When studying Leviticus, there is one all-important God-principle which I have spoken about countless times that takes center stage in this book.
I am talking about the principle of DIVISION, ELECTION, and SEPARATION, the idea that The Lord makes distinctions and draws boundaries between people and things.
What’s interesting is that the modern Church has taken the opposite route.
We can see this, for example, in their legitimatizing of homosexual marriage.
We can see it in the so-called Chrislam movement (the attempt to harmonize Islam with Christianity).
The church prioritizes INCLUSION above all else and they attempt to achieve this via CONSENSUS, CONFORMITY, AND TOLERANCE.
So far we have thoroughly studied our way through both Genesis and Exodus and I think it’s pretty safe to say that the Lord is ANYTHING but a God of tolerance and inclusion.
From the very opening verses of Genesis where God divides the light from the darkness to throughout all the Scriptures, we witness the Lord constantly separating evil from good, truth from deception, chaos from order, and Israel from all other people groups on earth.
And when we examine the sacrificial system, we will see the same principle of DIVISION and SEPARATION occurring over and over again.
We will encounter divisions and distinctions made between the…
clean and unclean
holy and profane
divine and fleshly
And in terms of daily lifestyle, we will see distinctions being made in the areas of…
ritual purity
sexual conduct
diet.
In Leviticus, in a very meticulous manner, the Lord will through His commands make it very clear what type of behavior is acceptable for those who are to be called His own or His chosen.
We will also see, CONTINUOUSLY, that the Lord does NOT in any way tolerate what He has declared as unacceptable.
Those who behave in unacceptable ways are to be cut off and EXCLUDED from membership in that one and only group He has declared to be “His people”…Israel.
One might wonder why the modern Church, which claims to be the body of Messiah, has fallen so far from the Scriptural principle of SEPARATION and sought to obtain unity at any cost, as though compromise and uniform agreement to a manmade doctrine is Godly?
The answer is simple and it is the same answer that explains why any entity, whether person or group, fails to live a life pleasing to the Lord.
It is because of the distance the modern Church has over the years slowly but surely put between itself and the actual words and commands of Holy Scripture.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“They are not of the world,
even as I am not of it.”
-John 17:16
“Do not love the world or anything in the world.
If anyone loves the world,
love for the Father is not in them.”
-1 John 2:15
And then will I declare to them,
‘I never knew you;
depart from me,
you workers of lawlessness.’
-Matthew 7:23
I like this study! The only part that I object to thus far is the talk of the “church” being tolerant. I don’t claim a denomination because I was saved at work. I do, however, attend a church where they are really not tolerant of homosexuality. They have written into their bylaws that no homosexual marriage will be performed in that church or recognized.
Glad you’re enjoying the study Linda. When I speak of the church as being tolerant, I am referring to a general trend. Of course, not all churches are like that. It seems like the one you’re attending now has a healthy respect for God’s commandments. Shalom.
Shalom – New whole Bible believer here – questions referencing “being of the world” – I love to garden and enjoy nature – this may sound silly – is that being “of the world”? Also I advocate for social and criminal justice reform – researching, speaking on social media etc- is that “of the world”? One last thing do you know where I could obtain a messianic Bible for free and other Torah- whole Bible belief/messianic based study books? – I signed up with HalleluYAH scriptures for a Bible a couple of months ago and haven’t heard or received anything 🙁 thanks again for any response
Hi Christina,
To answer your questions, of course enjoying gardening and nature is NOT being of the world. Quite the opposite actually, you’re enjoying the Lord’s Creation which is what He intended. I also don’t see your social justice reform activities as being of the world unless you are promoting organizations that are staunchly anti-Scripture such as being LGBT or having pro-abortion stance.
If you want to get a Messianic Bible for free, I guess the best thing is just to go online. Just google “online Bible” and you’ll be taken to a site where you’ll have your choice of literally dozens of Bible translation versions including the Complete Jewish Bible.
Hope this helps!
Be blessed and SHALOM!