Introduction

Contemporary discussions of Christian purity often center on individual sexual morality, obscuring the communal and theological depth of the biblical vision. Scripture offers something far richer. In this article, I argue that biblical purity is rooted in the joy of being set apart, belonging to God, and enjoying his face shining upon us. In this privileged position, our lives are ordered toward covenantal love of God and neighbor and participation in his redemptive mission.

Where can such a beautiful picture of purity and holiness be found? Perhaps in a place you haven’t looked lately—Leviticus 18–26. The vision of holiness presented there is one that is beautiful, communal, and ultimately aimed at glorifying God and enjoying him forever.

Context and Connection

To grasp the beauty of Leviticus 18–26, it is important to situate these chapters within the broader narrative of redemption that began in Exodus and is fulfilled in Christ. In both, a chosen people born into slavery are liberated through a Passover sacrifice. We each pass through the waters of baptism (Ex 15, 1 Cor 10:2), dying to our old master, and rising to a new life in the kingdom of God. God forms a covenant with us that gives us an identity as a holy nation and a royal priesthood (Ex 19, 1 Pet 2:9). This culminates with a vision of God, who forms a place to dwell with his people for ongoing fellowship (Ex 24:9–11; Ex 40; 1 Cor 3:16).

However, the God who dwells among his people is holy, and the people are stiff-necked and prone to idolatry. So God provides an intercessor and a sacrificial system that defines holy space and makes a way through sacrifice for Israel to draw near to God, worship, and find atonement. The second half of Leviticus takes the concept of holiness and purity developed in the sacrificial system and extends them out into life into the land. The land functions as a ‘temple estate’ where God’s holy presence orders Israel’s life in the land so that they may become holy as he is holy, draw near to him, and become like him, as his face shines upon them.¹ Let’s walk through those chapters and catch sight of the vision God has for his people.

A Guided Tour

1. Leviticus 18–22―A Holy People and Holy Priests

The entire second half of Leviticus is structured around the phrase “I am YHWH your God.” These are the very first words that are to be spoken to Israel (18:1–3), and they frame and subdivide almost every section that follows. All the instruction to avoid impurity (which is incompatible with holiness) is rooted in the covenant relationship Israel has been set apart for. As Leviticus 20:26 states, “You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”

The first implication of being set apart unto YHWH is―using Pauline parlance―to put off the sexual immorality and idolatry of the nations around them (Leviticus 18 and 20). These sins violate the marriage covenant and covenant with God, and they defile the land that God has given them and in which he dwells.

Positively, Israel is to “put on” holiness expressed as love for God and neighbor (Leviticus 19). This wide-ranging chapter includes honoring parents, caring for the poor through gleaning laws, and pursuing unity rather than vengeance. Jesus himself summarizes the law by joining the Shema of Deuteronomy 6 with “love your neighbor as yourself” from Leviticus 19.

Priests also must embody holiness and have stricter purity standards (Leviticus 21–22) for their authorized mediation between God and the people. Together, Leviticus 18–22 forms a unit emphasizing purity of God’s people, concluding with a rhetorical frame that motivates the instruction:

So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD. And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD. (Lev 22:31–33, ESV)

Working backward, the logic is clear: Everything begins with the self-existent, present “I am YHWH.” It was this God who redeemed Israel and claimed them as his own. Because he set them apart for himself, they must pursue conduct that honors rather than profanes his name. Their conduct as God’s covenant partners reflects on God’s reputation.²

As we pause and reflect, it is already clear that purity isn’t just about individual sexual morality. Further, holiness isn’t just about avoiding things but an embrace of a different kind of life with God. There are clear entry points into this vision of life with God in Asian culture: honor of God, honor of elders, communal/covenantal unity, and the pursuit of harmonious relations. While these values provide bridges into this world, its vision is defined and configured by a particular narrative: that of God’s redemption of his people from slavery into a covenantal relationship with a holy God. The beauty of that vision is its telos, which we have not yet reached and to which we now turn.

2. Leviticus 23–24—Holy Festivals Draw People to Bask in the Light of God’s Presence

God calls a holy people to regular holy convocations in Leviticus 23. These festivals are presented with the constant refrain of “I am YHWH your God,” and they draw Israel in regular times of worship in God’s presence. The culmination of the vision of a holy people, priests, and festivals appears in Lev 24:1–9, where Israel is arrayed in worship before God, who shines upon them. This is expressed symbolically, where Israel is represented by twelve loaves set before YHWH, illuminated by the perpetually burning lamp mediated by the priesthood—a picture of God’s face shining upon his people (cf. Ps 90:8; Num 6:23–27).³ L. Michael Morales notes it is “the ideal of Israel basking in the light of the divine Presence in the house of God, abiding in the fires of his glory.”⁴ These verses bring the movement from life on the “temple estate” (Leviticus 18–32) to its climactic expression: communion with YHWH in his presence.

