Keep the Statutes

Leviticus 19:19-37

I have always thought of myself as a good driver, but I have learned I am only a good driver when I drive on the right side of the road. On our recent trip to Scotland, we rented a car to see more of the country. I have been driving for almost 30 years, how hard could it be? Well, I found out, it is actually pretty hard to drive on the opposite side of the road. I probably hit the curb over 10 times, twice I forgot which side of the road I was supposed to be on, and one time I didn't look in the right direction and almost got hit by a bus. It kept naturally drifting to the left side of the road which is why I hit so many curbs. 

Normally when I drive in the states, I do not enjoy a lot of commentary about my driving. I prefer the person in the passenger seat to let me drive without a lot of comments or movements or screams. It became clear that in Scotland, I needed all the help I could get. I asked everyone in the car to help keep us safe. Keep me in the center road. Keep me on the correct side of the road. Keep me from hitting oncoming traffic. When you are in another culture, you need help to keep yourself safe. 

Leviticus 19 helps Israel keep in the center of the Lord’s will. Like driving in Scotland, it is easy to drift so we need help. Leviticus 19:2 establishes the principle for the whole chapter,

[2] “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. 

God’s people must reflect the LORD. If the LORD is holy, then his people must be holy. As Israel will be going into Canaan, they must be distinct from the nations. Leviticus 18:3–4, 

You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. 

Remember, he is the LORD our God. These commands and rules are given to us for our good, and not only our good, but for the good of the people where we live. We are called to reflect the Lord’s character, the Lord’s love, the Lord’s holiness to the nations where we live. We are called to keep his statutes so that the nations may know God. Notice how this section is bookended with the same command,

Leviticus 19:19a,

“You shall keep my statutes.”

Leviticus 19:37

And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.” 

The Lord is sending Israel into Canaan to reflect his glory, to be a holy nation, so that Canaan will know God. The Lord has sent us into our community to reflect his glory, to be a holy nation, so that our neighbors may know God. God gives us commands to keep us in his will and to draw others to him. We will walk through our text focusing on 11 keeps given to us by the Lord to help keep us in the center of his will and to help draw our neighbors into a relationship with him. 

The call for Israel to reflect the LORD in every way, in every area of life was also given to the church. The specific commands given in the Torah may not specifically apply to us as we are living in a different context, but the principle within each of the commands still apply to us.

We are to reflect the holiness of God in every area of life. We are no longer under the law of Moses, but under the law of Christ. So although it may appear some of the commands Israel is given do not apply to us, the principle contained in the command is still active for He who called us is holy therefore we need to be holy in all our conduct.

1 - Keep yourself clean  (v. 19)

Leviticus 19:19 may seem very confusing and illogical for our modern ears, but for Israel it was a constant reminder of their distinction from the nations.

Leviticus 19:19

“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material. 

Although it may appear odd, God is charging Israel to live according to his creative design.

In Genesis 1:11,

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their see ed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 

Genesis 1:24,

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 

Breeding different kinds of cattle together would be confusing of God’s creative design. The same for seeds. Israel needed to live in every way with God as their Creator. 

The last command had more to do with the role of the priests and the role of the people.

There were some priestly garments that had mixed fabric. Remember the priests were identified by their clothes so God wanted to protect the Israelites from confusing their role in the community.

Leviticus 10:10–11

You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.” 

Beloved, keep yourself clean. One way we do this is to always remember our role in this world. We are creatures and must submit to the Creator. God’s rules are good for us. When we get commands, we should not try to subvert them but accept them. This is one way we embrace our creaturely identity. Secondly, Christian leaders are no longer identified by what they wear so all Christians are allowed to wear mixed fabrics. And yet, Christians are still called to honor and respect those who are over them in the Lord. Hebrews 13:17,

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (ESV)

Today, Christians, keep in the center of God’s will not in their fabrics, but in their respect for those God has given to them keep watch over their souls.

Second - Keep the value of all people (v. 20-22)

Leviticus 19:20–22

“If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; but he shall bring his compensation to the LORD, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed. 

God’s people must address sin wherever it arises. In this case, a man sleeps with a female slave or female servant. In verse 20, we read, “a distinction shall be made.” In cases of adultery, the penalty would have been that both the man and the woman would be put to death, but in this case it was different. The female had been promised to another man but she was not ransomed or bought with the bride price yet. She was promised in an oath but the transaction had not been completed. It is quite possible that the female slave/servant was forced or threatened because of her lowly status. 

The man needed to be held responsible for the sin by paying restitution for his sin as well as bring a guilt offering before the Lord. The man’s actions needed to be identified as sin and therefore he needed atonement. In the ancient world, slaves or servants were often treated sub-human. In this command, God is establishing the value to all people as well as ensuring Israel addresses all matters of sin wherever it is found. 

