Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy GOD: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy
In this chapter, GOD is talking about the state of cleanliness of a priest. He listed the things a priest should not do which would make him unholy or corrupted and therefore unfit to occupy the priesthood position.
The list includes:
1. Not mourning for any dead person who is not their parents by either shaving the hair or cutting their bodies or rending their clothes as it appears was their custom
2. Not officiating over a burial ceremony or going near or touching a dead body or the pall
3. Not getting married to a divorcee, prostitute or widow; rather he must marry a virgin
4. Not having any defect or blemish on their body.
This chapter explains the level of holiness and setting apart the LORD demands of HIS priest.
The Priest represents the people before the LORD and offers sacrifices on their behalf. For them to effectively occupy this office and offer up acceptable sacrifices unto GOD, they must show themselves completely holy and undefiled by keeping far from anything that is corrupted or defiled.
GOD explains that HE is holy and being that the Priests are also representing GOD before the people, they as a requirement, must be holy, likewise.
Remember in the new covenant, we who have been redeemed are of the royal priesthood, thus GOD expects HIS ministers to be of utmost purity as described here in this chapter.
However, in the dispensation of grace, all these have been done away with because our high priest JESUS CHRIST epitomizes holiness and in HIM, through HIS blood we also have been cleansed and declared HOLY.
As royal priesthood, our holiness is imputed on us as we uphold our faith by doing what is right and not necessarily by our outward adherence to all these rules.
We now know that the harlot, the divorcee, the widow who confesses CHRIST has also been cleansed therefore cannot be said to be defiled. Neither does having a body defect affect one whose righteousness is in CHRIST.
Again the death of a saint is no longer a thing of horror, despair and defilement for believers. It is a passage to eternity. Therefore we know not to mourn as unbelievers( either by show of cutting hair, body or rending clothes), rather we are consoled that the dead in CHRIST will rise again.
The take home for me here is to appreciate what JESUS did for us that we are no longer under any obligation to pass through this rigourous cleanliness expectations and also to realize just how holy we are to GOD.
May this knowledge stir us not to be careless with our state of holiness but to make us strive towards holy living.
Shared by:
Min Wendy Uwajeh
