The Law of Love: Just Scales and Guarded Lips Text: Leviticus 19:15-16
Introduction: The War on Objectivity
We live in an age that despises standards. The very idea of an objective, transcendent standard of right and wrong is considered to be the height of bigotry. Our culture of sentimentalism has replaced the scales of justice with the fickle whims of the human heart. Justice is no longer about what is true, but about who is perceived as the underdog. We are told to put our thumb on the scales for the designated victim class, which is a sin, or to bow and scrape before the powerful and connected, which is another sin. In short, we are commanded to be partial.
And when it comes to our words, we have weaponized slander on an industrial scale. Through the magic of the Internet, a lie can get halfway around the world before the truth has had a chance to get its boots on. Reputations are destroyed, livelihoods are ruined, and lives are upended by gossip, tale-bearing, and outright falsehood, all disguised as a form of social righteousness. We have become a nation of tattletales and arsonists, setting fires in the court of public opinion and calling it justice.
Into this swamp of subjectivity and malice, the law of God speaks with the clean, sharp ring of steel. Many modern Christians want to skip over Leviticus, thinking it is a dusty rulebook filled with bizarre rituals and dietary laws that have nothing to do with us. But this is a profound error. Leviticus, and particularly this chapter, is the application of God's holy character to the life of His covenant people. This is the blueprint for a sane, just, and godly society. This is not about being nice; it is about being righteous. And the foundation of all righteousness is the character of God Himself.
The Text
'You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness. You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand against the life of your neighbor; I am Yahweh.'
(Leviticus 19:15-16 LSB)
The Abolition of Partiality (v. 15)
The first principle laid down is the foundation of all jurisprudence, both in a formal court and in the daily court of our personal interactions.
"'You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.'" (Leviticus 19:15)
The command begins with a sweeping negative: "do no injustice." Justice is not a human invention or a social construct. It is an attribute of God, and therefore it is objective. To act justly is to conform to the standard of God's reality. To do injustice is to warp reality to suit our own prejudices, fears, or ambitions. God is establishing the principle of the blindfolded lady with the scales. The facts are to be weighed, and nothing else.
Then God gives two specific applications that strike at the heart of our fallen tendencies. First, "you shall not be partial to the poor." This is a direct assault on the foundational dogma of our age. We are catechized from our youth to believe that the poor, the marginalized, and the "oppressed" have a special claim, not just on our compassion, but on the truth itself. This is the poison of Marxism. God commands compassion for the poor throughout Scripture, but He absolutely forbids allowing that compassion to pervert the standard of justice. Justice must be blind to class. To favor a man in court simply because he is poor is a grotesque form of condescension. It is to treat him as a pet project, not as a responsible moral agent made in the image of God. It is an injustice to him, to his neighbor, and to the God who demands righteousness.
The second temptation is the opposite, but it flows from the same corrupt well: "nor defer to the great." This is the sin of cowardice and sycophancy. We are tempted to bend the rules for the wealthy, the powerful, the celebrity, the man who can do us favors or cause us harm. This is the sin of the "good ol' boy" network, of crony capitalism, of letting the powerful get away with things the common man cannot. Both sins, partiality to the poor and deference to the great, are abominations because they place a man, whether a poor man or a rich man, above the law of God.
The positive command ties it all together: "you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness." The standard is not pity, nor fear, nor personal advantage. The standard is righteousness, which is defined by God and His Word. This applies to judges on the bench, elders in a church discipline case, parents arbitrating a dispute between siblings, and to you, when you are evaluating a situation involving your neighbor.
Guarding Lips and Lives (v. 16)
The principle of righteous judgment then extends from formal decisions to the realm of our speech and our communal responsibility.
"'You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand against the life of your neighbor; I am Yahweh.'" (Leviticus 19:16 LSB)
Slander is a form of bearing false witness. It is an act of unjust judgment rendered in the court of public opinion. The Hebrew word for slanderer, `rakil`, carries the idea of a peddler or a tale-bearer. This is the person who traffics in gossip, who collects and distributes damaging information, whether true, false, or half-true, for the purpose of injuring a neighbor's reputation. This is a sin that eats away at the fabric of a community like acid. It breeds suspicion, bitterness, and division. In our digital age, this sin has been put on steroids. Social media is a massive engine for `rakil`, a place where reputations can be torched with a few keystrokes.
The next command is, "you shall not stand against the life of your neighbor." On one level, this is a prohibition against being a false witness in a capital case, where your testimony could lead to an innocent man's death. But the Hebrew is broader. It can mean "to stand idly by" when your neighbor's life is on the line. This is a direct refutation of any individualistic, libertarian ethic that says, "I'm not my brother's keeper." In God's covenant community, you most certainly are your brother's keeper. If you know of a plot against him, you are obligated to expose it. If you see him in a situation that threatens his life, you are obligated to help. This is the principle behind the parable of the Good Samaritan. Love for neighbor is not a passive sentiment; it is an active, protective duty.
And then comes the thunderclap that grounds it all: "I am Yahweh." This is not a suggestion. This is not a piece of good advice. This is a command from the sovereign, self-existent Creator of the heavens and the earth. Why must we judge righteously? Because Yahweh is righteous. Why must we refrain from slander? Because Yahweh is a God of truth. Why must we protect the life of our neighbor? Because Yahweh is the author of life. He has signed His own name to this law. To disobey it is to defy Him personally. Our justice, our speech, and our communal life are meant to be a reflection of His character to a watching world.
The Righteous Judge
As we read this law, our conscience should immediately convict us. Who among us has not been partial? Who has not shown favor to someone we liked, or deferred to someone we feared? Who has kept his tongue perfectly from all slander and gossip? Who has always acted to protect his neighbor? The law shows us our sin. It reveals that we are all lawbreakers, deserving of judgment.
And this is precisely why the law is a schoolmaster that drives us to Christ. Jesus Christ is the only man who has ever fulfilled this law perfectly. He never once rendered an unjust judgment. He spoke with perfect righteousness to the poor and the great alike, and the great hated Him for it. He was the ultimate victim of slander, as false witnesses rose up to testify against Him. And in the ultimate act of injustice, He was condemned to die.
And on the cross, He did not "stand against the life" of His neighbors. He stood for the life of His neighbors, His enemies, you and me, by laying down His own. The cross is the place of the ultimate righteous judgment. God the Father did not waive the demands of justice. He did not show partiality to us poor sinners, nor did He defer to the greatness of His own Son. He judged our sin in perfect righteousness by pouring out the full measure of His wrath upon Christ.
Because of that great transaction, we who are in Christ have been declared righteous. And because we are declared righteous, the Holy Spirit is at work in us, enabling us to begin to live righteously. We are being trained to put away partiality, to govern our tongues, and to love our neighbors not just in word, but in deed and in truth. We do this not to earn our salvation, but in grateful response to the salvation we have so freely received from the only righteous Judge, who is Yahweh our righteousness.