Leviticus 11:44, 45  “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.” (NIV)

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Ritual purity laws in the Bible are not barriers, but invitations. 

Why did this group of people in the middle of nowhere need 613 laws? It might have something to do with the fact that they were enslaved for hundreds of years. Just about every major decision of their lives was made and enforced by those who enslaved them. 

Moving from slavery to freedom required new education regarding right and wrong, good and bad, permissible and impermissible. Ritual purity laws were an invitation into God’s presence. He is holy, distinct, unique, and he chose this group of people to be with him and like him. 

God wanted to show the whole world how good he is through this people group. He didn’t choose the richest people group. He didn’t pick the people group with the fiercest military. He didn’t choose the largest group.   

He chose a group he could use to express his majesty and glory through. He chose a group that was more of a mob than a nation. 

God gave them laws and rituals to know his nature and character. He gave them rules and routines to set them apart as distinct from all other people groups. He invited this group of people to live by faith, to trust his provision, to seek his guidance. 

God didn’t want to keep the people at arm’s length. He wanted to draw them near. His mercy and grace provided ways for them to be clean and have their sins forgiven so that they could come into his presence and walk and talk with him, like Adam and Eve in Eden before the fall. 

God took the initiative to make a way back to Eden’s innocence. This is the way of heaven on earth. 

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I will accept God’s invitation to come into his presence.

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Our Father, please give me clean hands and a pure heart. Thank you for the final sacrifice that you made for us. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that washes us clean forevermore and makes the way possible for us to come into your presence now and forever. Amen.