Justin Houtz

Leviticus 20-22; Acts 20

DateVersionReading Plan
February 13, 2026ESV (2016)ESV Life Journal Plan – 2026

Leviticus 20-22

Observation & Interpretation

The giving of the law continues in these chapters with laws pertaining to child sacrifice, sexual immorality, priestly conduct and marriage, who can eat of holy things in the priestly tribe and the criteria of acceptable offerings. One interesting observation in particular was regarding positive and prohibitive commands and the use of the phrase “shall” vs. “shall not”. It seems common to read of the Levitical law as large a set commands of what should not be done (the “shall not”’s), but in these three chapters, there are actually more than 3x greater positive commands ( the “shall”’s). In the Book of Leviticus as a whole, there are 126 instances of “shall”, but a whopping 922 instances of “shall”.

Too often we can view God as restrictive—especially in the Old Testament—but if we see these commands as coming from a loving and gracious God who desires the magnification of His glory through the rightful conduct and joyful worship of His people, our entire perspective changes.

Acts 20

Observation & Interpretation

With what humility Paul spoke to the elders in Ephesus. He did not account his life as precious to himself, only that he could finish his course and ministry received from the Lord to testify to the gospel of grace of God. Moreover, he declared his innocence of their blood, having held back nothing in providing them the whole counsel of God. To live in such self-abdication as to count your life of no value save your mission for Christ comes only as a result of a radical, Spirit-caused transformation of heart. Praise be to our God that He would choose to work in His people in this way and so bring about the exaltation of His great name.

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