Leviticus 21:10

The Bible says in Leviticus 21:10-12, “And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;[11] Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;[12] Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.” Some people have “the anointing oil.” That means that the Holy Spirit chose them to be leaders. That is what is written about in Ephesians 4:7-11 that tells us that Jesus ascended into heaven and “gave gifts unto men.” To some He gave the gifts of “pastors teachers.” These verses in Leviticus and the ones following are an emphasis on the requirement that the religious leaders be of the highest character and the greatest dedication. Why is there such a great requirement of dedication to the Lord? The answer is obvious: someone who is called to serve the Lord Jesus as a leader of a congregation can do great good, but he can also do great harm. It would be terrible and the greatest of failures if he did “profane the sanctuary of his God.”

There are many reasons that some people have stopped going to church. But remember: Jesus established the church. A church is two or three people, or more, who meet in the name of the Lord, and they have a pastor who preaches and teaches to them the Word of God. If you are a believer in Jesus, you need a church where you can learn the Word of God, grow in the Lord, benefit from Christian fellowship, and have opportunities to exercise the gifts that Jesus has given to you for the benefit of other Christians. But in these last days, not just any church will do. You must find a good Bible-teaching church, and if you cannot find one, then start your own. It says in Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

The New Testament also makes an emphasis on the fact that preachers have a very high standard that they must hold to. See First Timothy 3:1-11. To become a Christian like that requires growing in the Lord after being saved by faith in Jesus. Growing in the Lord to become a mature Christian can take time. That is why it says in First Timothy 3:6, “Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” Older means wiser, or at least it should. Christians who follow the Lord Jesus year after year sometimes do their greatest works of faith later in life. There are a few exceptions, but usually you will want an older man to be your pastor, not a younger man. A younger man has not faced all of the situations of life, nor shown what he will do when he does face them. A younger man may not be settled in sound doctrine, and may more easily be attracted down a wrong path when the wind blows there. A younger man may not have suffered enough yet. A younger man may not really know who he is yet or why God made him. A younger man may not have made enough mistakes yet in order to be humbled and to learn from those mistakes. A younger man might be too proud about his knowledge and be quick to argue and cause disputes and divisions among believers. But like we said, there are exceptions. David was a young man when God chose him to lead Israel. Paul wrote to Timothy and said in First Timothy 4:12, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

Continuing to talk about religious leaders, the Bible says in Leviticus 21:13-15, “And he shall take a wife in her virginity.[14] A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.[15] Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.” The emphasis here is: no sex before marriage. That is God’s perfect will. The best life would go something like the following. A child is born to a mother and father, and that child is loved, and protected, and taught all the way to adulthood. And then when God’s time comes, the man or the woman should leave the mother and father and cleave to his wife or her husband whatever the case may be. Sex before marriage results in unwanted pregnancies and then abortions. Sex before marriage results in the spread of venereal disease. Sex before marriage results in guilt and other emotional and mental disorders. Of course, Jesus will forgive and there are chances to start over. But the best life is not to have to start over. Get it right from the start if you can. Preachers are supposed to be the best examples for Christians and preachers are told, “he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.” The New Testament says something similar with an emphasis on the character of the preacher. It says in First Timothy 3:2 that a pastor must be “the husband of one wife.” This means literally a “one-woman man.” And that means to seek one woman, desire only one woman, and love only one woman: his wife.

The Bible says in Leviticus 21:16-21, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[17] Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.[18] For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,[19] Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,[20] Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;[21] No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.” One of the offerings that Israelites made to God was bread. Bread is the common food staple. Since bread is eaten every day, bread symbolizes the daily walk. Since bread gives physical life, bread symbolizes the fact that we need spiritual nourishment daily. Jesus quoted from the Old Testament and said in Luke 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” Bread symbolizes living for God daily. Part of living for God daily is to daily aspire to living a better life: to turn away from sin and the world, and to turn to Jesus. The standard in the Bible is perfection. There is no excuse for sin. That is the meaning of these verses and of verse 21: “he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.” Thus, we need a Savior, or we cannot approach unto God. We need justification by faith. We need to be declared to be holy by an act of grace through faith in Jesus.

The Bible says in Leviticus 21:22-24, “He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.[23] Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.[24] And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.” And so we see in the Old Testament that access to the presence of God was limited because of human sins and imperfections. “in unto the vail” refers to the holiest place in the temple that represented the closest presence of God. Notice the great difference in the New Testament for believers after Jesus has died for sins. It says in Hebrews 4:14-16, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.[15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.[16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” It also says in Hebrews 10:16-20, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;[17] And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.[18] Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.[19] Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,[20] By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;”

The Bible says in Leviticus 22:1-9, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[2] Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.[3] Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.[4] What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;[5] Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;[6] The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.[7] And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.[8] That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD.[9] They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.” The key word in verses two is the word “separate.” God wants His children to separate from evil. God is separate from evil: He is holy. The way to live a holy life is to stay separate from evil. Whatever the evil people are doing, you stay separate from that. There will be no evil in heaven. Heaven is the place of the greatest separation from evil. No evil will be allowed in heaven. That is why forgiveness of sins is so important. Unless you are cleansed from your sins through faith in Jesus, you will not be allowed into heaven. That is why it says in verse six, “and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.” Water does not cleanse from sin, but because water is the material cleansing agent, water symbolizes cleansing from sin. If you do not get cleansed from sin, then it will happen to you just as it says in verse nine, “They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore.” Death is symbolic of spiritual death, and spiritual death is to be separated from God forever. Do not die in your sins, or you will die forever.

The Bible says in Leviticus 22:10-16, “There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.[11] But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.[12] If the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things.[13] But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.[14] And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.[15] And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD;[16] Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them.” These verses are rules that have to do with the food that was eaten by the priests and was made available to him and all of their households. The priests got their food from the sacrifices. Something had to happen with all that meat and grain that was given in the temple. Some of it was burnt up in the burnt offerings, but most of it went to the priests. Some of the people in the priests’ household were not allowed to eat meat from the sacrifices, and some were allowed. Leviticus 22V13 is especially interesting because it mentions divorce. It says, “But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat.” A widow and a divorcee are treated equally. There are two ways for a marriage to end: death and divorce. Once a marriage has ended, that person who was married enters back into the single status. She returns to a status: “as in her youth.” That not only allows for her to be eating at her father’s table, but would also allow for her getting married again. If this situation is allowed in the Old Testament, think of how much more freedom there is in the age of grace in which we live.

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