An overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Leviticus 26:1-13, with the title, “Holy Living,” for Sunday, February 23, 2025. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRODUCTION:

??? When you think of a “holy” person, what is it that you think of??? What picture comes to your mind? 

(Some might think of a hermit, clothed in “camel’s hair,” seeking God on his face in a remote desert cave.

Or a Pharisee, in his “holy robes,” looking down on those less holy around him?

Or a modern Christian, making his way past the temptations of Times Square or other worldly enticements.

My wife Cheryl said she thinks of someone who is too religious to wear makeup! (LOL, we actually had a relative like that!)

You/your group can share your thoughts, and then you can say something like: today in our lesson from Leviticus 26, we’ll look at what the Bible tells us that it means to live a “holy” life, and the benefits that come from it. 

CONTEXT:

We are wrapping up today our 3-week study in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus. We’ve seen that the Book of Leviticus, far from being a “boring book of arcane laws,” is actually the central focus of the Law, with two books before it, and two after it, and the Day of Atonement, at it’s center in Chapter 16, is the focus both of this book and of the whole Mosaic Law. It teaches us that Atonement is necessary for us to draw near to the presence of God, which we were made to be fulfilled by. And it is of course a foreshadowing of the ultimate Atonement that was made by Jesus at the cross for us.

So now in the chapters following Leviticus 16, God gave the people more commandments. These commands flow FROM the Day of Atonement. BECAUSE they had the atonement, Israel was now to do the things God commanded. God gave them standards on what are immoral relationships (Chapter 18), idolatry (Chapter 19), and other various laws in the next chapters.

Thus we come to the the lesson this week in Leviticus 26 on “Holy Living.” God’s people, who have been redeemed by the Atonement, are to live holy lives, keeping His commandments — and receiving great blessings for that obedience, as we shall see in our verses this week! 

OUTLINE:

I. The Commands of Holiness (:1-2)

II. The Blessings of Holiness (:3-10)
III. The Ultimate Blessing of Holiness (:11-12)

TEXT:  Leviticus 26:1-13

I. The Commands of Holiness  (:1-2)

“‘You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down [b]to it; for I am the LORD your God. 2 You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the LORD.” (NASB 95)

God wanted His people, Israel, to be a special kind of people, different from the nations around them. This is the very definition of the word “holy,” that means “set apart” or “distinct.” God does not want His people to be like the world around them; He wants them to be “holy” — DIFFERENT.  The differences He wanted to see in them were expressed in a number of commandments in the Old Testament. Some of them are included in the focus passage for today:

— In :1 God tells them in several different ways that they were not to worship idols:  “not make for yourselves idols,” “nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar” (this was common in ancient times; if you remember, King Nebuchadnezzar set up a huge pillar for everyone to bow down to); “nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to.” So THREE different ways in :1, God commanded them not to worship idols/images. This was something very common in their world: virtually everyone worshiped images. But GOD’S people were to be different; HOLY. They were not to worship idols/images/pillars, etc. 

— He gives some more commandments in :2, “You shall keep My sabbaths,” and “reverence My sanctuary.” So two more ways that He wanted His people to be different from the world around them are seen in :2: His people were to keep the Sabbath as His holy day. The nations around them did not; but His people were to show the difference by keeping it. And again, they were to show their difference (holiness) by revering His sanctuary — the Tabernacle that He commanded to be built. 

And WHY were His people to do this? He says it again here at the end of :2, “I AM YHWH.” (Remember when we see “LORD” in all 4 capital letters in the Old Testament, it means that in the Hebrew text, this is not the Hebrew word “Adonai” or “Lord,” but YHWH, the personal name of God, “I AM that I AM.”)

YHWH is the One who made the heavens and the earth.

YHWH is the One who called Abram to be the father of a new nation.

YHWH is the One who redeemed Israel and brought them out of Egypt.

YHWH is the One who fed Israel with manna from heaven.

He is their Lord, their God, their Savior, their Deliverer, their Provider. They are to obey these commands because He is YHWH! 

God’s people were to demonstrate that they were different from all the nations around them, and that they were followers of YHWH, by keeping these commandments. This was the way they would show that they were His. 

In fact, God told his people repeatedly in the Book of Leviticus that the reason He wanted them to be holy, is because HE is holy. Our holiness is to reflect the fact that we belong to HIM:

(You might consider having different ones from your group read these verses: pass them out in advance on slips of paper for them to read, or post them on a screen/the board):

— Lev. 11:44a “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”

— Lev. 11:45 “For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

— Lev. 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’”

— Lev. 20:7 “You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.”

This motivation has not changed. Even in the New Testament, we are to obey the Lord because of who He is. We are to demonstrate that we belong to Him, by the way we keep His commands:

— Peter quotes this very command in his first letter, saying:

“but like the Holy One who called you, [b]be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’’ (I Peter 1:15-16)

— Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

— He said in Luke 6:26, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say?”

— I John 2:3-4, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

So the New Testament repeatedly emphasizes that God’s people are STILL to be holy, because He is holy. And the expression of “holiness,” what it means to be holy, is to OBEY His commandments.

There have always been those who think that Christians don’t need to submit to the commandments of God, but that is a false outlook. Holiness does not ignore the commands of God; holiness OBEYS the commands of God, as Jesus Himself, and the epistles of the New Testament make very clear. Like Israel, our obedience to God’s commands should be the identifying mark that we belong to Him.

As an ILLUSTRATION you can share something that happened multiple times in our lives — and likely in yours too:

We were at a church fellowship, and kids of all ages were running around everywhere, laughing and playing. In the midst of the chaos, I hollered out to my kids: “Paul, David, Libby, stop running!” You see three kids stop running. Which ones are my children? They are the ones who obeyed my command. Our children hear our voice, and they do what we tell them to do (if we are good parents, and they are good children!)

(You are welcome to share my story, or you may have a similar one like that, that you can share.)

Isn’t this true in the spiritual realm as well? Of all the multitudes of people running to and fro in all the chaos of this world, which are the ones who are truly the children of God? Many claim to be — but those who truly are His children, show it by hearing His voice, and obeying His commands! 

If you didn’t use this John Newton quote a couple of weeks ago you could share it this week, because it really makes this point. Writing to Mrs. Wilberforce, who had asked him what were the signs of genuine conversion, Newton wrote:

“The best mark to judge by, and which He has given us for that purpose, is to inquire if His word and will have a prevailing, governing influence upon our lives and temper. If we love him, we do endeavour to keep his commandments; and it will hold the other way; if we have a desire to please him, we undoubtedly love him. Obedience is the best test …”(John Newton, to Mrs. Wilberforce, Letters of John Newton, Josiah Bull, ed., p. 75)

“Obedience is the best test.” 

Jesus said “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

This principle has not changed since the time of Leviticus. God’s people demonstrate that we are truly His, by being holy, different from the world. “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And God shows us HOW He wants us to be holy and different, by giving us His commandments. We show that we are really His, by keeping them. 

(Now, you will want to emphasize: we are NOT saved by keeping God’s commandments — we all fall short, and not one of us can be saved that way. Remind your group that we are only saved by grace, through faith in Jesus (Eph. 2:8-9). But THE best sign that we have been saved by grace through faith, is our obedience to God’s commands. God’s commandments show us HOW we are to be holy, and demonstrate that we are truly His. 

To help your group apply this point, you might ask them to discuss:

??? What are some of the commandments we are to keep as God’s people, that show that we are different from the world around us, and that we belong to Him???

(Some answers might include:

— Being faithful to our husband or wife. This is increasingly uncommon, but is a command God gives His people in both the Old and New Testaments, Exodus 20:14, I Thess. 4:3-6)

— Not cheating or stealing, getting away with whatever we can (again found in both Testaments, Ex. 20:15, Ephesians 4:28)

— Not taking revenge on our enemies (Matt. 5:38+, Romans 12:19)

— Being submissive and respectful to governing authorities (Romans 13:1+)

You and your group can think of many more. But emphasize to them that our obedience to God’s commands, although they do not save us, DO demonstrate that we are His people, different from the world around us. “We are to be holy because He is holy,” and the way we demonstrate holiness is by keeping His commandments.