Beloved, we should value all people. Those who are weak or undervalue in our culture should be treated with respect and dignity. The church needs to call sin sin and protect the vulnerable within our community. 

Three - Keep trusting God in your abundance (v. 23-25)

Leviticus 19:23–25,

“When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD. But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the LORD your God.”

The Lord is addressing what will happen when God brings Israel into Canaan. When they come into the land, they are not to eat the fruit in the first 3 years. The fourth year the food would be offered to the priests and the fifth year the food would be brought into the harvest.

Again, we are speculated why the Lord made them wait to eat the food, but it is likely because they wanted to model trusting the Lord and giving back to what he has given them.

The word forbidden is more literally translated uncircumcised. It is as if God wants the land to be circumcised or offered to him in covenant as they enter into the land. 

Beloved, as Israel gave their firstfruits to the Lord, we should give the firstfruits of our wealth to the Lord. Every Sunday, we have a time in our service when we give back a portion of what God has given us. We don’t merely do this out of routine, but as a testimony that everything we have belongs to God and live off his provision. It is an act of faith to give to the Lord and it communicates our trust in his care for us in the future. If we withhold our offering, we are withholding our trust.

Matthew 6:19–21,

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

God does not need our money. He wants our hearts. He merely uses our money to get to our hearts. When we give our treasure to him, then he becomes our treasure. Some of you may not be treasuring the Lord, because you are not giving your treasure to him. 

Four - Keep valuing life (v. 26-28)

Leviticus 19:26–28,

“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes.

You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD. 

As Leviticus has already communicated, the food with blood was not eaten because the blood was a sign of life. Israel did not eat the blood as a sign of their respect for life. It seems like all of these commands are given to avoid pagan religious practices. Eating certain food was often connected to pagan worship. Seeking omens and fortunes were presuming the future and not trusting the Lord for the future. It seems like verses 27-28 are addressing Israel to avoid pagan practices of mourning for the dead. 

God wanted Israel to keep them from the nations. He did not want them to drift into their practices in their diet, dress and decisions. The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth,

1 Corinthians 6:12–14, 19-20,

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power….Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 

Our bodies belong to the Lord. We should use them for his purposes. It would have been sinful for Israel to mark their bodies like the pagans who do not know God. And the same is true for us today. It is sinful for us to mark our bodies like the pagans who do not know God.

Our bodies belong to the Lord. Therefore we should care for our bodies and use our bodies for the Lord and his purposes.

Tattoos have become very common in our culture and do not have the same significance as in Leviticus 19 as it was addressing the pagan practices of Canaan. Since tattoos have become common today they are less associated with rebellion and therefore do not have the same connotation as they did in Ancient Israel or even in the last century. Yet the principle remains, “Your body is not your own. Glorify God with your body.” We never want our hands and our feet to do things that dishonor God. We never want our dress and external appearance to dishonor God. Our lives are not our own, we were bought with a price. So the question we should be asking is not, “Am I allowed to get a tattoo but is it wise to do so?” Or, “How can I use my body best for the Lord?” Here are a few more random and rapid fire thoughts on tattoos. 

1 - You are not unholy because you have tattoos. If you are in Christ, you are holy because he has made you holy.

2 - Tattoos are permanent. What you think is great when you are young, may not be the same when you are older. We are always changing.

3 - Don’t judge people who have tattoos. I know some of you have strong opinions towards them, but do not judge.

4 - Tattoos may limit you from going to certain mission contexts in the future so be careful how you mark your bodies today. 

5 - Tattoos draw attention to the external appearance.  Christians should focus more on the inner man rather than the external one. 

Five - Keep your family pure (v. 29)

Leviticus 19:29,

“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. 

In certain ancient cultures, offering one’s daughter to the pagan temple for prostitution was a high honor. God says it makes her unholy and brings the whole land into depravity. We should not bring our children into depravity but to protect them from it. 

Beloved, in what ways are you encouraging your children to become like the world? What worldly loves are you fostering in your children? We can’t imagine giving our child to prostitution, but we may be giving our child to other forms of worldliness. 

Six - Keep your worship (v. 30)

Leviticus 19:30

You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. 

We show our love for the Lord by honoring the Sabbath by gathering as the Lord's people under his Word every week. When we forsake the Lord’s Day gathering, we are showing a lack of reverence for the Lord. Sleep and sports and vacation are just a few ways God’s people forsake the Sabbath. There are others.

Hebrews 10:24–25,

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 

We are told to consider how to help others love God and love others not to neglect meeting together. We are told to make the best use of our time because the days are evil. We do not want to be dogmatic, but we do want to be wise. What are we communicating to our children when we skip the Lord’s day gathering? What are we communicating to our neighbors who do not know God? We are not under the law, but under grace. But do not use your freedom to forsake God’s command. Keep his Sabbaths. Honor the Lord’s Day. 

