Purity of the Priesthood

And so we pick up in Leviticus 21, verse 1, and it says this. 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 children. 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 profane himself. Now as we go through these regulations for the priests, we're going to find that, or the regulations for the conduct for the priests, we're going to find that they're held to kind of an interestingly high standard. When you look, you go, man, it seems like there's some things that don't even make sense. But it's because they are being held to such a high standard.

This is, if you will, the Old Testament version of what we see in the pastoral epistles as far as the qualifications for an elder or a deacon. Only when you read this, you go, man, I'm glad I live in the New Testament, not in the Old Testament. So the first thing that we see is that they were to not defile themselves for the dead. Now the aspect of defiling yourself for the dead could come from one of two ways.

Number one, actually the touching of a dead body. And of course, it even goes down into, you know, friends. The only thing that is an exception is the nearest relatives. So it could be as far as touching a dead body. But according to tradition, it's said that even being in the same room with a dead body would defile a priest. And since they were to be above reproach in every way,

and since God viewed death as unclean, and because it's not his plan for us, he said, you have to be separate from death. The only exception is if it's a near relative, you can be in the same room as them when they're going through this process. But they were to separate themselves from death. Now, John Corson in his commentary pointed out something interesting because I thought, gosh, what on earth kind of a personal application can you get out of this?

And of course, he always pulls something out because he's really good at that sort of thing. He says, you know, it's interesting when we look at ourselves as New Testament believers, we're reminded of the fact that we are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Really, in any aspect of our lives, I believe the direct context that's given to us there in 2 Corinthians has to do with relationships, relationships having to do with marriage, that we're not to be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever. But really, in our lives in general, there should be a separation from the people of the world.

Yes, they can be acquaintances of ours. We shouldn't shun the people of the world. After all, Paul also said, hey, remember that time I said don't hang out with the sexually immoral? I didn't mean that you couldn't even be around them. The sexually immoral of the world. Otherwise, you'd have to remove yourself from the world. So it's not that we can't be around those that are the dead of the world, if you will,

but how close is your relationship with them? I remember when I started walking with Jesus when I was in high school, everything about the way that I was kind of changed, including the friends that I had. And I found all of a sudden that I didn't have very many close friends any longer because all the friends that I'd had when I wasn't walking with the Lord were all living the life of the dead. And in order for me to be able to walk with the Lord, in order for me to live life the way that God intended for me to, I could not defile myself with them.

I remember the last time I ever went to a party. It was the summer between my junior and senior year, and it was in that spring of my junior year that I really started walking with the Lord. And I worked at a camp that summer, and so I wasn't around anybody. And it was right at the end of the summer, and one of my friends saw me at Dillon's, and he said, dude, nobody's seen you all summer long.

You should come hang out with us. There's a party at this guy's house tonight. And I was like, ah, I don't know. But okay. I haven't seen it. Anybody saw it, come hang out. And so I got there, and within about five minutes of me being there, somebody spilled a beer on me. And I was like, this is not where I'm supposed to be. This is not who I should be hanging out with.

There really needs to be a separation between myself and those that are walking in death. And that really should be who we are as believers. We can't leave the world because we need to be a witness in the world, but we are to not be of the world. There should be a separation between us and the death that is around us. Well, he goes on from there to say, they shall not make any baldness on their heads.

Now, hang tight. I'm going to explain this one in just a minute. They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edge of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh. They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire to the Lord, the food of their God, so they shall be holy. Now, you remember last week we talked about the fact

that there were certain people that were not holy. There were certain people that were not holy. There were certain people that were not holy. There were certain pagan practices that would be a part of the land, and they were not to take part in those pagan practices. The idea of shaving one's head here was a pagan or a heathen practice for the way that they would mourn for the dead.

And so the idea is not necessarily that you couldn't have a bald head because, after all, we already read one of my favorite scriptures in all of the Bible that says, if a man has a baldness on his forehead, he is bald, but praise Jesus, he is clean, right? So we know that that's the case. The idea is taking part in a, a heathen practice that looks just like with, that looks just like the world. Because what we're gonna find is with the priesthood was no different than what the people were supposed to do.

There was to be a separation from the things of the world only for the priests. Perhaps the chasm of separation was to be even greater because they were held to an even higher standard. As a matter of fact, I believe it's best summed up in verse six when he says, they shall be holy to their God. Why could they not take part in all of the pagan practices that were around them?