II. The Blessings of Holiness (:3-10)

:3 If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, 4 then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 5 Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your [c]food to the full and live securely in your land. 6 I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. 7 But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; 8 five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 9 So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. 10 You will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new.”

Now, we often picture obeying God’s commandments as a very difficult, dreary kind of thing. But God made some amazing promises to His people here in Leviticus 26 about the BLESSINGS of the holy life (the life of obedience).

You might ask your group to call out the blessings of obedience that they see in :3-10:

(Answers should include:

— :4 “rains in their season”

— :4-5 extended seasons of harvest: “grape gathering will last until sowing time”!

— :5-6 “live securely in your land, … (:6) peace in the land … lie down with no one making you tremble.”

— :6b “I will eliminate harmful beasts from the land”

— :7-8 victory over enemies: “you will chase your enemies … five of you will chase a hundred …”

— :9 “make you fruitful and multiply you”

— :10 “You will … clear out the old because of the new”! 

??? You might ask your group: ??? What is the CONDITION for these blessings that we see in this passage 

(“:3 If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, (:4 THEN …”.  “IF/THEN” — it is cause and effect. If you do this/then I will do that. God says, I will give you these blessings, IF you will be holy by obeying Me the way I command.)

And you might point out to your group: ??? Should we at least consider that the lack of some of these blessings in OUR lives/country today, come from the LACK of obedience to God’s commands, like those He gives us here??? 

(It is certainly worth our consideration. In scripture we see people humbling themselves and repenting when they don’t get rain, etc.  Has God changed? Does He not pour out blessings today on His people who obey Him? Perhaps we have bought in too much to the “naturalistic” view that weather, and all these other blessings, are just impersonal, “natural” things that happen. This is NOT a Biblical viewpoint. Matthew 5:45 says GOD “sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” HE is the giver of these blessings. And He does it, Leviticus 26 says, to those who obey His commandments.)

So God was teaching His people here in Leviticus, the principle that there are blessings that will come to us if we obey Him.

But like most of the things in the Old Testament, there is a greater, more spiritual New Testament fulfillment:

Under Christ, does God give His people great blessings for being holy and obeying Him? 

(Absolutely!)

But are these all MATERIAL blessings? 

(Absolutely not! Many of the blessings God promises us in Christ are spiritual/eternal blessings; not merely temporal/material ones.

You might consider sharing this illustration from Agatha Christie’s biography:

“… when my brother was invalided home from East Africa. He brought with him a native servant, Shebani.  Anxious to show this simple African the glories of London, my brother hired a car and, sitting in it with Shebani, drove all round London. He displayed to him Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Guildhall, Hyde Park, and so on. Finally when they had arrived home, to said to Shebani, ‘What did you think of London?’ Shebani rolled his eyes up. ‘It is wonderful, Bwana, a wonderful place. Never did I think I would see anything like it.’ My brother nodded a satisfied head. ‘And what impressed you the most?’ he said. The answer came without a moment’s thought. ‘Oh Bwana, shops full of meat. Such wonderful shops. Meat hanging in great joints all over and nobody steals them, nobody rushes and pushes their way there and snatches. No they pass by them in an orderly fashion. How rich, how great a country must be to have all this meat hanging in shops open to the streets. Yes, indeed, England is a wonderful place. London a wonderful city.” (Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, p. 64)

Shebani passed all the great halls of democracy: Parliament, the home of Magna Carta and the freedoms of citizens, of justice, etc. — but he was captivated by all the meat! There were greater blessings in England than that.

But aren’t we often that way as God’s people? We focus on whether we have certain material blessings, when we have these RICH spiritual blessings that come to us as we obey Christ! We should focus more on these.

??? What are some of the NT blessings God promises if we obey Him???

(— Jesus said in John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love”! One great New Testament reward for keeping God’s commandments is that we will experience His love in close, daily way! 

— He said Matthew 5:44-45, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” If we treat our enemies the way He commands, we will know, and be known to others as HIS! What a great blessing!

— James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” If we obey Him by humbling ourselves, He will bless us by lifting us up!)

