SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 15
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. [Matthew 10:28]
It seems that the deeper lesson behind these purity laws was how the people approached God.
They were to go out of their way to make sure that they were washed and clean and prepared and serious about their encounters with God.
God is no trivial matter, we are talking about the Ultimate Reality.
Another day of cleansing laws.
Verse 31 seems to summarize the point.
You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them. [Leviticus 15:31]
The plain sense of these words is that our being unclean defiles God, Who symbolically lives among them in His tent.
The specific concerns mentioned here (monthly periods, semen emissions) are, I am guessing, natural body functions, not the result of sin.
The warning about being unclean is maybe more about reminding ourselves about how holy God is.
The same for when they gathered at Mount Sinai, and were to consecrate (i.e. make themselves holy) by washing up and abstaining from sexual relations [Exodus 19:14-15].
These are all guesses on my part.
What I hear in these detailed instructions is a call to take God seriously, very seriously.
Be more concerned about Him than about the things that can just harm our bodies.
That’s the message I am taking from this today.
Do we prepare ourselves for spending time with God, or do we just straggle in when it suits us…
PRAYER:
Lord, help me to search my heart, to see what ‘unclean’ things I am harbouring there, and make a serious effort to cleanse my heart by repentance.
More ceremonial laws.
And what do I take from this?
I see a holy God who sees all. And I must become clean. And the only way that I can become clean is to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. He has made me whole – clean. Be separate. Be clean. Be my sons and daughter. Do this and live.
I must spend time with Him this day in His Word, in prayer and always in His presence so I will be clean walking in His ‘SonShine.’ I need to take time to be clean – today, tomorrow and all my tomorrows.
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.