Leviticus 19:11-14 (ESV)
“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
Whenever I wake up in the morning and know the my time in God’s word is centered in Leviticus, I think the same thing: In the book of Leviticus God is showing us His character, His mindset and His holiness. We may not be able to relate to all the laws the book mentions, but we can relate the God behind the laws. We are learning how God thinks as we read Leviticus. We are learning who He is. We are learning about His holiness; His desire for us to be holy and separate from those around us in how we conduct ourselves. The above portion of Leviticus could not demonstrate these thoughts more. In the above words we see God’s character, mindset and His desire for us to be holy like Him.
How we treat others is the pathway to God’s character. This entire book demonstrates this, but the above even more specifically. God wants us to treat others with the highest respect and love. The same love He has for mankind we are to have for mankind. We are to set our own interest aside and approach those around us with God’s character. What is the reason God gives for us to live this way toward others? He states at the end of this set of verses and repeats it throughout these three chapters and the entire book: I am the LORD. In the entire book of Leviticus God states, “I am the LORD” 52 times; mostly in chapters 17-27. We are to treat others like God would treat them because He is the LORD. Our behavior toward others demonstrates our likeness to God.
No comments:
Post a Comment