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he who is the high priest among his Brethren on whose head the anointing oil was poured and was 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 AR nor profane the sanctuary of his God for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him I am the Lord 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 a as wife nor shall he profane his posterity among his people for I the Lord sanctify him 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 unic no man of the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings made by 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 then the Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to Aaron and his sons that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel and that they do not profane my Holy Name by what they dedicate to me I am the Lord say to them whoever of all your descendants throughout your Generations who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the Lord while he has uncleanness upon him that person shall be cut off from my presence I am the Lord whatever man of the descendants of Aaron who is a leper or has a discharge shall not eat the holy offerings until he is clean and whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse or a man who has had an omission of seen or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean or any person by whom he would become unclean whatever his uncleanness may be the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he washes his body with water and when the Sun goes down he shall be clean and afterward he may eat the holy offerings because it is his food whatever dies naturally or torn by beasts he shall not eat to defile himself with it I am the Lord they shall therefore keep my ordinance lest they bear sin for it and die thereby if they profane it I the Lord sanctify them no Outsider shall eat the holy offering one who dwells with the priest or a hired servant shall not eat the holy thing but if the priest buys a person with his money he may eat it and one who is born in his house may eat his food if the priest's daughter is married to an outsider she may not eat of the Holy offerings but if the priest's daughter is a widow or divorced and has no child and has returned to her father's house as in her youth she may eat her father's food but no Outsider shall eat it and if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally then he shall restore a holy offering to the priest and add 1if to it they shall not profane the holy offerings of the children of Israel which they offer to the Lord or allow them to Bear the guilt of trespass when they eat their holy offerings for I the Lord sanctify them and the Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the children of Israel and say to them whatever man of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel who offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or any of his Free Will offerings which they offer to the Lord as a burnt offering you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle from the sheep or from the goats whatever has a defect you shall not offer for it shall not not be acceptable on your behalf and whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord to fulfill his vow or a free will offering from the cattle or the Sheep it must be perfect to be accepted there shall be no defect in it those that are blind or broken or maed or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the Lord either a bull or a lamb that has any limb too long or Too Short you may offer as a free will offering but for a vow it shall not be accepted you shall not offer to the Lord what is bruised or crushed or torn or cut nor shall you make any offering of them in your land nor from a Foreigner's hand shall you offer any of these as the bread of your God because their corruption is in them and defects are in them they shall not be accepted on your behalf and the Lord spoke to Moses saying when a bll or a sheep or a goat is born it shall be seven days with its mother and from The Eighth Day and thereafter it shall be accepted as Anor offering made by fire to the Lord whether it is a cow or you do not kill her and her Young on the same day and when you offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving to the Lord offer it of your own free will on the same day it shall be eaten you shall leave none of it until morning I am the Lord therefore you shall keep my Commandments and perform them I am the Lord You shall not profane my holy name but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel I am the Lord who sanctifies you who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God I am the Lord amen we see that recurring emphasis throughout the section on God as the agent of sanctification for the children of Israel now there are certainly some puzzling and perplexing things in these two chapters things that probably will not get answered tonight but for the most part it is pretty straightforward as I said the people of Israel as people had particular conduct or particular daily conduct stipulated to them it included their diet it included what they wore it incl included how they conducted themselves the same thing obtained for the priests now certainly some of this affects them in their ministerial capacity but also it affects them in terms of their character keeping them qualified for their ministerial capacity so as I said we have restrictions for ordinary priests in verses 1 to9 restrictions for high priests in verses 10 to1 15 physical impediments to Priestly service in verses 16 to 24 then restrictions concerning their food veres 1-6 and then the impediments with reference to sacrificial animals in 17-33 so let's pick up first on the restrictions for ordinary priests and there's two things spoken of here first the act of mning and then secondly the act of marriage now much of these things we've already seen alluded to with reference to the people as a whole and you see it scattered throughout the penud they were not to mourn for their dead in a way that would compromise their function or activity as the