Leviticus 19
Step 1: Before reviewing my notes, read the passage for yourself.
Step 2: Sarah’s annotations of Leviticus 19
Step 3: Observations
the word “neighbor” appears 5 times
the word “foreigner” appears 4 times
“I am the LORD your God” appears 7 times - this follows many of the instructions given
the message is given for God to Moses to be given to “the entire assembly of Israel”
The first instruction is for the people to be holy, because God is holy
Specific instructions are given on how to care for the poor and the foreigner - in fact, specifically to treat the foreigner as one who is “native born.”
God brings a reminder to the people of how He delivered them from Egypt
God highlights/gives instructions on caring for those who are disadvantaged in various ways: foreigners, poor, blind and deaf, elderly, slaves
Step 3: Ask questions
What does it mean to “pervert justice?”
Who would have been considered a neighbor to the Israelites?
In verse 19, why is it important that two different kinds of thinks (animals, seeds, material) not be mixed together?
Reflection
Leviticus 19 is a lot to unpack. It feels like the laundry list of behavioral standards that a nervous parent lists off as their eager teenager is about to head out the door with a new driver’s license for the first time. Make sure you do all these things!!
This passage could be broken down in a few segments to help glean a better understanding from it. As I read, the theme of caring for the disadvantaged in society stood out. God highlights those with physical limitations, those who are aged, women and those who have been disenfranchised from their homeland (read foreigner, immigrant, refugee, etc.)
Verses 9-10: “‘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 foreigner. I am the Lord your God.’”
Verse 33-34: “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
When I read these verses, instructions delivered directly from God, likely to Moses, and written down, I find any counterarguments to how God’s people are to care for immigrants and foreigners utterly impotent. It has been confusing to watch in these last few weeks, and even before, how our immigrant brothers and sisters are spoken of and treated. Juxtaposed with the rhetoric that America wants to be a “Christian nation.” If we are a Christian nation, and we believe God and His word - revealed in scripture and in the person of Jesus Christ - wouldn’t we heed these instructions in Leviticus 19?
These are deeply disquieting and confusing times. Yet that is nothing new. Instructions, precepts, laws - these things are rarely put in place as proactive measures. We enact these things in response to problems. When there is an issue in our local government, we draft up a law or statute, and upon its finalization, ask those within its jurisdiction to live by it. When God’s people had a heart problem, He gave them a structure to live by - good boundaries so that they could start to learn how to enact neighbor-love.
Psalm 61:2 says 'From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. ' I have let my heart be “torn asunder” by what is happening in the world around me. It takes root and gives birth to bitterness and anger. I need to take that second step that the psalmist describes - turning my eyes upon Jesus, which means leaning into his word, and looking at the world through the lens of the all-powerful, all-knowing God, who has the final word. A God that has the deepest empathy and compassion for those who find themselves without a home or in a strange land.
