Tuesday – Pentateuch

Reading – Leviticus 18-19

Highlight Verse:

“So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now.”
‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭18‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let’s be honest, I don’t like to write about sin all the time.

But that’s what today’s reading is about.

And nestled in the middle of it is another reason not to sin.

This one is not about pleasing God or not offending God, though those are good reasons not to sin.

This is about not defiling the land.

How would sinning defile the land?

The commentaries I read talk about bringing so much sin to a land that God brings His judgement and kicks the people out to bring in new people.

Others speak of making the land unworthy of God’s temple.

Those are valid ideas, but I think it goes further than that.

God designed us.

He created humankind and knew how human beings function best, physically, psychologically, and spiritually.

He even wrote the manual to help us understand ourselves and take care of ourselves and those around us the best possible way.

When we ignore those instructions, life doesn’t run very well.

When we ignore the instructions as a society, the whole community falls apart.

Take it far enough and the land falls into strife, war, poverty, and blight.

Let it go even further and God will bring in new governance, wiping away the old.

What is your take on what is meant by defiling the land?
What can we do to prevent defilement?