What does life look like after we have been forgiven and restored to God? In this reflection, we continue our big-picture journey through Leviticus by looking at chapters 17–22, often called the Holiness Code. These chapters move beyond the Day of Atonement to explore what the redeemed life looks like in practice: honoring life, living faithfully in our relationships, caring for the poor and marginalized, practicing honesty and integrity, holding religious leaders accountable, and worshiping with reverence. Leviticus 19 offers a particularly powerful reminder that holiness is not limited to religious rituals or time spent in worship. It reaches into every part of our ordinary lives. We don’t live holy lives to earn God’s love; we live them because God has already loved us and called us into a new way of living.
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Hey, good morning! Hope you’re doing well today on this Monday morning. I hope you had a great weekend, and I hope your week is setting out to be a good one.
I’m excited about a great week here. We’re moving closer and closer to Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving is always a great time. I’m looking forward to a lot of good food, a lot of time with friends, and a lot of good fun. So, wherever you find yourself this week, as we move into a new week, I hope it’s a good one for you.
Today we’re continuing our big-picture look at Leviticus, trying to get a feel for what this book can teach us. We’re going to look at chapters 17 through 22.
I’ve been laying out the larger picture of how Leviticus works. Everything up through chapter 16 has been leading us toward the Day of Atonement. The question has been: How do we get right with God? What sacrifices are required? What are the responsibilities of the priests? Why does getting right with God matter? What are the different kinds of uncleanness that need to be addressed?
All of that leads us to chapter 16, the Day of Atonement. We see the scapegoat, the sacrifices, and the ritual through which the people are cleansed and restored.
Now we’re making a turn.
If everything up through chapter 16 was the front nine, we’re now on the back nine. We’ve dealt with atonement. We’ve been made right with God. Now the question becomes: What does life look like moving forward? What does our life and our community look like when we are living as people who have been redeemed?
How do we live out the rightness we now have with God?
Chapters 17 through 22 are often called the Holiness Code. That’s a helpful phrase because these chapters are asking a very practical question: What does holiness look like? How do we live out this redeemed life?
Each chapter has its own emphasis.
Chapter 17 deals with worship and blood.
Chapter 18 deals with sexual relationships.
Chapter 19 gives us a picture of what holiness really looks like.
Chapter 20 deals with the consequences of breaking the covenant.
Chapter 21 focuses on the lives and responsibilities of the priests.
And chapter 22 returns to the question of how we worship rightly.
Let’s take those one at a time.
Chapter 17 deals a great deal with blood: how animals are slaughtered, where sacrifices are offered, and the prohibition against consuming blood.
The big idea here is that blood is closely associated with life. When an animal is slaughtered for sacrifice, that life is to be treated with respect. Even when an animal is offered in worship, it is still a life created by God. Its life is not something to be treated casually.
We see this concern about blood continue into the New Testament, particularly in Acts 15, when the early church is deciding what to ask of Gentile Christians. Among the things they are told to avoid is blood.
The larger principle is that life matters. Life is a gift from God, and we are to treat it with respect. We don’t treat life casually, and we don’t treat what God has created as though it has no value.
Chapter 18 turns to sexual relationships. It lays out a number of prohibitions concerning sexual behavior and relationships.
This matters because we are sexual creatures. Sexuality is a good gift. It is part of how God created us. But, like every good gift, it has a proper place and purpose. From a Christian perspective, sexual intimacy belongs within the covenant relationship of marriage.
One of the images Scripture uses for Christ and the church is that of a bridegroom and a bride. That is a powerful picture of covenant, commitment, and faithfulness.
But sexuality is a gift that is meant to be given, not simply received. We have to be careful not to allow ourselves to be driven by lust or to stop seeing other people as people of value. We must never reduce another person to an object for our own gratification.
That’s why lust is so damaging. It dehumanizes the other person. It changes the way we see people, turning someone who is created in God’s image into an object of desire.
That’s also why things like pornography are so damaging. They can train us to view other people as objects rather than as human beings with dignity and worth.
The Lord calls us to something different. Our relationships are to reflect faithfulness, respect, and the dignity of the other person.
Chapter 19 is particularly interesting to me. As I read through it, I was struck by the way it lays out what holiness actually looks like.
The chapter begins with worship, which makes sense. Our holiness certainly involves how we worship God. But it doesn’t stop there. It also involves our families and how we live together.
Then we get into how we treat the poor. And I find that especially interesting. Right there in the middle of this discussion of holiness is the question of how we care for people who are poor and vulnerable.
Our treatment of the poor is connected to our holiness.
Holiness in the Bible is not simply religious ritual. Religious ritual is part of holiness, but it isn’t all of it. How we treat the poor, how we treat our neighbors, and how we live in relationship with one another are all part of what it means to be holy.
The chapter then turns to honesty and integrity. Our relationships with one another matter. In verse 18, we find the commandment that Jesus identifies as the second greatest commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
That’s a quotation from Leviticus.
Think about that for a minute. When Jesus is asked about the greatest commandments, he reaches back into Leviticus and points to this command to love our neighbors.
The next section of chapter 19 deals with ordinary life together. It addresses things like how we treat our livestock, what we wear, and the everyday practices that shape our lives.
I think that’s important because so much of our lives is ordinary. In the Christian calendar, Ordinary Time is the longest season of the church year. And there’s a reason for that. Most of life is ordinary.
Our holiness isn’t reserved for the high holy days or the moments when we’re gathered in church. Holiness is lived out in the everyday relationships and responsibilities that make up our lives.
Toward the end of the chapter, we find instructions about how to treat the elderly and the foreigner living among us. We’re reminded to respect those who are older and to care for those who may be vulnerable or unfamiliar in our community.
And the chapter also addresses business relationships. It tells us to use fair weights and measures and not to cheat one another.
There’s an old story often attributed to Martin Luther about a cobbler, or shoemaker, who asked whether he should put a cross on his shoes to show that he was a Christian shoemaker. Luther’s response was essentially that he should show he was a Christian by making the best shoes he possibly could.
In other words, you don’t demonstrate your faith simply by putting a religious symbol on your work. You demonstrate your faith by doing your work honestly and with integrity.
Holiness shows up in our business dealings. It shows up in how we treat our families, how we treat the poor, how we treat the foreigner, and how we treat the people around us.
Chapter 19 makes a powerful point: holiness isn’t simply reserved for worship. Holiness is about every part of our lives.
Chapter 20 then turns to the consequences of breaking the covenant. What happens when the people fail to live according to what God has commanded?
There are consequences for breaking the covenant.
Now, I want to be careful here. Our relationship with God is not simply a business contract. But a covenant is a serious commitment. God calls the people into a relationship, and that relationship comes with responsibilities. When the people break their commitments, there are consequences.
Think about it like a parent setting boundaries for a teenager. Parents aren’t necessarily trying to keep their children from having fun. They’re trying to keep them healthy and safe. They establish boundaries because they love their children and want what is good for them.
In a similar way, God’s commandments are not arbitrary restrictions. They are intended to guide the people toward a life that is good, faithful, and holy.
God’s boundaries are meant for our good. And when we step outside those boundaries, there can be consequences.
Of course, the larger story of Leviticus has already shown us that there are ways for the people to seek forgiveness and restoration. The sacrificial system provides a means of addressing sin and restoring the relationship.
Chapter 21 turns our attention to the priests and their responsibilities.
Religious leaders are held to particular standards. There’s a principle in the New Testament, especially in James, that teachers will be judged more strictly. Leadership carries responsibility.
And that’s true for those of us who serve in ministry. We have a responsibility to live in a way that reflects the faith we proclaim. That doesn’t mean we’re perfect. It does mean that we take seriously the example we set and the responsibility entrusted to us.
Finally, chapter 22 returns to worship. It gives specific instructions about the offerings brought before God and the care with which those offerings are to be handled.
The people are not simply to worship in any way they choose. Their worship is to reflect the holiness of the God they serve. The offerings are to be appropriate, and the priests are to treat the things dedicated to God with reverence.
So, when we step back and look at chapters 17 through 22, we see something important.
We’ve been forgiven. We’ve been atoned for. We’ve been restored to a relationship with God.
Now what?
What does our life together look like?
These chapters show us that the redeemed life is different. It looks different in how we honor life, how we approach our relationships, how we treat the poor and the marginalized, how we conduct our business, how we hold our leaders accountable, and how we worship.
The redeemed life must look different from the life we lived before we knew Jesus.
And I think that’s an important reminder for us as Christians. Grace is not simply about what God has done for us in the past. Grace changes the way we live moving forward. We don’t live holy lives in order to earn God’s love. We seek to live holy lives because God has already loved us, forgiven us, and called us into a new way of living.
That’s what these chapters are showing us.
I was particularly fascinated by chapter 19 as I read through this section. It’s a really interesting chapter to sit with and ponder for a while. I encourage you to spend some time with it.
Thanks for being with us today. I hope you have a great rest of your day. Tomorrow we’re going to look at chapters 23 through 25 as we continue working our way through the big picture of Leviticus.
Have a great day. See you tomorrow!