We are preparing a Commentary on Leviticus (Christian Focus Publications, Scotland, UK). The following note on Leviticus 19:17-18 seeks to offer a glimpse into the intended pastoral nature of the commentary. We are grateful for your prayers as we prepare this resource for Christian shepherds, small group leaders, Bible teachers, and anyone desiring to read the Scriptures for increased understanding and, we pray, spiritual nourishment.
The Text
“You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
The Commentary
In the cure of souls, every physical reality—its presence and function in the human body—has a mirrored existence in the spiritual realm. So, too, the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of physical pathologies have a spiritual reality. For example, we are to love others to glorify God, encourage others, because God’s law in Christ carries Gospel good for ourselves. The heart is the seat of emotions and a prompter of the human will. If one’s heart hardens—a most dangerous condition—this vital spiritual organ cannot expand and retract. The artery of love towards others (Gr. φιλία; En. philía) becomes constricted, healthy emotions are trapped, coagulate, and form a spiritual thrombosis. The grave condition deprives others while killing ourselves. The emergency cure is to repent and believe by appropriating by faith the very nature of God, who loved us while we were yet sinners. The clot will dissolve at the first encounter of the solvent of divine love (ἀγάπη; agápē), and the heart will not only heal but strengthen, while other human beings will, likewise, flourish. This, too, is for God’s glory, and our good.
Milton, Michael A. Called to Holiness: A Commentary on Leviticus (Christian Focus Publications), awaiting publication, 2023.
Mike,
To this nurse, the commentary on this passage in Leviticus is profound: mirror images of the physical to the spiritual realm. I am currently teaching Steve Brown’s little book “When Your Rope Breaks.” This is to senior women, several of whom are new to the gospel while not being new to “church” institutions.
One was crying tears of joy the other day (in my absence I might add as I was teaching at Greenville Tech) that this study is exactly what she has been needing.
If you permit, I would love to share this excerpt from the commentary on Leviticus!
Thanks,
Jerdone
That is just wonderful, Jerdone. Of course, you may share this if it is helpful. The Lord used that book in my wife’s life. I told Steve Brown that he was influential in my wife becoming a Calvinist, and he replied, “Well, don’t blame that on me, too!!!” 🙂 He is a great man of God gifted at making theology accessible (sometimes with tongue-in-cheek)!