19:9-10 Food for the Poor God gave landowners both benefit from and responsibility for wealth. God provided specific instructions for harvesting their crops. They were to leave behind fruit that fell to the ground for the poor to glean or pick up. People who could not fend for themselves gathered the leftover produce for food. God always looks out for those who are less fortunate and asks us to do likewise.
19:14 Insults Words can cause pain. Some people find it easy to mock individuals who use thick glasses, crutches, or wheelchairs. Bystanders even excuse such remarks as attempts at humor, seeing nothing wrong with treating adults with disabilities like children. God makes it clear that he does not find any humor from insults or harm done to the disabled. He forbids all such talk with a stern warning: “You must fear your God; I am the LORD.”
19:18 Christian Life The Hebrew background to Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 22:37-40 begins here in Leviticus. Our love of God is shown by our love for others. The command of God to treat others based on the treatment we desire for ourselves is the linchpin of social consciousness (Lev 19:18; Mark 12:28-31).