Bereans Corner
Bereans Corner
Thru the Bible - #106 - Leviticus 19 - Idolatry Forbidden
Can ancient laws still guide us today toward a more just and compassionate society? Discover the enduring wisdom of Leviticus 19 as we break down God's call to holiness and the timeless ethical guidelines that continue to shape our lives. Learn about the profound significance behind respecting parents, observing the Sabbath, and the meticulous handling of sacrifices. We'll also explore how honesty, justice, and love for one's neighbor form the bedrock of a moral society, enriched by insights from Hinduism and Buddhism.
Join us as we navigate the intricate laws and regulations of Leviticus, from agricultural practices to the treatment of workers and the elderly. We'll delve into the challenges and relevance of ancient commands, such as those against mixing materials and pagan practices. Through contemporary examples, like the story of a rabbi violating sacred laws, we'll illustrate how these commandments remain pertinent. Understand the broader implications of these directives and how they call us to higher standards of compassion and integrity.
Finally, we’ll discuss the importance of fair business practices and the historical mistreatment of non-Israelites, emphasizing the need for integrity in all dealings. As we wrap up Leviticus 19, we'll give you a preview of what's next: a deep dive into Leviticus 20, focusing on human sacrifice and immoralities. This episode promises to offer profound insights into how these ancient teachings are not just relics of the past but living principles for today. Don't forget to like, comment, and share this episode with your loved ones. God bless, and thank you for tuning in!
Welcome back and thank you for joining me. Grab a glass of water, a cup of tea, a cup of coffee and let's get into today's lesson. Once you do that, turn to Leviticus, chapter 19. The title of today's lesson is Idolatry Forbidden. We will also talk about sundry laws in this chapter, as well. As always, wherever you are here in this podcast, give it a like, give it a comment and share it with your family and friends, so we can keep spreading the word of God. Leviticus, chapter 19. And let's read.
Speaker 2:Leviticus 19. The Lord said to Moses speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them be holy because I, the Lord, your God, am holy. Them Be holy because I, the Lord, your God, am holy. Each of you must respect his mother and father and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord, your God. Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the Lord, your God. When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day. Anything left over until the third day must be burned up. If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he has desecrated what is holy to the Lord. That person must be cut off from his people.
Speaker 2:When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord, your God, do not steal, do not lie, do not deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight. Do not curse a deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord. Do not pervert justice. Do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the Lord. Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Keep my decrees. 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.
Speaker 2:If a man sleeps with a woman who is a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. Yet they are not to be put to death because she has not been freed. The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting, for a guilt offering to the Lord. With the ram of the guilt offering, the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord for the sin he has committed, and his sin will be forgiven. When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden. It must not be eaten. In the fourth year, all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way, your harvest will be increased.
Speaker 2:I am the Lord, your God. Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. Do not practice divination or sorcery. 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. I am the Lord. Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and will be filled with wickedness.
Speaker 2:Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord, Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord, your God. Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord. When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you are aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord, your God. Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.
Speaker 1:All right Now. The last time we were together, we looked at laws on immoral relationship. Today, as I mentioned earlier, we are looking at idolatry Now. Idolatry is defined as the worship of idols. For example, in Hinduism and Buddhism there are you know, these are two religions that worship idols. In Buddhism, you will sometimes see the statue of the laughing Buddha, or you will see the one that has the head that is full of eyes. In Hinduism, you will see a Murtai, which is the embodiment of the divine, or Braham.
Speaker 1:Israel had already gone through this sort of thing with the golden calf, if you remember, back in Exodus, and the Lord, our God, wanted them to have nothing to do with this type of behavior. We start out this chapter by seeing who is speaking and unto who. Notice verse one. Then the lord spoke to moses, saying so. We know that if the lord is speaking to moses, that the Lord is talking to the children of Israel. Next, the Lord gives Moses a command to give to the people. We see this in verse two 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. Now. That word holy Hebrew 69, 69, 18 means to be set apart. Remember the reason god called his people is because he wanted the people to be an example to the others. The lord god didn't call this people because he wanted a dominant race or ethnicity of people, but because he wanted the people that pointed towards him so that they would be an example to others.
