Leviticus Chapter 18

LEVITICUS 

CHAPTER 

18

1. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2. Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am the LORD your God. 3. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 1 to 3)

Oh God You love us so much that You wish us to be free from our past and the habits, beliefs, values and behaviour that may not have been so positive to adopt a new lifestyle based on the teachings found in  the Bible that You gave us as the manual on which to base our spiritual, social and psychological life on earth. Moreover You do not wish us to be contaminated by the elements of negativity that may be found in our environments at work, school or even at home. This means that we  are always to be aware of ourselves, our actions and the teachings that You give me every day of my life in order to live a life that is according to Your will.


4. My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep. following them: I am the LORD your God.  5. You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the LORD.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 4 to 5)


Oh god my Father if we observe your commandments we will live our lives according to Your will and this is true life, for life without You and Your ways is not life at all but something like life. without You and Your ways, the life of this world is not worth living, because it does not offer life but sin that leads to the death of the soul. This is offered by means of excessive luxury, excessive consumption of luxuries and the false impression that our life on earth is forever and that our life on earth is our true fulfilment meaning that our belief in You is meaningless.


6. None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness; I am the LORD.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verse 6)



Oh God when You said nobody You meant nobody therefore this means that nobody is excluded from the rule.


7. Shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is the the nakedness of your father.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 7 to 8)


Oh God uncovering the nakedness of someone does not only mean the flesh, although that is already disgraceful and dishonourable. However when we share the secrets of the parents as in the case of abuse of any form publicly in order to shame such people instead of going to the right authorities this is also of dishonour and is also exposing the persons nakedness to others.


9. You shall not uncover  the nakedness of your sister, your father's  daughter or your mother's daughter, whether born at home or born abroad. 10. You shall not uncover the nakedness  of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 9 to 10)


Oh God  whenever we say anything about others whether good or bad to others this reflects who we are, our values beliefs and also our character, so much that others may judge us as based on the image that we project.


11. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, begotten by your father, since she is your sister.  12. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's flesh.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 11 to 12)


Oh God if we could only consider everybody as being a member of our family, we would be nice loving and caring towards each other. 


13. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister; for she is your mother's flesh. 14. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is you shall not approach his wife, she is your aunt.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 13 to 14)


Oh God, I thank You for helping and wanting us to breed respect love and care for our in-laws, and not treat them indifferently especially if they are of a particular age.


15. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter; and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your flesh; it is depravity. 18. And you shall not take a woman as a rival to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 15 to 18)


As You said oh God the act of being unfaithful in either way be it from the husband or wife's side is not acceptable. Moreover neither is the abuse of minors as in paedophilia.


19. You shall not approach a woman while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verse 19)


for those who think that  the Old Testament is pro men and discredits women please reconsider. Oh God You not only love and respect women, but You choose to have one as Your mother.  According to this law You are protecting women against unwanted sexual relationships such as that of rape. Amen. you love your children so much that You do not want to see them hurt.


20. You shall not have sexual relations with your kinsman's wife, and defile yourself with her.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verse 20)


Oh God since the very beginning of time You established the family as based on the union of a male and a female, thus leaving no opportunity for a third party as in unfaithful relationships to exist. However such negative acts are still taking place in many different social environments, both on line and even offline. According to statistics as found in the following link, unfaithfulness in marriage at some time or other is bound to take place.


Infidelity Statistics

America Statistics


Oh God I pray that You protect our families with Your loving kindness and protection of the Holy Spirit. Anoint our families against this scourge of infidelity that is destroying many families and the very structure of our society. Amen


21. You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verse 21)


Oh God as humans we are also to be careful not to end up offering ourselves to Satan without our knowing it. When we start living an evil life we automatically become an offering to this evil spirit.


22. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verse 22)


Oh God my Father I am happy that you gave me this biblical verse on which to reflect, for this is a reality that is still taking place today. According to legislation promulgated by our wise members of parliament who were not being led by Your Holy Spirit but by the evil spirit of Satan, the code of civil marriage was not only drafted but also approved according to the law that humans of the same gender can become married. This is one abomination after another.


23. You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is perversion.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verse 23)


Oh God  as You well know there are not only hybrid cars in the world but even humans who prefer to have sexual relations with animals instead of their spouses. This is not love, but the gratification of the lusts and wants of the body in an non natural way that goes against Your will.


24. Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves. 25. Thus the land became defiled; and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 24 to 25)


Oh God You are true and just in Your dealings with us humans. Throughout these chapters You have been making us aware of one issue or sin after another.Now that our awareness has been raised it is our responsibility to decide if we wish to continue walking in our old ways, or to decide to base our lives according to Your ways is found in the Bible that is a reliable manual on which we can base our lives and start fresh.

