The Fabric of a Godly Society Text: Leviticus 19:11-13
Introduction: Holiness is Practical
We live in an age that loves to spiritualize everything into a fine mist. For modern evangelicals, holiness is often treated as a vague, internal feeling, a warm sentiment in the heart that has very little to do with how you fill out your tax forms or pay your employees. It is a private piety, disconnected from the public square, from the marketplace, and from the nitty gritty of everyday life. But the God of Scripture is not the god of pious abstractions. The God who made the dirt and the stars and the human digestive system is intensely interested in the material world. And when He calls His people to be holy, as He does at the beginning of this very chapter, He is not calling them to float three inches off the ground. He is calling them to a holiness that has callouses on its hands.
Leviticus 19 is part of what is called the Holiness Code. And the central command of this section, the foundation upon which all these specific laws are built, is this: "You shall be holy, for I Yahweh your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2). Our holiness is to be a reflection, a finite, creaturely imitation, of God's own holiness. But what does that look like? Our secular culture, when it isn't mocking the idea of holiness altogether, tries to define it for us. Holiness, they say, is being tolerant, being non-judgmental, being inoffensive. But God does not leave us to guess. He doesn't give us a grand, abstract principle and then tell us to go figure it out. He gives us case laws. He shows us what holiness looks like when it walks to the marketplace, when it hires a day laborer, and when it makes a promise.
The laws we are looking at today are intensely practical. They deal with property, speech, and economics. They are about basic, fundamental honesty. And this is where true godliness is tested. It is easy to sing loudly in church on Sunday morning. It is another thing entirely to be scrupulously honest in your business dealings on Monday morning. But for God, these things are inextricably linked. A society cannot stand if its foundations are rotten with theft, lies, and exploitation. These commands are not arbitrary hoops for Israel to jump through. They are the very grammar of a just and prosperous society because they are a reflection of the character of a just and faithful God. And as we will see, they are concluded with the ultimate reason, the final foundation for obedience: "I am Yahweh."
The Text
'You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.
'You shall not oppress your neighbor nor rob him. The wages of a hired man shall not remain with you overnight until morning.
(Leviticus 19:11-13 LSB)
Integrity in Word and Deed (v. 11)
We begin with a rapid-fire series of prohibitions that form the bedrock of social trust.
"'You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.'" (Leviticus 19:11)
First, "You shall not steal." This is, of course, the eighth commandment. Its presence here in the Holiness Code reminds us that respect for private property is not a mere capitalist invention; it is a fundamental requirement of holiness. God is a giver, not a taker. Satan is the thief who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. When we steal, we are acting out the character of the devil. Stealing is not just taking a man's wallet. It is robbing God, as Malachi tells us, when we withhold the tithe. It is laziness on the job, which steals time and productivity from an employer. It is the government devaluing its currency through inflation, which is a hidden and pernicious form of mass theft. A holy people respects what God has given to their neighbor.
Next, "nor deal falsely." This is broader than just lying. It has to do with fraud, with misrepresentation, with putting on a false front. It is the sin of the salesman who knows the car has a cracked engine block but praises its smooth ride. It is the sin of the contractor who uses cheaper materials than were agreed upon. It is the sin of the resume padded with false credentials. Dealing falsely is creating a dishonest impression in order to gain an advantage. It is a form of theft that uses deceit as its weapon. It corrupts the marketplace and makes honest transactions impossible. A society that normalizes this kind of behavior is a society that is rotting from the inside out.
And then, "nor lie to one another." This is the most direct prohibition. The previous command was about false dealings; this is about false words. We are a covenant community, and a covenant is made of words. When our words cannot be trusted, the covenant community disintegrates. Paul tells us in Ephesians to put away lying and "speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another" (Eph. 4:25). Lying to a fellow Christian is like your right hand deceiving your left hand. It is self-mutilation. It introduces a state of civil war where there ought to be peace. God is a God of truth. Jesus is the Truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. Therefore, a people who claim to be God's holy people must be a people of the truth.
The Sanctity of an Oath (v. 12)
From general falsehood, the law moves to a very specific and high-handed form of it.
"And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh." (Leviticus 19:12 LSB)
An oath is a solemn appeal to God as a witness to the truth of a statement or the binding nature of a promise. To swear by God's name is to put His reputation, His honor, and His glory on the line as collateral. It is to say, "May God judge me if what I am saying is not true." Therefore, to swear falsely by His name is a sin of monstrous proportions. It is not just lying; it is dragging the holy name of God through the mud of your lie. It is perjury of the highest order.