Seven - Keep your faith in God’s Word (v. .31)

Leviticus 19:31

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God. (ESV)

Avoid the occult. Do not listen to those attempting to listen to the dead. We already have all that we need for life and godliness. We have the Word of the Lord. It is sufficient. It is enough.

Eight - Keep honoring the old (v. 32)

Leviticus 19:32

“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

God’s people honor the aged. We must respect our elderly and give them the due honor they deserve. They have given their time and their resources and their energy for others. We should listen to their counsel. We should stand in their presence. We should speak of them with honor and dignity. 

The Lord is telling this to Israel because the culture in which they were going did not do this. If they were to be like the culture, they would be drifting from honoring those who are older. It is very common in our day to prize the strength of youth more than the wisdom of the aged. Are you honoring the aged? Are you respecting their wisdom? Are you patient with them? In what ways can you show them more respect?

Nine - Keep remembering your past (v. 33-34)

Leviticus 19:33–34

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. 

We must never forget where we have come from. God remembers Israel here: you were strangers in the land of Egypt. And what did God do when they were strangers? He rescued them. He sent the passover lamb for them. We want to treat others the way we want to be treated. We want to treat others the way the Lord has treated us. 

We were not in Egypt, but we were in bondage. We were not in physical slavery, but spiritual slavery. We know what it is like to be held captive by our sin. We know the battle is not flesh and blood, but spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly places. When we forget our past, we stop being holy.

2 Peter 1:3–11,

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

If we give ourselves to holiness, we will continue to honor the Lord, but when we lack holiness we act as if we have forgotten our salvation. Hebrews 2:1,

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 

We must always remember our past. We must remember that we were dead in our trespasses and sin when the Lord saved us. We were his enemies. Colossians 1:21–22,

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 

We were separated from God. We were his enemies and he reconciled us through the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us and was raised for us. So now, we can be presented holy and blameless. This is the driving force for us to obey every one of these commands. They are not “have to” commands, but “get to” ones. 

And when we think of what God has done for us, how he has rescued us, how could we not give ourselves to him. And we give ourselves to him in holiness so that those around us would know their need. God’s expectation is that there will be strangers or aliens or foreigners among Israel. God expected the holiness of his people to be a sanctifying agent to the pagan world. The same is true today. We don’t just keep his commands for ourselves, but for those not yet in the sheepfold. We live holy lives to woo and draw those in this world into Christ. 

It is not so we could boast in what we do or what we have. We can’t boast because we know we were once strangers too. Paul says it this way, Ephesians 2:11–13,

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 

Praise God! We must always remember we have been bought with a price. And since we were once strangers, we know what it is like to be strangers so we love those who are still far from God and when they repent, we welcome them as family…treating them as Leviticus 19:34 states, “treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you.” We treat them as one of us because they are since they too were brought near by the blood of Christ.

Friend, if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord, then the Bible says you are an enemy of God, a stranger to his promises. You have sin that deserves to be punished. And without a substitute, you will have to pay for your own sins. Which is why God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect holy life and to die as our perfect substitutionary lamb in order to save us. He died for us, but three days later he conquered the grave by being raised from the dead. He had made a way for sinners to enter his presence. Every Christian here has come to the same realization. We are sinners and need a Savior. We were once enemies but have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Friend, repent of your sins and trust in Christ. 

Ten - Keep your integrity (v. 35-36)

Leviticus 19:35–36

“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 

After the Lord reminds Israel of their former status, he gives them one more command to apply it. If you belong to the Lord, you need to have integrity in your business. Your professional life should be marked by your spiritual life. God wants no part in someone who claims his name but does not live for his glory.

Eleven - Keep yourself in the Lord (v. 37)

Leviticus 19:37

And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.” 

Beloved, God’s holiness is not optional. We were saved unto good works. He has called us out of this world so that we can help win this world for Christ. And we do that by letting our holiness shine before men so that people may praise him. We do not want people to honor us, but to see through us to the Lord. 

As I learned driving in Scotland, it is easy to drift from the center. The only way I was able to keep my eyes on the centerline. When my eyes were fixed there, I was safe, but as soon as I took my eyes off the center I drifted.

Beloved, Jesus Christ is the centerline. The only we will keep ourselves in the Lord is if we keep our eyes on him. And why would we want to look anywhere else? When we were enemies, he saved us. When we were in darkness, he brought us the light. When we were dead, he made us alive.

Beloved, fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For when we do, we will not drift, but stay in the center of his will. And if we do not drift from God, we will shine so others can find him.