26. But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the citizen or the alien who resides among you 27. (for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled) 28. otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29. For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people. 30. So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you, and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God.

(Leviticus Chapter 18 verses 26 to 30)


Oh my God and Father how serious is the issue of my salvation! If the promised land would vomit out Your people if they defile it by committing any of the mentioned abominations, how more will we be vomited out of our heavenly home if we are there and still wilfully disobey Your will. 

I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:


Oh God I would like to consecrate my life to You, so that all I do think and say, will be blessed and controlled by You. I offer You each second of my life, may I never waste any second of it. May I always be of help as a tool in Your hands at the right moments and in helping the right person as the situation requires of me Amen. I also pray that when You call me to enter the promised land I will have my hands full of good deeds and will merit to live by Your side Amen.

Leviticus Chapter 17

LEVITICUS 

CHAPTER 

17

1. The LORD spoke to Moses: 2. Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them: This is what the LORD has commanded. 3. If anyone of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, 4. and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to present it as an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, he shall be held guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood, and he shall be cut off from the people.

(Leviticus Chapter 17 verses 1 to 4)

Oh God my Father Your intentions are always clear and good. In order to discriminate between the bloodshed that takes place during a sacrificial offering and that that takes place in murder or when the offering is not offered to You You gave Israel this instruction. 

Every day oh God I offer all I do to You my God. Before doing anything I make the sign of the cross which means that all that I am about to do is going to be done for You as an offering and I believe that You bless all that I do in return.


5. This is in order that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the LORD, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and offer them as sacrifices of well-being to the LORD.

(Leviticus Chapter 17 verse 5)


Oh God Your ways are just and reliable. I thank You for giving us such instructions that are according to Your will. I pray that as Christians we are ready to submit our wills to walk in Your ways.


6. The priest shall dash the blood against the altar of the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and turn the fat into smoke as a pleasing odor to the LORD, 7. so that they may no longer offer their sacrifices for goat-demons, to whom they prostitute themselves. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.

(Leviticus Chapter 17 verses 6 to 7)


Oh God even though today we may not prostitute directly to such goat-demons however these goat demon images tend to crop up in rock environments such as heavy metal which have a tinge of Satanism in them.

8. And say to them further: Anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9. and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it to the LORD, shall be cut off from the people.

(Leviticus Chapter 17 verses 8 to 9)


Oh God I wish to offer You all that I do, all that I think and all that I say. I would like to offer you all my life as a living sacrifice. When I do the sign of the cross before doing my work, or driving my car I am offering You this action in faith that You will not only accept it but also bless it and perfect it. Amen. Thank You for showing a genuine interest in all we do and say.

10. If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut that person off from the people. 11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for as life, it is the blood tat makes atonement.

(Leviticus Chapter 17 verses 10 to 11)


As You said oh God the life of the creature is in the blood and this was specifically to be offered to You. This verse is enough to make us herbivores or vegetarians so as not to consume blood. Moreover from the blood of Your passion You gave us the opportunity to live again amen. Blessed be Your blood oh God my Father.

12. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel: No person among you shall eat blood, nor shall any alien who resides among you eat blood. 13. And anyone of the people of Israel, or of the aliens who reside among them. who hunts down an animal or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14. For the life of every creature-its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.

(Leviticus Chapter 17 verses 12 to 14)


Oh God You prohibited us from killing creatures to use for human consumption. This was also a way of prohibiting us from killing humans, however oh God today both are being violated in the sense that although animals and humans have a right to live, both are being denied of this right to lead a life according to Your will.

15. All persons, citizens or aliens, who eat what dies of itself or what has been torn by wild animals, shall wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening; then they shall be clean. 16. But if they do not wash themselves or bathe their body, they shall bear their guilt.

(Leviticus Chapter 17 verses 15 to 16)

Oh God as You decreed anybody involved in such acts of bloodshed is guilty of ones actions. One can only imagine those guilty of the slaughtering of chicken and other poultry in the world. Even though the intention is that of creating a source of food to nourish society according to the message of the Bible it is still considered as bloodshed. The most healthy alternative is that of eating vegetables which if properly prepared also contain enough protein to replace that found in the flesh of chicken and other creatures or poultry.


Oh God my Father I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:


Oh God tonight I pray for the many people that have been the victims of bloodshed.  In mind I have those people who recently have been beheaded and raped simply because they believe in You. In Your Name I pray that all wars come to an end and for Your peace and not the peace of the world to be dominant over our sins Amen.