Leviticus 18:3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
Who Calls the Shots?
The other night as my family and I were watching an old comedy sketch, I was struck by the fact that what we laugh at has changed drastically over the last 50 years. We find humor in things that we would not have found humorous 50 years ago, and we found humor in things 50 years ago that are no longer humorous to us. The things we think of as funny, odd, wrong, or normal tend to change when culture calls the shots, when the standard for normal is what the majority of people determine that it will be.
Leviticus 18 is a chapter about God’s sovereignty over mankind, specifically over the children of Israel. Throughout this chapter God repeats the refrain, “I am the LORD your God.” In other words, He is the God that sets the standard.
Now it is interesting that the book of Leviticus sounds so obscure to us because it is God’s timeless truth. If I were to ask you, “Which is more bizarre to you, the book of Leviticus or people who take it upon themselves to decide what marriage will be?” what would you say? What society considers to be a normal, healthy marriage has changed over time. What has not changed is God, God’s creation, God’s sovereignty, God’s created order.
In Leviticus 18:2-4 God says, “I am the LORD your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein; I am the LORD your God.” He goes on to describe a number of practices that are deviant from God’s created order.
In this changing world it is important for us to know that there is no limit to the vices you will accept if the culture calls the shots. Things that society considered wrong 50 years ago are largely accepted today. In fact, they are considered good. Things that were considered good 50 years ago are considered wrong today. That is why it is so important to have a fixed standard that is above man and beyond time. That standard is God, the God Who made us.
The standard is not our culture. The standard is not what is old and what is new. In fact, nothing is more old-fashioned than man’s rebellion against God. Such rebellion is recorded for us way back in the book of Leviticus!
In the end, stability comes from knowing God. There is no limit to the vices you will accept if the culture calls the shots. Thank God that culture does not. We have a God who loves us, made us, and has given us a clear record of Who He is and how He thinks.