Year 1, Week 14, Day 4 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 14, Day 4

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Leviticus 19-20.

Today’s reading continues with matters pertaining to moral purity. The ceremonial purity explored in Leviticus 11-15 parallels the exploration of moral purity in Leviticus 17-20. Now that the LORD has provided safe access into His presence, His people were to concern themselves with proper living. In their moral conduct, they were to reflect the nature and character of the God whom they worship. Leviticus 19 states several applied ways that the Israelites were to reflect God in their daily practices. In seeking to look like the LORD in their lives, the Israelites were to therefore, refrain from looking like the nations that surrounded them. Thus, Leviticus 20, like that of Leviticus 18, states several actual examples of how they were to be distinct from the people around them.

What struck me in today’s reading is the LORD’s requirement for His people to resemble Him: “Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.” (Psalm 113:5-8). Since the LORD attends to the poor and needy, those who worship the God should reflect the same mindset: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:9-10). The example of leaving the edges of the field unharvested so that the poor and the sojourner might have something is rooted in the reality that since the LORD is generous and gracious and merciful, His people were to be the same. The practices described in Leviticus 19 could be simply summarized: "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us” (Ephesians 5:1-2a).

Much of the instructions for daily living contained in Leviticus 19 are practical outworking from the Ten Commandments. But the basis for the practical applications from God’s Law was the relationship that the LORD had secured for them: “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy…I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:2,36b-37). The Israelites’ obedience to these commands was not what established them as people who belonged to the LORD. The reality is just the opposite. The LORD has redeemed that nation of Israel from Egyptian captivity and brought them to Himself. They were first redeemed and then given the Law. Now as the rescued people of God they were called to obey the LORD. The Law defined what belonging to the LORD looked like. In obeying the Law they were reflecting the Holiness of God for the Law helped defined what holiness consisted of: “Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” (Leviticus 20:7-8). Reflecting God’s holiness entailed positively stated practices such as what Leviticus 19 emphases, but also negatively stated restraints such as what Leviticus 20 emphases. Obedience by doing what was required as well as abstaining from what was forbidden demonstrated practical holiness: “You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” (Leviticus 20:26). Such holiness enabled them to look like the LORD who had rescued them but also look different from the unholy peoples around them.

While there are particular applications of daily practices of holiness that do not directly carry over from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, the need for holiness among the LORD’s people is just as pertinent: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16). Jesus’ death on the Cross was certainly to pardon and purify all who trust in Him, since we have no ability to live a holy life on our own; however, the reality of our forgiveness due to our native lack of holiness, does not render holiness now unnecessary. Christ’s sacrifice now makes our holiness doable: “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:12-14). What Christ has accomplished has bearing on how we are now called to live: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3,7).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe