The holiness and duties of priests
21
📚And 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.21:1 The following two chapters give instructions regarding the priests. Priests here symbolize all believers in this New Testament age (see note at Ex 28:1). The priests were to be without defect and to keep themselves holy. The laws in these chapters are symbolic of spiritual realities that God wants to see in believers now.🪶
2 📚But he may defile himself for a close relative, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, 3 and for his virgin sister who is near him, not having a husband. 4 📚But a leader among his people shall not defile himself to make himself unclean.
21:1-4 Death is the result of sin and even the touch of death was to be regarded as defiling (Gen 2:17; Rom 6:16, 21, 23; Lev 11:40; Num 19:14; Ezek 44:25). So death speaks of man’s sinfulness and corrupted condition, and believers now are to watch themselves lest they be corrupted by the touch of the fallen world (2 Cor 6:14-18; Gal 1:4; 6:14; Col 3:2, 5; Titus 2:14; 1 John 2:15-16; 5:19).🪶
5 📚“They shall not make bald spots on their heads, and shall not shave off the edges of their beards, or make any cuts on their body.
21:5Deut 14:1; Ezek 44:20. Such practices were probably common among the peoples around them in that day.🪶
6 📚They shall be holy for their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and they present the bread of their God 📖; therefore they shall be holy.
7 📚“They shall not marry one who is a prostitute, or profane, and they shall not marry a woman divorced by her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. 8 📚So you shall sanctify him; for he presents the bread of your God; he shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy.
21:8 See Lev 20:8 for alternate possible translations of “sanctifies”. Holiness is one of the great key words of the Bible.🪶
9 📚“And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by prostituting herself, she is profaning her father; she shall be burned in the fire.
10 📚“And the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured, and who was consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head or tear his clothes, 11 📚and he shall not approach any dead body, nor defile himself even for his father or for his mother, if they die, 12 📚or go out of the sanctuary, or profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.
13 📚“And he shall marry a virgin. 14 📚He shall not marry a widow, or a divorced woman, or a profane one, or a prostitute, but shall marry a virgin of his own people. 15 📚And he must not profane his offspring among his people; for I the LORD sanctify him”.
21:10-15 The high priest signifies Christ the High Priest. Higher things were required of him than of the ordinary priests. He had a great work to do and must not let any relationship in life hinder him (compare Matt 10:37; 12:46-50; 16:21-23).🪶
16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 📚“Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has any blemish is to approach to present the bread of his God. 18 📚For none who has a blemish shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or one who is disfigured, or has a deformed limb, 19 or one with a crippled foot, or crippled hand, 20 📚or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or one with a defective eye, or one who has skin defects or scabs, or crushed testicles. 21 📚No one among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall approach to present the offerings of the LORD made by fire. He has a blemish; he shall not approach to present the bread of his God. 22 📚He shall eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy, 23 📚but because he has a blemish he shall not go behind the veil, or come near the altar, so that he does not profane my sanctuaries; for I the LORD sanctify them”.
21:16-23 The priests without physical defects signify the perfection of human nature that was in Christ and that God wants to see in all His people (Matt 5:48; 2 Cor 7:1; 13:11; Eph 4:13; Col 1:28; 4:12; Jam 1:4). The physical defects mentioned in vs 18-20 symbolize spiritual defects that make believers unfit for the service of God. Needless to say these physical defects have nothing to do with spirituality, and some physically handicapped people become great servants of God.🪶
24 📚And Moses told this to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.