If
anyone who is unclean eats any meat of the fellowship offering . . . if anyone touches
something unclean and then eats any meat of the fellowship offering . . . that
person must be cut off from his people. (Leviticus 7:20, 21, 25, 27)
Whenever
I read this passage, I have to admit, the thought comes to me: God is so strict. I mean,
being excommunicated for what amounts to unwashed hands?
But
maybe the attitude problem isn't God's. Maybe
it's mine. Could it be that I don't take seriously enough God's holiness and
his desire for me to reflect that holiness?
After
the exiles returned to Jerusalem, God confronts the priests through the prophet
Haggai: If . . . that fold [of your
garment in which you are carrying consecrated meat] touches some bread or stew
. . . does it become consecrated? (2:12). The answer is “No.” Then he turns
it around: If a person defiled by contact
with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled? (2:13)
The answer is “Yes.” Apparently, in this analogy uncleanness spreads passively by
contact. Holiness is never passive… never follows the path of least resistance.
Our
fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God
disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. (Hebrews 12:10) God
intentionally works holiness into our lives.
Is
there anything in your life that God calls sin, but you’ve dismissed as
insignificant?
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