https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Leviticus+21
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Saturday, 8 March 2025:
Leviticus 21:5-8 – They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.
As you consider the standards set forth for priests in Leviticus, consider their implications to you as a priest, which is what you are as Christ’s ambassador –
– 1 Peter 2:4-6 — As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
– 1 Peter 2:9-10 — But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
As a new creation in Christ, you are called out to a new standard of holiness (God’s standard of holiness) because you “offer the LORD’s food offerings, the bread of their God,” which is Jesus Christ and His sacred teachings –
– Ephesians 1:4 — …even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love.
– 1 Peter 1:15, 16 — …but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
– John 6:33, 35 – “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world….” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
Specifically, this chapter deals with a priest’s holiness in mourning and marriage. The priests had a special responsibility to represent God before the people and the people before God. Therefore, they had a special call to holiness and ritualistic purity. The purpose of these laws was to illustrate the purity and separation from sin that was to characterize the priest. A dead body is a picture of sin’s result in this world, especially in the way the body quickly rots. “Therefore, in contrast to most of the pagan religious systems of Israel’s neighbors, the priests did not prepare dead bodies for burial. Holiness gives life; God did not want His holy priests to be too closely associated with death. God did not want His priests and His worship to be dominated by death, but by life. God also did not want His priests anywhere near the death cults of the pagans.” (David Guzik)
Notice that in the New Testament, Jesus’ holy presence overcame death, no one died in His presence, and some rose from the dead. John the Baptist died during Jesus’ ministry but not in His presence, and Jesus died before the criminals on the Cross. Of course, Jesus conquered death in the Resurrection, granting us the hope of eternal life with Him.
God’s standards of holiness apply to the priest’s family. A priest before the LORD (the priesthood of all believers) should marry in purity and maintain the purity of his marriage. His children also have a special responsibility to remain pure. The idea that a leader among God’s people must lead his household well is repeated in the New Testament (1 Timothy 3:4-5, Titus 1:6). Fundamentally, a Christian family should stand out among other families as holy, pure, healthy, loving, and faithful before the LORD. This should be a top priority among God’s people.
Leviticus 21:17 — None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God.
The command against the priestly service of those with physical defects was meant to point to the even more obvious need to be free from spiritual defects when coming to God. However, it also points to the sovereignty of God. A person with a physical defect couldn’t help having a physical defect, yet they were disqualified from offering the bread of God nonetheless, but not from partaking of it (v.22). Particularly in our egalitarian society today, this may seem very unfair. However, while there may be reasons we don’t completely understand about these very specific commands, what we can understand is the Sovereign God said it, so that settles it.
However, prideful sinfulness will cause many to reject the commands of God which don’t seem fair. For example, the Bible limits eldership in the church to men who are “”husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6), a man who has not divorced and remarried or committed adultery. This standard is unacceptable to many who believe it overly restricts ‘great people,’ from service. So they what-if-it away into no standard – “What if they were divorced before they were saved? … What if the divorce wasn’t their fault? … What if they committed adultery in the past but their wife forgave them and they are different now? What if she meets all the standards prescribed for a man?” All the what-ifs replace God’s standards for human standards, rather than obeying simply to honor God’s Sovereignty. None of these standards are a problem for the humble who are happy to partake of the bread of God.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 8 March 2025: Today, rather than focusing on death, proclaim the New Life in Christ, and seek only what is pure rather than uniting with what is unpure. Be holy because God is Holy! Let the entirety of your life reveal the Glory of God. Also, pursue as a top priority the holiness and health of your family.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 