Because they were to be holy, set apart unto God. He said, and they shall not profane the name of the Lord their God for they present the offerings by fire to the Lord. He says you have to be separate from all those pagan practices. Why? Because you're holy. You are set apart unto God for a specific purpose. And the specific purpose that the priests were set apart unto God for

was to offer the sacrifices, the sacrifices to the Lord. Therefore, in no way was their life to profane the name of God. I believe we brought this up last week, but that word profane is kind of interesting. That word profane means to make common. He said, you have to be separate from all of these practices of the people around you because if not, you end up making the name of God common.

And may I say, it's a real danger in the church today that we're making the name of God very common when the church looks very different than the world that is around us. And so he goes on from there to say, 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. You shall consecrate him therefore, for he offers the food for your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord who sanctifies you, am holy.

Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father, she will be burned with fire. The priest who is the highest among his brothers on who has the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes, nor shall he approach any dead person nor defile himself even for his father or for his mother, nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God for the consecration of his life. The consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord.

He shall take a wife in her virginity, a widow or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry. These he may not take, but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people so that he will not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him. Now this next thing that he deals with is really the family life of the priest. And in the family life of the priest, there was to be a distinction.

There was to be a holiness to an even higher standard again than the people that were around him. The first thing that we take note of is that his wife is supposed to be pure. She is not supposed to be one who had been profaned by harlotry, nor was she supposed to be a woman who had been divorced from her husband. And then when you look over in verse 13, it says she should be a virgin.

If she's a widowed or divorced woman, she would be profaned by harlotry. These he may not take, rather he is to marry, a virgin. In other words, his family life was supposed to be a holy life because we know that when the two get married, the two become one flesh. I tell young people this all the time when they start deciding who that special little someone in their life is going to be.

And I like to say it just like that. When you find that special little someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with, you need to pay attention to the kind of person that they are because we will always fall to the lowest common denominator. And I've watched it happen. Over and over and over again as a youth pastor that someone will have a very strong walk with the Lord and then they will begin to date.

And when they date someone who does not have the same view of the Lord that they do, someone who is not wholly in their view of the Lord like they have, then they will always fall into that. They will always end up falling down into the pit with the person that they're with. I always tell my kids, I can name three people off the top of my head that I won't right now, that it absolutely breaks my heart where their lives have ended up. And the reason why their lives have ended up the way that they have is because of who they chose to spend their life with.

And now their walk with the Lord is not only unrecognizable but non-existent. You see, there's to be a holiness even in the way that a priest chooses the person that he's going to spend his life with. But not only that, there should be a holiness in the kids within themselves. In the household of the priest. Matter of fact, he says, the daughter of any priest,

if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father. In other words, the kids are a reflection of the father. The kids are a reflection of the way that their father has raised them. And if that young lady goes into some form of harlotry, she's to be dealt with in a very harsh way. Matter of fact, what's given to us here, some would call somewhat despicable

in the way that, she's supposed to be handled, but it's because God is so holy and those that serve him have to be holy. And I almost think more than anything, now this is just Ryan talking, I can't necessarily confirm this scripturally, but I feel confident that if a father had a daughter that fell into that sort of lifestyle and he had to do what it says here in the book of Leviticus to do, being a father of two little girls, I can tell you it would hurt the father much more than it would hurt the daughter. Because it would be almost unbearable. And we have to realize something as men.

We have to realize something as dads. We'll be held accountable for the way our kids are raised. We are the ones who will be held accountable for that. Even if a father isn't present in the life of the child, the father is still held accountable for the way that that child is raised. Because that's the kind of responsibility that we bear as men. And so he says there should be holiness

in the way that the child is raised. And if you think about it, when you go into the New Testament with the qualifications for an elder, you find that one of the qualifications for an elder is that he knows how to maintain his household. And it's no different here in the Old Testament. And then here's the part that's kind of interesting to me. It says in verse 10,

because within the family life, there's also a different way that the priest is even allowed to grieve. Notice what it says in verse 10. The priest who is the highest among his brothers, we would refer to him as the high priest, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments shall not unburden him, nor uncover his head, nor tear his clothes, 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, basically what he says there is that if you're the high priest, you can't mourn like everybody else does. If you're the high priest and there's a death in the family, you don't get to mourn like everyone else does because you have that anointing oil on you and you are held to a higher level of accountability. Just because there's a death in the family doesn't mean that your job stops. And it's an interesting thing that you take on when you become someone who is put in charge is that you have to handle life a little bit differently.

