Theological Commentary: Click Here
Looking at
this chapter shows several lies of potential.
For today, I’m going to focus on a dynamic that I haven’t spent much
time on in the past. As we read through
this chapter and other chapters like it, we hear God say something to the
Hebrew people that is easy to ignore.
There will be one rule for the Hebrew people and for sojourners.
There are
several reasons to pay attention to this fact.
First of all, it tells us that God expects there to be sojourners among
them. God didn’t want the Hebrew people
to wall themselves off in isolation. God
expects the Hebrew people to be in the world and inviting the world to dwell
among them. God wants the people of the
world to experience relationship with God through His relationship with the
Hebrew people.
Note,
however, that there are rules for the sojourners. The sojourners don’t simply come among the
Hebrew people and dwell. They don’t
remain as they are. The sojourners are
expected to follow the same law – lifestyle, if you will – that the Hebrew
people are asked to follow. Being in the
presence of people who have relationship with God is not enough. We are to embrace that relationship and make
it our own.
Ultimately,
this leads me to see the this as a chapter of grace. All are welcome. All are invited. You don’t have to be genealogically related
to Abraham to have relationship with the Creator. All can come to Him. There are expectations, of course! But regardless of who you are, what you’ve
done, and where you come from you can absolutely come to Him and learn His
ways.
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