And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for all these things have they done, and they became an abomination to me.
Leviticus 20 ends by giving the reason behind the long list of laws before it. The nations already living in Canaan had done these things, and God had turned against them for it. So the chapter raises a sharp question. If God drove them out for such conduct, what happens to Israel if Israel copies it?
The word covers settled national practice, not stray misconduct. One writer traces how the religion of Canaan itself made these things habitual:
Unnatural evils as well as idolatries had become their "customs." Their own religion always bound these abominations on them, so Israel had to be kept away from them. This was no question of cruelty. It was Israel's fault that they did not wipe them out as fully as the Lord commanded. The ones they spared went on to trap and corrupt the chosen people into the same infamy.
The nations were driven out for what they did. Their removal was a sentence, and God chose to carry it out through Israel's own hands:
The land itself was spewing them out for their abominations. In this Israel was only the executioner of divine judgment, not of their own passion or greed for land. God could have destroyed them Himself, by plague or famine. Instead He chose Israel to do the work. In that way He gave His own people the most solemn lesson they could receive — the holiness of His own nature, and what sin is before Him.
The warning points at Israel too, not only at the nations they replaced. The land was God's before it belonged to anyone living on it, and it would treat Israel as it had treated them:
If they did not keep God's statutes, then the land would "vomit you out." For God had set the land apart as His own "holy land." That land would expel the nations living in it, because they worshipped idols and evil spirits. It could do the same to Israel if they sank to a similar level. History has proved this true. Israel was scattered from their land for centuries after they rejected Christ, their promised Messiah.
The command not to walk in their customs is only one half of God's way. The other half is a call to God Himself, and the two always run together:
Ever since sin came into the world, separation has been God's principle of blessing. When God separates people for blessing, two principles are at work. There is separation from the corrupt mass that lies under the judgment of God, and separation to God Himself. The nature of this separation decides the nature of their holiness.
The reason given is not that these customs are crude. The reason is who God is:
In Leviticus 20 God forbids them to follow the brutal and superstitious customs of idolatry, into which Satan had degraded man. He also warns them against all impurity, which was always inseparable from idolatry, and to which the influence of the devil gave licence. Here we have a simple and beautiful statement of the principle that was to govern them: "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you." They must be holy, and set themselves apart in practice, because they live in God's house, and the Master of that house is holy.
The land, the statutes and the penalties belonged to Israel. Yet the principle underneath still speaks:
Christians are a heavenly people, with a calling on high, which the New Testament defines and explains. Their responsibility is completely distinct, because they are under grace, not law, as Israel was... Yet we have the privilege of learning from the older Scriptures. We can draw out the divine principles that lie under even the smallest shadow of the Levitical system.
What survives the change of era is the refusal to copy the crowd:
How many of us are content to take our cue from the world? We run after its fashions. We let its tide carry us along without resisting. We do things just because "everybody's doing it." Yet when "everybody's doing it," that ought to be a plain signal to us that we would do far better not to do it.
- Custom — these sins were not rare slips. They were the settled habits of a whole culture, bound on it by its own religion.
- Cause — God removed the nations for what they did. Israel carried out the sentence, but Israel was not the reason for it.
- Warning — the same standard that emptied the land could empty it again. Israel's later scattering shows the threat was real.
- Gift — separation is God's way of blessing. He calls His people out of the corrupt mass and to Himself.
- Ground — the reason is God Himself. Those who live in His house must match its Master. That is why copying the crowd is still worth resisting.
And I have said unto you, Ye shall possess their land, and I will give it unto you for a possession; a land flowing with milk and honey I am Jehovah your God, who have separated you from the peoples.
God speaks here as the One who gives the land and the One who marks out the people who will hold it. It holds two things together: a rich inheritance, and a line drawn between one people and all others.
One writer takes the verse clause by clause. Each clause is a promise from God.
On the authority of God's word and promise the land was set before Israel, "I have said to you." They were the people of God's choice, "You shall inherit their land." It was the Lord of heaven and earth who gave it to them, "I have given it to you." And though enemies had to be driven out and there would be conflict, the mighty God guaranteed His intervention on their side, "You shall possess it." What is more, it was an inheritance well worth getting, whatever exercises were needed to enjoy it, "a land flowing with milk and honey."
This writer follows an older translation. Where he cites "I have given it to you," the ESV reads "I will give it to you to possess."
Milk and honey are not just poetic words. Each one carries a meaning.
It is not a land of narrowness, as Egypt is — and heaven is not limited by the needs and struggles of earth. The "river" is not at war with the desert there. There is all "fatness," which the word for milk literally means, and all sweetness, as the honey implies. Salvation for us must end in satisfaction, or it is not salvation.
The verse promises Israel a land where other nations already lived. Those nations lost it, and the same standard hung over Israel.
The end of the chapter presses on the people's consciences how vital it is to keep all God's statutes and judgments. If they did not keep them, the land would "vomit you out." For God had separated the land as His own "holy land." That land would expel the nations living in it, because they worshipped idols and evil spirits. It could do the same to Israel if they sank to a similar level. History has proved this true. Israel was scattered from their land for centuries after they rejected Christ, their promised Messiah.
The chapter's many rules rest on who God is:
God gave the many statutes so that Israel would be completely different from the corrupted nations whose land they were entering. God's holiness is stressed again and again, and it is striking how often the words "I am the LORD your God" repeat.
Being separated from the nations is only half of what the verse says. It is God who separates, and He separates to Himself.
Ever since sin came into the world, separation has been God's principle of blessing. When God separates people to blessing, He sets two principles in motion. One is separation from the corrupt mass that stands under God's judgment. The other is separation to God Himself. The kind of separation decides the kind of holiness in those separated. So it pleased God to separate a people, Israel, from other peoples, to be His own treasured people. A holiness went with this. It marked them as separated from other peoples, and as separated to God as a worshipping people.
This verse is the first of three mentions of separation in the passage. One writer ranks them.
The third reference to separation is in Lev. 20:26. After all, the greatest object of our separation is not our blessings (verse 24), nor our purity (verse 25), but that we might be wholly for Him. He wants our affection, He wants us entirely for His own heart's pleasure. "Holy to Me" is His language here. "I have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine." Could anything work in our hearts like this?
Does this separation set the rule for Christians? One writer says no, and still values the passage.
Enemies, and sometimes even friends, make the great mistake of treating this as a question for Christians. For Israel it really was such a question. Christians are a heavenly people. Their calling is on high, and the New Testament defines and explains it. Their responsibility is entirely distinct, being under grace, not law, as Israel was. Yet it is our privilege to learn from the older scriptures. We can draw out the divine principles that lie under even the smallest shadow of the Levitical system.
- Given. The verse is a chain of promises: I have said, you shall inherit, I will give, you shall possess. The land is God's gift before it is Israel's conquest.
- Rich. Milk means fatness and honey means sweetness. The inheritance was meant to end in satisfaction, not bare survival.
- Holy. The land was God's own, and it expelled its earlier peoples for worshipping idols and evil spirits. God warned Israel it could expel them too.
- Separated. God's way of blessing has always had two sides: away from what stands under judgment, and toward Himself.
- His. Blessing (v. 24) and purity (v. 25) are not the summit; being wholly for Him is (v. 26).