Be Holy For He Is Holy

God spoke to me this morning/week and I want you to hear about it.

Praise the Lord when he speaks so clearly to you in scripture! This morning I found myself in Leviticus 20, but little did I know God planned to take me elsewhere in the Old Testament this morning. This chapter spends a lot of time focusing on the punishments for the different levitical laws established in earlier chapters, and most of them result in death, from adultery, to sacrificing firstborns to idols and other gods. But towards the end of the chapter, I found a beautifully stunning portion of scripture, which only could have been inspired by the Holy Spirit.

"you shall therefore keep all my statues and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. But I have said to you, "you shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean."

- Leviticus 20:22-25

Notice how it says "I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. You shall therefore"... The "therefore" refers to the previous statement, so one could read it as "therefore because The LORD has separated you from the peoples (other nations) you shall separate the clean beast from the unclean etc...

It is quite clear that God was the one who took initiative; first He separated us, His people, from the world and as a result, we respond in obedience and making sure we are actively pursuing holiness in our own lives. For them back then, it was acts such as separating the clean and unclean animals, but for us today, it consists of the elimination of anything that is sinful, anything that does not bring glory to God and anything that is not aligned with the Word of God.

This idea of God taking the first step reminded me of a sermon I heard a while back ago by Kevin DeYoung which also focused on the theme of holiness (it was about evangelism and pornography, interesting mix right? you can listen to it HERE). He based his talk on Ezekiel 36:22-38. This passage is what the LORD had to say when his people, the people of Israel, had been continually defiling and profaning the name of the LORD.

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the LORD GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about the act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I WILL vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the LORD GOD, when through you (the people of Israel) I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 

I WILL take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 

I WILL sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols.  

I WILL cleanse you. 

and I WILL give you a new heart, and a new spirit I WILL put within you. And I WILL remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  

and I WILL put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my rules.  

And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I WILL deliver you from all your uncleannesses. and I WILL summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I WILL make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.  

Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the LORD GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. "Thus says the LORD GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I WILL cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. And they will say, "this land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are not fortified and inhabited." 

Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replayed that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.  

"Thus says the LORD GOD: this also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock. Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities by filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.""

- Ezekiel 36:22-38

God acts. He will restore. He will redeem. Even though there are times where we just as the people of Israel were unfaithful and wicked, God stepped in, not for our sake but for the sake of His holy name, BUT He chooses to use us to vindicate that holiness. Not only that, but He gives us a new heart, places His Spirit within us, delivering us from our sins. And on top of that, He promises blessings, abundant fields and harvests, plentiful grain. He takes it one step further; He will rebuild the city, restore the land like the garden of Eden, and ultimately, the nations shall know that He is the LORD. He has spoken, and He will do it.

God is committed to your sanctification and the salvation of the nations. 

Isn't the God the Bible, the God we serve, amazing? He is full of grace, compassion and mercy to those who fall short, the broken, the sinful, and the wicked; outstretched, His arm reaches to each and everyone of us.

Leviticus 20:26 reads, "You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine."

The Creator of heaven and earth is calling you to Him. He has separated you from the peoples, because He wants both you and I. Made in the image of the almighty God, knit by his hands, and formed in the womb, return to the LORD, and be holy, for He the LORD is holy.