priest of God most high so if you look specifically at chapter 21 verse one and the Lord SP said to Moses speak to the priests the sons of Aaron and say to them we need to make sure we appreciate that along with verse 24 and Moses told it to Aaron and his sons and to all the children of Israel chapter 20 uh 22:1 then the Lord spoke to Moses saying and then chapter 22 veres 31-33 The Authority Behind These commands come from God it's not Moses that came up with this it's not Moses that's Innovative it's not Moses that's creative here but it's rather God the Lord speaking through the Covenant mediator which is Moses at this particular juncture and telling the priests how they are to conduct themselves and then in verse 1B notice None Shall defile himself for the dead among his people so None Shall defile himself for the Dead among his people in other words he could contract ceremonial uncleanness or defilement and that would render him ineffective or inoperative with reference to his Priestly Duty or his Priestly Ministry following that we have some exceptions built in for the ordinary priests when we get to the high priest there's no exception even if his father and mother or father or mother dies he is not to to to be defiled he is not to have contact with with them in that particular state but here there is an exception for the rank and file it says None Shall defile himself for the debt among his people except for his relatives who are nearest to him his mother his father his son his daughter and his brother and then notice in verse three also his virgin sister who is near to him the idea being that if she was married and not near to him then ultimately it would be her husband that would bear the responsibility to look after the the funeral and to make sure that the body was disposed of properly but with reference to a virgin sister who is near to him who has had no husband for her he may defile himself so the idea is is defilement again contact with a dead body not that he's going to drape himself on it but being in that proximity with that dead body renders him unclean and unfit for service and that's the emphasis there in verse 4 otherwise he shall not defile himself being a chief man among his people to profane himself so he's got to maintain Holiness profane in its broadest or most General meaning means not holy profane is often taken in modern Parliament to be something bad something wicked something evil and typically and usually it is but in the Bible you've got that which is holy that which is close to God and then you've got that which is profane that which is removed from God that which is apart from God and so the purpose of these morning rights is not to say that these persons are to lack Compassion or empathy or love or kindness or anything like that but it was to make sure that they weren't rendered unfit for the task of Priestly mediation there was a lot of sinners in Israel there was a lot of sacrifices to be presented and there was in fact a holy God and we've already seen something of this in Leviticus chap 10 after the death of naab and Abu God hasent tells the priest to keep going a death in the sanctuary does not stop the worship of the Living God drag that dead body out let the people who have authorization mourn for that body but the priest maintain Fidelity in the Priestly activity John Gil makes the observation on verse four he says because he was a principal person among his people to officiate for them in sacred things wherefore if he did not take care that he was not def filed for the dead which might often happen he would be frequently hindered from doing his office for the people there was a high mortality rate back then we we're pretty blessed for now uh in terms of not having people dropping Dead next to us pretty much every day all the time but it wasn't the case that if it was the case these priests would be always defiled and never able to render that service unto God's Tabernacle so he said he would be frequently hindered from doing his office for the people which would be attended with ill consequence to them and therefore the above cases are only accepted as being such that rarely happen so it's not a lack of compassion it's not a lack of empathy it's not a lack of concern at the fact that somebody close to you has died but it's rather a lack or it's rather a concern for the conduct of the priest to function in that Holy manner to be consistently on on duty with reference to Tabernacle service and then note the following Prohibition in verses 5 and six this is connected to mourning rights that the pagans of the Heathen engaged in if you look back to chapter 19 in Leviticus we see that this is in fact the case notice in Leviticus 19 specifically at verse 27 you shall not shave around the sides of your head nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard you shall not make any cuting in your flesh notice the next language next words for the debt nor tattoo any marks on you I am the Lord and then a parallel passage in Deuteronomy chap 14 Deuteronomy 14:1 says essentially the same thing you are the children of the Lord your God you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead for you are a holy people to the Lord your God and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for himself a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the Earth the pagans or the heathens engaged in those rights in terms of their mourning practice the children of Israel were forbidden from doing so because it was in fact heathenish it was in fact Godless Robert alter says all these acts are pagan rights of mourning that must be avoided and that's precisely the emphasis there in verses 5 and six they shall not make any bald place on their heads nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuting 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 they to be set apart from the Heathen that engage in these practices in terms of their mour rights for their dead don't be like that you need to be holy and not profane so that's the act of mourning for the ordinary priests in verses 1 to6 now notice the act of marriage in verses 7 to9 