But it also reminds me of the story of Aaron. Do you remember what happened with Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu? Been a while since we visited that story. But remember, they offered profane fire to the Lord. And when they offered profane fire to the Lord, what happened to them? God killed them. And do you remember what Aaron was told? You need to keep doing your job.

Why? Because the anointing oil is on you. And it doesn't mean that you get to just stop doing what you're doing because you've had something difficult that you've faced in your life. And so he says, even the way that they mourn has to be a little bit different than everybody else. They were to be set apart. And of course he says in verse 15, so that they will not,

profane his offspring among the people for I am the Lord who sanctifies them. And now we move into the fact that there was to be no physical defects among the priests. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to Aaron saying, no man of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the food 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 illness.

Or any deformed limb or a man who has a broken foot or a broken hand or a hunchback or a dwarf. Now that's not funny when you're short, is it? I find myself reading that and going, I think I, I don't think I qualify for that. Anyway, or a dwarf or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or this next part's gonna not be easy to read or crushed testicles, right?

That's not fun. Okay. Can I be a 14 year old boy here? For one quick minute. I love the way that the old King James translates this, right? If anybody here is reading an old King James, you know that it says, he who has crushed stones, we're just gonna move on now. So I am not lying. That's how it's translated. No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest

who has a defect is to come near to offer the Lord's offerings by fire since he has a defect. He shall not come near to offer the food of his God. Well, I'm trying to keep going like that didn't happen, but here we are. He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, only he shall not go into the veil nor come near the altar because he has a defect so that he will not profane my sanctuary.

For I am the Lord who sanctifies them. So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel. Now, as we read those things, it almost gets increasingly more difficult to take in because the level that the priests were to be held to, what really gets difficult is when you look at those physical things. You're like, man, really? Even the physical defects could disqualify someone

in the Old Testament from being a priest? So I began to ask myself, why? Why was God so specific about this? And why were God's standards so high for the priesthood? And I came up with three reasons why. Number one is because they were to be an example to the people. They were to be an example to the people. As a matter of fact, everything about their life was to be that example

because they were to be an example to the people. They were God's priest for the people. Do you notice how many times he kept saying because these are the ones who will offer God's food to him? I found that to be an interesting way that that was put. None of the commentators I read addressed why it's stated that way because that seems to be stated differently

than just about anywhere in the book of Leviticus. It sort of puts it in a little bit of a different light and I can't necessarily give you a reason why it says that other than these men were held to a higher level of accountability because they were examples to the people. They were to be the ones who represented God to the people. Matter of fact, when you move into the book of Ezekiel, you find that one of the things that God gets so upset with the people about in the book of Ezekiel.

Remember, he said, even your shepherds are defiled. Remember that part of the book of Ezekiel where he tells them to dig into the wall? And as he digs into the wall, he goes inside of that wall of the temple and what does he see all over the temple? All kinds of profanity. All kinds of vain images. And God said, this is what's going on in the priesthood. And they can't be examples for the people.

Now, I don't know about you, but for me, as one who does, in a way, represent God to the people, that's a really scary thought because I want my life to be an example and I know my tendency to not be a very good human being. I know my tendency to struggle with the things of the flesh. And so for me, this has really raised the bar in my own mind of who I'm supposed to be. I'm supposed to be as a leader and as a man of God.

An example to the people. The second reason why I think God takes this so seriously is that these were the representatives of the people to God. These were the representatives of the people to God. Not only were they examples of who God intended them to be for the people, but they were representing the people to God. And so it was important that these men be above reproach in every single way

because remember, they were going before God. They were going before God. They were going before God on behalf of the people. They were that intercession, that intermediary between the people and God. And so there could be no defilement in any aspect of their lives. But then number three, and I really think this is the most important thing, is that they were a picture of Jesus.

Remember, Jesus is our ultimate high priest. That's what we're told in the book of Hebrews, that Jesus is an even greater high priest than the Aaronians. And so if they were to be a picture of Jesus, then that picture that they needed to present for the people, that preparation that they needed to make for the hearts of the people is that the priest was one who was on a level different. Not because he was so much better, but because he was held to such a high standard.

Because he was held to such a high level of accountability. And they would be the ones who would be that picture of Jesus who was to come, who would be that perfect high priest. And so God lays out these important things for the priesthood, for the priesthood, the regulations for the priesthood in order for them to understand. Well, now he begins to talk about the priests and their sacrifices.

