How to be a Holy Man

Chapter 21

I. Mourn in moderation (1-6)

II. Marry well (7-8)

III. Control your daughter (9)

IV. No physical blemishes, handicaps or disabilities (16-26)

Chapter 22

V. Keep yourself clean (1-9)

VI. Keep the holy things from strangers (10-16)

VII. Offer only perfect sacrifices (17-33)

Note: The high priest was held to a stricter accountability (chapter 21, verses 10-15)

Meditation Points:

• Death, as common as it is in our lives, must not hinder or halt the work of God.

!2 Timothy 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

• Priests and pastors are to watch over their children’s affairs.

!1 Timothy 3:4  One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
5  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

• If the bride of the earthly priest must be chaste, how much more so the bride of Christ, the great High Priest!

!Ephesians 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

• Unbelieving foreigners are to be kept away from the holy things.

!Matthew 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

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Bible study guide in English from Trinity International Baptist Church in Athens, Greece.

I. Molech worship forbidden (Lev. 20:1-5)

II. Consulting wizards forbidden (Lev. 20:6-8; Lev. 20:27)

III. Disrespect to parents forbidden (Lev. 20:9)

IV. Adultery, incest and bestiality forbidden (Lev. 20:10-21)

V. Promises made (Lev. 20:22-24)

VI. Distinguishing clean from unclean required (Lev. 20:25)

VII. National holiness required (Lev. 20:26)

Meditation Points:

• Interpreters are divided concerning the precise Molech ritual. Was this a sex orgy, or does “seed” refer to children? Were children burnt alive, or did they walk between two flames?
• It appears from 2 Kings 16:2-3 and 2 Kings 16:20 that Hezekiah was thus dedicated to Molech as a child.
• Please note the death penalty for adultery, incest and bestiality (10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16). God hates sin.
• Those who belong to God must not live as do those who don’t know God (22-24).
• How holy is God? Be holy, as He is holy.

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Bible study guide in English from Trinity International Baptist Church in Athens, Greece

God is holy, and His people must be holy, too.

Leviticus 11:44  For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Leviticus 11:45  For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Leviticus 19:2  Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
Leviticus 20:26  And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
Leviticus 21:8  Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.
1 Peter 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

In this chapter, God demands holiness regarding several themes.

I. Parents and the Sabbath (Leviticus 19:1-2)

II. Idolatry (Leviticus 19:3)

III. Peace-offerings (Leviticus 19:4)

IV. Harvesting and gleaning (Leviticus 19:9-10)

V. Lying and stealing (Leviticus 19:11)

VI. Perjury (Leviticus 19:12)

VII. Cheating employees (Leviticus 19:13)

VIII. The disabled (Leviticus 19:14)

IX. Bias in judgment (Leviticus 19:15)

X. Tale-bearing (Leviticus 19:16)

XI. Hatred and unkindness (Leviticus 19:17)

XII. Revenge (Leviticus 19:18)

XIII. Cross-breeding and cross-weaving (Leviticus 19:19)

XIV. Rape (Leviticus 19:20-22)

XVI. Fruit-picking (Leviticus 19:23-25)

XVII. Superstitious practices (Leviticus 19:26-28)

XVIII. Prostitution (Leviticus 19:29)

XIX. Sabbaths (Leviticus 19:30)

XX. Wizards and psychics (Leviticus 19:31)

XXI. Respect for elders (Leviticus 19:32)

XXII. Foreigners (Leviticus 19:33-34)

XXIII. Just weights and measures (Leviticus 19:35-36)

Meditation Points:

• People who lived in conformity with these rules would certainly be different from their non-conforming neighbors.
• Spiritual devotedness to God affects all areas of our lives.
• Not all spiritual practices are acceptable to God. Superstitious traditions should be abandoned.
• He who loves God will love his neighbor-his employee neighbor, his disabled neighbor, his foreign neighbor, his married neighbor, his unmarried neighbor, his older neighbor, all his neighbors.
• Honesty is expected in our business and in our social relationships.

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Trinity Baptist Church of Athens, Greece: English language Bible study notes

Instructions concerning false worship, forbidden food, and family issues

I. Sacrifices outside God’s approved system are prohibited (Leviticus 17:1-9)

II. Consuming blood is prohibited (Leviticus 17:10-16)

III. Egyptian practices contrasted with God’s ways (Leviticus 18:1-5)

IV. Laws of consanguinity (Leviticus 18:6-18)

V. Sex sins of Canaan described (Leviticus 18:19-24)

VI. Consequences of disobedience (Leviticus 18:25-30)

 Meditation Points:

• When we say that we don’t need to go to church, we are declaring our independence from God and our intent to worship that which is not God.
• By proscribing the ingestion of blood, God was emphasizing the greater reality that only a blood sacrifice can atone for sin.

Matthew 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Romans 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Hebrews 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

• In God’s wisdom and grace, the blood ordinance passed away with the Christ’s completed sacrifice at Calvary–long before men discovered blood transfusions for medical purposes.
• The ways of the Egyptians and Canaanites may have been widespread, popular and enticing; but they were contrary to the will of the holy God. Let us not be conformed to our world either. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” is NOT a divine commandment!

Romans 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

• Marrying close relatives may have been the norm when the human population was small; but as men spread across the globe, God forbad such relationships. One may argue that this was the right decision from a geneticist’s point of view. But we must examine this from God’s point of view. Nakedness is a sign of sin (remember Adam and Eve?). By forbidding marriages to close relatives, and even half-relatives and in-laws, God is teaching us that we must not intentionally expose the sins of our families. This is not an order to deny such sin; but rather instruction on recognizing the human condition–our condition.
• Just what was the abomination mentioned in Leviticus 18:22 if it wasn’t homosexuality?
• Religious sex orgies were prohibited (18:21).
• Nations fall because of sin (18:24-30)

Proverbs 14:34  Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

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