The Lord God had previously given the laws and commandments of holiness to the children of Israel. Now, He would give the laws and commandments of holiness especially for the priest. And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘None shall defile himself [touch a dead body] 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. (Leviticus 21:1-4)
Just as the children of Israel were sanctified, set apart by the Lord God to represent His Holiness before the world, the priests were set apart by the Lord God within the community of the children of Israel to represent His Holiness among them. Remember when He first called Aaron and his sons as priests, He said, “For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests. (Exodus 28:40-41)
"And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him." (Exodus 28:42-43)
It takes a major sacrifice on the part of a priest, bishop, pastor, and leader of God's people to represent Him before them in a way that shows His Holiness. To the world, it may seem extreme and unnecessary, for example: ‘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. (Leviticus 21:5-6)
The above law may not make as much since to us as the following law, but the Lord God required the priests to be a chief man among his people; therefore, they had to appear a certain way before the people, just like the people had to appear differently before the world. 'You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.' (Leviticus 19:27-28)
'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. (Leviticus 21:6-9)
If the priest, bishop, pastor, or leader of God's people is to be the example of God's Holiness before them, then he must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (I Timothy 3:2-7)
Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. (I Timothy 3:8-12)
Our parents used to say, "don't misrepresent me in the world" or "don't bring shame to our family name". Those were some good instructions to their children, especially if a parent was a Christian leader. As Paul instructed Titus, appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. 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, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. (Titus 1:5-9)
‘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; 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. (Leviticus 21:10-12)
This is difficult to understand, why the priests were not allowed to mourn for their deceased close relatives like everyone else way; but we must understand that they are in the service of ministering to God on behalf of the people and the tabernacle. Christ Jesus once taught the price of being one of His disciples, when someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” ... Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”(Luke 9:57, 59-62)
Once we commit ourselves to serving God and representing Him before the world, we have to see death for what it truly is, for the saved an unsaved, both will receive the consequences of their choices while they lived. For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ... So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:10, 12) Therefore, there's no need to mourn exceedingly after a person is dead, because that can not change their eternal condition. The priests and all Christian leaders have to represent that attitude of continuing to go forward in the faith, even during the difficult times of life.
'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.’” (Leviticus 21:13-15) Now Moses wife was from Midian (Exodus 2:11-25), but the Lord God was commanding that the priests only marry women from their own people.
There's a very important reason for not being unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? (I Corinthians 6:14-16) How much more difficult would it be for the priests to serve the children of Israel the way the Lord God commanded if He had a spouse that did not believe in the One True Living God or understand the laws and commandments of the Lord God. Again, race was not the issue, because Moses wife was of a different race. The issue is if the person believes in the One True Living God or not.
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. (Leviticus 21:16-20)
'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. (Leviticus 21:21-24)
Many people are born with what the Lord God describes here as defects. Remember, the Lord God is giving the law and commandments required for being a priest. He was not picking on a group of people anymore than He would not allow women, children or foreigners to be priests. His requirements of representing His Holiness were very specific, but that doesn't have to stop any of us from serving Him. As Christ Jesus told the Samaritan woman, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
Later in Israel's history, the prophet, Ezekiel would reiterate most of what the Lord God commanded of the priests here. (Ezekiel 44) Just as the priests were set at much higher standard than the rest of the children of Israel because they were sanctified to represent God's Holiness before the people, the children of Israel also had to represent God's Holiness before the world; and, we, who profess to be Christians, having put our faith in Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord, are also to represent God's Holiness before the world today. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. (I Corinthians 3:16-17)
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