My Bible labels this as sundry rules for the priests, but it's a little bit more than that. It says, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so as not to profane my holy name. I am the Lord. Say to them, If any man among all your descendants throughout your generations approaches the holy gifts which the sons of Israel dedicate to the Lord while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from before me.

I am the Lord. No man of the descendants of Aaron who is a leper or who has a discharge may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. And if one touches anything made unclean by a corpse or if a man has a seminal amnesia, he shall be cut off from before me. Or if a man touches any teeming things by which he is made unclean, or any man by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness, a person who touches any such shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he is bathed in water.

But when the sun sets, he will be clean and afterward shall eat of the holy gifts, for it is his food. Now the first thing he tells them, is that as they move into this, remember this is for the priesthood, because it says, then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, tell Aaron and his sons, but did you notice what he was to tell Aaron and his sons? To be careful with the holy gifts. Now, I think God, because of the language that he uses here, we should pay attention to it, because God is specific in the language that he uses when he says, tell them to be careful.

Now here's why I think that that's an important statement, because I think we're living in an age where we're not that careful. We're not that careful anymore. As a matter of fact, we've gotten a little, for lack of better terms, a little loosey-goosey about some things, and we're just not that careful about things anymore. At least not holy things. At least not the holy things of God.

You see, the unfortunate truth of the age of grace that we live in is that some people have turned grace into license, and as they've turned grace into license, we've stopped being careful with that holiness of God. We've stopped taking care to make sure that we pay attention to God. We've stopped paying attention to how we handle the holy gifts. Now, specifically, he's gonna deal with the sacrifices that are brought, because remember, the priest was to have a portion of the sacrifice.

That's the idea behind the holy gifts. But I think that we could, without dragging it too far out of its context, go so far as to speak of what God has given us as the holy gifts today. Because we don't necessarily make sacrifice anymore. No, what is the holy gift that we have? Well, the very truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because who encapsulated all of that?

Who fulfilled all of those sacrifices? Who fulfilled all of those sacrifices? Jesus did. I watched a very interesting video yesterday, and I'm gonna watch it again to make sure I agree with everything that it has to say, and then I may end up showing it here at church. But it really talks about the fact that the gospel has really been ripped out of its correct context in the world that we live in today.

And it's been turned into rather a way that we can be, rather than a way that we can be set free from sin, a way that we can make our world a better place. A way that we can begin to achieve social justice within the world. A way that we can achieve social equality within the world. A way that we can begin to clothe the needy and feed the hungry. And while taking care of people and their physical needs

is an important thing to do, that's not the gospel. The gospel is the fact that man is a sinner. Jesus died to set him free from the penalty of sin. And if you put your faith in what Jesus did for you on the cross, then you can be born again. That is the gospel. And the problem is we have stripped the gospel of its power by dumbing it down to being an aspect of social justice

or an aspect of making our society just a little bit better because it's not intended to make the society better because quite frankly, as long as we live on top side of planet Earth, society's not gonna get better. We need to understand that. We will never make a better culture for ourselves. We will never make a better country for ourselves. We will never all of a sudden make it

to where there's no sin in the world any longer. That will only happen, when Jesus comes and wipes out this world and starts over with a brand new one. No, what we do with the gospel is we take the gospel, give it to an individual and allow it to change his heart because we were not told to change our culture. We were called to make disciples. And I'm afraid that in the world that we're living in

and with the church that we have today, we are no longer handling the holy gifts very carefully. And we've started becoming defiled in the way that we do so. And so I think that it's something we have to pay attention to as a church to make sure that every message, that comes out not only from me, which please, if I ever get off, come tell me about it because I want to know, understand, I may debate you on how you feel about that, but I want to be confronted if I've done something wrong because I saw some people on this video that have taken the gospel and done some pretty bothersome things with it that I would have never expected that from. And so he says, be careful in the way that you handle the holy gifts.

Well, he explains what he means. He says, The idea is that any of your descendants, anyone who is a priest are not allowed to partake in the holy gifts if they are unclean in any way. Now, this aspect of uncleanness is this physical uncleanness that's been talked about. The aspect of whether you have a leprous sore or a discharge or any of those things from the chapters we super didn't enjoy going through.