note the Assumption in the first place priests in the old Covenant got married priests in the old Covenant we're not celibate priests in the old Covenant did not take a vow of celibacy the way the Roman Catholic institution does if they want to be consistent and model their priesthood after the old Covenant model then they ought to let their priests marry instead of burn and engage in sexual immorality so that the the assumption is is that the priest of God will be married the assumption is also that the priest of God can buy slaves we'll see that later when we drop down to the section on who can eat the priest of God's food but here for instance notice there is uh uh an assumption but then there is a Prohibition in verse 7 says 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 says nothing about a widow for the high priests they're also not supposed to marry a widow but with reference to the ordinary priest the ordinary priest at least by implication could marry a widow so they shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband so that is conduct fitting for the priests by implication we learn something though we learn that the ordinary Israelite could in fact marry a divorced person we learn as well that an ordinary Israelite a prophet for instance could marry a harlot in the case of Hosea so what we see here prohibited in terms of the priest and the high priest is not prohibited in terms of the rank and file in the nation of Israel and again we don't usually talk about these sorts of things but the prohibition does not mean or or the prohibition covers the ordinary priests so again by implication a non priest uh Israelite could marry a divorced woman and I want to just give a brief excursus with reference to this concept the prohibition of priests from marrying divorced women implies that non priests could in fact marry divorced women in fact the Bible operates on the assumption that when there is a Biblical divorce that obtains then remarriage is usually the case remarriage is usually normative when somebody biblically divorces now we have to ask the question what's a Biblical divorce well in the New Covenant we know there are two reasons and two reasons alone as to why people divorce first in Matthew 5 and then Matthew 19 in even more in verses 1 to 10 we see that sexual immorality is a good is a cause for the innocent party to sue out for divorce against the the guilty party and then in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 desertion now in desertion I would include as a subset spousal abuse because somebody who's beating his wife has deserted her so in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 you see as well that desertion is an authorized reason for divorce that's it not because he doesn't hang up his jacket not because she burns the roast not because you just don't like her anymore you fell out of love no there are two reasons given in the New Testament for New Covenant Christians as to why they may divorce now sexual immorality pora there in Matthew 5 and Matthew 19 is broader than MOA which is adultery so there are more things involved than just the act of adultery sexual immorality or pora is quite br broad much broader than just the act of adultery which is MOA Jesus knows the distinction and Jesus uses the word pora and he says that is a legitimate reason for someone to pursue divorce now after somebody innocent party divorces they are free to remarry and we're not supposed to judge them we're not supposed to tell them well you can't get married in the sanctuary you got to go to the justice of the peace if they've obeyed the law of God and they have been the innocent party in that act and they have done things in a manner that is consistent with the scripture they're not second class citizens they deserve every right to get married in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ just like everybody else does that isn't you know guilty of of an unbiblical practice one of the texts that I think gets very much misinterpreted when it comes to this whole issue of divorce and remarriage is Deuteronomy 24 there's a class of teachers out there called permanent view of marriage V bacham is one of them John Piper is another probably the most popular fellows they teach What's called the permanent view of marriage now I believe in the permanent view of marriage one man one woman forever unless one of them commits pora or one of them deserts the other because Jesus and Paul authorize divorce in that particular instance so we cannot deny what God has provided in terms of redress for evils conducted in this world so notice in Deuteronomy CH 24 again for whatever reason this passage gets misunderstood misinterpreted and bent out of shape I think it's actually in the background to Jesus teaching in Matthew 19 and I think it's in the background of Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 there's only one prohibition going on in this section notice in Deuteronomy 24:1 when a man takes a wife and marries her and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her and he writes her a certificate of divorce just by way of an observation this writing of the certificate of divorce was to mitigate uh uh uh divorce happy Society there was an actual process there was an actual requirement there was actual responsibility on the part of the person he couldn't just say get out honey you burned the dinner I'm done with you no there had to be a legal process the writing of this cert certificate of divorce notice he then puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house when she has Departed departed from his house and goes and becomes another man's wife that's just assumed she's going to become another man's wife we say well that doesn't seem she's going to starve to death if she doesn't become another man's wife Brethren this wasn't the day and age of welfare this wasn't the day and age where you know there was all kinds of options to you know the woman you know I Am Woman hear me roar I can go do whatever I want no she would necessarily get remarried now notice she has departed from his house she goes and becomes another man's