Be holy because I am holy. We were made in the image of God, so we are to be like God. This is our purpose and our destiny.
However, this is not some airy fairy notion, but something that has very practical consequences in all aspects of life. So we now get a collection of various laws.
First there is a reiteration of some of the things contained within the ten commandments. We are to honour our parents, to observe the Sabbath and not to worship idols.
In today's society there is an obsession with squeezing the last ounce of efficiency out of everything. This is ungodly! For here God tells them not to go right to the edge of fields, or go over the vineyard a second time. Now we are to do things well, but trying to squeeze the last penny out of everything is a mistake. It is part of the reason for the current financial crisis, it is one of the reasons why so many of our systems (health service etc) do not work well. Trying to be too efficient results in inefficiency.
There are then more reiterations of parts of the ten commandments.
We are to treat each other well. There are instructions not to treat the blind badly.
There is to be justice, with proper concern for the poor.
Verse 17 tells us not to hate someone in our heart. So we see that the Law was not just concerned with outward appearance, and in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was getting back to the heart of the Law. In the same vein verse 18 tells us not bear grudges, but to love our neighbour. So loving our neighbour involves loving our enemy.
There are then various laws about honesty, respecting the old, and foreigners, avoiding divination, and sexual conduct.
Our society today could do a lot worse than start to observe the sorts of things that are commanded here. God's ways are timeless. People sometimes say that things have changed and the Biblical commands are outdated. Nothing could be further from the truth. If we were truly wise we would start to reapply these laws.
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