Hallow yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Jehovah your God.
This chapter warns Israel against idolatry, against consulting spirits, and against every kind of impurity. God's answer to that darkness is a call to be set apart — but what does that mean, and how can God ask it?
The verses just before this one condemn those evils. One writer reads verse 7 as the positive step God sets against them:
So for Israel the only safe course was positive action. They were to consecrate themselves to the Lord in holy separation from evil, keeping His statutes and doing them.
The order of the chapter matters. Everything after verse 7 deals with family and sexual life. One commentator traces a chain that starts in the heart:
Leviticus 20 opens with warnings against the very idolatry that Stephen had to charge the people with. Verse 6 adds a warning against the practice of spiritism, which, sad to say, has become so common in our day. Then come verses that show this: if we do not sanctify the Lord in our hearts, we will not keep the natural relationships God has set up — parents in verse 9, and other ties in verses 10-21.
For Israel this call had a very practical edge:
God often called the priests, Levites, and people to sanctify themselves. They had to be fit, by the ceremonial rules, to approach God and His sanctuary. Leviticus 20:7; Numbers 11:18; and others. God declared, "Among those who are near me I will be sanctified," Leviticus 10:3. We must approach God with reverence, and apart from all that does not suit Him.
The words "for I am the LORD your God" give the reason for the command. One writer pictures a household where the owner sets the standard of cleanness:
In Leviticus 20 God forbids the people to follow the brutal and superstitious customs of idolatry — the level to which Satan had degraded man. He warns them against all impurity, which was always inseparable from idolatry, and which the devil's influence gave free rein to. Then comes this simple and beautiful statement of the principle that was to govern them: "Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy… Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you." They are bound to holiness and to sanctify themselves in practice, because they are in the house, and the Master of the house is holy. Sanctification assumed that they were already in a recognised relationship with God. He will have everyone living in His house clean, according to His own cleanness.
Two sides stand together here. They must sanctify themselves in practice, and it is the LORD who sanctifies them.
Holiness rests on a relationship, not on achievement, so it never becomes a boast. One commentator imagines an Israelite explaining himself:
It is well to see where the personal holiness of God's people comes from. Their complete separation from every kind of uncleanness flows out of their relationship to Him. It is not on the principle of "keep away, I am holier than you." It is simply this: God is holy, so everyone He brings into association with Himself must be holy too… If anyone had asked an Israelite of old, "Why do you shrink so from that reptile crawling along the path?" he would have replied, "The LORD is holy, and I belong to Him. He has said, Do not touch."
Some assume grace lowers the standard. One writer, warning against tampering with mediums and spirits, argues the opposite:
How awful for professing Christians to tamper with such profanity! Israel was an earthly people under law, and even they had to sanctify themselves and be holy. Christians live under grace. They have Christ and the whole written word as their standard, and the Holy Spirit lives in them. How much more must they obey and please their God and Father!
The same writer shows what has changed for Christians:
Christ brought grace and truth in His own person, and redemption lets us walk in the Spirit to match. It is now the children — not of the fathers, but of God the Father — whose standing is not in flesh, but in Christ. The holiness rises according to the place and relationship.
- Belong — the command assumes a relationship that already exists. God tells them to be clean because they live in His house.
- Because — the reason is not a rule but a Person. He is the LORD their God, and His cleanness sets the standard of the house.
- Be near — sanctifying yourself means becoming fit to come near. Israel had to be clean before they could approach God's sanctuary.
- Behave — a heart that does not set God apart as holy will not keep the bonds of family and marriage either. Verses 9-21 spell out the collapse.
- Beyond — holiness rises with the relationship. Christians have Christ, the whole written word and the Spirit, so their standard is higher than Israel's, never lower.
And ye shall observe my statutes, and do them I am Jehovah who hallow you.
Leviticus 20 has just named the darkest practices Israel could fall into — child sacrifice to the god Molech, and consulting mediums. Verse 8 answers them with a person: God Himself. He commands His people, and He sets them apart. The command to keep His statutes sits beside the claim "I am the LORD who sanctifies you." So is holiness something we produce? Or is it something we live out because God has already made us His?
God is not asking Israel to earn a place near Him. He asks those already near Him to match the holiness of the One they belong to.
They are bound to holiness, and to holy living in practice, because they are in the house, and the Master of the house is holy. Sanctification assumed that they were already in an acknowledged relationship with God. And He will have those who live in His house clean by the standard of His own cleanness.
Because it is His house, He decides what counts as clean. So the verse ties holiness to His statutes, not to personal taste.
But then His word was to be the rule. They were to obey Him in what He directed, because it was He who was separating them to Himself. This teaches us a great deal about the standard for all our thinking here. If any are in my house, I will have them clean, because they are there; those outside are no concern of mine.
The closing words give God a title He takes for Himself. One writer explains the Hebrew name behind it and how God sanctifies. (He writes "Jehovah" where the ESV has "the LORD.")
One beautiful title that makes God known in the Old Testament is Jehovah-Mekaddesham. It means "I am Jehovah who sanctifies you." How does Jehovah sanctify? In Christ Jesus through the truth (John 17:17). The Word of God is the means, and the Spirit applies that Word with power.
To sanctify is to set someone apart to God. That order has never changed: God separates first, and the directions follow.
God has separated people from existing evil to Himself, and then given a range of directions to keep the separated person separate in practice. (On Israel's sanctification, see Leviticus 20:24-26.) Sanctification now is God's separation of people from the world to Himself in Christ. Those He has separated are no longer of the world, just as Christ is no longer of the world.
These statutes had just condemned Molech worship and spiritism. The real danger was not an open decision to abandon God. It was the small thing allowed alongside His worship.
There may be no deliberate intention to abandon His worship. It may only be what they count a minor thing: going along with idolatry now and then while still claiming His name. But God rejects every such unholy compromise. And that is quite apart from the danger, for those who allow it, of complete revolt from Him. It strikes at His majesty, at holiness and truth, and He will not tolerate it.
God pressed this call on a people under law. The claim on believers today is heavier, not lighter.
How terrible for professing Christians to meddle with such profane things! Israel was an earthly people under law, and even they had to make themselves holy and be holy. How much more must Christians under grace obey and please their God and Father! They have Christ and the whole written word as their standard, and the Holy Spirit living in them.
The chapter then turns to parents, marriage and family. One writer traces those relationships back to the heart.
The verses that follow show that if we do not sanctify the Lord in our hearts, we will not keep the natural relationships God has appointed. Verse 9 deals with parents, and verses 10-21 with other relationships.
- He sanctifies first. God separates people to Himself first. Only then does He give directions to keep them separate in practice. The gift comes before the duty.
- His house, His standard. Those inside must be as clean as the Master. His word, not personal taste, sets what clean means.
- His name is the guarantee. "The LORD who sanctifies you" is a title God takes for Himself. He does the sanctifying, in Christ, through the truth the Spirit applies.
- Compromise is the real danger. The danger is not open revolt. It is mixing a little idolatry with His name. People call that small; God will not tolerate it.
- God asks more now. Israel under law had to be holy. Believers have Christ, the whole written word, and the Spirit living in them. So God asks more — and it shows in how they treat parents, marriage and family.