wife if the latter husband detests her this is husband number two okay husband number one rot to the certificate of divorce sent her out she then marries husband number two she goes and becomes another man's wife if the latter husband husband number two detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce it might be a good time for her to reflect on her life character and conduct for one thing but he puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife then so you've got what's called a protesis the if section in a clause that's verses 1 to three and then you have the apois which is the then section in verse 4 here's the specification here's the stipulation in Deuteronomy 24 then her former husband husband number one who divorced her must not take her back that's the prohibition there it's not a blanket prohibition remarriage which these permanence guys for some reason use or invoke this passage to teach that it does mitigate against remarriage no the text assumes remarriage the text prohibits marriage to number one after she's been defiled by number two that's the only thing going on in Deuteronomy 24 so what Matthew 19 or Jesus teaches in Matthew 19: 1 to I think it's 10 is exactly consistent with what we find here in Exodus 24 so going back to our passage divorce is a bad thing the church Apes the world in many regards with reference to that the numbers are atrocious the numbers are high but in our Zeal to protect the institution of marriage let's not mitigate the very thing that God has built in to his law to help protect innocent parties there are innocent parties in marriage are they are they Duty bound forever to be miserable is their life just you know horror and and and pain and destruction well if that person is guilty of sexual immorality or desertion then the innocent party can sue out for divorce so when we go back to Leviticus 21 this is a passage at least by implication that indicates there were divorced women in Old Covenant Israel and non priests married those divorced women so back to the text notice the exhortation in verse 8 you'll find that along the way he gives a a block of teaching God through Moses and then gives exhortation typically it's be holy for I the Lord your God am Holy and that's precisely what you have in verse 8 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 and then notice in his household it's not just his marriage partner it's not just his wife and the Fidelity that she must bear but it's also the conduct of his children and in verse 9 it's the conduct of his daughter kind of helps you understand 1 Timothy chapter 3 right Paul's not doing something brand new when he's giving this you know list of qualifications for elders and deacons well you know it might be a good idea for him to have you know only one wife it might be a good idea for him to keep his children under control it it might be a good idea for him to be able to take care of his own house or manage his own house because if he can't manage his own house how is he going to Steward the very House of God so what we have here is that the man who is Chief among his people that's to be holy that's to be a leader that's to be a teacher that's to be one that brings the people of God into the presence of God he needs to be upright and godly so verse N9 the daughter of any priest if she profanes herself by playing the Harlot she profanes her father she shall be burned with fire now we read passages like these and probably we recoil in horror we think wow that's just terrible remember remember this is a published law God is telling the people of Israel what is required of them other words if this girl hears this and goes out and plays the Harlot she's going to get punished but she can't say well I I just didn't know this wasn't authoritarian in some sense totalitarian because it was Theocratic nation and what God Said was what God Said and you didn't mess around and so the emphasis here is on the priest e and his family there must be conduct that is consistent with God's law and I think the two sections balance out as well in another sense all the children of Israel all the men in Israel should have aspired to be Godly like the priests in Israel right just like in the New Covenant Church all the men in the church should aspire to be what Paul describes there in chapter 3 in 1 Timothy 1:7 in terms of Virtues is consistent with the man of God everybody should right I mean that's what we want as Christians we want to grow in the the grace and knowledge of the lord we want to put on virtue we want to put to death Vice but with reference to the priest in the Old Testament and the Elder in the New Testament there must be some demonstrated faithfulness in this regard he doesn't have that if a man married a harlot if a man married a divorced woman or a man married a a woman that was defiled then he was not fit he was not qualified and so this emphasis is God's with reference to the Purity the office now not Perfection of the office here cleanliness non- defilement non-press but rather a Holiness and a fitness for service in the Holy place that brings us secondly to the restrictions for the high priest essentially the same notice the identification in verse 10 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 devile himself for his father or his mother so again what was okay with reference to the ordinary priest is a no no with reference to the high priest why a greater degree of responsibility in fact you notice that there specifically in verse 12 nor shall he go out of the sanctuary I don't think that meant ever he can ever go out of the sanctuary but when he was consecrated and earlier passages in The Book of Leviticus indicated this once the priest was consecrated once he was quote unquote on duty he was supposed to stick with it again in chapter 10 naab and Abu are are killed by God for having offered up profane fire before the Lord God doesn't say well go ahead and suspend worship everybody go home and you know sort of investigate your own heart repent no God says drag the bodies out and keep on worshiping keep on going in other words we are engaged in holy business here and