Leviticus 20 Devotional

Set Apart to Be His

“You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.”Leviticus 20:26 (BSB)

Leviticus 20 attaches penalties to many of the sins named in chapter 18, and they are severe. Giving a child to Molech, turning to mediums, cursing father or mother, adultery, and forbidden unions all carry death or being cut off from the people (20:2, 6, 9-21). This is hard to read, and the chapter does not soften it. These sins profaned God's name and destroyed families and children (20:3).

Yet woven through the penalties is another kind of sentence. God calls himself the LORD who sanctifies Israel, the one who makes them holy (20:8). He has set them apart from the nations to be his own (20:24, 26). Their holiness began with his choice, not their performance, and the laws describe a life fitting for people who already belong to him. Hebrews says the one sacrifice of Jesus' body is what makes believers holy (Hebrews 10:10). Taking sin seriously flows from knowing that God has already claimed you as his own.

To think about: How does knowing that God has already set you apart change the way you fight against sin?