Introduction: This
time we are going to
meditate upon Christian virtue of holiness, basing on Leviticus 20:26.
Prayer of Illumination: Let
us pray. Dear Lord our God, You has given us Your word to be a lamp unto our
feet, and a light unto our path; grant us grace to received Your truth in faith
and love, so that we may be prepared to receive Your word; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. AMEN.
Illustration: In
the forests of northern Europe, there lived a small carnivorous animal called ermine,
they are like chipmunk. Ermine is known for its snow-white fur which is used
for making robe. Amazingly, this little animal protects its white fur against
anything that would spoil it. This unusual character is taken as an advantage
by the hunters. The hunters find their home, which is usually a cleft in a rock
or, a hollow in a tree. They spread the entrance and inside with something
dirty. Then the hunters lose their dogs to chase the ermine. The frightened animal
flees towards its home, but don’t want to enter inside because of the dirt.
They are easily captured by the hunters while this little animal trying to
preserve the purity of their white fur. For this little animal, the purity of
its white fur is more precious than their life.
Start Up: One
of the true Christian ideal is to be holy. The whole purpose of God in
redemption is- to make us holy, and to restore us to the image of God. To
accomplish this out of love, God sometimes disengage us from earthly ambitions,
and draw us away from the unworthy prizes that the world has set our hearts
upon. If you look back of your life, you will realize how many earthly
ambitions you have left to prepare yourself for the ministry of God. How you
had disengage yourself to be holy and acceptable in the sight of the Lord.
Maintaining purity and holiness is the nature of true Christian individuals and
the Church.
Authorship,
Date and Nature of Leviticus: The book of Leviticus is
called in Hebrew by its opening word, ‘wayyiqira’
which means ‘and he called.’ It derives its English title from the
translation of Septuagint ‘Leuitikon.’ The
name Leviticus is appropriate, for it served as the liturgical hand-book of the
levitical priesthood. It taught the Israelites the necessity of holiness in
every aspect of their lives.
-
As in the case of the Pentateuch, it is impossible to speak of an author in any
strict sense. Leviticus is also the work of many through the centuries, in
adapting the laws, rituals, and feasts to the need of future years. It is to be
ascribed to the Priestly tradition of JEPD. Though, it contains some ancient
legislation, in its present form, it is to be dated to the period after the
return from the exile.
- The central theme of
Leviticus is God’s holiness (You shall be
holy, for I the Lord your God am holy) as found in 19:2; which is well
directly connected with the scripture base for this morning devotion 20:26 (You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am
holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine). In order
to be worthy to approach Yahweh the Holy One, and offer Him worship, the
Israelites must be pure in every respect. The Lord who brought out Israel from
Egypt has established a special bond with the nation, and from this relationship
is derived Israel’s obligation to be holy.
Expository
on Leviticus 20:26 - Leviticus 20 begins with the commission
of Yahweh to Moses to speak to the Israelite on behalf of Him, followed by
God’s given specific laws, pertaining to cultic worship, warning against
sacrifice to Molech, sorcery, household codes, sexual offences, and diet; that
reach its climax in the call to holiness in v. 26. The penalty for failure to
oblige these laws will be death. What we find all through these laws and
warning is- the trends of call to holiness.
-
In v. 26 comes the word holy two times, the first is an order of God to
Israelites to be holy, the second is self-affirmation of God’s nature by
Thyself as holy one. In this verse, the Hebrew word ‘qades’ is used, which is translated in English as
holy. ‘Qades’ means something
which is cut off, separate or set apart. It describes something that is special
out of ordinary. It follows that, for the believers, the call to be holy is a
call to be separated from common use, and be set apart, or reserved for special
use i.e. for Yahweh. The term is applied to things, persons, and pre-eminently
to God Thyself. In this particular verse, we find this notion, i.e. the
fundamental demand of holiness and separation in order to become the people of
God.
- God will fulfill His
promise, and Israel will possess the land. But in the Promised Land, Israel is
to live differently than the others, because God has set His decrees and laws to
promote Israel’s separation. Israel’s holiness shall be maintained to be become
God’s people. Yahweh was holy God, infinitely above all other gods. His
holiness is His glory; and it was Israel’s honor to be related to Him. The
motivation behind this was that, Israel should manifest their distinctiveness
from other nations.
Application: We must
depart from the life of impious habits, by which we have defiled ourselves.
What had defiled our life? Think about it. What becomes an obstacle in our way
of holiness? What makes us unworthy to serve God? The Lord whom we serve is
holy, we are called to be holy and acceptable in the eyes of Lord, offering our
body as a living sacrifice, only then we can approach God with righteousness,
blameless toward our fellows, and serve the Lord with pure heart and mind.
- We
must stop making excuses for our moral position, we must expose sins as the
enemy of human, and we must set forth righteousness and holiness as the only
worthy for moral beings.
-
Mother Teresa, in
her autobiography said, “holiness consists in accepting and following
the will of God.” Then, what is the will of God in us, have we ever
consider what is the will of God? Do we examine ourselves that, have we accept
and follow the will of God?
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D.L. Moody once said, “A holy life will make the deepest
impression.” So, a life of holiness is to be lived out. In this sense, living
out is louder than speaking out.
-
An insight into the holiness of God
will always produce a life-style of repentance and change. When a person enters
upon the highway of holiness, it
may not be possible for a person to be perfect instantly. But, it does mean
that a person is walking down the road of change. Repentance means a change of
heart, or a change of mind. Throughout the Christian life, we should be
continually changed, or conformed, and then grow into the image of Jesus Christ.
-
John Calvin reminds of an
obvious truth; he said “no one leads a
holy life except s/he is united to God.” The Israelites can become holy only
with the union of Yahweh, only by abiding what Yahweh had order to do so. We
can lead a life of holiness, but only with the spiritual union to God. We need
to live a devotional life, always connecting with God in every circumstance.
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Oswald Chambers, author of My Utmost for His Highest said, “It is quite true to say, ‘I can’t live a holy life,’ but you can decide
to let Jesus make you holy.” There is no doubt that it is very difficult
for a human to live a life of holiness by ourselves in this world, because
there are impurity everywhere, I myself finds it very difficult. But we can let
Jesus to come in our life, follow in his steps, and then bring out the best in
us towards holiness.
- The destined end of human is
nothing other than holiness. One of God’s aims is the production of saints. God
came to save human, because God had created human to be holy.
- A true Christian must cut
off oneself from what is unholy and impurity in the eyes of the Lord, such as
corruption, dishonesty, adulteration, intoxication, so on and so forth. S/he
should live a life of holiness; always cling to the morality of Christian
virtue. Christian believes in God, and the hope with salvation must manifest in
the ethics of an individual during our lifetime.
“May God bless our meditation”
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