Leviticus 20:22 - Meaning and Application

The last verse adds a specific law after the general conclusion, almost as if it had been left out of its proper place. It is the command to put to death anyone who dealt with familiar spirits, that is, people who claimed to speak with the dead or use hidden spiritual powers (Leviticus 20:27). It would insult God and his living words, disgrace the nation, and tempt ignorant and wicked people if such workers were allowed to live openly among them. Those who side with the devil, in effect, make a pact with death and an agreement with hell, and that will be their judgment.

The rest of these verses repeat and press home what had already been said. To a people who were forgetful and slow to learn, it was necessary to give line after line, and to keep repeating general truths with their reasons, so the laws would be obeyed more faithfully. Three things are especially brought back to mind here.

First, their dignity. They had the Lord as their God (Leviticus 20:24). They were his people, his care, his choice, his treasure, his jewels, and his kingdom of priests (Leviticus 20:26), meaning a people set apart to serve him. How happy, and how truly great, is the people that stands in such a place. Their God was a holy God (Leviticus 20:26), far above all others in purity and goodness. His holiness is his glory, and it was their honor to belong to him, while their neighbors worshiped foul and impure spirits. The great God had also separated them from other peoples (Leviticus 20:24, 26). Other nations were the common land, but Israel was the fenced-in field, decorated and enriched with special privileges and meant for special honor. They should value themselves accordingly, keep their honor, and not throw it away by walking in the ways of the nations around them.

Second, their duty follows from their dignity. God had done more for them than for others, so he expected more from them than from others. What, then, did the Lord their God require because of all he had done and planned for them? They must keep all his statutes (Leviticus 20:22), and there was every reason for this, because his commands were their honor, and obedience would be their lasting comfort. They must not follow the customs of the nations around them (Leviticus 20:23). Since they had been separated from those peoples, they must not copy their ways. The customs of the nations were bad enough in them, but they would be far worse in God’s people. They must also make a distinction between clean and unclean (Leviticus 20:25). That is what holiness is, learning to tell the difference between things that are not the same, instead of living loosely as if anything were allowed. They must not make themselves unclean and hateful (Leviticus 20:25). Their constant care had to be to keep their souls pure and honorable, and never do anything that would make them offensive to God or to their own conscience.

Third, their danger. They were going into an infected place (Leviticus 20:24). They were to inherit a land flowing with milk and honey, and they would enjoy its comfort if they kept their integrity. But it was also a land full of idols, idol worship, and superstitious practices, and they would be tempted to grow fond of these things. They had even brought from Egypt a strange readiness to catch that infection. If they took it in, the result would be disastrous. The Canaanites were being driven out because of these very sins: they did all these things, and therefore God hated them (Leviticus 20:23). See how evil sin is. It makes God hate the very creatures he made, though otherwise he delights in the work of his hands. If Israel followed the same path of wickedness, they must expect the land to spit them out (Leviticus 20:22), just as he had warned them before (Leviticus 18:28). If God did not spare the natural branches, but broke them off, then he would not spare those grafted in if they turned away. So the rejection of the Jews stands as a warning to all Christian churches, to watch carefully lest the kingdom of God be taken from them. Those who sin like others must expect to suffer like others, and their claim to belong to God will not protect them.