Leviticus 2022

Lev 27:33 'He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.'" Lev 27:34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai. The commandments given in this chapter are valuable beyond measure. We are given the price of redemption for things dedicated to Elohim for His use. The price is determined according to the value of the person, place or land. The cost of redemption is cast in stone in Scripture and must be adhered to. We cannot be redeemed by something of lesser or even equal value according to Scripture. Therefore Elohim sent His most beloved possession, His only begotten Son, His Word made flesh, to redeem us by the spilling of His precious blood (1 Peter 1:17-19). Yeshua did not come into this world to do away with Torah as some claim. He came to make it more full. And He came that we might have life and have it abundantly.

Lev 26:18 'If also after these things, you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. Elohim is saying that if the Israelites don't obey Him, then He is going to punish them severely. If they still do not turn to Him and obey Him after the warning period, Elohim will multiply the remainder of their punishment by seven times. this is a very important part of Elohim's judgment. We often think of Elohim's dealing with Israel as Old Testament history, but we can now see this part of Israel's judgment has only been fulfilled in the very recent past.

Lev 25:5 'Your harvest's aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. Lev 25:6 'And all of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you. Lev 25:7 'Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat. How did the people eat during the Sabbatical year? This passage tells us. The land was so fertile that it would produce crop on it's own during the seventh year. Enough food grew naturally to feed the people, their servants, the strangers, and the livestock. There was plenty to eat, but they were not to harvest it for market and profit.

Lev 24:10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel struggled with each other in the camp. Lev 24:11 And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) Lev 24:12 And they put him in custody so that the command of the LORD might be made clear to them. The one who did the blaspheming is a young man or boy of mixed nationality whose mother was an Israelite from the tribe of Dan and whose father was an Egyptian. There was a mixed multitude that left in the exodus from Egypt (Ex. 12:37-38). This is one of the main reasons it is wrong to marry an unbeliever. One problem is with the offspring of the marriage. They don't know if they should follow the father or the mother. Even if they make the right decision, they will always look back and wonder if they made the right decision. This boy got into a fight. That is easy to envision because he is not really a member of either camp. During the fight, he blasphemed Elohim. Israel considered Elohim's name extremely sacred. Jews take this so seriously that they have not pronounced His name for centuries. Because of this, all we know is that the name consisted of the consonants YHWH. To this day, we don't know if we are to pronounce it "Yahweh" or "Yahuah." But this boy knew how to pronounce it.

Lev 23:3 'For six days work may be done; but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, they worked every day. The Sabbath day is tied to deliverance (Deut. 5:15). The Sabbath Day is a symbol of the covenant between Elohim and His people, Israel. The Sabbath is mentioned 138 times in 116 verses. There is not one verse in Scripture that says we are not to honor the Sabbath. There is not one righteous example in Scripture where it is broken. The Sabbath Day was implemented at creation and was never eradicated or changed to a different day.

Lev 22:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Lev 22:2 "Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the LORD. There was to be a separation between the sacred and the secular. You should not treat those things that are set apart for Elohim as commonplace.

Lev 21:5 'They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh. This was something the pagans did in mourning for their dead. Elohim's people are to avoid doing things like the heathen. The shaving of the edges of their beards is the Hebrew word peah which is a reference to around the mouth.

This chapter deals with the death penalty. This is a penalty that was instituted by Elohim for breaking many of His commandments. Elohim instituted this law for good reason. Adequate punishment of crime is for the moral good of the people. Justice and righteousness demands punishment. We do not believe in the death penalty much any more in today's world. When we do have it used, it is always so long after the crime that the criminal scarcely remembers what he did. Do you remember when two boys gunned down students in Jonesboro, Arkansas? Only half the people surveyed think that the 11 and 13 year old boys who killed those five people in Jonsboro should even be tried as adults, much less think they should be put to death. We tend to keep thinking, "what if that were my little boy who did those attrocious things?" That's the wrong way to look at it. We need to ask, "what if that were your little girl or boy who was mercilessly gunned down?" Softhearted and softheaded men have decided that we are too enlightened to have the death penalty today. But Elohim's Word says that it is the most humanitarian procedure for the good of mankind.

Lev 19:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Lev 19:2 "Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. We are to be holy because Elohim is holy. That command has not changed (2 Cor. 6:14-16, 1 Pet. 1:14-16, Matt. 5:48).

Lev 18:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Lev 18:2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'I am the LORD your God. Lev 18:3 'You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. We are told not to do what is done in Egypt or in Canaan. We are not to act like the pagan nations. The customs of the pagan nations are to be avoided by Elohim's people (Psalm 106:34-35, Ex. 23:24-25, Deut. 12:2-4, 30-31).