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

Leviticus 7-14: A Fresh Start

Leviticus 14 is the description of the day after leprosy.  Leprosy is a disease that effects the complete person.  This disease is the result of the  Mycobacterium Leprae bacteria.  This small bacteria enters a persons system and soon corrupts the whole body.  Until recently, there was no known cure for leprosy and those who contracted the disease usually died a slow painful death characterized by sores  and the rotting away of extremities.

Great emphasis is laid on the fact that the person who has contracted leprosy is to be separated from those who have not contracted the disease.  This was warranted because of the highly contagious nature of the disease.  We know today that bacteria can easily be transmitted from one person to another by casual contact.  This added the pain of seclusion to the sufferings already caused by the disease.
 
Throughout the Bible leprosy is typical of man's spiritually terminal disease of sin.  Much like leprosy, sin starts out as a simple matter and soon infects the whole person.  Sin consumes our bodies and locks us into a world where we alone know what we are really like.  So let's take a look at what happens when God cures the leper.

Leviticus 14:13-18   And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy:  14 And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot:  15 And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand:  16 And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD:  17 And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering:  18 And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD.

 I was amazed as I read this and thought about the anointing of Aaron and his sons just a few chapters prior to this and pondered the similarity.


Leviticus 8:24   And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.
Leviticus 8:30   And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons' garments with him; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.

It is as if God is reminding us of the fact that God offers us a new start.  We often think that sin disqualifies us from service to God.  We think that our past may hinder our future, but here we see a wonderful picture of God's restorative grace.  I understand that there are some things like serving as elders and deacons that sinful behavior in our past may disqualify us from, but there still remains vast opportunities for us to serve God.  If we will just devote ourselves completely to serving God which is symbolized by the anointing of the ear, thumb, and toe, then we can be sure that God will use us to bring glory to His name!   So how about we ask God to search our hearts and see if there be any wicked way in us, then through repentance and confession we can by God's grace enjoy a fresh start today!