Leviticus

Leviticus 24:22 says:

There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God.’”

There is talk in some nations as to the merits of allowing Muslims to institute their own laws, Sharia law, for the sake of their own communities. In some European nations, this is posing problems as different sets of laws stand side by side applying to different sets of people. Inequality and injustice are the result.

It is interesting to read what the Word of God has to say about different laws for different people in the same nation.

God is quite clear. He says when you are in this nation, whether you believe or don’t believe, whether you are a foreigner or a native, whether you are in or you’re out – the one same law and standard is going to apply to all.

Two sets of laws diminishes and dilutes the strength of the law and the truth of God.

Why is was this the case in ancient Israel? And what does that have to do with us today? The answer is that the law of God is the same for all.

Sin is sin and the same for all. The penalty of sin is the same for all, whether you believe or don’t believe. None of these elements to God’s justice system move or change depending on you or your circumstances, background, or beliefs. Sin, judgment, justice are all based upon one unchangeable foundation – the truth.

But the truth doesn’t end there. Just as God’s law, sin and the penalty for sin are the same for all, so too is the remedy. Christ is the redeemer for all. Jesus is the saviour for all. He is the way for all to escape the wrath of God and the penalty for sin we all must face.

That is the good news.

Turn your life over to Him today. Give Him your life, marred by sin. And receive His from Him.

PRAYER: Father, I ask you to forgive me and cleanse me. I have fallen short of your standard and transgressed your holy law. I cry out to Jesus to save and become Lord of my life. I surrender to Him, in Jesus name, Amen.

Leviticus 19:2 says:

2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

Holiness is not something we attain to by our own efforts or according to our own standards. The Word tells us to be holy as the Lord our God is holy. Big difference.

Holiness is based upon the revelation of who God is and the uniqueness of His character. God the Father is first and foremost Holy. In other words, He is set apart from man and unique. He is different to us in that He is totally good, totally just, totally loving and totally for us and His work in creation.

It is when we get a clear vision and revelation of who God is, then we can become holy like His is holy. It is through revelation of God that we are able, and empowered by His Spirit of Grace, to walk out the “set apart” requirements and standards of a holy life.

Trying to live up to those requirements and standards without that clear revelation of God, is human morality. It is not bad in and of itself. But on it’s own can quickly morph into it’s evil step-sisters, legalism and self-righteousness. No, we need God to become more like God.

Paul writes that as we behold the glory of God, we become transformed into the likeness of that glory (2 Cor 3:18). In the same way holiness begins with seeing God as He is and allowing His Spirit to transform us to become more and more like Him.

PRAYER: Father, I love you and I choose to worship you today. I ask you for revelation that I might see you as you are and be transformed by you into the image of your son Jesus. I ask in Jesus name, Amen.

Leviticus 13:2 says

2 “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling or a scab or a bright spot, and it becomes an infection of leprosy on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.

It struck me as I read this that the person with leprosy was sent to see a Priest and not a Medical Doctor.

Now granted, the nation of Israel at this time didn’t possess the modern medicine (or anything like it) that have today. And let it be said that Doctors and modern medicine in general does a wonderful job and for it we should all be grateful (or else in some of our cases we wouldn’t be around to be grateful!).

But I do wonder if there is not something instructive in this verse for us today?

I wonder if today, even with our access to modern medicine and a wide range of pharmaceutical remedies at our finger tips, if we shouldn’t be more like what we read in this verse.

What I mean is, instead of turning to the medicine cabinet or the Doctor’s surgery we turn first to God.

By having the leprous person go to the priest, we are shown the connection between sin and sickness. Without sin, there is no sickness or disease. In other words, even today with our medical advances, the link between our physical ailments and our sin condition remains the same. And therefore, so does the remedy; Jesus.

I wonder how much more opportunity for God to move we would provide if we just simply turned to prayer before we turned to science? I wonder if instead of the Doctor we sought out a priest, that is born again believer and member of the “holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:15) in Jesus Christ we are called to be?

Just as the Old Testament pointed to the Priest as the one to seek out for the answer, how much more does the new covenant believer have the answer of healing, wholeness, deliverance, recovery? In Jesus we have the answer. Turn to Him.

PRAYER: Father, I ask for faith and for the opportunity to see you – the great physician – at work. I thank you for the healing power of Jesus death, burial and resurrection. In Jesus name, Amen.