Leviticus 11 - Steve Wiggins Daily Devotional

“For I am the L_rd your G_d, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. For I am the L_rd who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your G_d, so you must be holy because I am holy.” Leviticus 11:44-45

The first ten chapters of Leviticus contain “The Law of the Sanctuary”, in the stricter sense of the term. With exception of paragraphs here and there, the remainder of the book deals with what might be described as “The Law of Daily Life”.

For the past decade, there has been an ongoing debate within the greater Messianic community (the Church) over Sacred vs. Secular. As a recording artist, I am weary of discussions over whether an artist should pursue the “Christian” market, or the general market with their music.

The Torah takes the whole of human life as its province; in the eyes of the Torah, nothing human is secular. It penetrates into the home of the Israelite and aims at controlling even the most intimate relations of his domestic existence.

How do these concepts of “clean and unclean” jive with belief in Yeshua? How can we, modern day believers, be separate from the World and yet go into it with the gospel? What does it mean to be “in-but-not-of” the World, as the Bible directs us?

Yeshua prayed to the Father, “I have given them your Word. The World hated them because they are not of the World, as I am not of the World. I am not praying that you take them out of the World, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the World, as I am not of the World. Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is the truth.” John 17:14-17

As G_d called Noah, Abraham, and Israel out from the nations…to be “consecrated” (set apart), so He calls us to come forth and be separate from the World. We are to present ourselves as “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to G_d”. Romans 12:1-5

The whole “in-but-not-of” directive is impossible for us, apart from the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) Who guides us through G_d’s Word. The Bible, divides soul and spirit, and washes our minds clean with truth. It directs us how to be set-apart from the World, so as to not be affected by its philosophy, and yet completely saturated in the culture, so as to affect it with the gospel.

Blessings,
~Steve Wiggins, Associate Leader, Worship Leader
Shuvah Yisrael
Daily Devotional, Monday, April 21, 2014