Leviticus 19:14

Leviticus 19:14 says, Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.  God warned against mistreating deaf and the blind,  Though I believe this referred to those who were physically deaf and blind, we today should not be a stumbling block to those who are spiritually deaf or blind.  Our actions as followers of Christ should never cause others to doubt God's authority.  Verse fifteen adds, Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.  God warned against treating people differently because of their material worth.  The rich and the poor were to be subject to the same justice, and that was to be based on the righteousness of God.  We today are to be the same as followers of Christ and to treat all people the same based on the righteous of God.  Verse sixteen continues, Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.  I believe that a tale bearer would be a gossip or or one who spread lies, and that at the same time as we aren't to gossip that we are to report it if we see something wrong that has been done to our neighbor.  Verse seventeen states, Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. The people of Israel were told that they were not to hate their brother in their heart, and we know that Jesus told us the same thing about our neighbor and that everyone is our neighbor.  They were told to rebuke their neighbor if they were guilty of sin, but even this was to be done out of an attitude of love and concern.  Verse eighteen adds, Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.  God once again warned the people of Israel against acting out of a grudge in their treatment of their neighbor and to love their neighbor as them self, as already stated.  Even when we have been wronged, we are still to act out of Godly love to those who have harmed us, and allow God to punish them if it is necessary.  This may not even happen in this lifetime, but it will happen.  Verse nineteen continues, Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.   The people of Israel were warned against failing to keep God's laws, and then there were some warnings against intermingling livestock, crops and clothing material.  We today are still to obey God's laws, but the warning against intermingling of livestock, crops and clothing are not a part of the laws that were to be everlasting I believe.  Verse twenty declares, And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.  If a man had carnal relations with a woman who was a bond woman who had not been given her freedom, she was to be scourged.  Matthew Henry says that some believe that both the man and the woman were to be scourged, but in either case this was to be done to preserve the sanctity of marriage.  Vere twenty-one adds, And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering.  The man was to bring a trespass offering to the door of the tabernacle for this sin.  Verse twenty-two continues, And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.  The priest was then to make an atonement for him with the trespass offering.  Jesus Christ is the only acceptable trespass offering for our sins today.  Verse twenty-three says, And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.  For three years after trees were planted in a foreign land, the fruit was not to be eaten.  Verse twenty-four adds, But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.  The fourth year, all the fruit was to be considered holy to the praise of God.  Verse twenty-five concludes, And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the LORD your God.  It was to be the fifth year that the people of Israel could eat the fruit of the trees.  Matthew Henry says this could have been to distinguish the people of Israel from the practices of those around them and that it would also teach them patience.  We today need to learn to be patient when looking for the material blessings of God and to use them wisely when they come.