“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.” (Leviticus 20:22–27)Some find this OT book a boring read, but if read with the will of God and godly principles in mind, it changes my thinking and my life. For instance, this passage points to two very different areas of life; the food I eat, and the way I seek spiritual truth.
The food issue has not been thoroughly studied, but I know one thing — what God forbids is generally not healthy. In those days, pork was prone to have parasites and other bacteria. While these dangers have been reduced now, back then people died from eating pork. I don’t know much about other forbidden foods, but trust God who knows what is dangerous to my well-being.
As for mediums and others involved in summoning the spirits of the dead, this is in the realm of demonic activity. Even if a sincere truth seeker in this area can open themself to dark and evil forces. Jesus called the devil a liar and the source of lies. If I go that direction, I would be setting myself up for disaster, even destruction.
All of this seems obvious to me now, but not all Christians are aware of these dangers. Some mess with horoscopes or eat forbidden food as if it were a delicacy, not realizing that God is not being a rule-maker without reason. While keeping these laws does not make me a redeemed person, paying attention to them marks me as someone who pays attention to God, trusting Him to know what is good for me and what is dangerous. It is faith in Him that makes the difference between trust and obey, or living by rules.
Jesus, we have been to restaurants that offer strange stuff on the menu that You say is unclean. We also have events in our city that feature mediums and others who tell fortunes and act as if they have knowledge of the spirit world, luring others to trust and even pay them to tell their futures or explain their problems. These and many other ‘forbidden things’ are not only a danger to true godliness, they insult You as if You are not Lord of all. Keep me alert and avoiding these lures that could destroy me. I’m so glad to know and trust You.
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