CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO LESSONS
THE SERIOUSNESS OF GOD!
As soon as I finish Leviticus, I am going to
take a break and do a ten week series on the "Top Ten most Humorous Stories
in the Bible." When I first thought of doing such a series it seemed
like a wonderful idea - especially after Leviticus. But then I started
making a list of all the funny stories in Scripture and realized that coming
up with ten humorous stories may not be possible. In fact, so far I have
only thought of eight and a few of those may not seem all that funny to you.
I've even gone to a Christian bookstore to see
if they had any material on humor in the Bible. They did have a
few "joke" books that wouldn't offend anyone in the Christian community. But
little to suggest there was humor within the pages of Scripture.
There is good reason for this literary void
in the commercialization of Christianity. The reason being that the
Bible is a very serious book. No where, however, does it tell you that
it's a serious book. But by chapter 3 of Genesis where Adam and
Eve were evicted from Paradise you realize that our Creator is deadly serious.
Like the Bible, most people don't tell us they
are serious about something - we just know they are serious about it. How? How
do we know when someone is serious about a hobby? A career? A
relationship?
To get at the answer to this I want you to choose
one of following scenarios and tell me how you would know someone is serious
about it. Make a list of anything and everything about their life that
would tell an observer that they are indeed serious. Here are the six
scenarios:
# 1 You own a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. You are serious about
maintaining it. How would someone know that you're serious?
# 2 You own your home and do your own yard maintenance. You are
serious about having no weeds. How would someone know that you're serious?
# 3 You are in law enforcement, perhaps a police officer. You are
serious about enforcing the law - not simply the letter of the law but the
spirit of the law. How would someone know that you're serious?
# 4 You're serious about retail therapy. How would someone
know that you're serious?
# 5 You manage your own Paint & Supply store. You're serious
about making it the # 1 Paint & Supply store in the East Valley. How
would someone know that you're serious?
# 6 You decide that you need to get serious about a regular exercise
program. How would someone know that you're serious?
Then, as you share your answers, do you see
any common threads? As I was waiting for some paint at Dunn-Edwards
in Chandler I saw their mission statement and took time to write it down. It
reads:
We the owner-employees of Dunn-Edwards are:
Energized to out-perform our competitors.
Supportive of our fellow employees and the community.
Obsessed with providing reliably innovative products and services.
Passionate about meeting our customers' needs so that Dunn-Edwards is always
their # 1 choice.
Energized, Supportive, Obsessed, and Passionate. Do
you think they are serious about being the # 1 Paint & Supply store in
the East Valley? According to their mission statement they are serious,
but in reality we'd have to observe their actions. However, their mission
statement gives us some clues as to how we can tell someone is serious.
People who are really serious about something;
- think about
it day and night.
- are supportive
of others who help them reach their goal.
- don't let others
sidetrack them.
- spend their
energy and resources to make it happen.
- are ruthless
in the sense of being determined to stay focused.
- don't excuse
themselves from doing the hard things.
- know why it's
important to stay focused.
Okay, what does this have to do with Leviticus? Well,
in chapters 20, 21, and 22 we have three of the most encouraging chapters in
the entire Bible. But when you first read them you won't be encouraged
at all until you understand what God is doing in the midst of Israel. I
say you won't be encouraged because at first glance they appear to give a picture
of a God who is not the kind of God you and I would want to worship. Beginning
in Leviticus 20 we read:
The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Give the
Israelites these instructions, which apply to those who are Israelites by birth
as well as to the foreigners living among you. If any among them devote their
children as burnt offerings to Molech, they must be stoned to death by people
of the community. 3 I myself will turn against them and cut them off
from the community, because they have defiled my sanctuary and profaned my
holy name by giving their children to Molech. 4 And if the people of
the community ignore this offering of children to Molech and refuse to execute
the guilty parents, 5 then I myself will turn against them and cut them
off from the community, along with all those who commit prostitution by worshiping
Molech.
"If any among the people are unfaithful
by consulting and following mediums or psychics, I will turn against them and
cut them off from the community. 7 So set yourselves apart to be holy,
for I, the LORD, am your God. 8 Keep all my laws and obey them, for I
am the LORD, who makes you holy.
"All who curse their father or mother must
be put to death. They are guilty of a capital offense.
"If a man commits adultery with another
man's wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. 11 If a
man has intercourse with his father's wife, both the man and the woman must
die, for they are guilty of a capital offense. 12 If a man has intercourse
with his daughter-in-law, both must be put to death. They have acted contrary
to nature and are guilty of a capital offense.
