Read Leviticus 11 -- 13
In Today's Reading:
Health and dietary laws; the cleansing (purification) of women after childbirth; signs and laws concerning leprosy
Over 40 times in Leviticus we read: I am the LORD or I am the LORD your God; and more than six times the Lord demands: You shall be holy; for I am holy. Both inward and outward, morally and spiritually, we must separate ourselves from all that defiles or suffer the consequences: I am the LORD your God: you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy (Leviticus 11:44). The Israelites were to eat clean food; have clean bodies, clean clothes, clean houses, clean personal hygiene; and be a clean nation (chapters 11 — 16).
The word unclean is used more than 100 times in Leviticus. It was necessary that every unclean thing be removed from their lives. God also required that the Israelites separate themselves from heathens, idolatry, immorality, and even unsanitary habits. The people of God were not to intermarry with Gentile unbelievers. The many sacrifices, rules, and regulations given concerning what is clean and what is unclean (what defiles a person), lead us to understand how sin separates us from God.
These requirements for holy living are also a daily reminder to every Christian today that whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31).
The Holy Spirit led the Apostle Paul to write: I beseech (beg) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1). And, to the church at Corinth, he wrote: You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are (I Corinthians 3:16-17). To the Ephesians, he wrote: Be holy and without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4). God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness (I Thessalonians 4:7). And it is also written: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
Word Studies:
11:3 clovenfooted = hoof parted into two distinct hooves; 13:2 rising = swelling; 13:4 shut up = isolate; 13:5 be at a stay = has not changed; 13:10 quick raw = ulcer forming; 13:51 fretting = contagious, spreading.
Christ Revealed:
Through the clean food of the believer (Leviticus 11:47). Our Lord is the Bread of Life (John 6:35), supplies living water (4:10,14), and His Father's will was His meat (food, nourishment) (4:34).
Pray For:
Government Officials: Gov. Jennifer Granholm (MI) and Gov. Charles Turnbull (Virgin Islands) · for the International Shortwave Radio Broadcast in honor of Henry Rogers · Country: Mozambique (19 million) on the eastern coast of Africa · Major language: Portuguese · Religious freedom · 40% worship of false gods, ancestral spirits, and some witchcraft; 23% Roman Catholic; 14% Protestant; 13% Muslim · Prayer Suggestion: Praise the Lord for the privilege of publishing His Word (Psalm 68:11).
Optional Reading: Mark 8
Memory Verse for the Week: Matthew 5:8