Holy Separation

Holy Separation (Leviticus 20:22-26)

Today I want to give you three ways God’s people are separated from everyone else:
1. God’s people are separated morally (v.22-23)
22 “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 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.
- One reason God is giving the land to the Israelites, is because the people who were living there were doing evil things.
- If you spend time reading about all the rules in this book about what the Israelites were supposed to do and not supposed to do, you’ll get an idea of what the people to the land were doing!
- It can basically be broken down to three types of sin:
1) Neglect of the poor
- To counteract the deeds of the current inhabitants of the land, God gave the Israelites commands like this:

Leviticus 19:9-10: 9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to
its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your
vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for
the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your
God.
- This was a built in welfare system of sorts.
- They always left some for the poor.
2) Sexual immorality
- Chapter 18 speaks on “uncovering nakedness” with certain people.
- This phrase was synonymous with sexual relations.
- It’s polite way to discuss subjects that, quite frankly, should not be discussed.
- God basically spends an entire chapter decrying incest.
- He also condemns adultery, men lying with men, women lying with women, and either lying with animals.
- All of those statutes preclude our passage today.
- The land was rife with sexual immorality and God’s people were to keep to husband and wife, as per His design.
3) Social injustice
- Several types of people were often taken advantage of:
- Senior adults, immigrants, widows, and children.
- So God speaks about that:
- He says to not participate in child sacrifice.
- He says: Leviticus 19:32: You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
- Then, in taking advantage of people for financial gain: Leviticus 19:35-37: 35 You shall do no wrong in
judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36 You shall have just balances, just
weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.
- So to live differently from culture by which they were entering, The Israelites are instructed take care of the poor, quit the rampant sexual sin, and see to it that all people are treated
fairly.
- APP: It’s important to note that God holds individuals responsible for their own sin.
- However, we see that God will judge cultures (which are made up of individuals) if they are not living up to the standards of God.
- God had a different relationship with Israel than he does any other country, including America.
- But, as we see, God judges all countries based on how they treat people.
- God was kicking out the Canaanites because of their evil.
- Therefore, in whatever nation you live in, it would do you well to take a look at how your nation stacks up.
- How do we stack up in these areas?

- Neglect of the poor: Because of the heavy Christian influence, the American poor are treated much better than most of the world.
- There will always be poor people, but generally speaking, America does offer many routes to freedom from financial poverty.
- Sexual immorality: In America, this is bad.
- There are non-christian nations and cultures that far way better at this than we do.
- If you read all of the ways the cultures were being sexually immoral, it’s much different than America today.
- This is cause for concern.
- Social Injustice: Are there groups of people who are treated more unfairly than others.
- This is a hot topic of political debate.
- Some would say so and others would say it’s fine.
- No matter where you fall on that spectrum, we would all agree that all people in America, even non-citizens, should be treated fairly.
- I’m not trying to make a political statement, but God had very harsh words for the Israelites about sojourners: those who were not citizens of their land but living there. Leviticus 19:33-34: 33 When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
- So the next time you’re at Walmart and you hear someone not speaking English, remember you’re called to love them.

2. God’s people are separated symbolically (v.24-25)
24 But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 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.
- Traditionally, scholars have divided the types of laws that God gives to the Israelites into three categories:
- Moral, Ceremonial, and Civil.
- In other words, some laws were moral in nature. They reflected the character of God.
- Others were more ceremonial, meaning they are not necessarily moral, such as the eating of pork, etc.
- They had a meaning, but did not carry the seam weight as “thou shall not murder.”
- And then there were civil laws, which dealt with specific things related to the Israelite nation.
- However...the Bible never seems to differentiate between these types of laws.
- They are all grouped together.
- With that said, we realize that as believers, some aspects of God’s moral law do weigh heavier than participating in a Jewish feast or eating an animal that was viewed as unclean.
- The idea of uncleanness was given to the Jewish people to visibly show that hey were different from the other nations.
- Cultural symbol to remind Israel that God’s holiness was to affect all areas of their lives.
- They were separated symbolically.

- We use symbols all the time.
- They are marks of separation.
- Let’s look at some well known symbols:
-God still uses symbols to differentiate believers from the world.
- The two primary symbols he uses is baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
- Baptism: Baptism takes its origin in the Jewish faith.
- The Jews would baptize proselytes to signify the converts’ “cleansed” nature.
- John the Baptist used baptism to prepare the way of the Lord, requiring everyone, not just Gentiles, to be baptized because everyone needs repentance.
- Christmas are baptized in name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- It is through baptism that we are officially join into the church.
- Baptism doesn’t give us salvation.
- Baptism is a symbol of what has happened to us.
- It’s a mini play, a reenactment.
- Baptism also looks back on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- It shows how we have died to sin. Romans 6:4: We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we
too might walk in newness of life.
- When you are baptized, you are visibly confessing your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
- We are saved, then we are baptized and show through a symbol that we are believers.
- This separates us from the world symbolically.
- The other way we are symbolically separated from the world is through the Lord’s Supper.
Luke 22:19-20: 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them,
saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup
after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
- The Lord’s Supper is for believers to take, thus showing that they are in a covenant relationship with Jesus.
- His body was broken on the cross.
- His blood was shed on the cross.
- This symbol separates believers from the world.
3. God’s people are separated possessively (v.26)
26 You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
- You belong to God.
- You are God’s.

- God is fatherly to all mankind, but not all of mankind are hischildren.
- Only those who have been saved by his blood are His.
- Only those who have placed their faith in Him are His.
- Only those who have asked forgiveness for their sins are His.
- We are his possessions.
1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light.
1 Cor. 3:23: and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
- John David is learning how to share.
- Not everything is His.
- He’s learning that.
- Sometimes he’ll say “sharing is caring” and take a toy from someone.
- I try to tell him that just because you say that doesn’t mean you can then take it.
- The other person has to willingly give it to you to be sharing.
- Or else you’re just taking, and that’s the opposite of sharing.
- Listen, when it comes to His people, God doesn’t share.
- And that should be good news to all of us.