Leviticus 21
Notes
Transcript
Requirements for the Priesthood
Requirements for the Priesthood
Levitical priesthood - by birth, no other way
you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We are born into a Priesthood
male/female
Husbands/Fathers priests of their home
But all of us can minister as Priests to the world around us
Priest -
represents God to men
represents men to God
If born again - you are a member of the royal priesthood
Question is… do you want be used by God to minister to the world around you?
Ch. 21 deals strictly with the requirements of the Levitical Priesthood
Spiritual applications for us / IF we want to be used by the Lord
And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘None shall defile himself for the dead among his people, except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself. Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
Don’t defile yourselves with the dead
Not talking about sin - being ceremonially unclean (can’t perform the functions and duties of the priesthood if unclean)
For you and I - talking about the spiritually dead (unbelievers)
Don’t make the mistake of thinking coming in contact with unbelievers defiles you (Holy Huddle)
Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus interacted with unbelievers, came in contact with Lepers
key? (v.4) don’t profane yourself (treat as common)
First point
Why? Because you are a member of the royal priesthood
Our Relationship with unbelievers matters
Our Relationship with unbelievers matters
Not saying - you have to stay clear of your unbelieving friends and family
I AM saying, don’t put yourself in a position of compromise where you can no longer function as a priest to them and for them
‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh. They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
These practices all related to the death rituals of the pagan nations around them.
Obviously doesn’t apply to us physically - but spiritually, it does
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.
Abstain from every form of evil.
“Sin not, and avoid even the appearance of it. Do not drive your morality so near the bounds of evil as to lead even weak persons to believe that ye actually touch, taste, or handle it. Let not the form of it, ειδος, appear with or among you, much less the substance.” Adam Clarke
second point
Our Reputation with unbelievers matters
Our Reputation with unbelievers matters
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist
And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.
They were watching and waiting for Zechariah - when you and I function as priests, people are watching our lives
Unless J.B.F. (James Bond For the Lord) - our Christianity is a covert operation - otherwise, like it or not you are being watched
People were watching Jesus closely all the time, especially during the last week before His crucifixion - could find no guilt in Him
They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy. The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
Obvious application (I hope) - don’t be unequally yoked together with unbelievers
It will have a negative impact on your ability and capacity to serve the Lord.
Believe it goes deeper than that
Priests were to set their affections on a bride that was pure in a sexual sense.
Do we set our affections on that which is spiritually pure?
third point
What we set our affections on matters
What we set our affections on matters
Also applies to how we view others...
Jesus presents us (His) bride (warts, blemishes and all) to Himself a glorious church
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Notice verse 9 ()
The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
a warning - Don’t let you affections cloud your responsibility to teach and correct your children in the fear of the Lord
They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.
They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.
They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.
notice verse 9 ()
They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.
“Johnny Angel”
a family out of control can render our ministry ineffective also
Now - Starting with verse 10 we move beyond the requirements of the ordinary Levitical priest
to the requirements of the High Priest (much more stringent)
‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes; nor shall he go near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother;
Uncovering one’s head, tearing one’s clothes - deep anger and mourning (Extreme expression of emotion)
Jepthah () tore his clothes when he saw his daughter after returning from a battle and making a rash vow
See several examples in OT of people tearing their clothes
Extreme emotional display
How we control our emotions matters
How we control our emotions matters
The High Priest was not to display an extreme outburst of emotion
When Nadab and Abihu were killed before the Lord () , Moses instructed Aaron and his remaining sons not to uncover their heads nor tear their clothes
At the trial of Jesus -
Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!
Caiaphas broke this command in verse 10
Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?”
He said to him, “You have said it.”
fourth point
How we control our emotions matters
How we control our emotions matters
But what about Jesus?
Driving out the moneychangers and the sellers of doves in the temple?
Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
James tells us that the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God....
Why?
Leviticus
Leviticus
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
How often is our wrath accompanied with malice, blasphemy, filthy language?
