This chapter has several commandment recaps including tithing and and clean/unclean food, though we’re going to talk about one that is often misunderstood or overlooked.
“You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” (v1-2)
This is a reminder from Lev 19:28: “You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.”
Why didn’t God want people marring / marking themselves “for the dead”? Why would Israel want to mark themselves for the dead, and why is it such a bad thing?
I won’t go into the grisly details (I like to keep things PG), but the pagans (non-followers of God) had burial and mourning rituals that involved practices of self-mutilation, and God did not want His people adopting the pagan ways. God forbade His people from any pagan practices, including their mourning and worshiping false gods, because they had ungodly spiritual components, and God knew the practices would draw Israel away from Him.
Another reason we should not practice pagan burial and mourning rituals, is because they don’t believe in eternal life or salvation, so their ways will look different than those of God’s followers. Paul reminds us of this as well: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Ths 4:13-14)
My challenge for today is to objectively question some of the practices and rituals in our lives. For example, maybe we have a practice of knocking on wood hoping that something won’t happen, perhaps we throw salt over our shoulder if we spill it, or maybe we tell someone “bless you” when they sneeze. Perhaps there are even larger practices (beliefs) that we’ve innocently adopted from the world. Are any of these practices creating a stumbling block in our walk with God, or someone else’s walk with Him? I’m not suggesting that all rituals and practices are wrong if they’re not in the Bible – I’m suggesting that with the Holy Spirit’s help we should be discerning around practices which may inadvertently mislead someone away from God, no matter how harmless they appear on the surface. Let’s be attentive the the Spirit’s leading in our lives, invite His discernment, and be obedient to any changes He suggests.
Keep in mind also that God has a unique relationship with each of us, and what he tells me not to do, is not necessarily the same thing He convicts someone else on – our individual walks with God are not one-size-fits-all, so we should not impose these changes on others unless the Spirit clearly prompts us (eg. just because I don’t believe in saying “bless you” when someone sneezes, doesn’t mean I condemn those who do it or force that view on them). Let’s be gracious with each other as we grow nearer and more obedient to God.
Father God, our Most High King, great and mighty is Your name. We humbly ask Your forgiveness for the things we have done which draw us away from You. Father please fully restore us to Your presence. Through Your Holy Spirit please show us anything that causes us or others to be drawn away from You, no matter how small, and gently lead us away from those practices. Please help us to love and support those around us who are seeking to do the same, may we be gracious and patient with them. Jesus please be our guide as we seek to love our Father in heaven. In the name of our Savior we ask this, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training