He Cares, Provides, and Protects

The Israelites were unique among ancient cultures. While other nations had different gods for different aspects of life, the God of Israel was One God, and He was Lord of every aspect of their lives. He was God of agriculture and God of the hunt. He directed military campaigns and commercial endeavors. He regulated public and private conduct.

One psalm reads, Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house: your children like olive plants all around your your table. (Ps. 128:3 NKJV) Another psalm reads, In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. (Ps. 120:1,2)

Central to their belief in an all-pervasive God was their belief in a God who cared about them—a God who provided for them and protected them: Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, from this time forth and forever. (Ps. 125:1,2)

Originally published May 22, 1992.
Picture: Lindenwood Park, Fargo, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

Old Testament Law

Many laws given to the Israelites during their time in the Wilderness seem strange or even foolish to us, but they all had a purpose.

Some laws protected the Israelites by instituting important sanitation regulations—using a shovel when they relieved themselves, etc. Dietary restrictions identified animals that carried harmful diseases. (Lev. 11) Laws affected the way people handled their resources. They were instructed to offer hospitality, and no one should profit from another person’s misfortune. (Lev. 25)

Laws also depicted the concept of holiness. Because worshipping one God must have seemed strange to people who had been immersed in the polytheism of Egypt, God gave the Israelites concrete examples as teaching tools to illustrate purity. They should not plant two types of seed in one field or make garments from two types of material. (Lev. 19)

And laws set godly standards of mercy: Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind . . . Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great. . . . (19:14a,15a NIV)

Many of the laws established in Leviticus seem strange to us today. But God had a purpose. With those laws He established standards among His people.

Originally published February 17, 1984, and July 5, 1991.
Picture: Potted plants on the deck, 2009. Photo by Solveig.