Why Because I Am the Lord Your God

1TO DO:

2Song: “Now I can Go…to the Holy of Holies”

• Bring: Article on Gay Marriage – “should be wearing single fiber shirts…”
• Review:
  • What was the one day that a human was permitted behind the curtain into the Holy of Holies? (Yom Kippur)
  • What did the High Priest have to do to prepare for entrance? (Dress as normal slave / sacrifice on his and his families’ behalf)
  • What was the smoke from the census for? (Hiding his face or hiding God’s face)

3What was Azazel? (Demon in wilderness? High cliff? Etc.)

• Which goat was more fortunate? The scapegoat or the sacrificial goat?

• How many persons could approach God’s presence in the Old Testament? (One – High Priest) How many in the New Testament? (One – Jesus)

4PLAY: “Now I can go…to the Holy of Holies”

• ILL: Read article on Gay Marriage Ban – “Single fiber shirt” section from pastor…

• uestion: How do you combat this comment?

• This is what we will discuss tonight.

5The Eclectic Structure

6READ: Leviticus 19:1-4

• Leviticus 19 seems disorganized covering a large variety of topics.
• Each section is arranged by ending with a phrase: “I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:1-2a; 2b-10; 11-18; 19-37; 31; 32; 33-34; 35-36; 37)
• “I am the Lord your God” is repeated over 40 times in Leviticus 18-26.
• All topics reflect a resonating theme within the Decalog.
• All 10 Words are alluded to within Leviticus 19.
• Some are expounded in a different way.
• The motto of Leviticus is reiterated in the introduction of Leviticus 19. (You MUST be holy, for I the Lord your God am Holy!)
• God identifies all items in this passage as belonging to Him.
• “My statutes” (37) / “My ordinances” (37) / “My Sabbath” (3, 30) / “My sanctuary” (30)
• Holiness is expressed in moral integrity – symbolized in physical wholeness.

7“Won’t you be my (Good) Neighbor?”

• According to Jewish law, poor work in the field equals holiness. Leviticus 19:9-10
• God is constantly concerned about the poor, widows, orphans, and resident aliens! Psalm 82:3-4
  • These groups could not have land of their own except in rare occasions.
  • These groups had to rely on selling labor to buy food.
  • QUESTION: Can you think of an incident where this law saved a family very important in the line of Jesus Christ? (Ruth)
  • Good neighbors do not make false claims against others. (Leviticus 19:11-12) This law deals with those who could afford to take others to court for crooked dealings.
  • Good neighbors do not exploit the weak. (Leviticus 19:13-14) This law deals with those who could not afford to take others to court for crooked dealings – this is referred to in Scripture as oppression and robbery.
• Typically, day laborers (the poor) received wages at the end of the workday. Mt.20:8
  • To delay payment was not illegal, but it may cause hardship to a poor man and his family.

  • QUESTION: What is the emphasis for life that we are to see in these passages?

  • This is even seen further in Leviticus 19:15-16
  • Typically, the representative in court would be an “elder” of the people and not a professional lawyer (like we have today).
  • The feuding parties may allow the intimate setting of the courtroom to be distorted due to relationships and personal animosities. “I am the Lord” reminds the parties that they need to be conscious to do what God would do.
  • Overall, it is better to not take your brother to court at all.
• Alternate remidies:
  • Don’t hate
  • Rebuke him (Prov.27:5) Wise men receive rebuke and fools reject it. (Prov.9:8; 15:12)
  • The Bible gives instruction on the methodology of rebuke. (Matthew 18:15-22; Gal.6:1)
  • “It is as difficult to administer reproof with delicacy and tact,
  • As it is to receive reproof.”
  • “Reproof must, of course, be offered in all kindness,
  • Otherwise it dfails of its purpose.”
  • -Hertz
  • QUESTION: What does it mean when God says to do this, “…so that you do not incur sin because of him?”
  • Whoever rebukes a man and stops him from sinning is freed from the guilt of that man’s sin.
  • By open rebuke, the aggrieved party may save his own feelings from overflowing to taking sinful actions. (CF: Cain – Gen.4)
  • Jesus solidifies this kind of concern that we are to have toward our neighbor.
  • QUESTION: Who did Jesus identify as our “neighbor?”

  • QUESTION: Who does that exclude?

  • QUESTION: What kind of thoughts and attitudes should describe our behavior to our neighbor? (Matthew 22:39-40; Romans 13:9)
  • “What every man’s mind ought to be towards his neighbor could not be better expressed in many pages that in this one sentence.”

8-Calvin, Institutes, III, p.195

• Remember: You are Different!
• To modern readers, this transition seems ridiculous! Leviticus 19:18-19

  • What does loving my neighbor have to do with mixed fibers in my shirt?

  • In Israel, under God, both have to do with holiness.
  • God’s people were instructed to be divided from nations around them – not only in their activities, but also in their appearance.
  • God “created” all things individually and uniquely separate – the Hebrews were to portray this in every aspect of their lives.
  • God “separated” Israel from the other nations.
  • God called the Hebrews to “be separate” as He is “separate.” (definition of holiness)
• The Hebrews were not even to inter-marry with other nations. Deuteronomy 7:3-6
  • In everyday decisions, Israel was being reminded that she was created “separate” from other nations around her.
  • To modern readers, the Bible seems unreasonable.
  • The instructions for God’s people seem ridiculous sometimes.
    • ILL: Forgive – even when you are not forgiven.
    • ILL: Love – even when you are not loved.
    • ILL: Obey God – even when it goes against culture.
    • ILL: Live by faith – even when life seems unfair.
• Love one another as God loves us. Romans 13:10
  • Love covers a multitude of sins.

9READ: John 13:34-35

• QUESTION: How does our love for God reveal itself in my attitude to my neighbor? (Can you think of some verses? James 3 – with tongue we curse men and bless God who made men…etc.)
• QUESTION: How does our distain for God reveal itself in my thoughts toward my neighbor? (Prostitution – v.29 / Divination – v.26 / Occult – v.31 / exploiting foreigners – v.33-34. All these hurt someone else for personal gain…they reveal how our hearts deceive us)

• What is our drive to behave so differently from the world around us?

10“Because I am the Lord, your God!”

• We obey and follow God’s will because He is God – that is it. (Not because it feels good; not because I have peace; not because it will benefit me in the future; etc.)
• QUESTION: What are the implications / differences of these laws for us today? (This is the typical argument that opponents of Scripture come up with today. READ ARTICLE FROM GAY WRITING IN PAPER ON THIS PASSAGE)
• We do not seek to make the outward impact of “separateness” in clothing or sacrifices.
• We DO seek to make the outward impact of “separateness” in our actions and attitudes toward our neighbor. (That is why Jesus verified the spirit of this law over and over – 2nd greatest commandment / Matt.5:48; 1 Cor.11:1; 1 Pet.1:16)

• NEXT WEEK: Capital Crimes? (Leviticus 20)

11Why? Because I am the Lord your God

• Leviticus 19