Those are an uncleanness, right? And so if you have that going on in your life, if there's an aspect of uncleanness in your life, then you are not allowed to take part in the holy gifts until that uncleanness is dealt with. I think that that's an important distinction to be made here is that if that has begun to take place in the life of the priest, they could not take part in it until the uncleanness was dealt with. After the uncleanness was dealt with, they could once again proceed with their job as they were supposed to.

And it's interesting what they were supposed to do. So if any of these, aspects of things took place in their life and there was an uncleanness, I want you to take note of what it says in verse six. A person who touches any such unclean until is, or any such thing is unclean until evening. And he shall not eat of the holy gifts unless first of all, he bathes his body in water and then second of all, waits till sundown because according to verse seven, when the sun sets, he will be clean and afterward, he shall eat the holy things.

Now there's a difference. There's an interesting spiritual parallel that's given to us here, right? If you will, if someone became unclean, they first of all needed to admit that they were unclean because then they would separate themselves from the clean things until they had followed the proper procedure. So the first thing that they needed to do is admit it.

The second thing that they needed to do is to bathe their body in water. Perhaps you're seeing where I'm going with this. And then the third thing they had to do was wait until evening. Now, why do they have to wait until evening? Well, because that was when the Jewish day started. Jews followed the rule that their day was from sundown to sundown as opposed to us where it goes from sunset to sundown

or from sunset to sunset. And so that was the way they handled their day. Now, as I was reading this and I wasn't the only one that picked it out. Other commentators did the same thing. I found an interesting parallel to what we need to do when we become unclean because you know as well as I do that as we walk through this world, sometimes there is an uncleanness.

We know that leprosy, leprosy is a type of sin. We know that so many of these unclean things were a type of either the sin that we casually brush against in the world because we're just around it and it begins to affect us or it's an uncleanness that we have taken part in whether inadvertently or on purpose and that uncleanness has to be dealt with. Well, according to this, it just gave us kind of an interesting way that we can be cleansed from our uncleanness. Did it not?

It always starts with admitting that you're unclean. That you're unclean. We use a different word in the New Testament, don't we? We use the word confession. You see, when I begin to see that uncleanness arise in my life, the first thing that I need to do is confess that and realize that in confessing that, I admit until this is dealt with in my life, really I have stalled in my walk with Jesus Christ.

I have stalled in my life of service. I have stalled in my life of relationship because there is now something between me and God. There is an uncleanness. There is a cleanness that is separating us. So I understand I'm stalled out until I deal with it. But did you notice the second thing that they were supposed to do? They were supposed to bathe their body in water.

Well, what do you and I do? Well, you know there's two aspects of cleanliness in our lives, right? The first aspect comes with the blood of Jesus Christ. You see, when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And what's the other word to choose? And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You see, that's the first aspect of us bathing in the blood of Jesus Christ.

That's the first aspect of us bathing in the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the first aspect of us bathing in the blood of Jesus Christ. is by being bathed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Isn't it interesting that the message of the gospel never stops taking its work in our life? Never stops taking its toll in our life? Because even as a believer in Jesus Christ,

and I don't care how long you've walked with him, you still need the truth of the gospel that says if you sin, you need the blood of Jesus to cover that sin. But not only that, what is the word of God referred to in the New Testament? The word of God is referred to as water. And once I have had my sin cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, I now need to have the effects of that sin cleansed from my life through the washing of the water with the word.

I've always shared before that one of the greatest illustrations that God ever gave me of what the word of God is able to do in our lives, he gave me when I was a groundskeeper. It was about this time of the year, probably mid to late February, and we'd had a bunch of snow that year. And so we'd put down a bunch of salt to, to make sure that the driveways and stuff were clear so that people would not slip and fall. And in front of each of the high-rises, there was like a pass-through driveway.

We called it the portico with the cover over it. And they said, here's what you need to do, Ryan. You need to take the power washer, put it on the back of a gator, set yourself up a mobile wash station, and go to each of the entryways of those porticos and wash all of the salt away. And I was like, all right. So I get my power washer loaded up and I go and,

and I start spraying and the most amazing thing happened. As I sprayed that water at full blast, I turned the concrete almost brand new. It was a completely different color in all of the places where the water went. I was like, oh, well, that's pretty cool. And so I just did that all day long. And you know, as I was doing that, as I was stripping away all of that garbage,

as I was stripping away all of the goo and the salt and the mire and all of the things off of that concrete to where the concrete looked almost like the day that it was poured, God said something to me. He said, that's what I do with my word. That's what I do with my word in your soul is I strip away all of the mire that the world put on it so that you can look brand new again. You see, after Jesus cleanses us of the penalty of the sin or after Jesus cleanses us of that as believers in Jesus Christ, that separation that comes because of sin, the word of God comes in and washes us from the effects of that sin.

