Originally posted: 05/15/2019
Profane: “characterized by irreverence or contempt for God or sacred principles or things; irreligious; not devoted to holy or religious purposes; unconsecrated; secular; to treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt; to debase by a wrong, unworthy, or vulgar use.”
“You shall not… nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord,” (18:21).
He has called His people to Himself; He has declared His intention to dwell with them in their very midst; He has initiated His covenant to establish a kingdom set apart unto Himself; He has provided atonement, forgiveness of sin and redemption for His people, purchasing them as His own.
And now He clearly expresses, because they are His, their reasonable response will be to live in a way that conveys Him in truth, as most holy, the Lord their God, worthy of reverence and obedience, as Him Who Will Not Be Profaned.
His call to holy living, to obey Him, begins and ends with an authoritative pronouncement to His people, He is the Lord and He is their God. He has every right to expect obedience and faithfulness from them, to expect them to treat Him as the Lord their God, Who Will Not Be Profaned.
Consider Him Who Will Not Be Profaned
- He Will Not Be Profaned; He IS the Lord your God.
- Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God,” (18:1-2).
- He Will Not Be Profaned; His people MUST NOT walk in the ways of the world.
- “You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes,” (18:3).
- He Will Not Be Profaned; His people MUST keep His statues and judgments.
- “You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God,” (18:4).
- He Will Not Be Profaned; He IS the Lord your God.”
- “So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord… 30Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the Lord your God,” (18:5, 30).
How do we respond to Him Who Will Not Be Profaned?
Leviticus 18 is not a road map to salvation; He alone provides His gift of eternal life to all who believe in His Name through the sacrifice of His shed blood on our behalf. Rather, Leviticus 18 communicates His expectation of His children to treat Him as He deserves, as holy and pure, as Him Who Will Not Be Profaned, in the way we live our lives.
As we grow in our knowledge of Him, our understanding of His authority and holiness increases. Let us pray we grow in His truth and in our desire and obedience to live and worship Him in holiness. Let us prayerfully examine our lives as we consider the following:
- Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in holy array, (Psalm 29:2). - Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven, (Matthew 5:16).
- Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, (Ephesians 4:1).
- Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; (Philippians 1:27).
- …we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light, (Colossians 1:9-12).
- As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy,” (1 Peter 1:14-16).
How do we accomplish the impossible; live to let our light shine, walk in a manner worthy of Him in holy living? In our flesh, our own power, it is impossible. It is only in dying to self by faith and prayerful surrender to Jesus, depending on His Holy Spirit, that His life will be revealed in us so as to bring Him Who Will Not Be Profaned the glory He deserves.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh, (1 Corinthians 4:7-11).