Holy Conduct of Priests

INTRO

Most commentators describe Leviticus 21 as an instruction manual for the priests. Yes, they had been given clothes, they had been given some specific assignments from Leviticus 10, and they had been anointed and ordained, but there was still a lot more. They needed a manual for everyday life. Could priests get married or not? What was all this supposed to look like?

McArthur says, “Laws for the priests are given, which demanded a higher standard of holy conduct than for the general Israelite.”¹So we are going to elevate, in this context, high priests and priests and what was expected of them, in order to see forgiveness, happen in their lives and the lives of all Israelites. Priests were not perfect. They still messed up. We know what was asked of them.

TEACHING

Leviticus 21:1–2: The Lord instructed Moses to speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests. They were not to make themselves ceremonially unclean by being with a dead person among their relatives, except in the case of their mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or immediate family member. (Later, we will see Aaron’s priestly sons, Nadab and Abihu die because of disobedience, while Eleazar and Ithamar remained obedient.)

Leviticus 21:3–4: Another exception would have been a young unmarried sister who wouldn’t have had anyone to take care of her. What if an in-law dies? The priests wouldn’t have to do anything. They were not to defile themselves by taking care of them.

Leviticus 21:5: The priests were not to improperly mourn. They were to have no superstitious marks of grief like the pagans did. The priests were not to do anything to indicate that they weren’t holy. An example of what this could look like is 1 Kings 18:28.

Leviticus 21:6: Priests were to follow the standard that God had set—to be holy to God. By making bald spots, shaving the edges of their beards, making gashes and marks, they were profaning the name of God. The priests were not to come to the Lord in this way. In order to present the fire offerings (food to God), they were to be holy. It’s like they were learning as they went. This happened in Leviticus 10 and now Moses was writing about it.

Leviticus 21:7–8: Priests could not marry a woman who had been defiled by prostitution or who had been divorced by her husband. Why? It would bring another flesh to them; it was unclean (Genesis 2:24; Mark 10:8). They had to make sure that if they got married, whomever they married had to enter the union holy, like themselves.

There is tension between ministry and marriage. We have family, and yet we’ve been called to this ministry. There is going to be tension, and you should expect it.

When you are thinking about getting married, consider 2 Corinthians 6:14–18. Do not marry an unbeliever and do not marry people to change them; it’s dangerous ground. Israel was told over and over not to blend and mix these worlds. Today this means not to mix belief systems (i.e. Islam and Christianity), not races. God said to the priest, “don’t defile yourself, just stay single and understand you are holy! You have been set apart.”

Leviticus 21:9: If the priest’s daughter messed up one time, she was done and was burned up. There was no room for grace. This goes back to the standard God wanted for His priests, the leaders of the tabernacle . . . holiness.

Leviticus 21:10–12: Aaron, the high priest, could not defile himself and leave his post when his sons died. His calling was very high because the consecration of the anointing oil was on him. He could not leave his post to bury his sons. Aaron loved his kids, so the ministry/marriage tension was high right at that moment.

Leviticus 21:13–15: If a priest were to marry, he was to marry a woman who was a virgin. A holy union needed to take place. There was a love connection between God and Israel (Ezekiel 16:8–14). God said, “I have chosen to marry you Israel. We are a perfect fit.” The Lord married His chosen people (Jeremiah 31:32; Isaiah 54:5).

This image of God and Israel can’t be broken. It’s a one-flesh deal. God isn’t going to part with them. He isn’t done. He won’t divorce the Israelites. Israel turned away from God, then kept going back, over and over again (Hosea 2:7). God constantly woos them back and says, “I am still here.” The priest’s relationship with his wife or soon-to-be wife needed to be pure.

Leviticus 21:16–23: It was not an option for a priest to represent the Lord if he had defects. A priest was not qualified to come into God’s presence if he had a defect.

CLOSING

Jesus hung out with the people who had defects! Jesus hung out with people who looked funny (Luke 14:21). He intentionally went after these people. Jesus was the perfect priest (Hebrews 7:26). He was also the perfect victim (Hebrews 9:14). This is how we can connect with Him. The perfect High Priest offered Himself without blemish (1 Peter 1:19). Jesus was perfect. Jesus could have stayed right there, inside the tabernacle. Safe. Clean. He could have let the defective people stay out (1 Peter 2:22). Yet Jesus did the opposite! As a victim, Jesus gave up His life and came out to those who desperatelyneeded Him.

This is an awesome picture of the change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. We don’t need a tabernacle. Romans 5:8 says, “While we were yet sinners.” While we have a defect of pride. While we have a defect of lust. While we have a defect of impatience. You name the defect—it doesn’t matter! God proves His own love for us in that while we are still dealing with these defects, still dealing with these sins (not physical defects), Christ died for us. The High Priest has now come to us! No more stuff getting in the way of us having access to the Father.