But you know, there was a third thing that took place. Did you see what it was? It said, but when the sun sets, he will be clean and afterward, he shall eat of the holy gifts. Now we said that when the sun sets, that means a new day begins. You know what we're told in the book of Lamentations? I believe it's Lamentations 3.14. I might be mildly off on that.

I'm pretty sure it's chapter three. It says, his mercies are new with every morning. You see, once I've confessed it, once I've been cleansed from it, I realize I'm walking in a brand new day. One of the things I thank God for every single morning is Lord, I am so thankful that your mercies are brand new with every single morning. I'm not a morning person by nature.

It's just not who I am. I don't dislike the morning. Some people are angry when they first get up. I'm not one of those angry people. I'm just confused and I don't really know what's going on. And it takes me a little while to get my brain squared away. And it takes me a solid two hours. I'm not joking. That is a real life scenario. And so, but I have learned to love the mornings

even though I'm mildly confused the entire time I'm awake. The reason why I love the mornings is because when I get up, the whole day is brand new. I haven't had a chance to screw up yet. I haven't had a chance to blow it yet. And I can just spend time in God's word with a completely fresh mindset. It's the idea that's given to us here with what happens with the priest.

You see, though he had been defiled by that uncleanness, if he's willing to admit it, if he's willing to be bathed, then he starts over with a brand new slate, ready to serve the Lord again. Well, we move on from there. And it says in verse eight, he shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it. I am the Lord. They shall therefore keep my charge

so that they will not bear sin because of it and die thereby because they profane it. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I am the Lord who sanctifies them. No layman, however, is to eat the holy gift. A sojourner with the priest or a hired man shall not eat of the holy gift. If a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, that one may eat of it.

And those who are born in his house may eat of his food. If a priest's daughter is married to a layman, she shall not eat the offering of the gifts. But if a priest's daughter becomes a widow or divorced and has no child and returns to her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of the holy gift. She shall not eat of her father's food, but no layman shall eat of it.

If a man eats of a holy gift unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth and shall give the holy gift to the priests. They shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, and so cause them to bear punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts. For I am the Lord who sanctifies them. So he gives the instructions for who is not to eat, those that are not of the priesthood or direct members of the priest's family.

But of course, even for those who unintentionally eat of the gifts, he still gives them a way that they can make sacrifice by not only making a sacrifice, but repaying 20%. And so now we go into this last portion, which is the regulations for sacrifices that would be to be told not only to Aaron, but also to the people. It says in verse 17, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, Any man of the house of Israel or of the age of Israel, aliens in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they present to the Lord for a burnt offering, for you to be accepted, it must be a male without defect

from the cattle or the sheep or the goats. Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer for it will not be accepted. When a man offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or a freewill offering of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect. To be accepted, there shall be no defect in it. So as he talks about these regulations for the sacrifice,

he first of all tells them what they must bring. So any of the sacrifices that were either a burnt offering or a peace offering or those freewill offerings that they were to offer, the key was this. It had to be a male of the flock or the herd and it had to be without defect. I think one of the key words for us there is without defect. It had to be a male of the flock or the herd

and it had to be perfect. If you brought an animal that was not that, then it would not be accepted. Now, you know as well as I do that what are we really good at coming up with? Exceptions. Well, but Lord, what if this is the defect? And so because of that, God gives a bunch of things that do away with all of the exceptions. Those that are blind, verse 22,

or fractured or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer. You shall not offer to the Lord nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the Lord in respect to an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member. You may present it for a freewill offering but for a vow it will not be accepted. Also, anything that is bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord or sacrifice in your hand nor shall you accept any such thing from the hand of a foreigner for offering as the food of your God.

For their corruption is in them. They have a defect. They shall not be accepted. So he tells them they need to be a male without defect. And just in case anybody had any question what it meant by no defect, God's like, let me give you some details. Now remember, God gives us those kinds of details because we as human beings are really good at coming up with exceptions.

