“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” These are the words God told Moses to speak to the Israelites in chapter 19 of Leviticus. Most of this chapter instructs the Israelites how to live righteous and holy. Most of the laws listed deal with relationships such as honoring parents, loving the alien, caring for the poor, having respect of the elders and so on. I believe that it can be summed up in the second part of verse 18 which reads, “…love your neighbor as yourself.” According to Jesus this is one of the two great commandments. If we truly love others and care for others the way we love and care for ourselves we would be living holy.
Beginning in chapter 20 the Lord speaks to Moses about the horrible practice of the Ammonites who sacrificed their children to their god Molech. God made it very clear that this practice was strictly forbidden. God said, “I will set my face against that man…” Then He even talks about those who close their eyes to another man in their community giving his child to Molech. How much does this tell us about minding our own business? Our God is the God of the helpless and especially children. Psalm 72:4 says, “He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.” I believe He has called us to defend the little ones with Him. Without getting too deep into the subject, I just want to throw something out for thought. Could you relate this to the unborn children? There is certainly a practice of sacrificing children in our culture. Are we closing our eyes to them?
Reading on through this chapter God warns against seeking others for guidance such as mediums and spiritists. Also He gives commands against sexual sins that were very common in the pagan nation of Canaan. God did not want the Israelites to adopt the ways of this pagan nation. Every rule was for a very good reason.
Next comes some more instruction for the priests. The Lord God lays out some specifics about the life of a priest. They were to be the closest to holy as possible. Priests were to remain clean and only marry a virgin. The priest who offers up offerings to God must be without defect. In my study notes I read that God was not discriminating against the handicapped but only demanding that the priest match as closely as possible to God, which is perfection.
Very good job on some difficult text, Amy. The rules given in these few chapters cause me to wonder about so many things. I think each of us has convictions from the Holy Spirit about many areas in this world. I will be searching for God's will for my life, to find the mission He has for me. "Wherever He leads, I'll go" ....like Moses, I just don't wanna go without Him!
ReplyDeleteAmy, I love the billboard on the post today. The biblical teachings of "Love thy Neighbor as yourself" came to life about 5 Christmas' ago. My parents had the whole family sitting in their living room for a time of scripture and worship. They pulled out $200 for each family ($800 including themselves). They told us about how loving their "neighbors" has changed their lives. They gave us the money to give it away to others in need. Over the past 5 years I have found many ways to "love and give to those around me" and also receive a blessing through smiles, thank you's, etc. This year our family added $200 with my parents $200. We want to love our neighbors through the unexpected gifts of helping others. I didn't mean for this to become a giving lesson, but sometimes isn't that what "loving our neighbor as yourself" is all about?!?!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving this! Everyone has done such a great job on the difficult text of Leviticus. In these chapters we certainly see that God values life and relationship. So much of what the law deals with is to protect the sanctity of life and preserve respectful, harmonious relationships. Angela, I love your comment about what your family does for Christmas. In the text it talked about leaving behind some of the harvest for the poor and the alien. God wants us to look after those people in society that are often overlooked. Most of us don't have fields we can leave produce in, but what about our other resources? What would that look like in our society today?
ReplyDeleteGreat summary of some tough chapters Amy! I LOVED the way you connected the practice of child sacrifice with abortion in our culture. You are absolutely right - it IS the same thing! It is sometimes SO HARD to love our neighbors because people can be so difficult to deal with at times! I think God deliberately puts difficult people in our path to test us to see how we will handle them. Angela - I love what you and your family did to help others! What a GREAT example for us all to follow!
ReplyDeleteGreat picture, Amy - I loved it. "Love thy neighbor" - how hard that is sometimes, yet it is what God demands. We can't pick and choose who we will love - God commands it. Lord, give us your grace to follow your commandments. What a different world this would be!
ReplyDeleteVery good post. I to like the way you included abortion in with the practice of child sacrifice. When I was having my children, abortion was illegal. You could not kill a baby whether it was inside of you or not. People don't like the idea of killing a baby so guess what they changed the name; inside they are a fetus outside, a baby. It desensitized people into what was really happening. I wish they could see some of these fetuses. They ARE a baby folks no matter what they are called they ARE a baby and they are going to have to answer for their killings.
ReplyDeleteI need to ponder more on "Love thy neighbor as thyself." How do we love ourselves... we feed ourselves, we clothe ourselves, we rest, we do things we enjoy, we often put ourselves first in decisions and our thoughts. If I could only grasp the concept of loving others like myself, that would be HUGE.
ReplyDeleteAgain, God's standard is clear and punishment is a result of falling short of holiness. I think it's interesting that the priests again are called to the holiest lives. Their calling definately comes with great responsibility.
God Bless you all - priests in the making for the GLORY of GOD is what each one of us is becoming - Holy as You are Holy LORD! We are declaring the Word of the LORD to bring greater understanding of GOD'S commandments and statutes to those who are perishing for lack of knowledge of the loving God and God whom we must hold in reverent fear because what He says He will do - He will do! Amen!
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