Date: 03-12-2020

Title: Purge Evil

(S) cripture:
    Deuteronomy 22:24b (NASB77) … Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

(O) bservation:
    These purity laws seem harsh and out of date to us. These unholy practices were common among the people of the region. In this passage the people are commanded numerous times to “purge the evil from among you.” God is setting a moral standard for Israel that will clearly set them apart from all other people. They will be like no others and their lives will reflect their God. The death sentence seems harsh for some of these offences but God is holy and demands holiness. God sure takes sin more seriously than we do. When discovered we are to “purge the evil from among us.”

(A) pplication:
    We live in an unholy world. Immorality abounds. Sexual immorality is more normal than not, we ignore people in need, we cheat our brothers and charge huge interest on loans. We want our revenge when we are wronged but God tells us to “purge the evil from among us.” Often we see Christians isolating themselves from the world around them by building a “hedge of protection” around them. I might add that that same hedge keeps the Christian from changing the world around them, But, this passage speaks to the evil that is in me not just the evil I see around me. Only Jesus makes this purging possible because he changes our hearts and the Holy Spirit now lives within us and empowers us to live life as God intended. In the New Testament, Peter tells us to be holy because God is holy. Today I will trust God’s Spirit to live out that holiness in me and to empower me to “purge the evil from among us.”

(P) rayer:
    O God, make yourself so real to me today that I do not: 1) miss the people in need that cross my path, 2) bring evil into my life. I want to purge evil from my life and with Jesus that can happen. Do that work in me today, Amen.