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‘I Am the Lord Your God’
Read Leviticus 20:1-27
Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 20:7
There is little likelihood that Christians would implement the punishments in chapter 20. In any case, they were only meant for the theocracy of Israel. Yet ironically, this chapter challenges modern assumptions about sin and judgment.
People today have little concept of sin. (They don’t even use the term.) The punishments here, however, indicate that God views sin very seriously. This is true especially for religious and sexual sins – exactly those areas that modern man considers to be most subjective. Sin calls for judgment. Sexual sins are prohibited in chapter 18; here, the punishments are laid out. These specific punishments no longer apply, but the sinner still faces judgment in this life and the life to come. God will ‘cut off’ those who sin blatantly against Him. In short, every person must face up to sin, God and judgment. The only way of ‘escape’ is to embrace Jesus Christ who has suffered the death penalty on our behalf.
There is another point to note. The sandwiching of familial/sexual offences (vs 9-21) between religious offences (vs 2-6, 27) seems to say wrong beliefs lead to wrong behaviour. We need to take note and be vigilant.
In an age of religious pluralism and convergence (religions becoming ‘similar’), how are Christians to live to show that their faith is distinctive?
Read Leviticus 20:1-27
Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 20:7
There is little likelihood that Christians would implement the punishments in chapter 20. In any case, they were only meant for the theocracy of Israel. Yet ironically, this chapter challenges modern assumptions about sin and judgment.
People today have little concept of sin. (They don’t even use the term.) The punishments here, however, indicate that God views sin very seriously. This is true especially for religious and sexual sins – exactly those areas that modern man considers to be most subjective. Sin calls for judgment. Sexual sins are prohibited in chapter 18; here, the punishments are laid out. These specific punishments no longer apply, but the sinner still faces judgment in this life and the life to come. God will ‘cut off’ those who sin blatantly against Him. In short, every person must face up to sin, God and judgment. The only way of ‘escape’ is to embrace Jesus Christ who has suffered the death penalty on our behalf.
There is another point to note. The sandwiching of familial/sexual offences (vs 9-21) between religious offences (vs 2-6, 27) seems to say wrong beliefs lead to wrong behaviour. We need to take note and be vigilant.
In an age of religious pluralism and convergence (religions becoming ‘similar’), how are Christians to live to show that their faith is distinctive?
Scripture
About this Plan
Scripture Union Peninsular Malaysia's Bible reflections are devotional readings from the thoughts and insights of Asian writers. Consisting of 8 volumes, they cover the whole Bible in four years. Each volume contains books from the Old and New Testaments, and has a mix of historical, poetic and prophetic books, the gospels and epistles. Using this you can cultivate the discipline of a regular, systematic engagement with Scripture and gain an understanding of its magnificent story.
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We would like to thank Scripture Union for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: http://www.su.org.my
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