How Then Should We Live?

In 1976 the presuppositional philosopher and theologian, Francis Schaeffer, wrote a book critiquing contemporary culture and trends, noting how they tore us away from biblical standards and life. I had the privilege to hear Dr. Schaeffer speak on this and other topics of interest at the time. How then should we live? I want to address this question from the point of view of the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites and the notes in the book of Leviticus.

In the wilderness journey from Egypt to their promised land, the Israelites were instructed on how to live godly and fruitful lives. With the exception of a choice few, they failed their wilderness journey. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 picks up this theme of wilderness journey for self-declared Christians of all times and ages. He notes there -- "For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did." (1 Cor 10:1–6)

Why did they fail? Was it because God did not love them enough? Was it because they misread the clearly given commandments and strictures from God through Moses? They failed because they did not have God in their hearts. The proneness of Israel was to become syncretistic. What I mean by that was their tendency to adopt other so-called gods and include the true God in that worship and service. As one writer pointed out, Israel had left Egypt, but Egypt had not left Israel! Indeed, we shall see this proneness reap sad and debilitating results as they enter the promised land of Canaan. They will fail to conquer the land and be holy to the Lord due to this admixture. An outwardly conceived covenant will not help them. They will once again receive the Law of God but the problem will be with their hearts and attitudes and desires. This same proneness to sin and adopt other gods will become a snare to them – and it is to us even to this day. We want God but we also want other things that draw us away from God and his Word. If God is not in your heart through a process called conversion, you are prone to wander and fail, just like the ancient Israelites. There must be a transformation of the heart, the very center of our being, for us to successfully fulfill our wilderness journey of faith, hope and love. External rules and ceremonies and cosmetic religious coverings will not help.

We as they need to pay attention to providence. Providence is that teaching that God is in everything that happens around us and to us. This does not mean that God is in our sinful choices, but He is often in the circumstances around those choices. For the ancient Israelite, everything was religious. Everything had a purpose given by God for God to be honored and glorified. To miss that purpose meant to miss God's will and way in the wilderness. This happens all too often today. We think God is in "religious" things, like church and Christian meetings and concerts and events, but He is also in the everyday life of every believer. He is God of both the big and little things in our lives. The Israelites all too often missed God in their providential lives. Thus, they got used, for instance, to gathering the manna (bread from heaven) for their six days food but thought it would always be there on the seventh, the Sabbath day. When it wasn't they complained and faced God's discipline. God had told them to gather enough on the sixth day to last for the Sabbath. Some did and some did not.

The hygiene standards cited in Leviticus were given to protect and guard the physical, emotional and spiritual health of the ancient people of God. These regulations and laws had nothing to do with ancient (or even modern) witch-doctors, incantations or non-Christian taboos often practiced by tribal societies. The priests were not medical experts, but rather holiness leaders responsible for spiritual, emotional and physical diagnoses among the people of God. The very fact that God is concerned about our physical health as well as our emotional and mental and spiritual health should not surprise us, but rather should humble us to know that the body is not some evil thing to get rid of in salvation. Indeed, what we eat, what we drink, what diseases might come upon us are all related to living a holy and upright life before God and others. The skin diseases covered in Leviticus 13 are extensive and not only deal with leprosy, as we might imagine. Circumcision in these chapters (Leviticus 11–13) is a hygiene act, not a mark of spiritual ceremonial cleanness. 

These regulations were protective in nature. Even today we do not eat many of the animals and insects listed as “unclean” then. We get rid of moldy clothes and wash our bodies regularly for cleanliness. We treat skin diseases seriously, especially those that seem to defy healing and modern leukemia and other skin associated diseases need attention and proper care. Isolation from the community for certain diseases is for the protective health of the community. While we have an increasing supply of modern medicines and treatments, for an ancient nomadic people these regulations were blessings from God for them. 

I like what the New Bible Commentary says here – “The law did not make an artificial distinction between physical well-being and spiritual vitality, exalting one at the expense of the other, but required that the true Israelite should be an integrated person whose spirituality involved all areas of his life. Holiness was thus expressed negatively in the avoidance of those things that might defile a person, and positively in the concentration of the personality upon a relationship with God that was marked by obedience and faith. Unless both aspects of holiness were being exemplified, the Israelites could not expect God to dwell in their midst, for his presence was incompatible with uncleanness of any kind. Christian life makes the same demands upon the believer, with the added difference that defilement can result from the motive as well as the act (Matt. 5:28; 15:10–20). The pursuit of holiness under the guidance of God’s Spirit is mandatory if the Christian is to grow truly into the fullness of Christ.”

Everything has a religious significance. The Israelite was to see his or her common life, even those things we don’t like to talk about, as touching our relationship with God. I wonder if we as Christians see life in this way. I once was asked as a minister of the gospel to anoint a house and its rooms for a Christian family that had just moved in there. And to offer a prayer of blessing on a new church bell in a country church. Instead of seeing these events as silly or out of the box, perhaps we need to see them in the light of our lives before a holy God that everything we touch and smell and feel and hear deserves to be considered “religious” and impactful for our faith lives. Perhaps then we would take better care of everything we are and have.

How then should we live? Heart, head and hands are to be given to God and his worship and service. Everything matters. Nothing should be left to chance or luck or coincidence or happenstance. Do you live this way before God? Does your church or ministry group live this way before God? To heed the Apostle Paul's warning in 1 Corinthians 10, let's do a deep dive into the wilderness journey of the ancient Israelites and learn from them what not to do, as well as what to do for and with God.