Leviticus 20

“You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them. And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who set you apart from the peoples.” Leviticus 20:23-24 (HCSB)

Here’s a joke for you.  

Q: What did the fool say just before he died?

A: Hey, y’all! Watch this!

Q: What did his best friend say just before he died?

A:  Aww, I can do that better than he did!

It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Doesn’t that sound like us? The Lord saves people, yet many folks turn back and begin sinning in the same ways they did before they were saved! It is as if they are repeating those sins, hoping they will somehow lead to fulfillment instead of disappointment.

God informed Israel that He would deliver them to Canaan and told them how He would drive out the Canaanites. He also told Israel WHY the Canaanites were being driven out: their sinful ways.

That information, alone, should have been enough to teach Israel to honor the Lord, ensuring their perpetual possession of the Promised Land. God went further and instructed the Israelites to separate themselves from the ways and beliefs of the Canaanites.

Why would Israel turn to the ways of Canaan’s former inhabitants? Perhaps it is because of their concept of “blessing.” Maybe they got into the land, and conditions were more challenging than Israel thought they might be. I think this may have been the case because God informed the children of Israel that the Promised Land would be “flowing with milk & honey.”

I have four children. I am aware that milk does not flow from a mother until after the painful delivery of the baby. I have also seen how honey is harvested, contending with nagging, stinging bees!

Could it be that God was telling Israel that Canaan would be fruitful but that cultivating the fruit would involve nagging, stinging, painful work? Doesn’t that remind you of the joy we receive after employing the discipline of living holy and separate lives unto God in our generation? Discipline is what being a “disciple” is all about, and it seems fruitless if we lose sight of the goal of our laboring. We are called to honor the Lord, longing to enter into the place He has prepared for us, receiving His great commendation, “Well done!”