One violation after another leads to either
the death penalty or to being cut off from the community. The latter
probably referring to a premature death. And if the people of the community
failed to take care of a matter, then God promised to "set his face" against
the guilty person, an expression that emphasizes his intent to punish.
Dropping down to vv. 20 - 24 we read:
If a man has intercourse with his uncle's wife,
he has violated his uncle. Both the man and woman involved are guilty of a
capital offense and will die childless.
If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an
act of impurity. He has violated his brother, and the guilty couple will remain
childless.
"You must carefully obey all my laws and
regulations; otherwise the land to which I am bringing you will vomit you out. 23
Do not live by the customs of the people whom I will expel before you. It is
because they do these terrible things that I detest them so much. 24
But I have promised that you will inherit their land, a land flowing with milk
and honey. I, the LORD, am your God, who has set you apart from all other people.
In vv. 20 and 21 the divine punishment isn't
as severe but nevertheless it indicates God's strong disapproval of someone's
behavior. Then in chapters 21 through 22 we discover that God has higher expectations
for the priest than he does for the ordinary man in the pew. In chapter
21:1 - 15 we read:
The LORD said to Moses, "Tell the priests
to avoid making themselves ceremonially unclean by touching a dead relative
2 unless it is a close relative-mother or father, son or daughter, brother
3 or virgin sister who was dependent because she had no husband. 4 As
a husband among his relatives, he must not defile himself.
"The priests must never shave their heads,
trim the edges of their beards, or cut their bodies. 6 They must be set
apart to God as holy and must never dishonor his name. After all, they are
the ones who present the offerings to the LORD by fire, providing God with
his food, and they must remain holy.
"The priests must not marry women defiled
by prostitution or women who have been divorced, for the priests must be set
apart to God as holy. 8 You must treat them as holy because they offer
up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the LORD, am holy,
and I make you holy. 9 If a priest's daughter becomes a prostitute, defiling
her father's holiness as well as herself, she must be burned to death.
"The high priest, who has had the anointing
oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the special priestly garments,
must never let his hair hang loose or tear his clothing. 11 He must never
defile himself by going near a dead person, even if it is his father or mother. 12
He must not desecrate the sanctuary of his God by leaving it to attend his
parents' funeral, because he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his
God. I am the LORD.
"The high priest must marry a virgin. 14
He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution.
She must be a virgin from his own clan, 15 that he may not dishonor his
descendants among the members of his clan, because I, the LORD, have made him
holy."
Those chosen to be spiritual leaders were expected
to demonstrate the holiness of the Lord to the community in times of bereavement. If
they failed to do so they were to be "cut off from God's presence." (See
22:3 & 22:9)
At first glance it just appears that God is
ruthless in the worst sort of way. But actually he is ruthless in the
best way. He redeemed Israel out of slavery in Egypt to be a holy nation;
a nation distinct among all the nations in the world. He told them in
very practical terms what it meant to be holy. Now, in these three chapters,
we discover that he is deadly serious about Israel being a holy nation. So
serious, in fact, that he was determined, and is determined, to see to it that
Israel becomes a holy nation.
It's like someone who is serious about maintaining
a nice looking yard. Every morning they go out and look for any weeds
that might be popping up. When they are found they are dealt with immediately. Such
a person is not adverse to using any method possible, at whatever expense,
to rid their yard of weeds.
For you and I this picture of God in Leviticus
ought to of the greatest encouragement. For it tells us that God
is deadly serious about holiness. It tells us that he thinks about it
all the time. It tells us that he is willing to spend time, energy, and
whatever resources it takes to complete the work that he has begun in us.
In graphic terms what this means is that our
God is serious about pulling the weeds out of our life. He is so serious
that he will use any means to do it and pay whatever price he needs to pay
to make us holy.1
1 Here is a list of common weeds taken from Charles R.
Swindoll's book entitled KILLING GIANTS, PULLING THORNS. They are: Bitterness,
Jealousy, Lust, Depression, Loneliness, Resentment,Grief, Pain, Procrastination,
Rumor, Pessimism, Busyness, Apprehension, & Impatience. Others, taken
from Galatians 5 would be: Idolatry, Hatred, Envy, Fits of Rage, Dissension, & Envy.LEVITICUS
- GOD'S GUIDEBOOK TO WORSHIP 6/04/06 1
CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO LESSONS