Leviticus 19 - Judging and Loving

This was an all-encompassing type of chapter. At times it seemed to mirror the Ten Commandments. Other laws were repeated as well, such as the procedure for a proper sin-offering. But what struck me were a couple of passages that seemed to foreshadow the New Law given us by Jesus. For one, Leviticus 19:18 tells us to "love thy friend as thyself," which of course sounds nearly identical to Christ's words. Further along, Leviticus 19:33-34 says, "If a stranger dwell in your land, and abide among you, do not upbraid him: But let him be among you as one of the same country: and you shall love him as yourselves." It is not hard to see, then, that the Bible truly has only one Author.

I also noticed in Leviticus 19:15 that God says, "judge thy neighbor according to justice." This instantly made me think of the all-too-common situation in which a person will be criticized for a certain wrongful action and the criticized will respond with, "you can't judge me!" or "stop judging me!" Many people (almost always non-Christians) hear Christ's famous words "Judge not, that you may not be judged" (Matthew 7:1) and mistakenly apply it to all situations. The Church is clear about this, and tells us to "admonish the sinner," for we are obligated to help our fellow brothers and sisters to enlightenment in Christ. We cannot falsely judge, or vainly judge, or judge out of spite, or make eternal judgments. But, according to God Himself, we must "judge... according to justice."

Lastly, another interesting passage in this chapter of Leviticus reads: "Thou shalt not sow thy field with different seeds. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of two sorts" (Leviticus 19:19). Without denying the literal meaning of these laws, it seems pretty clear that there are higher moral meanings embedded in these words (as most commentators have mentioned). This seems to be God calling us to avoid schisms and heresies. As my commentary notes, "The sowing of different seeds tends to impoverish the soil." God desires unity among His people, and the more "sects" or "branches" of His followers there are, the more "impoverished" is His Church. There is no doubt that a unified fold would not only be more pleasing to God, but it would be more awe-inspiring to the worldly nations, and more inviting.