The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying of the Old Testament book of Leviticus. The key to the book of Leviticus is found in verses 45 and 46 of chapter 11.
Leviticus 11:44-45 NIV I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
The people God made responsible for teaching the people of God’s requirements and enforcing them were the High Priest and his son. All of them were descendants of Jacob’s son Levi. Hince the name of the book we are studying which was the guide to those responsible all of which were Levites.
Since these people were responsible for the nation learning and obeying the law they held enormously powerful and influential positions. They oversaw the sanctuary of God; they taught the people the Word of God; they offered the sacrifices on God’s altar; when called upon, they determined the will of God for the people.
The priests had to meet the qualifications God gave for the priesthood, and they had to serve Him according to His directions. In their personal conduct, physical characteristics, and professional concerns, they had to meet God’s approval. For a priest to serve the Lord acceptably, it wasn’t enough that he qualifies as a son of Aaron without any physical defects. He also had to carry on his ministry in such a way that the Lord was pleased with him. The worshippers might look at the outward ritual, but God would look at his inner heart. There’s a price to pay if you want to be a spiritual leader.
These are the notes to Session 18. The link to an audio recording of the session is at the end of the notes.
The people God made responsible for teaching the people of God’s requirements and enforcing them were the High Priest and the priests under him. All of them were descendants of Jacob’s son Levi. Hince the name of the book we are studying which was the guide to those responsible which were the Levites.
Since these people were responsible for the nation learning and obeying the law they were held in very powerful and influential positions. They were leaders and there is a high cost to leadership.
Last week we talked about the personal conduct of the High Priest and his sons who were the priests assigned with the service of the tabernacle and the sacrifices.
God told them how to grieve and who they could grieve for so that they would not become unclean and unable to serve in their roles the priest could defile themselves or become unclean only for their parents, a child, a brother of an unmarried sister. The High Priest couldn’t defile himself for anybody. In their grief they could not do the things that the pagan nations did.
Leviticus 21:5-6 NLT “The priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or cut their bodies. They 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.
God told them who they could marry because this was the way to keep the priestly line pure. Since the firstborn son of the high priest became the next high priest, the only way to be sure the priestly line was kept pure was for him to marry a virgin. In most cases, the priests chose their wives from the tribe of Levi, and this would be especially so with the high priest.
While these special regulations don’t apply to workers in the church today, the principles are still important and applicable. If we want to have God’s blessing on our ministry, we must keep ourselves, our marriages, and our families pure and dedicated before God. A godly marriage with godly children constitutes a spiritual fortress from which God’s servants can go forth to do battle for the Lord.
2 Corinthians 6:14 NIV Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
In the nation of Israel, however, God required that every priest be free from defects and blemishes.
Leviticus 21:17-21 NLT “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. No one who has a defect qualifies, whether he is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed, or has a broken foot or arm, or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles. No 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.
There were two reasons for this requirement. First of all, the sacrifices that the people brought to the Lord had to be perfect; it was only right that those who offered the sacrifices at the altar also be without defect. Second, the priests exemplified that great High Priest who was to come, and there is no defect in Him.
While priests with physical defects couldn’t serve at the altar or in the holy place, they were still considered priests and were allowed to share with their families in the sacrificial meals and the other material benefits that the tribe of Levi enjoyed.
Leviticus 2:3, 10 NKJV The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the Lord made by fire. And what is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the Lord made by fire.
This biblical passage must not be used today to humiliate or intimidate anybody with a physical disability. It was never written for that purpose. The priests were special people with an important job to do, and God wanted them to be the very best physically. A beautiful soul often lives in a crippled body, and people like that can be greatly used of the Lord.
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PROFESSIONAL CONCERNS (22:1–33)
For a priest to serve the Lord acceptably, it wasn’t enough that he qualifies as a son of Aaron without any physical defects. He also had to carry on his ministry in such a way that the Lord was pleased with him. The worshippers might look at the outward ritual, but God would look at his inner heart.
Leviticus 22:1-2 NIV The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name. I am the Lord.
In King James it says, “separate themselves from the holy things”. This is the theme for chapter 22. means “to treat with regard and respect” or “to be careful in handling.” The priests offered sacrifices all day long, all year long; it would be easy for them to develop an attitude of professionalism that would turn a sacred ritual into a shallow routine. That’s what this warning is all about.
Outwardly, you do all the right things the right way, but when God looks at your heart, nothing there is right. What God wanted to prevent is what is written in Malachi. By the time of Malachi, the prophet, the specter of professionalism. overshadowed the work of all the priests.
Malachi 1:6-14 NLT The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name! “But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’ “You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. “Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?’ “You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will not accept your offerings. But my name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it’s all right to defile the Lord’s table. You say, ‘It’s too hard to serve the Lord,’ and you turn up your noses at my commands,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?” asks the Lord. “Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is feared among the nations!
These priests did not give honor to God. And they did not respect him.
God would not accept any person or thing that was unholy. The animals were unholy to offer to God because there was something wrong with them. The priests were unholy because they did not give honor to God.
Leviticus 22:17-25 tells us that animals that were not perfect were not acceptable sacrifices. God would not accept the unclean things that the priests offered.
The priests thought that it was too hard to follow God’s requirements. They hated it, or ‘blew down their noses’ at it. The English way to say this is ‘turned up their noses’ at it.
