racy?  Sometimes I fear that the church in America has become a type of team mascot to the culture, like a little puppy in his little school uniform proudly marching alongside the “real” team—cute, cuddly, present at every game…but on the sidelines, well-behaved and tethered to a leash!  Whose team are we on, friends?

We treat the Lord as holy when we humbly offer our total lives to Him for His service in His interests, not ours, and we honor to Him when we obey His commands unquestioningly and with great eagerness.  Let’s seek to live our lives as His priests in this way, before a watching world—and just see what He does in response to such devotion!  The Bible suggests that when His people honor Him, the Lord, does indeed send a fire, but not one that devours and destoys, but instead brings forgiveness, healing, and joy!

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Romans 12:1)

Leviticus 1:5

 ‘He shall slay the young bull before the LORD; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

 

The word “blood” appears in the Old Testament over 340 times.  Sixty-five of those occurrences (about 20%) are found in the book of Leviticus.  Leviticus reads as type of manual for the correct approach to the LORD God, in His tent of meeting, particularly when one has sinned against Him.  Repeatedly, the Israelites are told that they must provide the blood or their unblemished male animals as substitutionary sacrifices for their sins, to re-establish the fellowship with God broken by their sins.  All kinds of sins are covered in the book; purposeful, accidental, known, unknown—there seems to be no end to the guilt that humans bear before the Lord.  But over and over again, the Israelites are told that fellowship with the LORD can be reestablished, renewed, if they simply provide a substitute to bear their punishment in their place.  But it costs blood—the very life blood—of the best and seemingly innocent, to achieve this fellowship with the LORD.  The sacrificial system of Israel was meant to accomplish both an immediate and a long-range purpose in the life of the nation.  In the immediate sense, the sins of the people would be forgiven as they faithfully confessed their sins—as demonstrated by substitutionary animal sacrifice.  In the long-term, the daily, endless need for animal sacrifice would build into the nation a desire, a hope, an expectation that one day a final, perfect sacrifice would be made on their behalf whereby they would experience a secure, eternal restoration with the LORD—a sacrifice which would forever end the need for animal blood to daily be sprinkled about the altar on their behalf.  The staple of their religion, it seemed, was blood—unblemished, perfect, substitutionary blood, shed on their behalf, to secure forgiveness and restore their fellowship with God.

Fast forward 1400 years.  On the banks of the Jordan River, a prophet named John looks up from the water and sees a Man approaching.  He knows the Man Jesus (who is John’s cousin), but at this point, John announces to the gathered multitudes the identity of this Man.  It is the first public proclamation of His identity in thirty years—“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)  Very few of the people even knew their Scriptures well enough on that day to realize the shocking meaning of the statement John made about this Man, Jesus of Nazareth.  But those who understood knew that they were laying eyes on the perfect sacrifice, the One promised who would bear their sins away, just as countless lambs, bulls, and goats had been bearing away their sins for centuries.  Only this was a Lamb provided by God, not themselves.  This one was different than all the rest…

Let’s not get squeamish about the need for blood in the Christian faith, for it is the blood needed by sinners like us to achieve a forgiveness and a fellowship that no animal blood could ever produce.  Only, we won’t find this One’s blood sprinkled around the sides of an altar on our behalf; we will find it flowing freely down the sides of the stained, rough hewn wood of a Roman cross, on a hill, for all the world to see.