WEDNESDAY 30th
Leviticus 20:7
NIV (v7) – ‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.’
ESV (v7) – ‘Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.’
One of the most important themes in the book of Leviticus is that of holiness. In the previous chapters the LORD had been instructing the people of Israel with regard to how they should live, giving them instructions about personal hygiene, what they could or could not eat, what they were allowed to wear, relationships, and that which would be considered as acceptable worship.
Aaron and his sons had been consecrated into the office of the priesthood (chapter 8) and they were to represent the people before God, but almost immediately two of Aarons sons decide to do their own thing instead of following God’s instruction and God caused a fire to come out of his presence which consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (chapter 10:1-2) This was an extremely visible and tangible sign to the priests and the people of Israel that God commands obedience toward his law and instructions. After the death of the two sons we read, ‘Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the LORD has said: Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.’ (chapter 10:3) The NIV translates it as ‘. . . among those who approach me I will be proved holy, . . .’ It was a very clear reminder of the holiness of God, and that what had just been witnessed was a evidence of God’s holiness, he could not and cannot accept anything whether in word or deed that stands in opposition to holiness, therefore he has the right to deal with it as he sees right and fit. In our text which is a few chapters later from this account of the sons of Aaron, we have a very sure reminder again of the need for holiness. ‘Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.’ The problem was, how could the people of Israel be holy, they were fallen humanity, they were sinful, they like Aarons sons would also fail? But God continues ‘Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.’ (20:8) God had made a way possible and it was through obedience and as they obeyed, he would sanctify or make them holy.
I know I have mentioned the subject of holiness a number of times before, but if it keeps coming up in the Word of God, it should also keep coming up in our study and meditation of the Word of God, and the same command to be holy that was given to the people of Israel is also given to us, the Church which we read of as an example in 1 Peter 1:15-16 ‘. . . but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ And I ask the same question how can we be holy, as we too are fallen humanity and sinful? The answer comes in that God has made a way in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, where we would fail, he never failed, he not only kept the law, he also fulfilled it and through his obedience in going to Calvary, he is able to perfect all who come to him by faith, (‘For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified’ Hebrews 10:14) his obedience means that we are accepted in the beloved and when God looks at us, he sees Jesus, and he sees us as sanctified by his blood and standing in righteousness. So, if we want to remain holy, then we need to keep close to Jesus, we need to obey his Word, we need to live lives of total surrender.
‘Jesus keep me near the Cross, there a cleansing fountain . . .’