Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 20:24-26

24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. 

25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. 

26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

Today’s verses echo verse 7 at the start of the chapter. And back when I commented on verse 6, I grouped verse 27 with it as it also echoed the same sentiments against wizardry. It seems like there might be a chiasmatic structure here, with each thought at the start rhyming with those at the end in inverse order. That would explain the seemingly sudden shift of subject in verse 27, giving it poetic intent. That being said, things do get muddled in the middle and it is hard to see the continuing reflection pattern in verses 9-21. Perhaps there was once a poem through here and all we have remaining today are the bookends.

In any case, these verses reiterate God’s message to Israel that they are to be a separate, even a severed people. They were to stand out, to be peculiar, to resist the pull of their surrounding environment, to override their human instinct to conform and adapt. This is a hard thing. It goes against our basic nature. But so is resisting temptation and sin. Our nature, including our desire to conform and also our appetites, are given to us for good reasons, and they lead us to many good things, but both must be reined in, mastered, and at times surrendered entirely.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 34:5, 7-10

5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.

7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done.

8 And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.

9 And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

10 And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.

Shechem’s father Hamor showed just as much disconnect from his conscience as his son did. Never in his proposal did he offer any apology for what his son had done, and never did he acknowledge the abuse that Dinah had been made to suffer. Instead he sought to flatter them with arms wide open, welcoming them into the community like this was a joyous occasion.

And maybe that was typical of the cultures in that time, I’m not sure, but verse 7 makes abundantly clear how Jacob’s sons were seething at the offense. The Israelites were not here to be part of these godless, pagan cultures. They were called to be a “peculiar people,” distinct from all their neighbors, holding themselves to a higher standard.

Today it is the same. There are many philosophies that seek to minimize guilt for harmful actions, that try to laugh off serious offense, that tell us depravity is just how life is supposed to be. And as followers of the gospel we are meant to reject that emphatically, to hold ourselves apart as a “peculiar people,” to be bold enough to live better.