Leviticus 21

CHAPTER 21THEME: Defilement of priesthood prevented in human kinship and friendship; disqualifications for priestly functionWe have been studying the law as directed to the people from chapter 11 through chapter 20. Now we come to the law for the personal purity of the priests. This is found in chapters 21 and 22. We will find a certain amount of repetition here. It had been God’s original intention that the entire nation should be a kingdom of priests (Exo_19:5-6). Their disobedience in the matter of the golden calf destroyed the possibility of the realization of a perfect and ideal society. In the Millennium, the perfect society will be attained. Then the entire nation of Israel will be the priests here on the earth for the earthly people, the gentile nations. Through the Millennium and through eternity, there are the three groups of the human family: (1) the church of Jesus Christ in the New Jerusalem, (2) the nation Israel here on this earth, (3) the saved Gentiles on this earth. After Israel’s failure, God chose only one tribe to be the priests, the tribe of Levi. In Israel, therefore, there were the congregation, the priesthood, and the high priest. The higher position required a higher obligation. The greater responsibility demanded a higher way of life. The church today is called a royal priesthood. Every believer is a priest and has access to the throne of grace today. Every believer-priest is required to live a holy life which is possible only by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever.

Amen” (1Pe_4:8-11). He also said, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1Pe_2:9-10). As God’s people we are called to a higher way of life. “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind…. That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph_4:17, Eph_4:22-24). The child of God is saved by grace and has been called to a high place in his life. A believer should be careful about accepting an office in the church. If he does become an officer, he should measure up to that responsibility. I have very little patience with men who accept an office in the church and then say they are not able to come to the mid-week service or come on Sunday night. Well, my brother, you should not have accepted the office. Responsibility, you see, comes through privilege. It is a privilege to serve the Lord in an office. You have been elevated. Then live up to it. Jesus Christ is our Great High Priest and He measured up to His office. “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore” (Heb_7:26-28). The Lord Jesus Christ is both the priest and the sacrifice. He offered Himself. The priests and the high priest now come under the purview of the law. Let us look at it.

Leviticus 21:1

DEFILEMENT OF PRIESTHOOD PREVENTED IN HUMAN KINSHIP AND FRIENDSHIPMoses is to address this section to the priests. Death is a penalty of sin, and the idea is that they are not to be contaminated with sin. Physical contact with the dead brings defilement. The priest was permitted to defile himself for close relatives. These listed here are all blood relations and by nature close to the priest. He must be permitted to express his feelings of sympathy and grief as a priest of God. He must be a type of Jesus who could weep at the grave of Lazarus and was touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He was not, however, permitted to defile himself for the dead of any others. He could mourn in his heart, but was denied physical contact.

Leviticus 21:4

The office he occupied required of him a stricter separation than any common man among the people. There are places that I don’t go, not because they are wrong, but because I am an ordained minister and I don’t want to give any occasion for offense to anyone. I believe that pastors, deacons, elders, Sunday school teachers, and all others who serve in the church, should be extremely careful about where they go, what they do and say. God is going to hold you and me more responsible if He has placed us in a position of responsibility.

Leviticus 21:5

This was something the heathen did, and they did it as an act of mourning for the dead. The priest was not to practice these superstitious, pagan practices that were all around him.

Leviticus 21:6

Their mourning was to befit those who were cupbearers of the King, “the bread of their God.” Their position demanded dignity and restraint as God’s representatives. The same applies to God’s representatives in the church today: “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate” (Tit_1:7-8).

Leviticus 21:7

This refers to his personal and private life, and in that, too, he is to reveal the holiness of God because of his position. He shall not marry a harlot, profane woman, or a divorced person. The reason given is because he is serving God"offereth the bread of thy God." The priest is a type of Christ. Also the body of believers, called the bride of Christ, is to be cleansed before she is presented to Him without spot or wrinkle (Eph_5:26-27). The church leader is to be an example to others in this particular matter. May I say right here that I get many letters from both men and women who were divorced before they were saved. Some of the men want to enter the ministry and the women wish to become missionaries. I know one cannot generalize about these things, but I do want to say that I think it is almost sinful the way certain innocent people who had an unfortunate experience in their livesmany of them before they were savedare shut out from an office because of that past experience in which they were not guilty at all. I encourage these people to go ahead and prepare for the ministry or the mission field. But I warn them also to be prepared to weather the criticism of some “saint” who thinks he is speaking for God.

Also, they will find certain churches that will shut them out. Yet I encourage them to go ahead with their preparation because there will be a place for them. And there is. We need to recognize that in this day there are a great many people who are the innocent victims of divorce. Another thing we need to recognize is that the wife of a pastor is not an assistant pastor. She is simply the wife of the pastor; that is the role she is to fill. She must be the kind of person who would be a credit to the office that the man occupies. It is not required of her that she must play the piano and the organ, sing in the choir, lead the missionary society, and on and on.

Leviticus 21:9

Why? Because of the position of her father. She was to receive the severest of penalties if she disgraced the office of her father.

Leviticus 21:10

This is the first mention of the high priest. As God’s anointed priest, he is to be separated unto the Lord. He was to wear the crown on which were inscribed the words “Holiness unto the Lord” as a continual reminder of who he is, whose he is, and whom he serves. He is not to rend his holy garments. He was not to be a violent man. At the trial of Jesus this law was broken when the high priest emotionally tore his clothes (Mat_26:65). Neither was the high priest to attend the funeral of either his father or mother. The anointing oil had been poured upon him, and he must be totally dedicated to God and separated from sin because of his position. The Lord Jesus Christ had the anointing oil poured upon Him and He came to do the Father’s will even unto death. He demands just such a dedication on the part of His followers.

Leviticus 21:13

His wife too must measure up to the position of the holy office. He is forbidden to marry a harlot, a profane or a divorced woman.

Leviticus 21:16

DISQUALIFICATIONS FOR PRIESTLY FUNCTIONThe following verses list disqualifications for the priestly function. It includes blindness, lameness, flat nose, dwarfism, scabs, and other deformities and blemishes. Why should this be? Just as no sacrifice was to be offered that had a blemish, by the same token no priest was to serve in the tabernacle if he had a blemish. Both the offering and the offerer represent Christ and there is no blemish in Him, either in His person or in His work. Christ is the perfect High Priest. There is no blemish in Him but rather beauty and glory and excellency.

Leviticus 21:22

Although those with a blemish were forbidden to serve, they were not shut out from the table of the Lord. God provided for them. This is in contrast to the treatment the pagan world gave the unfit. There is a spiritual lesson for us here. There are many believers who have some serious handicap either physically, morally, ethically, or spiritually. This would bar them from certain forms of service, yet they are genuine saints of God who have all the rights and privileges of believers in every respect. When I was studying for the ministry, I taught a young fellow in Sunday school who was in junior high school at the time. He was a marvelous athlete, but he had a cleft palate with a speech impediment. He came to me one day and told me that he would like to be a minister. Now, how do you talk to a young fellow like that? I tried to explain to him that he was a wonderful athlete, but that his speech was a handicap and suggested he find something in Christian work which would not require public speaking. I’ve followed this man through the years.

He became a football coach at a college. His influence for Christ was as great or greater than any minister’s. They learned to admire this man as an athlete and then, with his speech impediment, he would tell them about Jesus Christ and it made a real impact upon them.