Qualifications pastors in the church -
For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,
To be able to be used by the Lord in ministry to others, we need to exercise self-control in the area of our emotions.
nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord.
The High Priest - consecrated for ministry
If he leaves the sanctuary - he becomes ceremonially unclean, defiled - can’t minister in the tabernacle
Under the new covenant - for you and I its a different story...
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Wherever we go - the temple of God (the sanctuary) goes with us...
Because of that - we are never “off the clock” so-to-speak as believers
fifth point
How we spend our time matters
How we spend our time matters
Not that we have to be at church constantly,
Only watch christian programming exclusively
Only do spiritual things
Jesus would spend all day performing miracles and teaching… He and His disciples would be wiped out -
A multitude would follow Him
He’d have compassion on them and continue ministering
We never read of Jesus saying, “It’s my day off” “I’m off the clock”
Sometimes we are tempted to have that attitude -
Doctors and nurses in this room - would respond in a medical emergency even on their day off !!
“I want ME time” ?
(you are not your own)
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
NOT saying you cannot rest, take a vacay, do fun things....
But if you want to be used by the Lord in service to Him
Ministry is rarely 9-5 or convenient
That’s why Paul says
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
And he shall take a wife in her virginity. A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I the Lord sanctify him.’ ”
Recall:
Ordinary Priests - no divorce wives, no harlots
High Priest - not even a widow, only a virgin
complete purity
Why?
absolutely nothing that could affect their bloodlines, their offspring
No questioning if a future High Priest maybe had a skeleton in his closet....
For us, what could possibly affect our ministry as priests?
The flesh
Sixth point
How we deal with our flesh matters
How we deal with our flesh matters
As believers - all have the Holy Spirit,
but the question is
Are we walking according to the Spirit, or according to the flesh?
I think we will see this in greater detail in the rest of the verses of Lev.21...
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God. For any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too long, a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy; only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ”
And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel.
Important to understand:
Having a physical defect/handicap did not make a person a second-class citizen
still a priest
still could eat of the food provided for priesthood
Only restriction:
Could not officiate in the tabernacle
Why?
The High Priest
The Altar/Tabernacle
The offering
All HAD to be pure w/o blemish/defect - because type of Jesus Christ our Great High Priest !
Practical standpoint:
How could a priest who was a dwarf - light the lampstand, change out the shewbread, put the burnt offering on the altar?
How could a blind or a lame person perform the duties of sacrificing an animal, pouring blood around the altar, etc?
To be able to minister effectively, Priest had to be free of defects
So it is with us - (Spiritual standpoint)
Blind?
cannot see needs or others - too self-focused?
No vision of the eternal?
Lame/broken foot, etc.?
Our walk (witness) compromised?
dwarf?
Has our spiritual growth been stunted?
Are we still just spiritual babies, never having advanced to maturity?
Scabs?
carrying around festering wounds under the surface that have never been addressed?
Eunich?
No or very little observable spiritual fruit in our lives?
Unable to reproduce ourselves - because we have so many issues we are working through ourselves?
I have known Christians (none of you, of course)
Spiritual babies - still need spiritual huggies, still drinking only milk - can’t digest solid food, too self-absorbed to be useful to the Lord
Christians whose walk has been so compromised - they are a bad witness for Christ
Bitter, unforgiving, angry believers harboring a festering would just below the surface
Christians who have little or no observable fruit in their lives....
They are STILL Christians - I don’t question their salvation (in most cases)
But if you want to be useful for the Lord in ministry
some of these things need to change in us if you want to minister in the role of a priest to this lost and dying world
Very important - NONE of US are free of blemishes and defects
NONE of us have it all together
This is why we need to deal with the issues we CAN deal with and change...
What we CAN’T change?
We need the Holy Spirit to enable us and empower us to minister
Are we filled with, led by, and relying on the Holy Spirit?
Are we filled with, led by, and relying on the Holy Spirit?
final point
Are we filled with, led by, and relying on the Holy Spirit?
Are we filled with, led by, and relying on the Holy Spirit?