The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying of the Old Testament book of Leviticus. The key to the book of Leviticus is found in verses 45 and 46 of chapter 11.
Leviticus 11:44-45 NIV I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
These are the notes to session 14.
Chapters 17-20 which constituted a legal code for the people of Israel, touching on many areas of their personal and public life. The emphasis isn’t simply on justice or civic righteousness, as important as they are, but on holiness. After all, Israel was God’s people and the law was God’s law.
Chapters 17-20 deal with four special areas of life that must be respected and kept holy: the sanctity of blood, or life (chap. 17); the sanctity of sex (chap. 18); the sanctity of the law (chap. 19); and the sanctity of judgment (chap. 20).
This week we continue our study of chapter 19, the Sanctity of the Law.
The regulations given in chapter 19 aren’t arranged in any specific order, but the one thing that ties them together is their relationship to the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–17), which is the basis for all Jewish law and should be the basis for all moral law.
The easiest way to classify these laws is to see them in their relationship to God, to others, and to things.
When we last met we started to look at the laws in their relationship to God. We only got through verse 3.
Leviticus 19:1-3 NIV The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. “ ‘Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.
And we talked about the importance of the Sabbath. In addition to verse 3 there is also
Leviticus 19:30 NIV “ ‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
Honoring the Sabbath reminded them of the fourth commandment
Exodus 20:8-11 NIV “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The Sabbath was a special “sign” between God and Israel.
Exodus 31:13 NIV “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.
Violating the Sabbath Day was a capital offense.
Numbers 15:32-36 NIV While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Now you will remember that Jesus was accused of violating the Sabbath Day.
Jesus did not break the Sabbath law, although He did act against the Pharisaical interpretation of the law. He broke the Pharisees’ laws. Jesus healed on the Sabbath to help people, to glorify God, and to remind people that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”
Mark 2:27-28 NIV Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Just as the Sabbath was originally instituted to give people rest from their work and to turn people to God, so Jesus came to provide us rest from attempting to achieve salvation by our own labors. His sacrifice on the cross made a way for the law to be fulfilled and for righteousness and rest to come to all who trust in His finished work.
Leviticus 19:4 NIV “ ‘Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.
The law against idolatry focuses on both the first and second commandments.
Exodus 20:2-6 NIV “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my “ ‘Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.
As we will see in chapter 20 this carried with it the death penalty.
Leviticus 20:2-5 NIV “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.
We could include here the prohibition against indulging in the occult which is, a form of idolatry that Scripture clearly condemns.
Leviticus 19:26, 31 NIV “ ‘Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. “ ‘Do not practice divination or seek omens. “ ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 18:9-13 NIV When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:5-8 NIV “ ‘When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up. If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because they have desecrated what is holy to the Lord; they must be cut off from their people.
This section emphasizes the importance of following God’s instructions for worship. He had already told them how to present the peace offering (3:1–17; 7:11–21), and He expected them to obey.
Leviticus 3:1-17 NIV “ ‘If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the Lord an animal without defect. You are to lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash the blood against the sides of the altar. From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys. Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is lying on the burning wood; it is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. “ ‘If you offer an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering to the Lord, you are to offer a male or female without defect. If you offer a lamb, you are to present it before the Lord, lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: its fat, the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys. The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering presented to the Lord. “ ‘If your offering is a goat, you are to present it before the Lord, lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. From what you offer you are to present this food offering to the Lord: the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys. The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the Lord’s. “ ‘This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.’ ”
Leviticus 7:11-21 NIV “ ‘These are the regulations for the fellowship offering anyone may present to the Lord: “ ‘If they offer it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with oil, and thick loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil mixed in. Along with their fellowship offering of thanksgiving they are to present an offering with thick loaves of bread made with yeast. They are to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the fellowship offering against the altar. The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning. “ ‘If, however, their offering is the result of a vow or is a freewill offering, the sacrifice shall be eaten on the day they offer it, but anything left over may be eaten on the next day. Any meat of the sacrifice left over till the third day must be burned up. If any meat of the fellowship offering is eaten on the third day, the one who offered it will not be accepted. It will not be reckoned to their credit, for it has become impure; the person who eats any of it will be held responsible. “ ‘Meat that touches anything ceremonially unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned up. As for other meat, anyone ceremonially clean may eat it. But if anyone who is unclean eats any meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the Lord, they must be cut off from their people. Anyone who touches something unclean—whether human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean creature that moves along the ground—and then eats any of the meat of the fellowship offering belonging to the Lord must be cut off from their people.’ ”
We can also include some other regulations, which are prohibitions against imitating the practices of the pagan nations that were around them.