Notice the result: it is "to profane the name of your God." The word profane means to make common, to treat as ordinary what is holy. When you use God's name to guarantee a lie, you are treating the Holy One of Israel as a common liar like yourself. You are treating His name as a meaningless incantation, a tool to be manipulated for your own crooked ends. This is a direct assault on the third commandment. This is why God takes it so seriously. Our entire system of justice, our entire ability to have confidence in testimony, rests on the sanctity of an oath.
And then comes the hammer blow: "I am Yahweh." This is not just a signature. It is the reason. Why must you not profane My name? Because I am Yahweh. I am the self-existent, covenant-keeping God. My name is not a trifle. I am the ultimate reality. When you lie under an oath made in My name, you are not just breaking a societal convention; you are crashing headlong into the God who is. You are picking a fight with the very foundation of the universe. And that is a fight you will not win.
Economic Justice (v. 13)
The final verse in our text brings this high holiness down to the dirt of daily labor and economic relationships.
"'You shall not oppress your neighbor nor rob him. The wages of a hired man shall not remain with you overnight until morning.'" (Leviticus 19:13 LSB)
First, the general principles: "You shall not oppress your neighbor nor rob him." Oppression is using a position of power, whether economic or political, to crush someone weaker. Robbery is taking what is not yours by force or fraud. Both are sins of greed and injustice. The wicked, Proverbs tells us, are defined by this kind of behavior. Their robbery destroys them because "they refuse to do justice" (Prov. 21:7). They see their neighbor not as an image-bearer of God to be treated with dignity, but as a resource to be exploited. A holy people, in contrast, are to be known for their justice and their care for the vulnerable.
Then comes a very specific application of this principle. "The wages of a hired man shall not remain with you overnight until morning." In that ancient economy, a day laborer was often a man living on the edge. He was paid at the end of the day, and he used that money to buy food for his family for that evening's meal. To withhold his wages, even for one night, was not a mere inconvenience. It was to deprive his family of dinner. It was to use your financial leverage to cause real, immediate suffering. The book of James echoes this with thunder: "Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts" (James 5:4).
This is a profoundly counter-cultural command. The world says, "Cash flow is king. Hold onto your money as long as possible." God says, "Justice is King. Pay the man what you owe him, and pay him on time." This is what holiness looks like in the marketplace. It is not about having a fish sticker on your truck; it is about having a reputation for prompt and fair payment. It is about recognizing that your employee is your neighbor, made in God's image, and you are to love him as yourself. And that love must manifest itself in your payroll practices.
Conclusion: The Gospel Foundation of Honesty
It would be a grave mistake to read these commands and think that by diligent effort, we can become the kind of honest and just people God requires. If we read this as a to-do list for earning God's favor, we will either become proud Pharisees, blind to the deceit that still lurks in our hearts, or we will be crushed by despair as we recognize our constant failures. The law is a mirror. It shows us our sin. It shows us that we have all stolen, we have all dealt falsely, we have all lied, we have all taken God's name in vain in our hearts, and we have all participated in and benefited from systems of oppression.
The law drives us to Christ. He is the only one who never stole, who never lied, who never dealt falsely. He is the only one who perfectly honored the name of His Father. He is the only one who was never an oppressor, but rather was oppressed and afflicted for our sake. On the cross, Jesus was robbed of his dignity, his clothing, and his very life. He, the righteous one, had the wages of sin, which is death, pressed upon Him, though He had earned nothing but righteousness.
Why? So that we, the thieves and liars, could be clothed in His perfect honesty. We, the unjust, could be credited with His perfect justice. God does not lower the standard of holiness. He fulfills it for us in His Son. And then, having been justified by grace alone through faith alone, He sends His Spirit to dwell in us, to begin the work of transforming us into people who actually begin to love the truth, who desire justice, and who start to treat their neighbors with the dignity they deserve. He writes these laws not just on stone tablets, but on our hearts.
Therefore, our pursuit of honesty in business, truthfulness in speech, and justice in our dealings is not a desperate attempt to earn salvation. It is the grateful response of a saved people. It is the family resemblance of the children of God beginning to show. We are to be holy because our Father in heaven is holy. And He has given us everything we need, in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ, to begin to live that way. Because He is Yahweh, our Redeemer.