Crystal Writes A Blog

No Trespassing

Stop Sign No Trespassing by Flickr User Lee Cannon, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial Click image to open new tab/window to view original image and to access user’s full photo stream at Flickr.

How many different ways can you forbid someone from stepping over the line? No trespassing. Beware of Dog. Speed Limit 55. Go to Jail: Do not pass go. Our world is made up of laws, both written and implied, that are meant to keep us living within some kind of safe borders. Laws are supposed to be fences that keep us safe, but not in bondage.

In today’s reading from Leviticus 17:8 through Leviticus 18:5, we also learn that God’s laws add life. The laws covered today include both community members and foreigners living with them. They are told, as yesterday, that no one is to offer a burnt offering without bringing it to The Tent of Meeting. And then we are told that no one is to eat blood of any kind because life is in the blood. The law of the hunt is that if a person kills game, whether animal or bird, he is to drain the blood and bury the blood under dirt. And all these laws come with consequences for not keeping them.

In the last paragraph, God reminds the people to not live as the Egyptians from the land out of which they were delivered, and He tells them not to live as the Canaanites in the land which He is giving them. He reminds Israel that it was the disrespect of the law by the Canaanites that caused them to lose their lands and homes to begin with. He tells them that if they will see Him as God and live according to His laws and rulings, they will have life through the very laws they keep.

We have the same promise now. Even though we are forgiven for the sin that brings death, seeing Yahveh as The Lord of our lives, and living accordingly, will bring life. The natural laws show us this in how much better a baby will thrive it is adheres to the law of staying in the womb to a full term. Some manmade laws, like traffic lights at busy intersections, show us how much better we adults thrive if we show respect for the laws that are meant to protect us.

So many want to see God as just slinging laws around for the purpose of wielding His power, but I can see love–toward us and toward all life that He has created–in most every law I read. I say most because I don’t always have clear understanding of the laws, but even when I don’t see the love, I can trust that it’s there. I trust that a God who would create beings with free will instead of forcing us to obey and worship Him, truly has our best interest at heart. And, if we seek after His heart, we will want to show Him that we trust Him by not trespassing against His will. And like a child finds joy in pleasing a parent, I believe we will find joy and life in pleasing God by doing our best to walk within His safe boundaries and laws.

April 9, 2014 - Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Adonai, Almighty, Bible, Bible Gateway, Bible reading, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, Creator, crystalwriter, God, Holy Bible, Israel, laws, Leviticus, life, Lord, obey, Old Covenant, Old Testament, Parashah, Portions, Scripture, The Complete Jewish Bible, Torah, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Torah Reading, trespass, Word, Word of God, Word of the Lord, www.biblegateway.com, Yahveh, Yahweh