Oh, but this doesn't seem like a defect. Nope, says right there, that's a defect. Now, from this, I think that we learned something. We learned that God wants our first and God wants our best. I don't care what aspect it is of our lives, we're really good at giving God our leftovers, aren't we? I'm really good at giving God my leftover time. Oh, well, when I've got a little bit of extra time,

I'll give that to the Lord and that's when I'll make sure that I spend some time with the Lord or I serve the Lord or I do something outside of the ordinary, outside of my norm. That's when I'll give those kinds of things to the Lord when I've got a little bit of time left over. I can do the same thing when I give financially to the Lord in any way, shape, or form. I can think, well, whatever's left over, that's what I'll give to the Lord.

And sometimes we can even do that with our things. Well, I don't really use that anymore. I don't really want to throw it away. I guess I'll give it to the Lord. I'll give it to the church, you know. And we can be really good at that as human beings. And God says, listen, I don't want your leftovers. I want your food. I want your first, and I want your best.

As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to say, and I don't think I'm outside of biblical bounds by saying this, that if you don't give your first and your best, then we probably shouldn't show up at all. God seems to be pretty specific about that. He says, if there's any defects, I don't really want that. That's actually kind of a profaned sort of a sacrifice.

And so God makes a big deal out of this because that's what God wants from us. And do you know, oftentimes, I think one of the greatest sacrifices that we make right now as human beings is in the current culture that we live in, one of the greatest sacrifices we make is of our time. I don't know about you, but life gets really busy, and I can really get good at adding more things to my life and adding one more activity and one more event. And sometimes God's like, but when will you add some time with me?

When will you make sure that there's time for us to fellowship together? And I have to be reminded, at times, that even when it comes to my time, which is actually a great sacrifice, that I still need to give God my first and my best. Because after all, that's what makes it a sacrifice. Because I think that's one of those other words that we're not very good at right now, is sacrifice.

We like the word, at least I do, I like the word convenient. Like, that's pretty convenient. I may not actually say that out loud, but that's sometimes how I feel in my heart. Perhaps you're the same way. That I'm really good at choosing something that's really convenient. Oh, well, I can do that. That actually works out really well with my schedule. When really the heart of a sacrifice is the word sacrifice.

I'm reminded of that story of David. Remember when David took the census when he wasn't supposed to? And because of that, God said, you gotta choose your punishment. And so David chose a punishment. And finally, David said, oh Lord, please withhold your judgment on these people. And so after God had thoroughly dealt with David and his sin when it came to the census,

God said, your sin is forgiven, but you need to go and make a sacrifice unto me. And so he wanted to go and find a place to make a sacrifice. And so when he did so, he came to somebody and said, I'd like to buy your field so that I can make a sacrifice here. And he said, oh, you're the king. You can just have the field. And David said, no. I won't make a sacrifice to the Lord that costs me.

Nothing. Because he understood what a sacrifice really was, that it should cost us something. Chuck Smith was so good to point out in his commentary, the widow there in the Gospels. Jesus was standing in the temple and watching everybody come in and bring all of their offerings in. And they were illustrious offerings and they were making sure that they brought the big check

to put into the thing. And, and making sure that their name was going to get on a chair or a window or something like that when they were bringing their offering. And all these kinds of things were going on. And then this little widow came walking in. You know the story. She came walking in and all she had was these two little mites, about a half a penny's worth.

She came in and she brought those two little mites and she dropped them in there. Undoubtedly looked a little bit, a little bit ragged to everybody, especially compared to the offerings that were being given. And Jesus looked at his disciples and he said, I want you to understand something. She gave more than everybody. And the reason why she gave more than everybody is

she gave out of her need. They gave out of their abundance. Jesus essentially said, she gave more because she made a sacrifice to do so. And so he tells them, this is what it needs to be when you come and bring an offering to the Lord. But also as they were to bring these sacrifices to the Lord, we're reminded of the fact that all of these sacrifices found their own way.

The ultimate fulfillment in who? Jesus. And what was Jesus? Jesus was the spotless lamb, the one who had no defect in him. As a matter of fact, that's what that entire last week, sorry, I just finished this up in the book of Matthew and my devotional reading. That's what that entire last week of Jesus was to be after he came riding in on the donkey. He was examined by all of the religious leaders

because they asked him all of these questions and they watched his life that entire week, which is why they had to make up, they had to make up things to charge him with because he proved himself to be a man without or a lamb without spot or blemish. And so it was important because all of these pointed to a greater sacrifice, which was Jesus Christ. So he gives them this importance of what the sacrifices are supposed to be. And he says, verse 28, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young on the same day.

