Little Reminders...

I am currently reading through Leviticus and there is a phrase that keeps coming up. Throughout Leviticus, God is telling Moses what to tell the Hebrew people what they need to do, and what not to do, in order to be Holy. After almost every command, God says, "I am the LORD." This struck me as odd. Why does God keep saying this? He continues to say it over and over. Is Moses that forgetful? This is God Almighty talking to him, how can he be forgetting who this is?

I wanted to see why God said this over and over. In the original Hebrew, the word for "LORD" here is "Yahweh." Yahweh is the most personal name God gives Himself in the Old Testament. It is the name God gave to Moses when setting up the covenant with the Hebrews. It is an intimate name. What does this mean? It means that it is at this point that God is revealing more of Himself to His chosen people. It means God is drawing the people of Israel into a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Him.

So, again, why does God repeatedly say, "I am the LORD(Yahweh)?" If you think about it with that name in place, Yahweh, and with what He is telling Moses and the Hebrews, this is what you must do or not do to be Holy, it is as if God is telling His people, "I want to be your personal, intimate God. I want a relationship with you. I want to be the most important thing in your life because I know everything. I know where you are going, where you have been. I know what will make you happy, I know what will make you miserable. I know what will give your life meaning and fulfillment, I know what will destroy you and make you hollow. I LOVE YOU. I want the best for you. I am the LORD. Yahweh. Your personal, intimate, caring, loving, involved, active, perusing, never failing, always faithful God. I will not dwell where sin is. I will not work where the people refuse me. I do not force myself on anyone. Here is how to be Holy. It is for your benefit. Do this, so that I may have an intimate relationship with you, my people. I am the LORD."

It's as if God is sending these little reminders to the Hebrews. He doesn't want them to forget who He is and that He wants the best for them and to be with them.

God wants this for us, too. In fact, God wants this so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to cover our sins. God can not dwell in the lives of people who are full of sin(Hab. 1:13). God saw that people could not live perfect, holy lives. He saw that we would have sin in our lives. That we needed a savior. That's why Jesus was sent here. So that God, through the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb that covers our sin(Rom. 3:24-25), could have an intimate relationship with us.

So what little reminders is God sending your way? Are you listening?

In Christ,
jon walton