Leviticus 20:22 – 22:16, Mark 9:1 – 29, Psalm 43:1 – 5, Proverbs 10:18

Leviticus 20:22 – 22:16, Mark 9:1 – 29, Psalm 43:1 – 5, Proverbs 10:18

 

            I've always been a history nerd, but it was when I was in high school that I became a romantic and fell in love with history.  During this time one of my relatives was spending time tracing my family's lineage which went back centuries to Spain.  We already knew that, but fun discovery of the Rael family was our roots as Sephardic Jews.  It is believed that centuries ago my family's name was Israel, but in order to escape the Spanish Inquisition the "Is" was dropped, and the Raels immigrated to the new world, eventually being an early Spanish family in New Mexico.  I have always loved Jewish History, so reading the Old Testament gets me excited. 

 

Leviticus 20:22 – 26 is one of those underlined passages in my falling apart Bible.  It is a command and a Promise that God gives the Hebrews that will affect the rest of their history, as recorded on the Old Testament up to today.  God commands the Hebrews to obey…keep His laws and commands.  Yes, there is a long list of do's and don'ts, especially in Leviticus: what to eat, how to act, what to wear, etc.  We read these passages and some of the commands are so strict, and crazy to an extent.  Every time I eat bacon, I wonder how the Hebrews survived without the awesome goodness.  But God also gives the why – the reason for all the laws and commands, so set them apart from the other nations.  In the following verses God sets up the expectations for the priests.  The bottom line is that God demands purity, without blemish.  By obeying they will receive God's promise, the land that would be the "inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey."  This is the land that God promised Abraham back in Genesis.  This is a land that was prepared for the Jewish people, a land that is still the root of conflict. 

 

We know from what happens in the rest of the Bible and from current events today, that the people were unable and unwilling to live by these commands.  Disobedience took them wandering in the desert, wars against other nations, expulsion, and unrest.  When I read these verses I see the importance of God making himself known over and over again, showing Himself as Holy, but also Merciful because he makes us holy.  In the NKJV Leviticus 22:8 uses the word "sanctify," making us set apart, making us holy, a theme that Paul spends a lot of time on in the New Testament.  These laws and chapters in the Torah are the foundations of Jesus and the salvation He brought on the cross. 

 

I want to end with Israel and the promise of their land and salvation.  I follow the news and my heart breaks with the unrest, violence, and absence of peace in the Middle East.  In Romans 11:25 – 27 Paul writes,  "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins."  God set up the Promises long ago, and He also set up the Way.  Israel is His chosen people and they will be saved, just like we are.  Keep praying for peace and for salvation.  We have received it from Christ.  In the mean time we must strive and desire to be set apart from the nations.  Putting off the old flesh and living as a new creation.