Daily Scripture Reading Leviticus 19:20-37
Nathan had been a Christian for 14 years. He attended church every week and helped out in youth ministry. One day a coworker began talking about attending a seance. It turned out she frequently did this and was a huge proponent of the practice.
Nathan was intrigued and decided to research the topic. When he asked his coworker some questions about the practice, she invited him to attend one as an observer. He felt a thrill. He accepted the invitation. He reassured himself that it would be harmless because he was just doing research.
The topic of sorcery is rarely addressed in many modern churches. However, the Bible is not silent about that issue. The Mosaic Law had clear rules against it. The New Testament makes it clear that sorcery is not harmless.
The nineteenth chapter of Leviticus contains many laws that regulated how the Israelites treated each other. They had to be honest and fair. They were not allowed to take advantage of each other. The 18th verse specifically says they had to love their neighbor as themselves.
Lev. 19:20 ¶ ‘Now if a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave assigned to another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death because she was not free.
Slavery was allowed under the Mosaic Law, although it appears it was mostly intended as a way to lift people out of poverty. The 21st chapter of Exodus lists the rules when an Israelite sold his daughter. I presume a daughter would have been sold when an Israelite was poor. The daughter was guaranteed her food, clothing, and conjugal rights, and she could not be sold to foreigners.
This verse in Leviticus explains that there was punishment if she was sexually violated, but the punishment was not death.
Lev. 19:21 And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh to the doorway of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering.
Notice the pronoun “he”. The man was guilty. There is no indication that the female slave was guilty.
Lev. 19:22 The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.
Lev. 19:23 ¶ ‘When you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall designate their fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.
Notice the words “plant all kinds of trees”. This rule pertained to trees planted by the Israelites.
When a fruit tree is planted, the best practice is to pinch off the blossoms that produce fruit for the first several years so that the tree uses its energy to develop a root system.
Lev. 19:24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to Yahweh.
Lev. 19:25 Now in the fifth year you shall eat of its fruit, that its produce may increase for you; I am Yahweh your God.
Not eating the fruit until the fifth year is in line with modern recommendations about when to start eating fruit off of a tree.
Lev. 19:26 ¶ ‘You shall not eat anything with the blood nor interpret omens or soothsaying.
Take note of the prohibition against interpreting omens, or practicing soothsaying. They were distinct practices, but they both fall under the same broad umbrella of occult practices.
Lev. 19:27 You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard.
Lev. 19:28 And you shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am Yahweh.
Lev. 19:29 ¶ ‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot, so that the land will not fall to harlotry and the land become full of lewdness.
It was permissible to sell a daughter (see Exodus 21:7); however, it was not permissible to turn her into a harlot. If a daughter was sold as a slave, she was guaranteed food and clothing, meaning she had some protection. If she was turned into a harlot she would have had much less protection.
Lev. 19:30 You shall keep My sabbaths and fear My sanctuary; I am Yahweh.
Lev. 19:31 ¶ ‘Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.
Verse 26 prohibited omens and soothsaying. This verse prohibited mediums and spiritists.
The fact that these practices were mentioned tells us they were common practices in that culture at that time. Occultism is mentioned many times throughout the Old Testament. This is something that happens in modern times.
Just as the Mosaic law prohibited omens, soothsaying, and other forms of occultism, so too the New Testament teaches us to avoid them. Galatians 5:20 lists sorcery as one of the deeds of the flesh. Revelation 21:8 lists sorcerers as among those who belong in the lake of fire. Seances and other forms of sorcery are not harmless.
Lev. 19:32 ¶ ‘You shall rise up before the gray-haired and honor the aged, and you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.
Lev. 19:33 ¶ ‘And when a sojourner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him.
Lev. 19:34 The sojourner who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.
This is the opposite of taking revenge. The Israelites were mistreated in Egypt, but they were prohibited from mistreating foreigners who would eventually live among them.
Lev. 19:35 ¶ ‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or in volume.
Lev. 19:36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin; I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt.
These are more examples of loving your neighbor as yourself. The Israelites would not want to be shortchanged; therefore, they should not shortchange others.
Lev. 19:37 You shall thus keep all My statutes and all My judgments and do them; I am Yahweh.’”
Many modern churches don’t mention occultism very often. It is not necessarily something that needs to be addressed frequently. However, occultism exists, and churches should make sure their members know that the Bible teaches against it.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”