Scripture Daily

Context No. 2090 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 19:1-8: in context

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, the LORD your God, am holy. 3“‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. 4“‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. 5“‘When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. If anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire. 7If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted; 8but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of the LORD, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.

God gives Moses a command that stands at the heart of the law's call to a distinct life: you shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy. What follows are specific instructions, to respect father and mother, to keep the Sabbaths, to turn from idols, to offer sacrifices rightly. But the ground of all of them is stated first: be holy, because God is holy. The people's holiness was to be a reflection of God's own, their lives set apart because the God who claimed them is himself set apart and holy.

The reason given for holiness is worth dwelling on: you shall be holy, for I am holy. The call to holiness is not grounded in arbitrary rules or in earning God's favor, but in the character of God himself. Because God is holy, his people are to be holy; because he is set apart, pure, and good, those who belong to him are to reflect that in their lives. Holiness is not first a list of prohibitions but the imitation of God's own character, a life shaped to reflect the God who claims us as his own. This reframes what holiness is for. We can think of holiness as a burden of rules, a set of restrictions imposed for their own sake. But the command grounds it elsewhere: be holy, because I am holy. Our holiness is meant to reflect God's character, to show in our lives something of the God we belong to. As children resemble their parent, so God's people are to resemble him, set apart as he is set apart, pure as he is pure, good as he is good. This is not about earning his favor but about reflecting his nature, living as those who belong to a holy God. And the New Testament takes up this very call. As he who called you is holy, Peter writes, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, because it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. The call given to Israel is given to us: to be holy because God is holy, our lives shaped to reflect his character. Be perfect, Jesus says, as your Father in heaven is perfect. This searches the way we live before God. Is our conduct shaped to reflect the holiness of the God we belong to, set apart as he is set apart? Or do we live no differently from those who do not know him, our lives showing nothing of his character? The call is to holiness grounded not in rules for their own sake but in the character of God: be holy, for I am holy. To belong to a holy God is to be called to reflect his holiness, living lives set apart to show something of the God who claimed us; and our holiness is the imitation of his character, a life shaped to resemble the God who is himself holy.

Is my conduct shaped to reflect the holiness of the God I belong to, set apart as he is set apart, or do I live no differently from those who do not know him, and can the command, be holy for I the LORD your God am holy, move me to a holiness grounded not in rules for their own sake but in the imitation of God's own character, living to reflect the holy God who has claimed me as his own?

Sources