You/your group can think of others. There are many such promises of the blessings of obedience all through the New Testament. But the point here is, God began to teach His people in Leviticus that there are great blessings that will come to us if we are holy and obey Him. In Christ/the New Testament, we see that there are even greater, more spiritual blessings for us if we do.

III. The Ultimate Blessing of Holiness (:11-12)

11 “Moreover, I will make My [d]dwelling among you, and My soul will not [e]reject you. 12 I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.”

I’ve set this blessing apart from the others in a separate point because it is by far the greatest and most important: the ultimate blessing of holiness, is that holiness allows us to be near to God! Notice how that is expressed in :11-12:

— :11 “I will make My dwelling among you”

— :12 “I will also walk among you and be your God …”

THE ultimate blessing of holy obedience is that God Himself will “make His dwelling” among us; He will “walk among you.”

The word the NASB translates “dwelling” is the Hebrew “mishkan”, which comes from the word “shakan,” which means “to dwell,” or “to settle.” It is often used of the Tabernacle, so it could be translated “dwelling,” or “Tabernacle.” 

But the most important thing about this, is that GOD WOULD BE AMONG THEM! THAT (as we have seen repeatedly over the last weeks) is the greatest blessing there is.

This is John Milton’s classic “Paradise Lost,” reversed! It’s Paradise Restored! It’s Eden Regained! In The Garden of Eden, God walked with Adam in the cool of the day. But sin destroyed that fellowship and separated man from God’s presence and glory (“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23). But now, through the Atonement that Leviticus 16 taught (last week’s lesson) man can begin to experience the presence of God walking with them again. Israel began to experience that with the Tabernacle — and we experienced it more fully when Jesus walked among us here on earth — and through His Ultimate Atonement at the cross we will experience it perfectly at the end, as Revelation 21:3 says “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will [a]dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.” The word “dwell” here in Revelation 21:3 is literally “tabernacle” among them!  God says, I will “tabernacle” with you. THIS is the ultimate blessing of holy obedience: that it allows us to be near to God.

(+x Psalm 73:28 “the nearness of God is my good.” It’s by far the greatest blessing of all. 

The great blessing of heaven will not be “pearly gates,” or “streets of gold,” or seeing Abraham or David. The great blessing of heaven will be that GOD is near to us. HE is the Ultimate Blessing!

David McCullough writes in his Pulitzer-prize winning biography of Harry Truman that in his retirement, “(Truman) loved his (Presidential Library) office, a bright, spacious room with books and sliding glass panels that opened onto a private patio and garden. His desk was the same big mahogany desk he had used in the upstairs study at the White House. He was there nearly every day, Sunday included, except he was traveling. As was often said, the most interesting item on display at the Truman Library was Truman himself.”  (David McCullough, Truman, p. 966)

And it’s the same thing with Heaven: by far the most interesting, glorious, satisfying thing about Heaven, is just God Himself (and the Lamb, Jesus Christ.)

This is our hope and anticipation and glory. But remember: Hebrews 12:14 commands us: “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” Another word for “sanctification” is “holiness.” If we want to see God, we must be holy.

Our greatest motivation for holiness is that we want to be closer to God. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) We don’t want our sin to cause any “cloud” to come between us and Him. We want uninterrupted fellowship with Him.

Leviticus continually repeats this refrain: “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” 

The greatest blessing of holiness is the nearness of God — so our greatest motivation for holiness, is NOT that it will make us rich, or prosperous, or healthy, or anything else — but that holiness will draw us closer to Him, who is holy!  I myself believe that the “rewards” of heaven will not be a large tract of land, or a golf course, or any other “material” thing. Rather the reward we experience will be a larger capacity to see and appreciate the glory of God! His nearness, His glory is what we were created for. And THAT is God’s people’s greatest motivation for holiness. Let’s be holy and obey God’s commandments, so that we will be as close to Him, and know Him, and be fulfilled by Him, the most that we possibly can be! GOD HIMSELF is the goal of our “Holy Living”!

NEXT TIME: we’ll start a new study for the next quarter, on I-II Peter — some great New Testament books with lots of application for Christian living! Hope to see you next week! 

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