Rules To Live By - Leviticus 18:1

Leviticus 18:1-5

“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.“

These verses give some insight on why God is giving Israel a new rule to live by. It is a rule that will teach them a new Story, worldview.  It is a story that speaks of unity, connectedness, presence, holiness, One God not many, etc.

I must remember that the people of Israel are coming out of 400 years of slavery.  At the beginning of the 400 years they were approximately 60 in number when they moved to Egypt.  From 60 in number to over a million with only some oral history of this God of Abraham to give them some sense of identity.  Now here in the desert God is giving them an identity as a nation, a people of the God who is present not far away like all the other nations around them.  He is giving them a way to live that is in stark contrast to all they have ever known.  They had no idea what holy looks like or that there is one God not many gods.  They must learn what life ordered by a holy God can look like.   They must experience a God who is for them and wants to be present to them.

They are not to be be like Egypt which they are leaving or like Canaan to which they are going.  It appears that many of the rules define them as opposed to either of the above.  All the prohibitions given imply that this is what characterized one or both of the them.  God’s desire for us is that we look like Him, image Him.  Psalm 115 tells us that we become like what we worship, or another way to say it is, what we gaze at or what we are drawn to.  This is why God is so adamant about us worshipping nothing other than Himself.  He is Life and anything else, becoming anything else, is death.  This is not a metaphor, it is reality.

It is interesting that even the land of Canaan is defiled by the actions of the people inhabiting it. (v. 25). God’s plan is for redemption, not just for His people, but for the cosmos. (John 3:16, Rm 8:20-22)

See the video from The Bible Project for Joshua for thoughts on the judgement rendered to the Canaanites, also Gen 15:16 for God’s patience before bring judgment.

One of the take aways from all of this for me is the realization again that I am a malleable being.  Everything I do in life shapes me and shapes my desires or affections, as Johnathan Edwards calls them.  The rule I live by matters, because the rhythms and choices I make shape me to be more like the One who breathed Life into me and wants to draw near or are shaping me into something whose ultimate end is death. 

**3/3/20 This is one of what I hope will be a regular entry in my blog.  This is a shift from what I have done in the past which has mostly been episodic accounts of things I experience in life.  I may continue to post more of the same from time to time, but the drift of the blog, at least for now, will be my observations, prayers, questions, and grappling with the Bible as I read through it over the next two years with some friends.  We are together following a 2 year reading schedule and meeting monthly to compare notes.  Your comments are welcome and if you are interested in what the reading schedule looks like reply in comments and I will be glad to send it to you.