Leviticus 15-22: Going Green According To God

People often attempt to avoid the book of Leviticus with the cursory excuse that the Levitical law is passed away or fulfilled in Christ.  It is true that the Lord fulfilled many of the aspects of the ceremonial law that pointed to the coming Messiah.  John illustrated this fact with his announcement, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world".  God provided in the Lord Jesus Christ the one sacrifice that would fulfill all the sacrificial requirements of the Levitical system.  In this passage, however, we find much that has nothing to do with killing sacrifices but instead majors on living life.  God gives us the reason for the commands and instructions presented in this section of the Scriptures with the words of Leviticus 18:24-28.

Leviticus 18:24-28   Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:  25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.  26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:  27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)  28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.

Okay, so here we have God giving us reasons for these rules.  First God says that they are given so that we don't defile ourselves.  Seems to me that would be a good thing.  In verse 25 we find reason number two is that it keeps us from defiling the land.  With all the environmental concerns today it would seem that we would be scouring these pages to find out how we might reverse the damage we have done to our world by defiling it.

Here are God's instruction on Going Green: 
1.    Obey the Scriptures instead of Culture. (18:1-5)
2.    Nudity, partial nudity, sensuality are out and modesty is in. (18:6-18)
3.    Sex is for marriage and marriage is for a man and a woman ONLY for a lifetime. (18:20,22-23)
4.    God has made your parents wiser than you.  So listen.  (19:3)
5.    Worship God His way not your way. (19:4-8)
6.    Be a blessing to others by sharing. (19:9-10)
7.    Be honest. (19:11-13)
8.    Look out for those who can't look out for themselves. (19:14)
9.    Treat both the poor and the rich the same.  No special privileges. (19:15)
10.  Don't gossip.  (19:16)
11.  Don't let your neighbor continue in sin but tell him what he is doing wrong.  (19:17)

Hey, I realize that makes Eleven Commandments for Going Green, but since we didn't do much with the first ten I guess adding one more won't hurt.  So if you want to have an impact on the environment, try following these instructions from God that will keep the land from becoming defiled.

Daily Devotional:  John 1:1-18  The Word Became Flesh