that Holy business continues so the emphasis for the high priest he shall he shall uh nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God probably in relation to the the the funeral of his father and his mother for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him I am the Lord and then the same sort of emphasis with reference to his marriage but he is not given the authorization to marry a widow 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 the people for I the Lord sanctify him how is this Priestly mantle passed through progeny through seed through babies right and I think Robert alter is again absolutely right when he says the priest has to marry a virgin to ensure the purity of the Priestly Line This is crucial if he doesn't do this then he is going to profane his posterity among his people for I the Lord sanctify him so again when we read through some of these Old Testament passages and we don't spend any time thinking through them we think wow that seems so odd that seems so strange but once we start to understand it in the larger context we say wellow God actually took care of all the details to make sure that these people didn't run astray to make sure they didn't compromise the Priestly line to make sure that they were able to maintain the cult and then that brings us thirdly to the physical impediments to Priestly service now again if you're screamish this is going to be a bit hardcore because God says you can't do it sorry if you got a defect you're not going to serve you can eat but you can't serve that's the emphasis in in verses 6 16 uh uh 16 to 24 note the general statement in verses 16 and 17 the Lord spoke to Moses saying it's almost like he punctuates The Narrative with that so we understand that this isn't Moses coming up with some odoc views that is going to bind the people of God and cause them to have hard feelings because somebody's got a a gimped hand or a gimped foot Moses is against me he's got you know whatever issue he's offended me no it's God who makes the the stipulation of the Commandment so the Lord spoke to Moses saying Speak to Aaron saying no man of your descendants in succeeding Generations who who has any defect may approach to offer the bread of his God now it's interesting that up until until this point a couple of times already the bread of his God that feeds that feeds into the first section in chapter 22 which deals with the eating of the priest's food remember the priests were not given tribal allotment of land they didn't go out and farm they didn't have livestock how did they live they lived based on sacrifices and tithes and so when it gets to the priests and their eating habits it's not to micromanage them and you know to look at them and all of their you know weird details but they were given from God specific things for the sustenance of life and so that bread is what's dealt with in chapter 22 but here specifically notice again speak to Aaron no man of your descendants in succeeding Generations who has any defect may approach to offer the bread of his God again Robert alter very good section very good comments on this particular section he says the underlying notion however objectionable to Modern sensibilities don't miss that because let's just read the list verse 18 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 now you might think well that would just heal and go right back to normal yeah in 21st century North America but back then it was quite possible that you'd get healed but you'd have a you you'd have something wrong with you there would be some defect again this is God's comments uh verse 19 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 unic 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 so back to altar he says the underlying notion however objectionable to Modern sensibilities is one shared by many ancient religions just as the animal offered in sacrificed must be unblemished guess how the section ends in chapter 22 on unblemished animals right we're coming to the Thrice holy God that means you get the guy that doesn't have the defect and you get the animal that doesn't have the defect when you read say for instance second king or uh uh uh First Kings or or or Chronicles at the building of the temple and and and Solomon pours all of this gold and wealth into the building of the temple what's the rationale the Lord our God is great among among all the gods in other words we're not going to put Yahweh in a shack we're going to put Yahweh in the very best we're going to make gold hinges on his Temple so the fact that our God Is So Glorious that God Demands a defectless man and a defectless animal in order to sacrifice unto him so back to altar just as the animal offered in sacrifice must be unblemished the official offering the sacrifice must be without physical blemish Gordon wam makes the observation the idea emerges that Holiness finds physical expression in Hess and normality probably much of the laws concerning clean and unclean animals are at the level of wholeness and and normality things that are normal that's what is good and acceptable to God and then Matthew P makes a I think a very fine observation here he says the reason hereof the reason why a man with a defect can't offer sacrifice to the Lord the reason hereof is partly typical and he's going to foreshadow what I'm going to end with this is all about Christ Christ is the perfect priest and the perfect victim Christ is the perfect priest and the perfect victim you have to see Christ in chapters 21 and 22 because this is prefigurement this is typical this is pointing us to the Lord Jesus so Paul says the reason here of is partly typical that he might more fully represent Christ the great high priest who was typified both by the priest and sacrifice and therefore both were to be without blemish and then he says it's partly moral to teach all Christians and especially Ministers of holy things what Purity and Perfection of heart and life they should labor after and that notorious blemishes in the mind or conversation render a man unfit for the ministry of the gospel and then he says and partly Prudential other words wise