Speaker 1:Now the Lord gives more commands to be followed. First we see reverence for your mother and father. We see this in verse three Every one of you shall reverence his mother and father. Now, this has already been said in the Ten Commandments, but we see that it is repeated here. Next, to keep his Sabbaths. We also see this in verse three. And you shall keep my Sabbaths. Notice it is plural, not singular. The Lord was referring to the Sabbaths of the year, the week, the produce, day of atonement. Next we see Don't worship false gods. Notice verse four. Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves golden excuse me molten gods. I am the lord, your god. We already know why this is brought up because israel has gone down this road before and the lord is giving them a warning on what not to do.
Speaker 1:Next we see we're concerning sacrifices. It was to be done on the lord's terms. We know we see this in verses five through eight. Now, when you offer a sacrifice of peace, offering to the lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 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. So it is eaten at all on the third, excuse me. So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense. It will not be accepted and 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.
Speaker 1:We see that the Lord gave a very clear instruction on what had to be done. It could be eaten the first and second day, but it could not be eating, eating, the third day. The people were supposed to do as the Lord commanded, not as they wanted to do. Next, we see the people were to share the blessings of God. See, the people were to share the blessings of God. Those verses nine and 10.
Speaker 1:Now, when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your field, nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. You should leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord, your God. What is the Lord telling his people? Here you are to share your wealth. In other words, he's he's telling his people when you go out and glean your fields and you go out to get the crops, don't just scrape everything dry. So I want you to think about a cornfield. Right, say this cornfield, go. This cornfield has a thousand, a thousand stocks of corn in it. The Lord is is saying to his people I know that the land is yours and it's the land that you farm, it, you're taking care of, but you are not to take all thousand uh, you know ears of the corn there. You're supposed to say something needy so they can do some work and go out there and get it themselves. You should really be going out getting what you need. He's also telling them for example, think about an apple tree and some of the ripest apples may seem to be on the tree itself, but sometimes the apples fall to the ground. He's telling his people don't try to take every bit, go to the tree. Pick off what you need, but you don't have to scrape and rake every bit off the ground. Every single apple you see on the ground leaves some for the less fortunate.
Speaker 1:Next, we see lying and stealing is not holiness. We see this in verse 11. You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. He is telling the children of Israel that they are supposed to honor each other. Don't lie to each other, do not steal from each other, don't use God's name falsely Notice verse 12, and you should not swear falsely by my name so as to profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Some examples of using the Lord's name falsely is when people, like in the old Testament, they would say surely as the Lord lived. What that means is you're saying look, dude, I'm not lying. As surely as the Lord lives. This thing happened or this is going on. The Lord is saying, dude, don't do that, don't? You don't? Do not use his name falsely, don't swear upon his name.
Speaker 1:Next, we see honest treatment, verse 13. You should not oppress your neighbor nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. What is the Lord telling his people here. If you hire a man for a day, you are to pay him that day. A man is worthy of his pay. You know, have you ever been to a place like Home Depot and you see guys standing outside looking for work for the day because they have carpentry skills or electrical skills or even gardening skills? If you promise to pay that man his wages in the day, you are to pay him, not hold it in your pocket to the morning.
Speaker 1:Next, we see you're supposed to treat handicapped people right. Notice verse 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. You are to treat handicapped people with respect. You're supposed to treat them the same way that you would treat someone who was not handicapped. You were supposed to give them the same treatment. You are supposed to give them the same love.