Okay? Would you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord? You shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted and it shall be eaten on the same day. You shall leave none of it until morning. I am the Lord. And as we come to verse 31, he's gonna summarize basically everything we've talked about for the last handful of chapters. He said, so you shall keep my commandments and do them.

I am the Lord. You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies, sanctifies you who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord. He basically sums it all up by saying, hey, with all of these things that I've just told you in this aspect of purity, you shall keep my commandments.

And then he tells them why they should keep his commandments. And from these last couple of verses, I did not come up with this. David Guzik did. There are four reasons why it was important that they would keep his commandments. Number one, because of who God is. Notice what it says here. He says, I am the Lord. I think sometimes that's a hard one for us to keep in mind.

Again, in this age of grace that we live in, is that while I can absolutely come to him and call him Abba, Father, which is the most tender word in the Hebrew language to refer to God as, because it really could be translated dad. Like that's how tender that word is. But we also must remember that even in that aspect of grace where I can approach him in such a bold way, I must also remember that he is still the Lord. He is still the sovereign creator of the heavens and the earth.

The one who is in control of everything. The one who is the one who sustains not only my very life, but sustains the entire world and keeps the world spinning simply by the word of his mouth. He holds all of the planets in place by the word of his mouth. And he absolutely has not only the ability, but the right to tell us what the rules are. Because he's the Lord.

Number two, not only because of who God is, but because of what God is. Why must we keep his commandments? Because he is holy. He is holy. I remember reading a book called The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer. A great book if you want to pick that up. It's basically a companion to Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. And he goes through all of the attributes of God.

And one of the attributes of God that he goes through is, the fact that God is holy. And he said he is so holy, so, of course the word holy means set apart. He is so set apart that he's beyond our human minds understanding or finding out. Because we are so sinful that our minds can never actually take in the holiness of God. The only way that we can even take in some aspect

of the understanding of how holy God is, is because of how gracious God is in allowing us to see him in his holiness. That's why man can't dwell in the presence of God. That's why all of these things, all of these things are an affront to God because he is so holy. Not only because of who God is, not only because of what God is, but because of what he has done.

Because of what God has done. Did you see what it says right there in verse 33? I am the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt. You see, for the children of Israel, that was their salvation experience. Their salvation was being saved from the slavery of Egypt. Why were they to keep his commands? Because he is the one who saved them. He is the one who brought them out of Egypt.

Therefore, they were to respond by keeping his commands. Well, you and I haven't been taken out of the land of Egypt, but we have been rescued from the slavery of sin. And as we have been rescued from the slavery of sin, because of what God has done for us, we respond to that by obeying his commandments. Remember what Jesus said? This is how I know that you love me,

if you keep my commandments. Again, that's another one of the things about the gospel that sometimes we have a hard time remembering, is that our response to the gospel, our response to what Jesus has done for us, is obedience to him. That first act of obedience being to put our faith in him. And so, not only because of who God is, not only because of what God is, not only because of what God has done, but also because of what God is doing.

Notice what it says, end of verse 32. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, because not only did he restore you, not only did he rescue me from the land of Egypt, not only did he rescue me from the slavery of sin, but he didn't just rescue me to watch me flounder in my inability, he rescued me so that he could fashion me into who he created for me to be. A process that will not be finished until the day that I go home to be with him, when I stand before him face to face, when I will know even as also I am known, when I will be able to say, now I see your face in righteousness. Because he is in the process of sanctifying me.

Brothers and sisters, this message of Leviticus continues to keep pouring into our lives, doesn't it? Be set apart unto God, because God has set you apart unto himself, amen? Father, we come before you and I just thank you for the time that we've had in your word, and I thank you for how good it is to us, and I thank you for how challenging it is. Lord, what a challenge it has been for me this week to study through this passage, to study through these things, and to have that challenge.

And to have that distinct understanding of the need to be even more set apart unto you. Lord, I pray that you would be with us as we go out from this place. Lord, draw us near to you and fashion us into who you want us to be. Lord, I also want to continue to lift up our brothers and sisters living in Ukraine that are having to fight for their lives. Lord, for the church that is trying to minister

in a war-torn country. And Lord, we just want to pray for them as if we are there with them, Lord. So we just pray in desperation that you would protect those believers and help them to spread your word in the way that you see fit. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.