Year of the Bible: Part Three of Twelve Àpẹrẹ

Interacting with God in the Holy Place.

The Tabernacle of God, His meeting place with the people, was in the center of the Israelite camp with everyone encamped around it. The book of Leviticus connects us to the ways God said he would interact with His people and how His people should interact with Him.

The Levites, priests who appeared before God on behalf of the people, were given special instruction on how they should interact with God. In chapter 11, God says, "Be holy, as I am holy." This statement can mean, "Be set apart and do not use what is uniquely designated for special use for everyday practices, and set yourselves apart for My service."

Holiness does not mean perfection, and instead, it means to be set apart for a higher purpose, a purpose of divine nature. You would never place your shoes on the kitchen counter because it is a place to prepare food, and putting your tennis shoes there would be gross because of the resulting contamination.

This example of the shoes is one way of thinking about the rules around the Israelites' interaction with God. They needed to respect the holiness [set apart purpose] of God almighty and not defile His "home" with filthiness from the world.

We'll see a shift in this thinking as we look forward from this old covenant to the new covenant with Jesus. Before, what was holy would become defiled when touched by something deemed "unclean." Under Jesus and ever since then, the unclean becomes clean when touched by that which is holy.

An example of this is when Jesus touched the leper, [something no one would ever do in His day because of uncleaness]. Jesus said, touched the man, and said, "Be clean." He was instantly made whole, healed of his leprosy, and set free from his bondage. Jesus, God in the flesh, touched what was unclean, making it clean.

Question: You already know that you cannot practically escape this world and its pollutants. With that in mind, how can you see how God wants to use you to bring what is "unclean" into contact with His Holy Kingdom that lives in you?

Prayer: Jesus, you were [and are] a friend to the broken. You healed their wounds to bring them into a relationship with your Father. Please teach me how to do likewise! I need your help! I need a daily reminder that the war we are waging is not against flesh and blood but is a war in the spiritual realm. People are not my enemy; they are victims of our enemy. Fill my heart with compassion and remove all fear I may have about those who have yet to meet you authentically. Thank you that greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!