Leviticus 18:2-5
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.”
Israel needed to learn a very important lesson if they were going to be successful in walking with the Lord. That lesson: the Word of God is counter-cultural in every culture. They were being called to live by a different, and higher standard than the nation they came out of, and the one they were entering into. The same is true of the Christian today. It should not be shocking to us that the world has a different view of what is holy, acceptable, right or wrong, than we do. Instead of looking to the culture around us, we need to look into the Word of God to learn what is holy and what is sinful.
I find it interesting that the first area God addresses, after explaining that culture and His Word will not agree, is the area of sexuality. Moses gives a long list of things that were apparently, culturally acceptable in Egypt and Canaan, but were forbidden by God. Those things include incest, polygamy, beastialty, and homosexuality.
Our culture is consumed with sex; it is the underlining theme of most TV shows, music videos, and songs. Many of the social media sites are riddled with enticing pictures, and pornography is a multimillion dollar worldwide industry. It has become common place for people to have sexual relations, and even to live together, before marriage, and for marriage to be considered disposable. One of the saddest commentaries, is that this seems to be almost as common among professing Christians, as it is in the world at large.
It is time that we, as believers, realize we are called to a higher standard. We should not look at the world, but to the Word, to determine how we will live.
Pastor Jim
Sadly, the world has no shortage of those who are in need of Christ. Our population has reached the seven billion mark. Seven billion souls walking this planet, many of whom do not yet know Christ. We recognize certain places in the world as being unreached. Places where many, or even most, of the citizens are yet to hear the good news of salvation, through faith in Christ. We need to pray, send, and provide for those who go to the uttermost parts of the earth with the Good News of Christ. However, we cannot neglect to remember the many unreached souls in our own backyard. Here, in Luke 10, as Jesus sends the seventy, we have some practical instruction on how to reach the lost.
One of the primary purposes of the book of Leviticus is to teach us that God is holy, and requires holiness from His people. The opening verse of Chapter 19 declares, “‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Holiness carries the idea of being set apart. Something that is holy, is something set apart for the Lord’s use. In the same way, someone who is holy has set themselves apart from anything that would defile them, so they might be fit for use by the Lord. As Moses explains the details of how to live a holy life, he speaks to the people regarding their fields and their garments.
When the Lord calls us to serve Him, there seems to be a universal response. Our hearts cry out, “I can’t.” This was the same response of Moses, Saul and Gideon. We feel this way because the Lord always seems to call us to do what is beyond our capacities. A young woman with small children senses a call to teach in children’s church, or a retired couple hears the call to the mission field, or a young man has a burning in his heart to become a pastor, and the voice in our head cries out “I can’t.” I think there is something encouraging here as Jesus calls the twelve. He is sending them out to serve Him. They will encounter many with needs beyond their capabilities to handle. They will cross paths with the sick, who will look to them for the answer, the demoniacs, who are held under by the powers of the devil, and some will will oppose the work of God. For their journey they are told to take nothing; no money, no provisions, no extra stuff. These things will not equip them for the ministry. Jesus wants them to understand that those are not the things that enable them, nor will a lack of those things restrict them. Instead, Jesus provides everything that is necessary. We read, “He gave them power and authority” All of their objections, and ours, should be silenced by these six words. Whatever reasons they had for objecting to the call, whatever lack they may have felt, must be silenced when Jesus declares, “I have given you power and authority.” Just as their objections are silenced by His promise, so must ours be silenced. Whatever objections you have to the call of God on your life, understand what He calls us to, He equips us for. As He said to Gideon, He says to you “Mighty man of valor… Go in this might of yours”(Judges 6:14). Will you go?
I recently received a phone call from someone claiming to be a representative from the Internal Revenue Service, who explained that I was delinquent on payments, and in danger of facing jail time. Instead of panicking, I asked for a phone number to call them back, then researched to see if that was a valid IRS number. I discovered it was a fraudulent number, and this was a scam. The perpetrators were attempting to get financial records and steal my money. Sadly, this is not the only case where someone lies about who they are in order to deceive someone else.
Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest was allowed to enter into the Holiest chamber of the Tabernacle. His responsibility was to provide sin offerings for himself and the people. The activities of this day provided atonement for the sins of the nation. Every aspect of the day was filled with symbolism that pointed to the work of Christ upon the cross. It was on this day, the High priest would select a lamb as a scapegoat, lay his hands upon its head, confess the sins of the nation, and set it free in the wilderness. The Hebrew word translated “scapegoat” is a compound word made up of two words: goat and go. I like to refer to this animal as the “go-goat.” Bearing the sins of the people, it was set free, never to be seen, or heard from, again.
I love a good mystery; as a child I had a book titled “2 Minute Mysteries.” It was a book of short stories, in which a crime would be described and the reader was left to guess who the guilty party was. The trick was, the answer was hidden. There was always something tucked away that was hard to find, almost like a secret, that revealed the answer. I would try so hard to guess correctly, but most often, when I flipped to the back of the book for the answer I found my guess was wrong. When Jesus speaks of the “Mysteries of the Kingdom,” He is not speaking of a secret truth that only a few can understand by reading their Bibles with a special code. Jesus is telling His disciples that everything we need to know about the Kingdom of God can be found by those who are part of it.
Moses was given detailed instructions regarding the offerings required for a person who was healed of leprosy. This passage of Scripture, though somewhat tedious, is remarkable when we consider the fact that leprosy was incurable in the ancient world. The law of God contained provisions encouraging the people to expect Him to do the miraculous. A person diagnosed with leprosy could find hope in the power and promises of God. We often face difficulties in which there seems to be no hope. Rather than living in despair, or grasping at straws, we must learn to look into the Word, and trust in its promises. The hope Scripture brings is like an anchor for the soul; providing stability in troublesome times. The cleansing of the leper is also intriguing when we consider, the only Old Testament reference to a leper being healed was of Namaan the Syrian. He was a gentile soldier from Syria, who was known for his bravery. When it was discovered he was leprous, the king of Syria sent word to the King of Israel, requesting the God of Israel heal Naaman. When Elisha the prophet, heard of the request, he invited Naaman to his home. However, rather than meeting with him, Elisha sent a servant to instruct Naaman to go wash seven times in the Jordan River, and he would be healed. This great general was humiliated by the way he was treated, and started to leave. He was unwilling to follow Elisha’s instructions, until a servant exhorted him that he had nothing to lose. Upon following the prophet’s instructions, his leprosy was healed. Once healed, Naaman renounced his pagan religion and devoted himself to Jehovah. This story is a remarkable picture of salvation. Like sin, Naaman’s disease had no cure, yet God provided a solution. The solution involved laying his pride aside, and humbling himself under the mighty hand of God. Once Naaman approached God, His way, he was restored and became a follower of God.
After conception a woman was considered unclean and her access to the congregation was limited. In order to be restored into fellowship, she had to wait out a period of uncleanness, then bring the appropriate offering. When this was accomplished, her fellowship was restored. Since we live under a new covenant these requirements no longer apply. For us, fellowship is not broken by giving birth, nor is it restored by offering turtle doves or pigeons. That does not mean we cannot do things that will effect our relationship with God, nor does it mean there is a waiting period for a believer who stumbles.
The event which occurs in the house of Simon the Pharisee stands out to me as one of the most fascinating in the New Testament. No miraculous healing takes place: the deaf do not hear, the blind do not see, nor are the dead raised. Yet this story is both priceless and timeless in the truth it reveals. It is the story of two people and their view of Jesus. Simon was a religious man that showed interest in Jesus. He valued Jesus more than many of his contemporaries.
Jim Gallagher 