EGW WritingsLeviticus 20

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 121, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 121, 1899, par. 21

Let those who believe the word of the Lord read the instruction contained in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. There they will learn what kind of an education was to leave its impress on the families of the nation of Israel. God’s chosen people were to stand forth distinct and holy, separate from the nations who knew not God. But they were given directions to treat the stranger kindly. He was not to be looked down on because he was not of Israel. The Israelites were to love the strangers, because Christ died as verily to save them as He did to save Israel. The Lord God of Israel would receive them if they chose the society of those who knew and acknowledged Him. In this way they would learn of Jehovah, and glorify Him as they beheld His works in behalf of His chosen people.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 137, 1899

14LtMs, Lt 137, 1899, par. 2

Many resolutions had been made which had never been carried out, and there seemed to be a heavy burden upon us all. Then a voice said to us, “You have not obeyed the voice of God. In Leviticus you have Christ’s words recorded for your direction in various lines of work, but the principles of God’s Word have been disregarded.”

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 221, 1899

14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, par. 2

I have things to send to you in writing that I deem very important, and I think it will be prepared in a form so that many may be benefited by it. I should oft be so pleased to have talks with you upon matters that are intensely interesting to me, that I am trying to write out, in reference to the specifications in Scriptural injunctions in regard to the duties one to another in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. We must just call to our minds those [precepts on] actual, practical missionary work, and work intelligently, and do the very principles of Christianity, the gospel of the Old Testament.

14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, par. 5

I cannot write out all that is contained in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. But I think our people in this enlightened age of 1899, if they would go back to the period they call the “Dark Ages” and bring into their practical life the lessons that Christ gave to the Hebrews, they would act out the obedience God required of them. Their hearts would not be so full of selfish principles that when His brethren working in hard fields should ask a favor, that they would close the door of their heart and say, No.

Patriarchs and Prophets

Chapter 67—Ancient and Modern Sorcery

PP 685.3

The Hebrews were expressly forbidden to engage in any manner in pretended communion with the dead. God closed this door effectually when He said: “The dead know not anything.... Neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4. And the Lord declared to Israel: “The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.” Leviticus 20:6.

The Faith I Live By

Mystic Voices of Today, November 9

FLB 319.1

And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. Leviticus 20:6.

From Eternity Past

Chapter 67—Ancient and Modern Spiritualism

EP 497.1

God said: “The dead know not anything... . Neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4. The Lord declared to Israel: “The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.” Leviticus 20:6.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Ms 92, 1894

9LtMs, Ms 92, 1894, par. 6

The Scriptures positively forbid intercourse with evil angels on the supposition of communion with the dead. Through this deception Satan can educate souls in his school of falsehood, and make of none effect the lessons that Christ could teach which, if practiced, would result in the eternal life of those who obey. Satan is seeking to form a great confederacy of evil by uniting fallen men and fallen angels. But the Lord says, “when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards, and that matter: should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to his word, it is because there is no light in them.” [Isaiah 8:19, 20.] “And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a-whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among the people.” “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God.” [Leviticus 20:6; 19:31.]

My Life Today

Sanctified Through Obedience, September 3

ML 250.1

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. Leviticus 20:7, 8.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 11 (1896)

Ms 26, 1896

11LtMs, Ms 26, 1896, par. 9

“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord.” This authority is undisputed. “The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.” [Verses 18, 34-37.] “Sanctify yourselves, therefore, and be ye holy; for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you.” “And ye shall be holy unto me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” [Leviticus 20:7, 8, 26.] “Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.” [Deuteronomy 5:32, 33.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 164, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 164, 1899, par. 6

“Whatsoever things I command, observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” “Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my judgments, and do them, that the land whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out. And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nations, which I cast out before you; for they committed all these things, therefore I abhorred them. But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey; I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.” [Deuteronomy 12:28-32; Leviticus 20:22-24.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 86, 1905

20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 14

How explicitly the Lord has laid down the directions that are to guide us in our associations with one another! There is no excuse for any one to misrepresent the character of God. Those who come to our schools to receive an education are to be taught to obey the charge, “Ye shall therefore keep all My statutes, and all My judgments, and do them; that the land whither I bring you to dwell therein spew you not out. And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nations which I cast out before you; for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit this land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. ... And ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.” [Leviticus 20:22-24, 26.]

The Ministry of Healing

Diet

MH 280.3

“I am the Lord thy God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing, ... which I have separated from you as unclean.” Leviticus 20:24, 25.

MH 280.7

“Ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.” Verse 23. “Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it.” Deuteronomy 7:26.

In Heavenly Places

The Christian’s Pledge of Allegiance, July 1

HP 189.1

Ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. Leviticus 20:26.

