Leviticus 21:21-24 - No
descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to
come near to present the offerings made to the LORD by fire.
He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. He may eat the most holy food of his God, as
well as the holy food; yet because of his defect, he must
not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.' " So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and
to all the Israelites.
Just as the lambs…and goats….and bulls….and…birds
chosen to be sacrificed to God had to be perfect…so did the priest that stepped
close to God’s presence to offer it to him. Anyone with a defect was not to
come near to God’s…. presence or do the holy work of sacrifice. They were to
marry virgin women…and keep their families as holy and pure as possible. They
were set apart by God to do the most special work of the camp…therefore they
had to keep their hair uncut….and never do the common work of burying one who
had died…unless it was a close relative.
There might have been many reasons for this
order from God. One is that the people
around them practiced many of the things that God told them not to do. He wanted his priests to understand that his
worship rituals were different….he was a jealous God…that accepted only the
best we have to offer. The priests had also been consecrated and anointed to do
the special work of handling the people’s offerings. Maybe this work was so important and time
consuming that they would not have time to deal with the other needs of the
people….like who would bury the dead.
My head immediately started thinking how
sad those children might have been…that were born with defects…who never got to
fulfill the family job…but were cared for and fed just the same. But maybe they had great parents that filled
their day with other jobs to do…and they never noticed that they were defective.
Maybe they were taught to just accept it as the way God intended…and never went
into pity part mode….like I seem to do so often. The priests set themselves apart
to do what God gave them to do…and everybody else took care of the other tasks
in the camp. Maybe the message here is more for those of us that fall into that
‘imperfect’ category…and see ourselves as unneeded …unusable by God.
And if you think about it….the whole way we
worship changed when Jesus was born and began to help us understand the real
reason for all these rules we find in Leviticus. The rules were meant to set us
apart…not limit us. The rules were meant
to help us understand our purpose on Earth…to spread his love and help others understand
the truth in his word. If we really love him… the rules we read become a part
of our lifestyle…just because. We know in our hearts when something we do is
for ourselves instead of our Lord….when something we do is done out of
selfishness…or powered by the love we have for God.
I wrote in my journal how glad I am that Jesus
came and paid the high price for my sins….shedding his blood for me and
allowing me to be my own high priest. For I am one of the ones that allows the ‘imperfections’
the world identifies…to hold me back from being a powerful Christian like Paul…or
John the Baptist…who gave everything they had to his control and let his love
consume them to the point that they did nothing except preach his word. I am so glad that he allowed the veil to be
torn that dark day…as he made a way for all of us that feel inferior…unusable …
to consider that we would want Jesus to be our personal savior…and become our
own high priest….able to talk with him….worship him…and pray to him anytime we
need. His perfect love comes into our imperfect sinful body and washes all the defects
away. His perfect blood can give us the
strength and courage we need to be confident at his altar…and offer up our own
sacrifices of time….money….in service to him.
Oh father…how grateful I am that you came to
save our world from the sin we live in.
Help me to see that you can wash away all my imperfections…and empower
me to do anything you ask me to do. Give me the positive mind of Joshua…the prayer
strength of Moses…the faith of the woman with the issue of blood…and the courage
of Paul. Help me to change the way I see
myself….as imperfect and unusable….into the woman you have planned for me to be. Keep Satan from tricking me with his lies…and
help me to place scriptures in my head that will fight the confusion he tries
to trick me with. Amen.
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