April 18

Leviticus 22 “Aliens are all about rules.” If you enjoyed Lilo and Stich, then you know what I am talking about. It would be easy, reading through the Pentateuch, to think God is all about rules. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy sometimes seem like rule after rule after rule. But look at the oft repeated phrase from these books, “32“You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, 33“who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.” But for this one recurring phrase, I might think that God is all about rules. A friend of mine, Corey, frequently says, “Every relationship has a set of rules.” Indeed that is true. I love my wife. I have never codified the rules we have for our relationship, but there are many, and rightly so. What kind of relationship would we have if I made love to other women? What kind of relationship would we have if I treated her like dirt, or she treated me like dirt? So with God, there are rules to a relationship with Him. The rules in the Pentateuch were established to give images which would guide the relationship between Yahweh and Israel for the next 1400 years. Most people who would read this meditation have no problem with understanding the boundaries that need to be set in couple relationships. Yet as I have done counseling with a few couples who have had nothing to do with a holy environment (not brought up in church, never attended church or read the Bible), I am often struck by what seems to me to be an amazing lack of understanding of what should be obvious relationship rules which should be followed in a couple relationship. They instinctively get angry at their partner when those rules are broken, yet they don’t seem to recognize that those rules apply to themselves in order to foster a good relationship. They break the rules which protect a good relationship, but don’t recognize their own culpability. Unfortunately, I have had a few ‘churched’ people who paddle in the same boat. But rather than focus on the rules today, I would like to focus on Him as the one who sanctifies us and leads us out of Egypt. The damage people do to one another by not following the relationship rules is lethal. It is filthy. It has to be cleansed in order for the relationship to be restored. So too in our relationship with the Lord, the damage we have done to our relationship with Him is lethal. It is filthy. It must be cleansed in order for our relationship to be restored. However, how do we cleanse ourselves? It is like trying to cleanse ourselves when we are in a desert with no access to soap or water. It just cannot be done. God knows. He takes the initiative to cleanse us. Can you imagine a man desiring to make love to a prostitute whose 100 previous customers were infected with AIDS, and then she rolled in a sewer before coming to the man? I don’t want to imagine it, but I believe that our sin makes us like that before our Holy God. It is impossible for us to cleanse ourselves of such filth. Yet his love for us is so great that He takes the initiative to cleanse us when we could not cleanse ourselves. That is what He means by, “I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” It is only right that in response to such great love that we should hallow Him and love Him back. He also is the One who took them out of Egypt. Living in Egypt is a picture of slavery, of being bound in sin. My brother used to raise and show pigs at county and state fairs. For the show we would always wash the pig and groom it to make it look nice for the show. However, as soon as we had the pig back home, it would always head for the pond or mud. Why? The nature of a pig is such that to remain cool it must have wet skin. Hence, if it is warm, it will always head for a pond or the mud. A pig is in bondage to its thermostat. It must remain cool. We are in bondage to our sin nature. We feel a compulsion to sin. But Jesus will deliver us out of that bondage. He sets us free. One would think that if we focused on His sanctifying power and His bondage breaking power, we would realize His awesome love, mercy and grace. Oh, that gives me such great hope! It tells me of His great glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john