Do not live by the regulations of the nation which I am expelling ahead of you; because they did all these things, which is why I detested them. But to you I have said, “You will inherit their land; I will give it to you as a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am YHVH your God, who has SET YOU APART from other peoples“.-Leviticus 20:23-24
The last few verses of Leviticus 20 reveal something of extraordinary importance.
God tells us that He is transferring ownership of the Land of Canaan to the Israelites.
And He makes it clear that His decision is anything but arbitrary.
The caveat God has attached to the Israelites inheriting their Promised Land is that they must NOT “live by the regulations of the nation which I am expelling ahead of you; because they did all these things, which is why I detested them”.
In verse 22, God further adds that if the Israelites are not faithful in keeping His commands, the Land will vomit them out!
Unfortunately, within 500 years from the time of Moses, that is exactly what happened.
The Land did vomit them out!
King Solomon ended up bowing down to the heathen god Molech (while simultaneously worshipping YHVH).
And later on, Kings Manasseh and Ammon would demand that all Israelites residing within their jurisdiction bow down to Molech.
Constant flirtations with any number of false gods seems to have been a constant theme with practically every king of Israel with the exception of King David.
Now in verses 24-25, a very interesting and significant statement is made concerning WHY the Lord established the laws of CLEAN and UNCLEAN as pertaining to diet, sacrifices and other areas.
Rarely, does the Lord give us a direct reason why, usually we have to look at the patterns in Scripture to gain understanding but this time He gives us a clear reason.
Let’s take a good look at these verses and note the words I have colored in red, bolded, and underlined.
“I am YHVH your God, who has set you apart from other peoples. Therefore you are to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and between clean and unclean birds; do not make yourselves detestable with an animal, bird or reptile that I have set apart for you to regard as unclean.”-Leviticus 20:24-25
English Bible translations miss the awesome significance of what is being communicated here.
Let me rewrite these verses replacing the red and bolded words with the original Hebrew, and prepare to have your mind blown into itsy bitsy little pieces.
“I am YHVH your God, who has BADAL from other peoples. Therefore you are to BADAL between clean and unclean animals and between clean and unclean birds; do not make yourselves detestable with an animal, bird or reptile that I have set apart for you to regard as unclean.”-Leviticus 20:24-25
The EXACT SAME Hebrew word is being used to indicate the separation of Israel from the world AND for the separation of CLEAN animals from UNCLEAN animals!!!
BADAL means to “set apart” or “distinguish from another”.
Are you catching the true meaning and significance of this?
In the same way that God makes a distinction between Israel and all the other nations of the world is the SAME WAY we are to make a distinction between CLEAN and UNCLEAN things in our lives!
And remember that Israel possessed no special merit of its own for God to declare them CLEAN, as opposed to everybody else being declared UNCLEAN.
The same goes for the issue of CLEAN and UNCLEAN animals.
No animal of its own merits “deserved” to be declared CLEAN and the opposite is also true.
CHOSEN and UNCHOSEN and CLEAN and UNCLEAN were all based on God’s sovereign decisions which He made for His own good reasons.
Wonderful thanks for writing
Thanks for reading Steven!
Hi dear! I just was touched by YHWH and I’m listening to workship muaic and I’m curious with every word in Hebrew that I’m learning from the songs! I’m a theologian and I use to workship Jesus Christ thinking that this FAKE name was the REAL name of the son of Almighty YHWH. I saw a Brasilian bro.reveling all the plot about Jesus name to us in youtube and he said the REAL name of Almighty’s YHWH son is Yaohushua. Another bro.said that is Yahshua. Any way I was looking to know about.the words Kadosh Atah that I heard and saw the spelling in s workship song and I ended up seeing about this issue, and I clicked on it. i read the article, but I couldn’t find the point that I was seeking to know that is under the grace any animal that we aren’t supposted to be eating. If you could let me know I highly appreciate it!!
What exactly is your question?
One day I believe thousands will gleam from Messianic Revolution because of the simplicity of your teachings…I know I’m learning a lot and am grateful to Holy Spirit for leading me in your direction.
Hi Angela, Thank you so much for your encouraging comment. It’s positive feedback like this that keeps me going. May you be richly blessed! Shalom!
We have a small group of four ladies that have been reading your posts for several months, meeting once a week. We have thoroughly enjoyed all we have read and look forward to going through all five books.
Hey Karen, Thanks for the warm feedback on my post. I’m happy you have found my Torah studies inspiring and educational. May I ask whereabouts in the world are you located? Be blessed and Shalom!
Menard Texas
We are in the northwest hill country of Texas.
The hunters come here to hunt white tailed deer..as we have a large population of them.
We four ladies are hunters of truth, and we found it in our Torah Study with your help, thanks again and blessings in His Name.
Thanks for your reply Karen. I have warm memories of Texas when I was traveling through Dallas over 20 years ago. The people there are so hospitable. I was traveling alone during the holiday season and one family just invited me, a complete stranger to their home, for a Thanksgiving dinner. Will never forget that. Thanks again for reading my blog. Be blessed and shalom!