God’s WORD alone is our ‘STANDARD’ for LIVING!
February
5 Bible Reading: Leviticus Chapters 16-18
God’s WORD alone is our ‘STANDARD’ for LIVING!
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
"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.'" (Leviticus 18:1-5)
The Israelites
had lived in Egypt for generations and had been dominated by the Egyptians for
a very long time. It was possible that
they have gotten used to the ungodly lifestyle of the Egyptians and would adopt
that lifestyle moving forward. On the other hand, Canaan was the land that God
was going to give to the Israelites based on His promise to their ancestor
Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3). It was possible
that the Israelites would be tempted to imitate the Canaanites physically,
culturally, and religiously.
In the above
passage we read that God forbade the Israelites to practice the abominable customs of both the Egyptians and
Canaanites. The redemption of the Israelites from Egypt involved not only
bringing them out that geographical location but also removing the idolatrous
and pagan practices of the Egyptians from their hearts (18:3, 24–25, 27, 30).
They had now become a nation dedicated to God and His holiness, and must
determine to live holy, Godlike lives according to their covenant relationship with
God (see Exodus 20).
Note that “I am the Lord” appears twenty-one times
in chapters 18 and 19 emphasizing that the Israelites were now solely under God’s
authority. ‘The Lord’ here translates
the divine name ‘Yahweh’, the name by
which God had revealed Himself to Moses (Exodus 6:2, 3). In using this name,
God was showing His willingness to reveal
Himself to them, to redeem them, and to be their God. In order to help the
Israelites avoid the “abominable” practices
of the Egyptians and Canaanites (Lev. 18:3, 30), God gave them His holy ordinances which would produce lives
fulfillment, joy, and overall prosperity.
Let us be
clear that our lives of holiness set
us apart from the people of this world as we make God’s Word alone as our
standard of living. Our moral guidelines do not come from our neighbors or
by these world standards, but only from
God’s Word. We should not love this world or the things of this world, but
rather seek to do only the will of God (1 John 2:15-17). Let us not be
confirmed to the ungodly culture of this world, but rather renew our minds through God’s Word and walk in His will always!