The priests did this when they offered animals that were not perfect.
God response to the disrespect of the priests was to curse and humiliate them.
Malachi 2:1-9 NLT “Listen, you priests—this command is for you! Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart. I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile. Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin. “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions.”
Carelessness and professionalism at the altar would show itself in three ways: unclean priests (Lev. 22:3–9), unqualified guests (vv. 10–16), and unacceptable sacrifices (vv. 17–33). The priest would end up defiling himself, the sacrifices, and the very altar where he was supposed to serve God.
Unclean priests (vv. 3–9).
Leviticus 22:3-9 NIV “Say to them: ‘For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord. “ ‘If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease or a bodily discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse or by anyone who has an emission of semen, or if he touches any crawling thing that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. The one who touches any such thing will be unclean till evening. He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water. When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food. He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, and so become unclean through it. I am the Lord. “ ‘The priests are to perform my service in such a way that they do not become guilty and die for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.
Chapter 11 addresses the ways that a person could become unclean and chapter tells us how a person could purify themselves.
Suppose a priest became defiled but did nothing about it? How would anybody know that he was unclean? He could minister at the altar, handle the sacrifices, even eat his lawful share of the sacred offerings, and get away with it. But God would know it, and the priest would be in danger of death
Leviticus 22:9 NIV “ ‘The priests are to perform my service in such a way that they do not become guilty and die for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy
If the priest was unclean and he knew it and still ministered and handled the sacrifices he was being a hypocrite by pretending to be clean when he was actually toxic, because he was defiling the ministry for which God had set him apart. He was acting like the Pharisees.
Matthew 23:25-28 NIV “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
We must thank God for the privilege of being called to serve, and we must treat the things of God with holy respect. We can’t hide from God
Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
So, like Paul we should work to always have a clear conscience when it comes to the things of God.
Acts 24:16 NIV So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
Somebody wrote that the conscience is like a window that lets in the light. When the window becomes soiled, the light gradually becomes darkness. Once “conscience is defiled”, it gradually gets worse, and eventually it may be so “seared” that it has no sensitivity at all.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 NIV The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
Then it becomes an “evil conscience”, one that functions just the opposite of “a good conscience”.
Carelessness and professionalism at the altar would show itself in unclean priests which we just talked about it will also result in and show itself with unqualified guests.
Unqualified guests (vv. 10–16)
Leviticus 22:10-16 NIV “‘No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it. But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if slaves are born in his household, they may eat his food. If a priest’s daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions. But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father’s household as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat it. “ ‘Anyone who eats a sacred offering by mistake must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value to it. The priests must not desecrate the sacred offerings the Israelites present to the Lord by allowing them to eat the sacred offerings and so bring upon them guilt requiring payment. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.’ ”
The priest and members of his family who were qualified could eat portions of specified offerings. but if he included outsiders, he sinned against the Lord and against his guest. The unqualified guest would have to bring a trespass offering plus a fine.
In other words, a faithful priest had to have the honesty and courage to say no. This would include any daughters who had married outside the priestly family. To include them would only hurt them and force them to pay a fine.
One of the most difficult things in Christian ministry is having to say no, but to keep our fellowship pure before God, we must sometimes do it.
Unacceptable sacrifices (vv. 17–32)
Leviticus 22:17-25 NIV The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘If any of you—whether an Israelite or a foreigner residing in Israel—presents a gift for a burnt offering to the Lord, either to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf. Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. When anyone brings from the herd or flock a fellowship offering to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable. Do not offer to the Lord the blind, the injured or the maimed, or anything with warts or festering or running sores. Do not place any of these on the altar as a food offering presented to the Lord. You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox or a sheep that is deformed or stunted, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment of a vow. You must not offer to the Lord an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut. You must not do this in your own land, and you must not accept such animals from the hand of a foreigner and offer them as the food of your God. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and have defects.’ ”
Just as the priests had to be free from physical defects, so the sacrifices that they offered had to be perfect or the Lord wouldn’t accept them.
Malachi 1:8 NIV When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.
Malachi 1:13 NIV And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty. “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord.
The priest who had respect for his ministry and high regard for the sacrifices of God would accept only those animals that met God’s requirements. To send a worshipper away from the altar with a false assurance of forgiveness would do great damage to his or her spiritual life.
Now a couple verses that seem strange.
Leviticus 22:26-28 NIV The Lord said to Moses, “When a calf, a lamb or a goat is born, it is to remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the Lord. Do not slaughter a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day.
The special requirement about the age of the offering shows the tender heart of the Creator toward His creation.
Deuteronomy 22:6-7 NIV If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.
A calf or lamb younger than a week old who was transported any distance to the sanctuary might die in the process.
The closing three verses of this chapter would clearly the question “Why should I honor and respect the sacrifices of God and the ministry He has given me?”
Leviticus 22:31-33 NIV “Keep my commands and follow them. I am the Lord. Do not profane my holy name, for I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the Lord, who made you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.”
(1) These are God’s commandments, and they must be obeyed. God never commands anything that isn’t the best for us.
(2) This is the way we glorify God’s great name and sanctify Him before His people.
(3) The Lord who commands us also redeemed us from slavery, and He’s the one who has set us apart to be His special people. We owe everything to Him!
What greater motivation do we need?
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