Leviticus Chapter 19 Summary

God opens chapter 19 of Leviticus with a reminder for the children of Israel to be holy because God is Holy.

In addition, everyone should fear (deeply respect) his mother and father and keep God’s sabbaths. God orders to turn away from idols and molten gods and to do God’s ways and ordinances wholeheartedly.

When reaping the harvest of the land, God commands to leave the “gleanings” to the poor and stranger.

Gleaning (formerly ‘leasing’) is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers’ fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. Some ancient cultures promoted gleaning as an early form of a welfare system (Wikipedia, Gleaning).

The chapter continues by God commanding them not to swear falsely by God’s name, do not defraud your neighbor, don’t curse the deaf, don’t show respect of persons, avoid being a talebearer, and don’t hate your brother without a cause in your heart.

These, all requirements to live in God’s Theocratic government on earth. When the children of Israel came into the land of Canaan and began planting fruit trees, for the first three years the trees were considered uncircumcised and not to be eaten.

They had to wait until the fifth year before they could eat of the fruit thereof. The chapter concludes with more “don’ts” like eating blood, observing times, visiting witches, printing on your skin, cutting yourself for the dead, or prostituting your daughter.

Don’t Vex the Stranger!

Another thing they were warned about is vexing the stranger and not keeping God’s sabbaths. God wanted the children of Israel to remember how they were treated in Egypt and not replicate how they were treated onto their strangers.

These things will pollute the land and get them kicked out of the land. Do righteously with a just balance and observe God statutes and judgments, God is the Eternal Master.

Read Leviticus Chapter 19 Here Now!