Leviticus 19:27-28 NIV “‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. “ ‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:27-28 KJV Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
The background of this law was that Israel, after being rescued from slavery, was between Egypt and Canaan. Recent archeology indicates that, while Egypt did tattoos, it was limited to women. Evidence suggests that tattooing the body parts of women associated with fertility (breasts, thighs, and abdomen) was believed to be a good luck charm to protect the birthing process.
In Canaan, evidence indicates that instead of marking the body with ink, more extreme scarification measures, like branding, slashing, or gashing the skin were used. Archeology, backed by biblical texts, indicates the Canaanites would customarily slash their bodies for ritualistic purposes (1 Kings 18:28), especially to mourn their dead and honor their gods. Leviticus 19:28 seems to imply this when it says, “you will not make cuttings in your flesh, for the dead, nor print marks on you.” In light of this information from Egypt and Canaan, it would seem God was forbidding scarification, not tattooing as we know it.
Leviticus 19:28 literally translates, “And a cutting for the dead you will not make in your flesh, and writing marks you will not make on you; I am the Lord.” The word writing refers to inscribed or engraved symbols/words. The word for marks, also used here alone, has an uncertain root, so we’re not really sure what the word means.
Further, the word tattoo did not enter into the English language until the late 1700s. This is probably why the KJV, written in the early 1600s, is closer to the literal translation saying, “ye shall not...print marks upon you.”
With this said, while there may be no clear passage in the Bible addressing tattoos, this is hardly a license for unrestrained tattooing. You still need to think before you ink, especially if you’re a Christian.
Romans chapter 14 is an excellent chapter that covers things that are not specifically addressed in scripture.
Romans 14:1-4 NIV Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
Romans 14:23 NIV But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
I would say that if it causes your brother to stumble and cause an offense or might make a non-believer question the believers authenticity in Christ, then it would appear that we should prohibit such a thing or activity in our own lives while not judging those who are persuaded that it is okay for them.
God leaves some room for maneuvering in the sense that if it bothers our conscience or if we feel it might offend others, then it is best that we abstain from whatever it might be.
If we think something like a tattoo and especially what the tattoo is a picture of, we can make some Christians and non-Christians stumble in their belief of your sincerity of faith. If they might see it as sin then it would be wise that we abstain from it since we are taught to abstain from even the appearance of evil.
But be careful about judging. Here's an example that I read when I was doing some research on Christians and tattoos.
Judging by Appearances
At work I once hesitated to share the gospel with a machinist because he was covered in tattoos, drove a Harley, and chewed tobacco. When I finally did muster up the courage to witness to him, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he was already a born-again. Sadly, I had prejudged him by his outward appearance; something that God never does. Incidentally, this made it much easier for him to witness of Christ to other bikers and live out the principle that Paul lived, “to be all things to all men" (I Cor 9:22). Its not easy to remove tattoos by the way and besides, God is no respecter of persons and He looks at the heart and not at the outward appearance so neither should I. Personally I would not get a tattoo because my wife, children, and grandchildren might be a little surprised to see me wearing one. Others in my congregation might be shocked to see their pastor with a skull and cross bones on his shoulder or a cross on his forearm. But I will not sit in judgment if a believer or a non-believer has one or if they don‘t have one. God wills all men to be saved (I Tim 2:4) and accepts all of men, as long as they believe in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Leviticus 19:12 NIV “ ‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
The name of the Lord is sacred and must never be used blasphemously or in an oath that the person has no intention of fulfilling. This is the significance of the third commandment.
Exodus 20:7 NIV “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
If we fear the Lord, we’ll respect His name.
Matthew 6:9-10 NIV “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
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