Today we begin Leviticus chapter 20.
For the Complete Jewish bible, click here.
For the King James version, click here.
“YHVH said to Moshe, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘If someone from the people of Israel or one of the foreigners living in Israel sacrifices one of his children to Molech, he must be put to death; the people of the land are to stone him to death.”-Leviticus 20:1-2
In our study of chapter 20, I’m going to be focusing more on the PRINCIPLES brought up in this chapter rather than the individual sinful acts discussed (though I may delve deep into some of those).
The first point I want you to notice is that between the end of verse 1 and the beginning of verse 2, we are given a crystal clear definition to whom these rulings are being directed.
It say to anyone from among the Israelites including the stranger dwelling with them.
This covers ANY CITIZEN of Israel.
It could be referring to a native born Israelite or a foreigner who has renounced his former pagan gods and pagan way of life to dedicate himself to YHVH.
And in addition it includes the GER living in Israel.
That’s right.
A GER is of a separate category than the foreigner who has enjoined himself to Israel.
A GER is actually a foreigner who has NOT decided to renounce his pagan gods but has decided to live in Israel probably for the benefits he can get from such a relationship.
I point this out to show how wrong it is when the church teaches that “The laws in the Old Testament were just for Israel and today are just for the Jews or those of Hebrew descent”.
The notion promoted is that nothing in the TORAH applies to modern gentile believers.
Well, at this point in our study of the TORAH, it should be pretty clear that nothing could be further from the truth.
And again, I remind you that it is NOT obedience to God’s Law that brings salvation.
God’s Law is only for the believer.
God’s Law is what you obey AFTER you have been saved as an expression of your salvation.
Remember God saved Israel from Egypt first, and then AFTERWARDS, He gave them His TORAH, not vice versa.
Let us not forget that the purpose of the LAW is to teach what HOLINESS is and how to recognize HOLINESS.
The TORAH teaches us what is acceptable to God and what is not.
The purpose of the TORAH is to show a saved person how to live HOLY life.
Its purpose is NOT to save an unbeliever (and it never was).
So what we find here at the outset of Leviticus chapter 20 is that even if someone wants to live among God’s chosen without formally becoming one of God’s chosen, that’s fine, but that person will still be subject to God’s TORAH.
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