February 8 A READ LEVITICUS 21–23
Priestly Purity
OVERVIEW
Ministry to and for a holy people requires a holy priesthood. Because of their high calling, the priests accepted extra restrictions on their conduct and privileges. They had to be physically perfect and willing to avoid defilements that were permissible for others. The sacrifices they offered had to be without blemish. They were required to carry out their duties with meticulous attention to detail. Their busiest times of the year came during the holy convocations—joyous times of feasting and reflecting on God’s goodness in dealing with Israel.
MY DAILY WALK
Here is a statement worth considering, especially if you are the hard-driving kind of person commonly labeled as a workaholic: Seven days without relaxation makes one weak.
On the seventh day of each week the Israelites were commanded to rest from their labors. Seven times each year they enjoyed a “holy holiday” to commemorate important days in their nation’s history. These were no mere business meetings but times of feasting and festivity.
How long has it been since you set aside your work to spend time alone or with family or friends enjoying a leisurely activity? If your mind is constantly focused on your job, it will seldom be focused on God. In contrast, periodic times of refreshment and reflection will help to improve your attitude toward your work.
Look at your personal or family calendar, and prayerfully consider whether a vacation is long overdue. It needn’t be long to be refreshing. But it does need to be a priority in your schedule if it is ever to become more than just a good idea.
JESUS KNOWS WE MUST COME APART AND REST AWHILE OR ELSE WE MAY JUST PLAIN COME APART.
INSIGHT
A Priestly Prohibition | Lev. 21:17-22
Priests with physical handicaps were excluded from offering sacrifices, though they were entitled to the privileges of the priesthood such as eating the priestly portion (21:17-22). God was not relegating them to second-class status, but was showing that the special service of sacrificing unblemished animals before a holy God required unblemished priests. In both cases the need for physical wholeness symbolized the greater need for spiritual holiness.
INSIGHT
First Things First | Lev. 23:10
The Festival of Unleavened Bread coincided with the barley harvest. The Israelites were to make offerings to the Lord from the first of the harvest (23:10). Since it was God who made the crops grow, it was fitting to honor him with the first of the harvest. A similar offering was given after the wheat harvest (23:15-16, 20).
Instructions for the Priests
1The LORD said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
“A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching the dead body of a relative. 2The only exceptions are his closest relatives—his mother or father, son or daughter, brother, 3or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband. 4But a priest must not defile himself and make himself unclean for someone who is related to him only by marriage.
5“The priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or cut their bodies. 6They must be set apart as holy to their God and must never bring shame on the name of God. They must be holy, for they are the ones who present the special gifts to the LORD, gifts of food for their God.
7“Priests may not marry a woman defiled by prostitution, and they may not marry a woman who is divorced from her husband, for the priests are set apart as holy to their God. 8You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the LORD, am holy, and I make you holy.
9“If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.
10“The high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The anointing oil has been poured on his head, and he has been ordained to wear the priestly garments. He must never leave his hair uncombed* or tear his clothing. 11He must not defile himself by going near a dead body. He may not make himself ceremonially unclean even for his father or mother. 12He must not defile the sanctuary of his God by leaving it to attend to a dead person, for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his God. I am the LORD.
13“The high priest may marry only a virgin. 14He may not marry a widow, a woman who is divorced, or a woman who has defiled herself by prostitution. She must be a virgin from his own clan, 15so that he will not dishonor his descendants among his clan, for I am the LORD who makes him holy.”
16Then the LORD said to Moses, 17“Give the following instructions to Aaron: In all future generations, none of your descendants who has any defect will qualify to offer food to his God. 18No one who has a defect qualifies, whether he is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed, 19or has a broken foot or arm, 20or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles. 21No descendant of Aaron who has a defect may approach the altar to present special gifts to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he may not approach the altar to offer food to his God. 22However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings. 23Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile my holy places. I am the LORD who makes them holy.”
24So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.