May 19, 2021

“THE POWERFUL NAMES OF GOD”

“JEHOVAH MEKODDISHKEM-THE LORD WHO SANCTIFIES”

LEVITICUS 20:7-8

Delivered From Egypt:

In Exodus, we discover why God delivered His people-so that they might worship Him.

Exodus 5:1 “Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.” (Worship)

The book of Leviticus gives precepts and principles about how followers of God are to fellowship with Him in intimacy. It is a blueprint to living life on earth. Through this abiding relationship with God, each of us can experience the abundant life Jesus promises.

John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

God wants to reveal Himself, His glory, and His holiness through our everyday lives.

Three words will help us grasps the significance and meaning of the book of Leviticus.

*That which is “common,” God has created as regular and ordinary.

*That which is “profane,” includes those things that are polluted, defiled, or contaminated.

*That which is “sacred,” is special to God and reflects His glory.

Things that are common (or ordinary, or regular) remain common until you make them either profane or sacred.

1 Timothy 4:4-5 “For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

God Is The One Who Sanctifies:

With this background of the differences between common, profane, and sacred, we come to the next name of God.

Leviticus 20:7-8 “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”

This is another compound name of God. It combines a name we’ve previously looked at, Jehovah, with the name Mekoddishkem. It’s sometimes condensed to “Jehovah M’kaddesh.” This name simply means “the Lord who sanctifies.”

Exodus 31:12-13 “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”

God goes into a lot of detail throughout Scripture concerning our need to be sanctified.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”

Hebrews 13:12 “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”

In Leviticus, God gives us some of the reasons why we are to be sanctified by Him.

Leviticus 20:22-24 “‘You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them. But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples.”

Leviticus 20:26 “And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.”

Sanctification is the process of God setting us apart from sin and unrighteousness and to His person and purposes. He makes us unique, set apart, holy.

So what exactly does it mean to be sanctified, and how do we become sanctified?

Something becomes sanctified when it’s set apart from the common, ordinary, and regular things of life. It’s made to be special, unique, one of a kind. It transfers from the realm of the common into the realm of the sacred.

Exodus 20:2-3 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” 

Sanctification Begins Within:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

When God tells us not to love the world, He’s not sentencing us to a life of boredom. Rather, He’s warning us not to adopt the worldview that is out of step with His standards.

Leviticus 20:7-8 “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”

Hebrews 10:10 “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” 

Counting The Cost:

Luke 14:31-32 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.”

Paul tells us we are to consecrate ourselves to God.

1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

Paul gives us a visual illustration of what it means to sanctify God in our hearts.

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Worship isn’t simply singing songs on a Sunday. True worship, according to Romans 12, is giving yourself to God in your entirety. True worship includes sanctification.