HP 189.4

“I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.” “Ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.” “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (Leviticus 20:24, 26; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Isaiah 43:21; 1 Peter 2:9)....

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Ms 82, 1900

15LtMs, Ms 82, 1900, par. 7

“I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.” “Ye shall be holy unto me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” [Leviticus 20:24, 26.] “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1 Thessalonians 5:23.] “This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.” [Isaiah 43:21.] “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” [1 Peter 2:9.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Ms 96, 1900

15LtMs, Ms 96, 1900, par. 7

“I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. ... Ye shall be holy unto me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” [Leviticus 20:24, 26.] “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1 Thessalonians 5:23.] “This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.” [Isaiah 43:21.] “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” [1 Peter 2:9.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Lt 280, 1906

21LtMs, Lt 280, 1906, par. 16

“I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. ... Ye shall be holy unto Me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.” [Leviticus 20:24, 26.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 69, 1906

21LtMs, Ms 69, 1906, par. 11

“I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. ... Ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.” [Leviticus 20:24, 26.]

That I May Know Him

Privileges of the Obedient, October 17

TMK 296.6

“I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.... Ye shall be holy unto me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine” (Leviticus 20:24-26).... “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise” (Isaiah 43:21).21Manuscript 96, 1900.

Maranatha

A High Standard, February 2

Mar 41.1

And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. Leviticus 20:26.

Our Father Cares

A High Standard, December 5

OFC 351.1

And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. Leviticus 20:26.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Ms 38, 1904

19LtMs, Ms 38, 1904, par. 57

May God help us to be converted. May He help us to realize that all our possessions are His, lent to us to prove and try us, to see if we will act as children of God. Let us be converted without delay, or we shall never, never dwell in His presence. God’s Word to us is, “I am the almighty God; walk before Me, and be ye perfect. Ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have severed you from other peoples that ye should be mine.” [Genesis 17:1; Leviticus 20:26.]

19LtMs, Ms 38, 1904, par. 95

God’s Word to us is: “I am the almighty God; walk before Me, and be ye perfect. Ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other peoples, that ye should be Mine.” [Genesis 17:1; Leviticus 20:26.] “Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:20.] “For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power;” “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” [Colossians 2:9, 10; Titus 2:14.]

Darkness Before Dawn

The Mastermind of Deception

DD 20.3

Furthermore, God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with departed spirits. In the days of the Hebrews there was a class of people who claimed, as do the spiritualists of today, to hold communication with the dead. But the “familiar spirits,” as these visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be “the spirits of devils.” (Compare Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Revelation 16:14.) The work of dealing with familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination to the Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty of death. Leviticus 19:31; 20:27. The very name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages. But spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which has invaded churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in the courts of kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new disguise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.

The Great Controversy

Chapter 34—Can Our Dead Speak to Us?

GC 556.2

Furthermore, God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with departed spirits. In the days of the Hebrews there was a class of people who claimed, as do the spiritualists of today, to hold communication with the dead. But the “familiar spirits,” as these visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be “the spirits of devils.” (Compare Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Revelation 16:14.) The work of dealing with familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination to the Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty of death. Leviticus 19:31; 20:27. The very name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages. But spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which has invaded churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in the courts of kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new disguise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.

The Great Controversy (1888 ed.)

Chapter 34—Spiritualism

GC88 556.2

Furthermore, God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with departed spirits. In the days of the Hebrews there was a class of people who claimed, as do the Spiritualists of today, to hold communication with the dead. But the “familiar spirits,” as these visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be the “spirits of devils.” [Compare Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Revelation 16:14.] The work of dealing with familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination to the Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty of death. [Leviticus 19:31; 20:27.] The very name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages. But Spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which has invaded churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in the courts of kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new disguise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.

From Here to Forever

Appeal to the Pleasure-loving

HF 341.1

Furthermore, God has forbidden pretended communication with departed spirits. The “familiar spirits,” as these visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be “the spirits of devils.” See Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Revelation 16:14. Dealing with them was forbidden under penalty of death. Leviticus 19:31; 20:27. But spiritualism has made its way into scientific circles, invaded churches, and found favor in legislative bodies, even in the courts of kings. This mammoth deception is a revival in a new disguise of the witchcraft condemned of old.

The Great Hope (Condensed)

Forbidden Fellowship

GrH_c 21.5

Furthermore, God has forbidden pretended communication with departed spirits. The “familiar spirits,” as these visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be “the spirits of devils.” See Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Revelation 16:14. Dealing with them was forbidden under penalty of death. Leviticus 19:31; 20:27. But spiritualism has made its way into scientific circles, invaded churches, and found favor in legislative bodies, even in the courts of kings. This mammoth deception is a revival in a new disguise of the witchcraft condemned of old.