Leviticus 19:15-3015Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor. 16Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the Lord. 17Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. 18Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord. 19Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee. 20And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 21And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering. 22And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him. 23And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. 24But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the Lord withal. 25And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the Lord your God. 26Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times. 27Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. 28Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord. 29Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness. 30Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:15‑30)
FURTHER warnings are given in order that an Israelite’s conduct toward his brother would be such as became the people of the Lord. One was to be righteous in judgment regardless of whether the other person involved might be poor or among the mighty.
Then there was warning against becoming a talebearer. Who can tell the mischief and sorrow caused among the children of God by tale-bearing. Even children need to be warned against this habit for it grows until one gets the reputation of being a tattletale or talebearer. Proverbs tells us “The words of a talebearer are as wounds,” and “where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.” (Chap. 18:8; 26:20.)
On the other hand one is not to be indifferent to evil. If we know that someone is falling into sinful ways, we are urged to go and speak to him about it, in the spirit of love and in the sense of our own weakness. Many a person would be saved from a course of dishonor and sorrow if, instead of being a talebearer, we went to him in love and sought his restoration and blessing.
One was not to avenge another, or pay him back, as we say, for an unkindness done to him; neither was he to hold a grudge against a brother. Alas, even Christians sometimes “pay back” in most unkind ways and hold ‘a grudge for a long time against someone they claim has done them wrong. The Christian has a higher motive for his conduct than the Israelite, for the love of Christ ought to constrain us in all that we do, and we have the Spirit of God as the power within us to be and act like Him. May we seek grace to be like God against whom we had sinned and so dishonored, who forgave us freely for Christ’s sake "Who blots the record, and then forgets.”
The children of Israel were not to have mixtures in their cattle, and perhaps this would speak of our business dealings. As Christians we are not to be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers.
They were not to sow their field with different kinds of seed. It was the work of Satan to sow the tares with the wheat (Matt. 13). Neither was a garment made of two different materials to come on an Israelite. These three prohibitions have a special voice to us. There must be no diverse yoking with unbelievers, no touching of that which is unclean, and no compromising the truth of God.
When they came into the land and planted trees for food, they could not eat the fruit of the first three years, but the fourth year all the fruit was holy to the Lord, and then in the fifth year they could eat the increase. God would have His people remember that earth was ruined through man’s sin, then the Lord was to have the firstfruits, and the following year they would be free to eat of the harvest. The Lord regulated everything in their lives, and while we are not under law as Israel, but under grace, the Lord wants to order everything in our lives for our fullest blessing and joy, for He loves us so.
ML-07/02/1972