partly wise well why is that he says because such blemishes were apt to breed contempt of the person and consequently of His function and of the Holy things wherein he ministered in other words there's a good reason why you don't have somebody with physical defects because it might be something that that that is a distraction it might be something that that hinders him from engaging in Priestly function and so there's a typical aspect the moral aspect and then this Prudential or wisdom aspect but then notice God's not saying because you're a dwarf or because you've got eczema or because you've got a hunchback you're a horrible person no you're just not fit to offer sacrifice you're not fit to render service to the Lord but you're still okay to eat if it's your right as a priest to eat and that's the specification in verse 22 he may eat the bread of his God both the most holy and the holy he's not being punished he's not being called a sinner he's not being called bad because he's a hunchback he's simply being told he can't function in the capacity of serving the lord in the cult because he's a hunchback but in terms of eating go ahead it's your right it's your perk it's something that you have coming to you as Gil says for though their natural infirmities disqualified them for service yet they did not become hereby impure either in a moral or ceremonial sense and might eat of the sacrifices which impure persons might not and later on in the food thing we're going to see an impure priest without a hunchback could nevertheless not eat because he was impure so this man that is got the defect or the impediment to service in the sanctuary he's not being called bad he's not being called sinner he's not being called impure he is simply being Limited in terms of his capacity with reference to the service of the Lord and that's how it ends verse 23 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 and then that brings us to the restrictions concerning Priestly food the priest might contract defilement and in that case he's not supposed to participate until such time as he's clean again something similar that you find with reference to the ordinary Israelite but it's also something that applies to the priest and the priest is sustained by what God has given or provided through the the the goodness and the Free Will offerings of the people the sacrifices and then as well from the tithes so the problem of uncleanness is what is being spoken to in verses 2 and 3 so notice in verse two speak to Aaron and his sons that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel and that they do not profane my Holy Name by what they dedicate to me this separation from the holy things dedicated by the Israelite is sacrifice sacrificial food so the prohibition of verse two is connected very intimately to verse three in other words the prohibition or the reason why they're to separate according to verse two it's predicated in verse three say to them whoever of all your descendants throughout your Generations who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the Lord while he has uncleanness upon him that person shall be cut off from my presence I am the Lord so if the priest is UN unclean or the priest is defiled he's not supposed to go near those holy things dedicated by the sacrificer to Yahweh he's got to get clean he's got to be undefiled before he can participate let's say for instance in the peace offering remember when the worshipper came he gave his he cut the throat of his animal he gave it to the priest the priest offered it up to the Lord saved a portion and then priest and worshipper ate that together but if the uh priest was defiled or unclean he wasn't supposed to that's the emphasis there in verse three and then the type of uncleanness are given in Verses 4 to8 stuff we have seen in previous chapters leprosy discharges touching something unclean by a corpse uncleanness du due to a semen Omission touching creeping things and touching a person who is unclean so that's Verses 4 to 7 so if a man has that defilement then that man is to separate himself from the holy things dedicated by the children of the Lord to the Lord God most high he is UN defiled and therefore he is not to participate in that food at this point he's authorized to eat when he's clean notice in verse 7 when the Sun goes down he shall be clean and afterward he may eat the holy offerings because it is his food and then this prohibition has come up several times and will come up more later whatever dies naturally is or is torn by beasts he shall not eat to defile himself with it I am the Lord and then in verse 9 another exhortation and then that brings us to his family who gets to eat along with them again he doesn't have a piece of land he doesn't have a flock he doesn't have herds he doesn't have all that so how does he eat he eats based on sacrifice and tithe how do those closest to him eat they eat based on sacrifice and tithe but they must be permitted they must be authorized they must be in his inner circle the idea being if they're not then they're not participating in those sacrifices and in those tithes so it wasn't just for the priest priest the priest was as it were making a living for himself and for his family those closest to him notice the prohibition in verse 10 no Outsider shall eat the holy offering one who dwells with the priest or hired servant shall not eat the holy thing the marginal reading here is good as a visitor somebody visiting somebody that is transient somebody that is not part of the priest's household is not entitled to eat the priest's food but then it goes on to specify who it is that can specifically notice in verse uh uh verse 11 his slave can if the priest buys a person with his money he may eat it and one who is born in his house may eat his food if the priest's daughter is buried to an outsider she may not eat of the Holy offerings why cuz she's got a sugar daddy she's got a husband she's got a pantry she's got access to flocks she's got access to land she doesn't need her daddy's food because she's got a man but notice in verse 1 if the priest's daughter is a widow or divorced and