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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’
‘Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe My Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.;
‘Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.’
'When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up. If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he has desecrated what is holy to the Lord; that person must be cut off from his people.’
'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.’
‘Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.’
‘Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight. Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.’
‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the Lord.’
‘Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.’
‘Keep My decrees. Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.’
‘If a man sleeps with a woman who is a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for a guilt offering to the Lord. With the ram of the guilt offering the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord for the sin he has committed, and his sin will be forgiven.’
‘When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten. In the fourth year, all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. But in the fifth year, you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the Lord your God.’
‘Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. Do not practice divination or sorcery. Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.’
‘Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.’
‘Observe My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the Lord.’
‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.’
‘Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.’
‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’
‘Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin.’
‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Keep all My decrees and all My laws and follow them. I am the Lord.’”
Leviticus 19
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
These words open up the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus and resonate throughout its verses as God continues to establish a moral code for living for the people of Israel.
His expectations were crystal clear. His people were to obediently follow all of His commands and expectations without compromise, demands from the One who represented perfect holiness. And if the Israelites were going to be holy as their Lord was holy, then they had to follow His guidance and set them apart from the sinful, pagan nations that would be in their midst.
For if the people lived the same way as the people within the world they lived, how would anyone know that they were distinguished from any others, people chosen by God to be His?
The Lord’s laws, decrees, and commands established His standards for living, standards that would assure that the Israelites would stand out from any other people group in the world and as we read through His expectations in this chapter, we see a basic review of His Ten Commandments (full text in Exodus 20) along with additional instructions. Those additional instructions covered matters such as honesty, hospitality, respect, reverence, harvesting, gossip, treatment of others, and proper worship.
It’s important to note that some of the practices the Lord refers to, like eating blood, divination, sorcery, cutting hair at the sides, and having tattoos, were actually part of the culture in heathen communities and therefore were rejected by the Lord. Remember that if the people were to be holy as their Lord was, they needed to behave differently than those who rejected God.
We also see a continuation of a concern that God shows throughout this Book of Leviticus, a concern that the Israelite people would assimilate themselves with pagan cultures and in turn be drawn into their sinful practices, especially the worship of false gods and idols. Unfortunately, knowing the history of God’s people, we know His concern was well founded as this was their chief transgression that brought His fiercest judgment.
At the end of this chapter, we find the Lord closing with words that leave little doubt as to what He expected.
“Keep all My decrees and all My laws and follow them. I am the Lord.’”
The final four words, “I am the Lord”, are used no less than fifteen times in this chapter alone as God leaves little doubt that it is He who is speaking and issuing the demands on His people.
Friends, today we have the Holy Bible, the “God-breathed” book containing His complete and inerrant Word and revelation. Through it, we find the Lord “teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training (us) in righteousness, so that (we) the servant(s) of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
In other words, the Word of God sets believers apart. They are in the world but live in ways that shows they aren’t really of it because they strive to be holy as their Lord is holy. Indeed, the Lord’s expectations for holiness and righteousness are no different today as they were for the people of Israel well over 2,000 years ago. He makes it clear how He wants His people to live and then He demands that they comply and follow His directives to perfection.
And so today and every day thereafter, let all take a moment to recommit ourselves to our Lord, seeking His will and way for everything that we do in our lives so to be set apart from the world and become holy as He is holy.
To that end, let me close with these words of exhortation from Peter:
“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:13-16
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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