Speaker 1:Next, your judgment was to be just. We see this in verse 15. You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, no defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly, whether they are rich or poor. You are supposed to judge them rightly. You ever see the news and you see a person who is worth a lot of money and you may notice that we all have seen the evidence and we know that they're guilty. But then the judge will give partiality because they can afford a better lawyer. See, the lord didn't want that. He wanted all of his people treated fairly, whether they were rich or poor. He wanted them judged on equal footing.
Speaker 1:Next, you should have a proper relationship with your neighbors. Notice verses 16 to 18. You should not go about as a slanderer amongst your people and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord. You shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart. You may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourselves. I am the Lord.
Speaker 1:Now, this commandment right here is very hard. I know a lot of people think they follow it. People don't follow this commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself. How many people would really treat your neighbor exactly the way that you would treat yourself? Most wouldn't? You would speak to your neighbor. You may even care about and love your neighbor. But most people are not going to give the neighbor the shirt off their back. They're not going to give their neighbor something to eat if it would interfere with their meal. We just don't always. We just don't really do a good job of following this commandment. The Lord is telling his people I want you to love your neighbor as yourself.
Speaker 1:Now, as we move on into the verses 19 through 37, we get into you know, we get into more of the sundry laws. First, we see the law concerning mixtures, notice verse 19. You are to keep my statues. You shall not breed to you. Excuse me, you should not breed together two kinds of your kettle. You should not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together. Okay, let's break this down. You shall not breed together two kinds of kettle.
Speaker 1:What is the lord saying here? He's saying that when you think about the kettle, he's saying that a goat, in other words a goat, and the sheep are not to mix together. The goats are supposed to breed with the goats. The sheep are supposed to breed with the sheep sheep. Next, he says you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seeds. Okay, we talked about corn earlier. Right, if you have a row of corn in the field, what the lord is saying is is that you're not supposed to have your corn seeds down and then let's say, sprinkle that with with pepper seeds. It's supposed to be the peppers are supposed to have their line, the corn is supposed to have its line, the whatever cucumbers are supposed to have their line. He also said nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material. We know that this was big in Israel, that they were not supposed to wear, let's say wool and what's another, what's another fabric? Wool and silk. You know you're not supposed to mix them together. If you're going to wear wool, the whole outfit had to be wool.
Speaker 1:Next we see the law concerning a slave woman. We see this in verses 20 through 22. Now, if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment. They shall not, however, be put to death because she was not free, and he shall bring his good offering to the lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting a ram for a guilt offering. The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt, offering before the lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him. Now, he had he could be forgiven, but it had to be with an offering. In other words, it says that he shall not take a woman who was required for another man.
Speaker 1:Now we will look at the law concerning fruit trees. Notice verses 23 through 25. And when you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten, but in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the lord. And in the fifth year you are to eat of its fruits, that's, his yield may increase for you. I am the lord, your god. Pretty straightforward, the lord was clear that when you enter the land and plant your trees for food, uh, you shall count their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden. So for the first three years it was forbidden. The fourth year they could. They could go crazy and eat of the trees.
Speaker 1:Next we see the law of pagan practices, verses 26 through 28. You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination or suit saying you shall not round off the side growth of your head, nor harm the edges of your build. Excuse me, beard, you should not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the lord. Okay, cuts on the body? We know that it was a practice. If you remember in the time that elijah was on the earth years from now and he was talking to the prophets of baal, remember what they started doing. Remember how they started cutting their bodies because they were trying to, you know, cry out to their god. It was their practice. The lord is saying you are not to do those type of things. You are not to make cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the lord. We know what tattoos are. We know that tattoos are markings on your body.
Speaker 1:Next, do not profane your children. Notice verse 29. Do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land may not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness. Let's stop and talk about this for a minute Now, when I am recording this podcast. Don't know when you may hear it, but it is June of 2024.
