Leviticus 22 – 24
Verse 22:3 talks about how one separates oneself from the Lord:
Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.
I think of how things were consider “holy” and therefore treated with reverence then and how we are very casual today. Crocodile Dundee’s comment about how “me and God are mates” as he is sucking down a beer in a bar is a great example of how we are starting to treat God as an equal. Recently my prayer life has been going away for sleep. I will pray sprawled out in bed between snoozes and often fall back asleep.
The next verse is kind of odd as it lays out reasons to be “unclean” which include leprosy, bodily discharges, touching the dead or ejaculating. The last one caught me as odd since I would imagine if most men had an opportunity to “know” his wife before church, they would. With that said would they be “cut off” from the Lord? Is my recent casual attitude about prayer cause me to be “cut off”? Grace is a big thing in the New Testament, but if we “children” of God and have accepted Jesus as our Lord, are we to take our dealing with God with more reverence?
Verse 23:3 is another one we tend to miss:
For six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places.
I think of how many of us go to church expecting the pastor and his staff to take their “Sabbath” some other time. Then when church is over we expect the restraint we go to for Sunday Brunch to be open and well-staffed to server us. Then our mall trips we expect the stores all to be open and staffed. We then praise Chick-fil-a for not being open, even in a mall, but do not expect those same considerations to be made to other food establishments. To top it all off we go home to rest and finish chores around the house. We then end the day exhausted and ready for “rest”.
Was that God’s intention? Should we then “force” others to serve us in order so we can have our Sabbath? Should we really do much in the way of “work around the house” on the day of rest? I understand the “blue laws” use to extend to all places of business and now are commonly associated with liquor sales, but were they right? If someone is not a believer in God, should we be able to force our religious standards on them?
I remember a time when Sunday everything was closed and you needed to actually plan your shopping. Now with 24 hour Wal-Marts we expect to be able to get our Twinkies (RIP) at 3am! For some reason this has become a need in society to adjust to people’s work schedules, which are based on a 24 hour/7day a week work schedule. Stores say they need to do this in order to make money! Has the concept of “rest” gone away?
Verse 23:22 is repeated again:
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.”
We briefly talked about this a few “Thoughts” ago and I noticed it came up again. I believe it is important for us to care for the needy, but not create them (if that makes sense). In today’s society and economy we are making the concept of “welfare” and “disability” are too easy to deal with. No longer do you have to go “collect” your gleanings from the government, they automatically deposit it to your EBT card. You no longer have to do any work for the handout; at least you had to make an effort with God’s plan. Poor was allowed, just not lazy!