3. Leviticus 24:10–24—The Honor of YHWH’s Name

Alas, just as ordered life with God appears with brilliance, we are given another “fall narrative”⁵ in the story of the blaspheming son (Lev 24:10–24), who “makes light of” (qll) the name of YHWH⁶ and is stoned. The justification for his punishment uses the lex talonis (eye for an eye) to explain the weight of the name of YHWH. It applies the lex talonis to the realm of animals, humans, and the name of YHWH in asymmetrical ways to show that YHWH’s name has the most “weight.” Thus it explains how making light of YHWH’s name leads to the death penalty.

Why place this story here? The whole second half of Leviticus is structured around “I am YHWH your God.” As Israel Knohl notes, “every violation is a breaking faith with God and an insult to the name of the one who empowers the law.”⁷ YHWH’s name is tied up in his covenant relationship to Israel, and their behavior publicly reflects on his reputation. We already saw above in Lev 22:32 that Israel’s behavior sanctifies his name among Israel. Ezekiel draws from the logic of Leviticus in explaining how Israel’s idolatry profaned God’s holy name in the eyes of the nations, prompting God to act to sanctify his name (Ezek 20:9, 14, 22; 36:20–23). All of life is bound up in the sanctity of the Name of YHWH.

In Asian culture, honor is a powerful relational dynamic. At its best it promotes respect for elders, social harmony, and a sense of identity that promotes virtue and maintains social order. However, honor can also lead to exhausting striving to maintain secure relations and hiding failure to save face. In Leviticus, honor is rooted in a covenantal relationship with one who lovingly secured acceptance and belonging apart from our striving. It also appears within the context of God’s holy presence—before whom nothing is hidden and from whom comes the gracious provision of atonement. Honoring God above all puts all other relationships and interactions in the context of gracious redemption, secure belonging, and provision of atonement.

4. Leviticus 25 and YHWH’s Redemptive Mission

The final piece of communal holiness is participation in God’s redemptive work. God redeemed Israel and brought them to a promised land, which was apportioned to each tribe.

Just as he liberated people and brought them to a land, so Israel must redeem kinsmen who fall into debt-slavery and restore them to their inheritance. If this fails, every 50 years, a Jubilee is sounded, which restores Israel’s relationship with God, restores right relations among Israelites through debt release, and returns each person to their inheritance. Jubilee redemptively restores people to the Edenic ideal of a people living and serving on a fruitful land in God’s presence.⁸ Here again, a life of holiness is not individualistic. The misfortune of one becomes the opportunity of all to imitate God’s covenantal redemptive love.

Themes Fulfilled in Christ

This reality is not confined to the Old Covenant; rather, the pattern of life for God’s people extends into the life of the church in the New Testament. The church is a holy people, as seen when Paul addresses the Corinthian believers—despite all their failings—as “saints” (lit. “holy ones,” 1 Cor 1:2) and affirms with three aorist verbs that they have been washed, sanctified, and justified (1 Cor 6:11). As a holy people they also must put off sexual immorality and idolatry, which defile the community, and pursue unity as a holy temple.

More positively, the New Testament holds out the hope of basking in God’s presence and seeing God with unveiled face. The telos of God’s redemptive work is life on a new earth, enjoying his presence and seeing his face (Rev 22:4). The holiness which we are gifted in Christ and the hope of seeing God then shapes our pursuit of purity. Jesus promised that the pure in heart would see God (Matt 5:8), and John says the one who hopes in seeing God purifies himself (1 John 3:3).

Finally, the church participates in the mission of God. When Israel eventually is exiled from this land because of their idolatry, they again need redemption from slavery and long for restoration to the land: a Jubilee. Isaiah picks up the language of Jubilee in Isaiah 61:1. Jesus, in turn, took up these words in Luke 4 as his mission statement. Followers of Jesus in turn participate with Christ in proclaiming the Jubilee and having concern that people are made right with God in Christ through his atoning work. But further, they also work to restore relationships with one another and work to restore people to service to God through work.

This occurs in the context of prayer which follows the pattern the Lord taught us to pray: that our Father’s name would be hallowed in our lives and throughout the world. For “My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty (Malachi 1:11 NIV).

Conclusion

Individual sexual purity is not unimportant in this picture, but is one part of a larger biblical vision. YHWH had redeemed, covenanted, and sanctified a people to enter into a relationship defined by “I am YHWH your God.” In this relationship, we escape the world’s defilement and become partakers of the divine nature, being sanctified by God in his presence. This covenant identity calls the community to a life in the land where idolatry and sexual immorality are put off and holiness as love for God and neighbor are embraced. But at the center of this picture is God, to whom we draw near in worship, reveling in his shining presence, which transforms us to honor his name and participate in his redemptive work.

In Asian church contexts, this broader vision can help reframe purity as a communal calling rooted in covenant identity and divine honor. Cultural values of honor and harmony may become entry points into God’s redemptive narrative. This narrative draws people out of the captivity of idolatry and into a life of holiness, where we glorify God and enjoy him forever. And as we are transformed, the Name of YHWH is hallowed among the people of God and seen to be great among the nations.

Dr. Andrew H. previously taught at the International Graduate School of Leadership and now serves in Central Asia with his family. He holds a PhD in Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures from the University of Pretoria.