Daily Scripture Reading Leviticus 21:16 - 22:9
Jake was upset. The nominations for elder had been released, and Jake was not on the list. He believed that was very unfair. He volunteered countless hours at church teaching and serving. He found it very easy to connect with people and encourage them. He was a natural leader. The biggest reason he was not chosen to be an elder was because he had divorced his first wife many years ago, before he was a Christian. It was not fair that he was prohibited from an office because of a choice he made before he knew the ramifications of that choice.
People naturally want life to be fair. However, today’s passage teaches us that God is not always fair. The first 15 verses of Leviticus 21 established high standards of conduct the priests needed to follow. They could not defile themselves when a person died. Furthermore, when they got married, they had to choose wives that met certain high criteria. The rest of the 21st chapter lists qualifications for serving as priest that often were beyond the control of the potential priest. This meant some Levites were prevented from serving in the priesthood due to choices they did not make.
Lev. 21:16 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev. 21:17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your seed throughout their generations who has a defect shall come near to offer the food of his God.
Take note of the word “defect”. A Levite with a defect was not allowed to offer the food to God.
Lev. 21:18 For no one who has a defect shall come near: a blind man or a lame man or he who has a disfigured face or any deformed limb,
Lev. 21:19 or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,
Lev. 21:20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles.
Verses 18-20 define what verse 17 means by a man with a defect. In many cases people suffer these defects through no fault of their own. Some people are born blind or lame.
Lev. 21:21 No man among the seed of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to bring near the offerings to Yahweh by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not approach to bring near the food of his God.
Verse 21 defines what a Levite with a defect was not allowed to do. Essentially, a handicapped person could not serve as a priest. It seems unfair that a descendant of Aaron who was born with an incurable defect would never be permitted to serve in the tabernacle. This illustrates that Yahweh is not always fair, meaning life is not always fair.
Lev. 21:22 He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,
Lev. 21:23 only he shall not go in to the veil or approach the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’”
Focus on the phrase “I am Yahweh who makes them holy.” Yahweh is holy. His perfection is beyond our comprehension. Those who follow Yahweh will never attain perfection here on earth, but we should strive to do so.
The standards for being a priest were intentionally high in order to set a high standard for all the Israelites to follow.
Lev. 21:24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.
Lev. 22:1 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev. 22:2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they set apart to Me as holy, so as not to profane My holy name; I am Yahweh.
Lev. 22:3 Say to them, ‘If any man among all your seed throughout your generations comes near to the holy gifts which the sons of Israel set apart as holy to Yahweh, and he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from before Me; I am Yahweh.
Not only did the sons of Aaron need to be free of physical defects in order to bring the holy gifts near to Yahweh, so too, they needed to be free of uncleanness.
Lev. 22:4 No man of the seed of Aaron, who is a leper or who has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. And if one touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or if a man has a seminal emission,
Don’t miss the fact that a descendant of Aaron who suffered any of this uncleanness could not eat any of the food which was available to the priests.
Lev. 22:5 or if a man touches any teeming things by which he is made unclean or any man by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness,
Lev. 22:6 a person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his body in water.
Lev. 22:7 But the sun will set, and he will be clean. And afterward he shall eat of the holy gifts, for it is his food.
Lev. 22:8 He shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am Yahweh.
Lev. 22:9 They shall therefore keep My charge so that they will not bear sin because of it and die thereby because they profane it; I am Yahweh who makes them holy.
Take note of the word “die”. Failure to obey these commands could have resulted in death. Yahweh is holy; therefore, the priests needed to live by very high standards, even when those standards were not fair.
Just as life was not always fair for the descendants of Aaron, so too, life is not always fair today. The New Testament contains many rules that are not fair. One simple mistake early in life can permanently make a man ineligible to be an elder. Getting married is a lifelong commitment. If someone marries the wrong person, he cannot undo the marriage. He is stuck with the ramifications of that marriage for the rest of his life.
God’s rules are not designed to be fair. Instead, God’s rules are designed to give us an opportunity to demonstrate our love for God. When we obey God’s commands, we demonstrate that we love God.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”