Levitucus Chapter 18 is a pretty simple straight forward, cut and dry, don't do these things chapter. Should be an easy read right?....
Wrong...It's pretty controversial. In the beginning of the text it says Leviticus 18:2-4 NLT[2] “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. [3] So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. [4] You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. " Do not act like where you came from and don't act like the people where your going. Why? Because we're his people and he is our God. We're not supposed to live like the world.
I'm not gonna point out any one specific don't. And I'm not gonna debate any with you either. We're all grownups here and you can read the scriptures and see for yourself what God said and it's your choice to follow or not. That part is pretty simple. But Leviticus 18:30 also clearly tells us, [30] So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the Lord your God" Thats pretty simple too..
Leviticus 18 really isn't complicated in what it says. It's direct. It's firm. It's clear.
And that's what makes people uncomfortable.
Because it doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room.
God tells them, Don't live like Egypt. Don't live like Canaan. You are Mine.
Egypt represents where they came from, bondage, old habits, old mindsets, survival mode living. Canaan represents where they're going a land filled with promise, yes but also filled with cultures that didn't honor God.
And right there in between, God draws a line.Do not imitate their way of life.
Why?
Because your identity determines your behavior. They weren't just escaping slavery. They were becoming a holy people. Set apart and Different.
And this is how it also applies to us now.
We may not be under the Old Covenant. We're not offering sacrifices anymore. We're not bound to ceremonial law. Jesus fulfilled that.
But the principle of holiness, of being set apart, of not blending into whatever culture surrounds us, That has not changed.
We still live between two places.
What we came out of And where we're headed.
We've been delivered from our Egypt, our sin, our old lifestyles and our old patterns. And we're walking toward promise, toward maturity, toward becoming more like Christ.
And in the middle of it all the culture is loud.
It demands we Blend in and Normalize it. Everyone's doing it. God didn't really mean that. Times have changed. But God hasn't.
Holiness isn't about being better than anyone. That's not not why we follow these scriptures. That's not what being set apart means. It's about belonging to Someone.
Leviticus 18 isn't about control. God wasn't trying to restrict their joy or ruin their lives. He was protecting their identity.
When He says "do not defile yourselves," He's not shaming them. He's warning them.
Because what we normalize, we eventually become. What we tolerate, we eventually celebrate. And what we celebrate, we eventually become.
It means we don't take our cues from where we came from. And we don't take our cues from where the culture is headed.
We take our cues from Him.
"I am the Lord your God."
He says it over and over in this chapter. When scripture repeats it self we really need to pay attention. It's important. He is the Lord our God.
And at the end of the day, obedience isn't about winning arguments,or being better than anyone else. It's about staying aligned with him.
We don't follow Him because it's popular. We follow Him because He is Lord.
And being His people means we live like we belong to Him.
Set apart. Covered by his grace. But still called to holiness.
Not Egypt. Not Canaan.
Him.
Love Pastor Mandy
Ark of Hope Ministry
Daily Reading Leviticus 18
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