has no child and has returned to her father's house as in her youth she may eat her father's food but no Outsider shall eat it so you see it's rules governing the conduct of the priests in their ordinary lives things like food things like how do we divy it up how do we function this is the Holiness code this sep separates not only priest and PE uh it separates priest and people from the Heathen and the Pagan around them and then again verse 14 if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally the visitor actually does take something off the priest table then he shall restore to uh restore a holy offering to the priest and add one fif to it they shall not profane the holy offerings of the children of Israel which they offer to the Lord or allow them to Bear the guilt or of trespass when they eat their holy offerings for I the Lord sanctify them and then the last section physical impediments with the with reference to sacrificial animals animal again we've been prepared for this we should already expect something like this but there's a requirement verses 17 to 19 requirement is is the worshipper brings an animal specified by God for the particular offense in view the the list of sacrifices are covered in chapters 1 to6 it is detailed it is it is uh very very well explained and so 17 to 19 basically encapsulates that when a man brings an offering he brings it of his own free will to do his bit with reference to the service of God and then notice when he does that he's to bring a specific type of animal and again alter says the list of deformities for the animals unfit for the cult parallels the list of deformities for priests unfit for the cult in the previous chapter you don't want defects in your priests you don't want defects in your animals and so as we read through this list it's nothing that should surprise us you want the animal that's the best in the flock and one of the best commentaries or at least uh yeah commentary on a straying from this principle is in the prophet Malachi God through Malachi up braids the children of Israel why because they brought the worst sacrifice they brought the lame they brought the mimed they brought the the the one that that limped or that hobbled why because the good ones would fetch more money for that or the good ones would serve better in their own farm and so they'd bring the worst to the Lord and so God through Malachi upgrades them for that conduct or activity he says give this kind of offering to your Earthly governor and see if he'd be impressed with this try to pay your taxes to the Persians with some mangy animal and see how they're going to uh uh uh approve of that and then toward the end of chapter one God through Malachi upgrades them for even stealing sacrifices so when it comes to sacrifice what we we give to God says something about our view of God if we bring the lamed or we bring the maed or we bring the mangi or we steal one on the way that indicates that we really don't esteem God we don't really Revere God so we don't want defects in the animals that we bring to the Lord and that's the specification there specifically in verses 20 to 25 now verse 27 is interesting well 27 to 30 I don't know honestly there's a lot of answers given I don't know that any of them are satisfying notice in verse 27 when a bull or a sheep or a goat is born it shall be seven days with its mother and from the eth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to the Lord some suggest it's a humanitarian thing not even for a little bit is it a human humanitarian thing the eth day you're killing it oh so so you let it live for seven days and you're the champion of humanity The Eighth Day you kill it that that's okay I don't know some say there's some sort of conservational element involved not not environmentalism but respect for God's creation I think that's probably the the uh view that has the most Merit because you've got other passages throughout the pentat that show some regard on the part of the worshipper or part on the part of the Israelite to respect God's created order not just to devastate it and decimate it but with reference to that it it it's a tough one and then verse 28 whether it is a cow or you not kill both her and her Young on the same day again that can't be humanitarian you kill her and then you kill her young the next day you're not a champion of humanitarianism and when you offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving to the Lord offer it of your own free will on the same day it shall be eaten you shall leave none of it until morning I am the Lord and then 31-33 basically again author summarizes the authority behind the commands and here God reminds them once again as he does so frequently that it's he that brought them out out of the land of Egypt that he was the one that redeemed them he brought them into this land in other words theologically and I know that this isn't a strict parallel but it certainly is a parallel to some degree you've got God's justifying Grace bringing them out of bondage into this particular place and then the emphasis on how then they ought to live in light of their redeemed status now in conclusion as I've already mentioned we see here the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ you can leave your pen or pencil or whatever there and look look at Hebrews chapter 7 Hebrews chapter 7 celebrates the high Priestly office of our Lord Jesus Christ and one of the things it does is underscores his Perfection over and against the levitical priesthood the sons of Aaron and notice in chapter 7 at verse 23 also there were many priests because they were prevented by Death from continuing this is a great argument right here the eternality of Christ the reality that he continues forever solidifies him as a more excellent priest than they but he because he continues forever has an unchangeable priesthood therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them but then notice the emphasis on his Perfection for such a high priest was fitting for us who is Holy harmless undefiled separate from Sinners everything we just read there in Leviticus chapters 21- 22 that was