SET APART

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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, "Say to the Israelites: 'Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him. I will set My face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name. If the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to death, I will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech.’

'I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.’

'Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep My decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.’

'If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.’

‘If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads. If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you. If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal. If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off before the eyes of their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible. If a man lies with a woman during her monthly period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them must be cut off from their people. Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible. If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless. If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.’

‘Keep all My decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. But I said to you, "You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.’

'You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those which I have set apart as unclean for you. You are to be holy to Me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own. A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.’”

Leviticus 20

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In Leviticus, chapter 19, we saw the Lord making it clear that He wanted the people of Israel (and us as well) to conduct a holy, moral, and upright lifestyle, one that is unblemished by the ungodly, cultural norms of the world, and in the case of the Israelites, the influence of the pagan nations they will be living among once they established themselves in the land of Canaan.

As we turn the page to chapter 20, we find God reinforcing all that He commanded in the previous chapter, establishing harsh consequences for sinful behavior such as child sacrificing, false worshipping, cursing one’s parents, adultery, a variety of sexual perversions, and dealing with unclean animals. Prescribed punishments ranged from childlessness to being cut off from the people to even death for the more serious offenses. Truly, the Lord meant business and expected full obedience from His people as they were to be holy as He was, or else.

We also see God reminding His people that the Promised Land He was leading them to, the land that would be their "inheritance", was a land that was “flowing with milk and honey". And although Canaan was currently inhabited by nations that violated all the moral issues the Lord mentions in chapters 19 and 20, God assures the Israelites that He would drive them out. In their place, He expected His people to live for Him and Him alone, completely carrying out all He commanded.  

There’s one final important point that we find the Lord making with Israel, one I would like us to focus on in this passage because it also applies to us today in the twenty-first century.

For note that God tells Israel that He had "set (them) apart from the nations". Indeed, the Israelites were chosen by God to be His people and they were the ones that He specifically made a covenant with. He would bless them in special ways, always present with them and being for them. In return, the people of Israel were to be faithful to Him and Him alone, never giving attention to any false gods or idols as they lived by the righteous, holy standards He had established. As long as Israel remained dedicated to God, He would dedicate Himself to them, making them a nation that would be above all others.

There’s little doubt that the Lord spent so much time instructing the Israelites how to live because He wanted them to be set apart, distinctly holy and different from the sinful world they were in.

Today, He wants the same for all Christ believers.

For through His Word and the illumination of the Holy Spirit who imparts understanding to the reader, God reveals His will for us and that will includes an expectation that we will be obedient to all that He has commanded in regard to behavior. As Christians, our every thought and spoken word and deed needs to be in step with Jesus. For to truly be a Christian, we need to be Christ-like because when we are, we will be holy and set apart from the world we live in.

Friends, in Jesus, we find the only person who ever lived a perfectly right and righteous life, one that was in complete obedience to God, His Father and ours. We also find that He had to deal with all the problems life can bring, even ones that most of us will never have to endure such as being unjustly crucified, nailed to a cross although being totally innocent. When we are afflicted or suffering, we can always turn to Jesus to learn how to get through our difficulties. Ultimately, everyone who believes in Him as Savior will have victory over sin and death, guaranteed eternal life in Heaven while abiding in a special place Jesus has prepared (John 14:2-3).

In other words, through belief in Jesus and by the grace of God, Christians will be set apart for all eternity.

Brothers and sisters, is this not blessed encouragement coming to us through such a blessed assurance? It’s the kind of everlasting hope that can lead us to follow these words of guidance from Peter when He wrote this:

"…in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15).

In other words, let’s get out into this world we are set apart from and testify of the amazing gift of salvation through Christ Jesus, seeking to make disciples every day as He commanded us to do (Matthew 28:18-20).

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.