I’m engaged in a study which I commend to your reading.  Jesus said the greatest command was to love the Lord our God.  Then the second was like it… Love your neighbor as yourself.  Thus, every moral action is directly tied to our love for God… right?

Now… go through the Scripture and notice every time a moral command is given AND is tied to the phrase… “I am the Lord.”  I believe it is significant that with every moral command, God reminds us that HE is the Lord.  He has the right to require these things of His people.  He can do this because He has delivered us from bondage.  Consider just a few of the ones found in Leviticus…

Lev 11:44, “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy… 45  For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”  (NOTE: It is because He delivered that He commands.  It is because of being delivered that obedience is a joy.)

Lev 18:4, “You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. 5  You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.”

Lev 19:3, “Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.”

Lev 19:10, “You shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

Lev 19:12, “You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.”

Lev 19:14, “You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.”

Lev 19:16, “You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.”

Lev 19:17, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18  You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Lev 19:32, “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God:I am the Lord.”

Lev 19:33, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34  You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Lev 19:35, “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36  You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God…”

Lev 22:31, “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. 32  And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you…”

Lev 24:22, “You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God.”

What a joy to have found this connection!  What a blessing to know God does not leave us ignorant!  What a cause to celebrate for the Lord has given us the means for pleasing Him!