Speaker 1:Just a couple months ago, there was a quote rabbi, unquote, uh, named shmuley s-h-m-u-l-e-y. I want to say that's it could be. It could be shmuley. I don't know exactly how you pronounce it, but that's how you spell it. If you want to look this guy up, this guy was accused of this very thing right here that we just read in verse 29 lewdness with his daughter. Do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot. Now, this man, his, this man, is a quote-unquote rabbi, as I said, and his daughter is selling sex toys and things of that nature, and this man is actually helping promote his daughter's brand. This is exactly what we're reading right here in this scripture. Now you can do the research yourself and go look it up. I had to look it up myself to see if it was true and it was true. This man claims to be an israelite, claims to be of the jewish descent, yet instead, right here in leviticus 1929, he broke this commandment that the lord gave.
Speaker 1:Moving on reverence for god's day and worship place. Notice verse 30 you shall keep my sabbats and revere my sanctuary. I am the lord. We spoke on this earlier. Notice that the word sabbats is plural. He wasn't just talking about the end of the week for the israelites, but he was talking about all of his sabbats.
Speaker 1:Next, the law of meeting a spiritist. Look at verse 31. Do not turn to mediums. Now we all know that a medium is like a psychic or a palm reader or spiritist. Do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord, your God. Listen, people, and I'm talking to God's people here. If you have ever partaken in any of this, get this mess out of your life. If you're doing it right now, get it out of your life. Pray to the lord as for his forgiveness and do not go to these places again. This is not a game. When you're at the fair you know the county fair or wherever and you see these people sitting at the table and they want to read your palms, the people of God, don't, don't, don't get into that. Get out of the horoscope stuff. Get out of the astrology, get out of going to these card readers. Stay away from that stuff. This is evil, perverse things. To the Lord, he was very clear to Israel that he wanted them to stay away from those things.
Speaker 1:Next, we are concerning the elderly. Look at verse 32. We are concerning the elderly. Look at verse 32. You shall rise up before the gray headed and honor the age and you shall revere your God. I am the Lord. The Lord is telling you that revering him is revering the old. We ought to have respect for people older than us, especially those of the gray head. They've been here longer than us and in most cases I'm not going to say in all, but in most cases they are wiser. The Lord is saying that they are due respect.
Speaker 1:Next we see the law concerning the stranger. Notice verses 33 and 34. When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of egypt. I am the lord, your god, strangers. We know that back in this time that these people were big on hospital, on being hospitable. The lord is saying that when a stranger comes through your land and let's say they're coming to stay the night, you are to treat them the same way you would treat your people. You're not supposed to treat them harshly, talk to them harshly. You're supposed to treat them the same way you would treat your people. You're not supposed to treat them harshly. Talk to them harshly. You're supposed to treat them the same way, feed them the same way that you would do someone who's in your land, clothe them, cover them in housing the same way we do someone in your land.
Speaker 1:And last, the law of fair business practices. We see this in verses 35 to 36. You shall not do wrong in judgment. Judgment in measurement of weight or capacity. In other words, if you're measuring out something to someone, be fair about it. 30, verse 36. You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just hen. I am the lord, your god, who brought you out of the land of egypt. The lord is reminding them remember what I did for you, verse 37,. You shall thus observe all my statutes and all my ordinances and do them. I am the Lord.
Speaker 1:Fair business practices we know that there were people in this time who probably didn't treat people who weren't Israelites the same way. You know, someone from another group came through, another nationality came through and they said you know what? I'm gonna tip the scales a little bit. I'm not gonna give him as much wheat or barley as I would give one of my brothers and sisters. You know, I may give, I may be selling, uh, three e5 for a piece of gold, but I'm gonna knock it down to two and a half for him, you know, so I can skim a little bit and treat them unfairly. Okay, people? That brings us to the end of Leviticus, chapter 19. The next time we are together, we will be looking at Leviticus 20, and the title will be on human sacrifice and immoralities. If you enjoyed this podcast, wherever you are getting it, as I always say, give it a like, give it a comment and share it with your family and friends. That's all for now. God bless, thank you, thank you, you.