necessary for the priest of Israel in that old Covenant that which was necessary was never attained the priest never got to that place he never got that status of holy harmless undefiled separate from Sinners that was always the standard that was always the expectation but there was a built-in mechanism for uncleanness a built-in mechanism for defilement a built-in mechanism for failure because God knew he was dealing with failure men but not so with Jesus and then it's says who does not need daily as those High priests to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the peoples for this he did once for all when he offered up himself so he's both priest and victim he's both sacrificer and sacrifice and in that he is the antitype to what is specified in chapters 21 and chapter 22 of The Book of Leviticus he is the perfect priest and he is the perfect sacrifice and he offers himself to the father for the sins of his people a second observation is the superiority of the New Covenant now that's not you know me just taking that shot at the old Covenant the old Covenant was good it functioned the way God intended it to but if we had read previous in chapter 7 and continued reading into chapter 8 we learn that the New Covenant is a better Covenant it's founded on better promises and it affords a better hope well what's one of the things you find in the New Covenant you don't see the exclusion of Unix you see the inclusion of Unix this is prophesied in Isaiah 56 Isaiah 56 there's a prophecy concerning the New Covenant era the Messianic reign of our blessed savior when the unic who at one time was a far off is now welcomed into the Assembly of the Lord and that is put to full application or brought to full application in that Ethiopian unic in the book of Acts Acts chapter 8 that passage is significant for the Salvation of the Ethiopian unic but that passage is far more significant in terms of Redemptive history and the reality that the New Covenant era is upon us because at one time in the old Covenant Unix were kept out of the house of the Lord but in this new covenant era Unix are brought into the house of the Lord and then Jesus in Luke's gospel talks about a great par a great wedding feast and he tells the servant to go and to call the M and to call the lame and to call the Blind and to invite them to this great wedding Feast Brethren read that with this background in mind there were persons that were excluded from the near presence of God most high for the defects that they bore in their body in this new covenant era Christ says to the servant to go and bid them to come and then I've already mentioned or alluded to the qualifications for Ministry I figured this would be a heavy night there's a lot of heavy stuff in here I wanted to end on a bit of a lighter note with an extended quote from CH Spurgeon I don't know that CH Spurgeon had Leviticus 21 in his mind I'm wouldn't have any clue whatsoever but he had at least some degree of application of the principle now I'm not suggesting that this old Covenant principle for priests is automatically parallel in the New Covenant uh sort of qualifications for elders but it's a humorous look at how he would look at men relative to gospel Ministry he says physical infirmities infirmities raise a question about the call of some excellent men I would not like you hes judge Men by their features but their General physical uh their General physique is no small Criterion the narrow chest does not indicate a man formed for public speech you may think it odd but still I feel very well assured that when a man has a contracted chest with no distance between his shoulders the all-wise Creator did not intend him habitually to preach if he had meant him to speak he would have given him in some measure breadth of chest sufficient to yield a reasonable amount of lung Force when the Lord means a creature to run he gives it Nimble legs and if he means another creature to preach he will give it suitable lungs a brother who has to pause in the middle of a sentence and work his air pump should ask himself whether there is not some other occupation for which he is better adapted a man who can scarcely get through a sentence without pain can hardly be called to cry aloud and spare not there may be exceptions but is there not weight in the general rule Brethren with defective mouth s and imperfect articulation are not usually called to preach the gospel the same applies to Brethren with no pallet or an imperfect one application was received some short time ago from a young man who had a sort of rotary action of his jaw of the most painful sort to the beholder his Pastor commended him as a very holy young man who had been the means of bringing some to Christ and he expressed the hope that I would receive him but I could not see the propriety of it I could not have looked at him while preaching without laughter if all the gold of tarses had been my reward and in all probability nine out of 10 of his hearers would have been more sensitive than myself a man with a big tongue which filled up his mouth and caused indistinctness another without teeth another who stammered another who could not pronounce all the alphabet I have had the pain of declining on the ground that God had not given them those physical appliances which are as the prayer book would put it generally necessary anyways I thought that was uh at least some degree far removed but something of an application of the principle here in Leviticus 21 I'll pray and then if there's any questions we can take those Our Father in Heaven thank you for your word thank you for Leviticus 21 and 22 the demand for a perfect priest and the demand for a perfect sacrifice is met by the Son of God we rejoice in your loving kindness we rejoice in the one that is Holy harmless and undefiled the one who ever lives to make intercession for us and that one who is able to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him Lord I pray that you would encourage our hearts as we view the Savior as we see Christ as we understand scripture and may we grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our blessed Lord and we pray in