Kedoshim “Holy One”
Leviticus 19:1-20:27
Moving right along, last week we discussed the “day of atonement” as well as some purity rituals. This week we are diving into what it means to be Holy in the eyes of The Lord. These people were in-slaved in Egypt for hundreds of years until God rescued them out.
Let’s take a minute and have a quick history of the Egyptian folks and dig into their society a little. The Egyptian culture was full of idolatry, paganism, sexual immorality, a complete unbiblical law-based society. I would imagine there were rules and laws man made to suit the Pharaoh’s; however, biblical laws as we know today, 10-commandments, etc. were not part of the life in Egypt. The Pharaoh’s held supreme authority and would stand in the gap between the gods and the people. They did try and stick with order, truth and fair rulership; however, that was in the eyes of man. The Egyptians had an upwards of 2000 gods. They were a polytheistic fair society (basically where each god reflected in various elements of nature, life events and any phenomenon’s that they encountered). Each god would reflect a specific aspect of life or the environment, such as the sun, the moon, the Nile river, even aspects of love, fertility, war and death. As you can imagine, these Israelite people needed to re-learn a lot. To summarize, the Egyptians believed that each god had control over different elements in the world. The Pharaoh himself was seen as the “god of the earth” and was worshipped as such.
God had His work cut out for Him for sure! God wants His people to be a “Holy People” because He is Holy. God instructs the people to respect their parents, keep His Sabbath & don’t make idols out of melted materials, to name a few. He also instructs them on how to handle their crops. God perfectly designs a “welfare” system for those in need, He instructs them to not cut all the way to the edges when they harvest. God wants them to leave some for the less fortunate or the sojourner who may pass by with his family, so they can gather some of the provisions they need. God talks about not stealing or falsely accusing someone and especially, to not take The Lord’s name in vain. The list continues on the things not to do and I encourage you to read through.
We see God shaping His people as one…and this isn’t the first time. He began with Adam and Eve; then sin entered into the world. He had to end things and that is why He flooded the earth. Now, there are instructions that are meant for all the people, not just those in leadership or Priestly roles. Most of the people had learned to love in a way that was not the way God desired. So, how does God take these people and even people today, that have either been taught wrong or hurt by loved ones!? And turn them “Holy” in His eyes?
To be set apart, to stand out. I imagine, after some time, the Israelites definitely would have stood out compared to the Egyptians. God was shaping them to be set apart (not like everyone else). So as believers today, what does that look like? What does “Holy” mean? I believe, many of the same instructions God gave them so many years ago, still apply today and we read in the NT, in 1 Peter 1:15-16, the word translated, “holy” means sacred, morally blameless, consecrated saint (see Strong’s G40 for more). God is looking for some people who are consecrated or set apart for His use. And He knows who those holy ones should be because He chose us (Ephesians 1:4) and called us to be holy for His purpose (2 Timothy 1:9). “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” Eph 1:4
“He has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace.” 2 Timothy 1:9
The King James Version of 1 Peter 1:15 uses the word “conversation”. The word translated “conversation” means behavior. The verse is saying our manner of life or behavior, should reflect holiness because God is holy.
I believe just like the days of Pharaoh, today, man and the church has decided what is “Holy” and I do not believe, it always aligns with scripture.
Another important piece to this study is “love your neighbor”, so let’s feast on this as well and fill ourselves with some more goodness!
Are you always honest and fair in your day to day lives? Do you try and cut corners when it’s for someone else, but you don’t hesitate to point out when you feel someone is taking advantage of you?! One of the commandments mentioned is “love your neighbor as yourself”. Are we really following what that says? Not all that long ago, I thought, “I am totally good with our neighbors”…we like our neighbors that live around us, they are really great people. Then it dawned on me, “our neighbor” is anyone we might come in contact with, at work, at the grocery store, at the DMV, and on the road ways, just to name a few places we find “neighbors”. The word “love” is so over used today. “I love ice cream”, “I love puppies”, “I love that restaurant”; however, the love that is talked about here in this verse is a deep love, like what we have for our spouse or our children. Now, think about that love and ask yourself if you are showing the same attitude of love towards your colleagues or strangers at the check out line?! Jesus was such a beautiful example of love to others. Even when His culture was against certain groups of people, He still showed love.
God wants us to be holy to Him, forever, because He is Holy. To be set apart, really isn’t much different in the ancient times as it is today.
Going back to the basics….how does scripture encourage us? I believe there is a foundational truth, that we all need, written for our benefit right here in the OT. Stealing back then, still means, don’t do it. The enemy is lurking around us, tempting us to watch things that do not honor God in any way. We live in a society, that has flipped, “all that was good, is now evil and what is evil is now good”. We treat only those we know and are close to us with love and respect and even that is a stretch for some people. Back to the foundational truth is where many of us need to start to grow deeper in His Holiness!
Blessings & Shalom ~ Deena
