Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Leviticus 20:22-27
Israel Are Inheriting A Land Flowing With Milk And Honey And Must Not Defile It But Must Be Holy To Yahweh (Leviticus 20:22).
“You shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them; that the land, to which I bring you for you to dwell in it, does not vomit you out.”
So they must be careful to keep all God's statutes and all His ordinances, and do them, obeying all regulations and all commands. Then once they have arrived in the land they will not be vomited out, as the nations in the land are about to be vomited out. Rather will they continue to dwell in it and prosper, which is God's real purpose for them.
“And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I cast out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.”
They are to be careful not to behave like the nations who are already there, whom God will drive out before them. They in fact did all these things that he has forbidden to Israel. That is why God hated them, that is, had an aversion towards them because of their sinfulness.
“But I have said to you, You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples.”
For God's purpose for His people is that they might inherit the land and receive it as a gift from God, as their own possession. An inheritance is something freely given and undeserved. Thus He is giving it to them freely. It is a land flowing with milk and honey, having plenteous sustenance and sweetness. And He, Yahweh their God, has separated them from the peoples that they might be holy to Him and live in holiness in the land that He has cleansed. They are His and must reveal that they are His separated ones by the way that they live and the way they behave.
“You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean.”
And one clear way in which they will do this is by only eating what is clean, as described in Leviticus 11. They may eat all that is clean and must avoid all that is unclean, especially that which lives in the ground. They must especially avoid all abominable things.
“And you shall be holy to me, for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.”
So He re-emphasises, they must be holy because Yahweh, their God is holy. He has set them apart from all peoples, in order that they might be His, and live as he has directed both ritually and morally, and that they reveal Him in their lives. Then they will be His own separated off possession.
“Set you apart.” The verb is strong. ‘Severed.' He has used His mighty arm to separate them from Egypt and from all who have come against them, and will also sever them from the Canaanites.
“A man also or a woman who has a familiar spirit, or who is a wizard, shall surely be put to death. They shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be on them.”
And especially they must avoid anyone who has anything to do with the occult or with the dead. If they find among them any indulging in contact with familiar spirits or with the dead they are to stone them with stones. Their blood will be on their own heads. There will be no guilt on Israel. This constant stress on avoiding the occult must be seen as a strong condemnation of such practises as much today as then.
So does God stress the seriousness of those things concerning which He has charged His people, and warn us that we must take His commandments seriously.