Leviticus 20:26 Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.

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1 Separate January 23, 2014 Not Weird Deuteronomy 14 & 15 Page 1 Exodus 33:16 For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth? Leviticus 20:26 Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine. Isaiah 52:11 Depart, depart, go out from there, Touch nothing unclean; Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves, You who carry the vessels of the LORD. 2 Corinthians 6:14 18 Don t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty. (NLT) Did any of the aforementioned scriptures say come out and be weird? We have just received instruction as to how not to allow ourselves to be sucked in by We are to worship differently than We belong to the Lord We need to live in light of that So what exactly are some of the specifics involved with living a separated life? Moses now moves into a restatement of some of the basic life principles that he first provided in Exodus and Leviticus This is now being given to the next generation The people are about to receive familiarization with what it means It is important to know this prior to entering into the strange cultures and ideals represented by the nations on the other side of the Jordan

2 Page 2 This is intended to show the people that they are to be In the culture they were going into a sign of mourning included shaving the center of your head as well as cutting and marking yourself. This is still practiced today In Shi ite Muslim culture, it is called the Festival of Muharram The nation is told not to the world But even today, believers copy the world It becomes clear why God wanted the people to worship Him in a manner that is than the world Being holy and separated to God meant not disfiguring your body as they were to be His here on earth We have a clear example of the exact behavior to be avoided 1 Kings 18:25 29 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it. Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, O Baal, answer us. But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made. It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened. So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention. 1 Kings 18:36 38 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. Next comes instruction on how to remain holy in the simple task of eating Remember, all pagan temples tended to have a restaurant or meat market attached to them

3 Is this for us today? Page 3 Mark 7:14 20 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. And He said to them, Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated? (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. What does God consider to be detestable or abominable other than certain foods which were not to be eaten by the nation? Abominable Things A. Unclean food, Deut. 14:2 B. Idols, Deut. 7:25; 18:9, 12; 27:15 C. Pagan spiritists, Deut. 18:9, 12 D. Burning children to Molech, Lev. 18:21 22; 20:2 5; Deut. 12:31; 18:9, 12; 2 Kgs. 16:3; 17:17 18; 21:6; Jer. 32:35 E. Canaanite idolatry, Deut. 13:14; 17:4; 20:17 18; 32:16; Isa. 44:19; Jer. 16:18; Ezek. 5:11; 6:9; 11:18, 21; 14:6; 16:50; 18:12 F. Sacrificing blemished animals, Deut. 17:1 (cf. 15:19 23; Mal. 1:12 13) G. Sacrificing to idols, Jer. 44:4 5 H. Remarrying a woman whom you had previously divorced, Deut. 24:2 I. Women wearing man s clothes (possibly Canaan worship), Deut. 22:5 J. Money from cultic prostitution (Canaanite worship), Deut. 23:18 K. Israel s idolatry, Jer. 2:7 L. Homosexuality (possibly Canaanite worship), Lev. 18:22; 20:13 M. Use of false weights, Det. 25:16; Pro. 11:1; 20:23 N. Food laws violated (possibly Canaanite worship), Deut. 14:3 Bob Utley, Deuteronomy, Study Guide Commentary Series (Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International, 2008), Other Abominations The, Proverbs 3:32 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers. Proverbs 6:17 19 in heart, Proverbs 11:20, Proverbs 12:22 A non-believers sacrifice, Proverbs 15:8, Proverbs 16:5

4 Page 4 Those who pervert justice, Proverbs 17:15 Those who from the law, Proverbs 28:9 John 2:13 16 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, Take these things away; stop making My Father s house a place of business. The problem was not the provision of animals for sacrifice, but it was blocking access to the Gentiles as this was all being done in the court of the gentiles It was also the money changing The Sabbatical Year Where Israel Failed Deuteronomy 15 God s poverty program for the nation Every seven years Do not Stop your Cancel all the outstanding Every Fifty years cancel all Tithe for the poor every three years (see chapter 14) Listen obediently Observe carefully What happened The nation did not listen obediently or carefully 2 Chronicles 36:18 21 All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete. The nation had not kept the Sabbath year for years Poverty seems to be, for the nation, the direct result of

5 Page 5 Ruling over many nations? Reign of Solomon 2 Chronicles 9:26 He was the ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River even to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. Downhill from that point on Didn t we just see that Moses was confident there would be no poor if everyone obeyed and believed? This is reality though, that everyone will not obey and believe God had told them that if they would obey Him, there would be no poor in the land. But because God knows the human heart, He tells them that there will always be poor people in the land. J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary: The Law (Deuteronomy), vol. 9, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 104. It was possible that in order to pay off bills, someone would sell themselves into servitude to pay it off When released, they would have something to start off again. The assumption also being they would be back in their land too Someone who does this is called a As believers, the moment we give our life to Christ, we are set free, yet we choose to stay and serve Romans 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God

6 Page 6 Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John We are all of the Lord. He has set us free from that situation which we could not set ourselves free from The first born of the flock or the herd to the Lord It was to be sacrificed The cost of their salvation was before them all year up until they sacrificed For us as well as the Lord has blessed us and enlarged us Past teachings, study notes and slides of Through the Bible with Pastor Ken Brown are available at: