Bereans Corner
Bereans Corner
Thru the Bible - #108 - Leviticus 21 - Regulations Concerning Priest
Can strict ancient religious laws teach us about modern moral conduct and expectations? Uncover the intricate details of Leviticus 21 as we unravel the Lord's instructions to Moses regarding the sons of Aaron. In this episode of Berean's Corner, we explore the rigorous standards priests were held to in their pursuit of holiness. From ceremonial cleanliness and personal grooming to marriage restrictions and the condition of their offspring, we uncover the profound significance behind these divine mandates. Learn about the purification rituals from Numbers 19 and the severe consequences of failing to comply with these sacred commands.
Moreover, discover the extraordinary expectations placed upon the high priest, and how these ancient stipulations resonate with the burden of pastor's children in the 1980s. We discuss the severe repercussions for a priest's daughter found guilty of promiscuous behavior and the stringent requirements for the high priest in mourning, marriage, and physical perfection. By likening the high priest to the unblemished sacrificial animals, we reveal the deep-rooted importance of purity and honor in their sacred duties. Join us for a thought-provoking examination of how these ancient regulations aimed to preserve the sanctity of the priesthood and their modern-day implications.
All right, thank you for joining me and welcome back to Berean's Corner. Thank you for hanging out with me, the podcast where we go through books of the Bible verse by verse. Grab yourself a cup of coffee, cup of tea, a glass of water as we get into today's lesson, which is Leviticus, chapter 21. The title of today's lesson Regulations Concerning Priests. As always, we read the chapter and then we get into the breakdown of the chapter, leviticus 21, and let's read.
Speaker 2:Leviticus 21, the Lord said to Moses speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them a priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die. Except for a close relative such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband For her, he may make himself unclean. He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage and so defile himself. Unclean for people related to him by marriage and so defile himself. Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies. They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the offerings made to the Lord by fire, the food of their God, they are to be holy. They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands. Because priests are holy to their God. Regard them as holy because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy because I, the Lord, am holy, I who make you holy. If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father. She must be burned in the fire.
Speaker 2:A high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes. He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother, nor leave the sanctuary of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord. The woman he marries must be a virgin. He must not marry a widow. Marries must be a virgin. He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord who makes him holy.
Speaker 2:The Lord said to Moses Say to Aaron For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. No man who has any defect may come near. No man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed. No man with a crippled foot or hand or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed or who has an eye defect or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the offerings made to the Lord by fire. He has a defect he must not come near to offer the food of his God. He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food, yet because of his defect he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord who makes them holy. Sir Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
Speaker 1:The last time we were together we looked at immorality and human sacrifices, as I mentioned earlier. Today we are looking at the priest regulations. Now we will see in this chapter that the focus is on a priest not profaning or defiling himself. He, like many of us today, were to be an example for the Lord. We will look at this chapter in four parts of defilement. Part number one a priest was not to be defiled in death. We see this in verses one through four. Then the Lord said to Moses speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them no one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother. Also for his virgin sister who is near to him because she has had no husband for her he may defile himself. He shall not defile himself as a relative by marriage among his people and so, excuse me, profane himself. Now, this thing of being unclean, we will see this again. Turn to numbers, go right to your bible. Turn to numbers. Chapter 19 we'll look at this a little bit early. Numbers, chapter 19, numbers 19 we're looking at verses 11 through 14. The one who touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days. That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water on the third day and on the seventh day and then he shall be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he shall not be clean on the third day and on the seventh day he shall not be clean. Anyone who touches a corpse, the body of a man who has died and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the lord and that person shall be cut off from israel because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him. He shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him. This is the law. When a man dies in a tent, everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean for seven days.
Speaker 1:Now, this law of being unclean. Remember, the lord spoke to moses and he told him to speak this to the priest. So the priest, remember, the priest had to be pure. The priest had to be clean and the only exception was his relatives. Who was closest to him? Now, what did the lord mean when he said this, when he, when he said his relatives who are closest to him. He is not saying the relatives who you are close with, but he gave an example of who they had to be.
Speaker 1:Go back to verse 2, leviticus 21, verse 2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him. And the Lord gives who these relatives would be his mother and his father, his sons and his daughter and his brother. And then he adds also his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has no husband. Now the reason for this is because when a man's sister, a priest's sister in this case, had no, she was a virgin and had no husband, she is still part of that family. Now, in this day and age, we have last names to know who is who, but back then you know they went by who the father was or what the father did when they named a person. Either way it goes, she still belonged to that family. The father had not given her to another man to be married, so she was still considered part of that family. But once she was no longer a virgin, she was married to another man.
Speaker 1:This the the text, implies that the priest could not attend her funeral or he could not touch her dead body, as it says here we will move on to part two. Mourning was a defilement. We see this in verses five and six. They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh. They shall be holy, to excuse me. They should be holy to god and not profane the name of their god, for they present the offering by fire to the lord, the bread of their god. So they shall be holy. Looking back at the first part of verse five, looks, you know, uh, it's a relook at the. I want to read, excuse me, I want to relook at the baldness of head in a few other passages, because we saw that, you know verse five. It says they shall not make any baldness of their heads. So there are a few other areas that I would like to look at. That talks about this baldness of the head.
Speaker 1:Turning your bible to the right, to deuteronomy, chapter 14. So deuteronomy, chapter 14, notice verse 1 you are the sons of the lord, your god. You shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. So this is a practice that the lord repeats in deuteronomy of what they were not to uh to do about this? Uh, shaving up their heads for the dead. Go in your bible a little more to the right and go to ezekiel. Go to ezekiel we are. Look, we're looking at ezekiel, chapter 44. All right, soon as soon as I get there, ezekiel 44 we are looking at verse 20. Ezekiel 44, verse 20 also. They shall not shave their heads yet. They shall not let their locks grow long, they shall only trim the hair of their heads. Now, this is in ezekiel 44 and this is talking about ordinances for the levites. Who are the levites? We know that the levites are the priests.
Speaker 1:Okay, part three. The priest was not to be defiled in marriage. Look at verses 7 to 8 back in leviticus 21. They shall not take a woman who is profaned by by holotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband, for he is holy to his God. You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I am the Lord who sacrifices. You am holy. Excuse me, excuse me, people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies. You am holy. Excuse me, I was reading just a little bit too fast. So we see the way that a priest was not to be defiled in marriage. Now, it didn't say that he was not to be married. What it said in verse seven was they shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband, for he is holy to his god. So it's talking about a particular type of woman.
Speaker 1:We move on to part four. If the priest's daughter was a prostitute, she was to be burned. Verse 9 also the daughter of any priest if she profanes herself by holitry, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire. Now the reason for it?
Speaker 1:Now, okay, let me, let me back up a little bit in the times that we I remember growing up in the 80s and I remember hearing or older folks, whether they were family, whether they were church members or neighbors, say that you know, if you look at those pastor's kids, those pastor's kids are always a little worse than other kids. They're always a little more wild, they're always a little more this, they're always a little more of that. Well, the truth is, is that, just like it was in the 1980s, all the way to today, they people expect a pastor, the pastor's children, to behave a certain way. They are supposed to be of a different standard, not that they aren't kids or they aren't to be kids, but they were to be of a different standard. It was no different in the time when Moses wrote Leviticus here and the Lord gave him these laws. The pastor's children, the priests, in this case, children were supposed to be of a different stock, and here we're talking about daughters. She was not to be a harlot, she was not to be sleeping around, she was not to be a daughter who was not a virgin with all these different men. And the worst thing was to be a prostitute, where she was doing it for money. The Lord is very clear she was to be burned. The Lord said it and it is just what it is.
Speaker 1:Now we move on to the high priest. In verses 10 through 24 we will work through how the high priest was not to be defiled. Part. The first part we'll look at is he was not to excuse me, he was not allowed to mourn. We see this in verse 10 the priest, who is the highest among his brothers and whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes. So so in verse 10, we see that the priest what, who is the highest? We talk about the high priest who had the anointing oil on his head, was not to do things such as tearing his clothes and he was not to uncover his head. Part two he could not approach a dead body. We see this in verses 11 through 12. Nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself, even for his father or his mother. 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 on him. I am the lord. Now, remember, we're talking about the high priest.
Speaker 1:If you're wondering, when we let's, let's go back, let's, let's go back. Let's go back to verse 2. I'm sorry, let's go back to verse 1. Go back to verse 1. Did the Lord spoke to Moses? Speak to the priests? Now drop back to where we just are a verse 11. I'm sorry, let's go back to verse in the priests, excuse me, verse 10 and the priest who is the highest among his brothers. See, now we're talking about the high priest.
Speaker 1:We started out by talking about the priest, now we're talking about the high priest. Okay, we'll move on to part three. He was to marry, but it had restrictions verses 13 through 15 and he shall take a wife in her virginity that's one restriction A widow or a divorced woman or one who is profaned by holotry, these he may not take. You understand that he is not to take a woman who was divorced, who was a widow or profaned in her holotry, but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people Verse 15, that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the lord who sanctifies him. Why does she have to be a virgin? For first of all, because the lord said so. The next reason would be is because it would not profane his offspring. He was the only man to have been in that woman, so his offspring would be blessed, pretty straightforward. Next, the high priest was not to have any physical defects. We're going to look through verses 16 through 14 and look at these.
Speaker 1:Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to Aaron, saying no man of your offspring, throughout their generation, who has a defect shall approach to offer the bread of his God, for no one who has a defect shall approach a blind man or a lame man or he who has a disfigured face or any deformed limb, or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles. No man among the descendants of Aaron, the priest, who has a defect is to come near to offer the Lord's offspring, excuse me, offering by fire. Since he has a, a defect, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his god. He may eat the bread of his god, both of the most holy and of the holy, only he shall not go in to the veil or come near the altar because he has a defect that he may not profane my saint, excuse me, my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctify him. So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.
Speaker 1:Now, the reason for this is because the sack, because the priest, the high priest, had to be a man pure. The reason why he could not have any of these defects? Because it was the same example and the same way that the Lord said about the animals. Remember when the Lord said when you bring an animal to be sacrificed, that animal could not have any defects. The Lord wanted your best. This is not to talk down or to speak down on the animals who had defects. The Lord wanted your best. When you brought a lamb, he wanted that lamb that was standing up straight, who had both of his eyes, didn't have a crook in his voice. That's what you were supposed to sacrifice. The same way the lord is looking at his man here. The man could not have any defects. It is not a judgment, is not to look down on a person with defects, but the lord had a way to do things and it had to be done his way. Listen, the man had to be as perfect as what perfect as perfect could be. He had to stand up straight. He could not be a dwarf, he could not have any of these type of defects. He couldn't have an arm hanging across his chest. His arms had to be down at his side, shoulders back, neck up, head straight.
Speaker 1:And the most important thing here, why I believe the lord gave this command, these, these commandments, is because, remember, they had to make sacrifices and if you had a broke foot or a broke hand, you you wouldn't be able to hold an animal to make the sacrifice. You wouldn't have the stability in your feet to make these sacrifices. If you were a dwarf, in some of these cases these animals would be too big for you to hold. Animal could move and shake and get away. We know that animals seem to you know no disrespect to into anyone who's a dwarf. But animals seem to fear a person who is taller than them or or as tall as them. It puts just a little bit more fear in them. That person is of authority. Like I said, that is not disrespect, that's just how it is in the in the world and that's how it had to be in the lord's tabernacle, in his sanctuary. You could not have any other defects, you couldn't have a crooked back because, like I said, these things could prevent you from lifting things that you had to do for the lord's sacrifice bringing these animals to the altar. That's why I think that the Lord gave all of these commands of what could, what a priest could be and what he could not be. But no matter how we look at it, as we always say, whatever the Lord says, that's, that is what they were to do, that is what we are to do, so we will follow those commands. All right, that brings us to the end of Leviticus, chapter 21.
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