Leviticus 19 - 8.5.21
Scripture - What stood out?
Leviticus 19:1-4
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “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. 3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God. (ESV)
Observation - What does it say?
Because the Israelites have chosen God to be their God, teaching ensues.
The Lord continues to lay down the law through Moses by instructing the Israelites on what to do regarding several major areas of their lives. God teaches them a basic and fundamental structure on how to behave towards Him and how we are to be with each other.
Understanding - What does it mean?
“Rules are life(giving),” one of the desert streams pastors brightly exclaimed to me as I was catching him up on my goings on. And while I have always thought of rules as necessary I have never thought of them as life-giving. We live in a society that regards individuality as its highest goal. Rules were always a necessary evil to achieve MY goals.
But over the years my views as well as my values have changed. No longer is self-actualization and self-realization and self-fulfillment my highest value and highest goal. Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior is my highest value and my highest goal. Self-actualization, realization, and fulfillment happen to follow as a by-product as counter intuitive as that may seem to somebody who is not a believer.
Leviticus chapter nineteen lays down many rules for the nation of Israel. Fascinating chapter because there are so many of the ten commandments strewn into it. At the end of each section God reminds us who he is, he names himself Lord - our unequivocal boss. And while I believe it is a mistake to blindly apply all of God’s rules for Israel to our society today (ie, there is no longer a physical temple), I have come to believe that to dismiss a single word from God our Lord is also a mistake.
“Rules are life(giving).”
Life Application - How can I apply this to my life today?
Write your commands on my heart, oh Lord!
There is so much of the bible I still do not know. But Father I want to be your faithful servant. I accept you as my Savior. And I accept you as my Lord. I desire to obey Your laws:
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22 ESV)
In the name of Jesus do I pray, amen.
-kenneth lee
