Leviticus 21:1-24
1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:
2 But for his kin, that is near unto him, 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 sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.
4 But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
5 They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
6 They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
7 They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
8 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.
9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
11 Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
12 Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.
13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
15 Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.
16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
17 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the breada of his God.
18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,
19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf,b or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.
22 He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
23 Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.
24 And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.
Leviticus 21:4. A chief man. In some versions the Hebrew word baal is rendered king, lord, and husband; and the LXX read, he shall not “lightly” defile himself.
Leviticus 21:7. He shall not take a wife that is profane. A minister of the gospel, ought especially, to marry a woman that is a help-meet in the Lord, not foolish and vain in her conversation, nor given to levity. When a minister marries a weak or an aged woman for the sake of her property, he renders himself truly contemptible; but a wife that is able to edify others would be to him a crown of glory.
Leviticus 21:9. She shall be burned with fire. The moral law allows of no illicit intercourse; and if a priest's daughter were found guilty, the crime was much greater, because of her descent, and the educational advantages she enjoyed. The civil law of the Hebrews awarded therefore to her the severest punishment. Maimonides cites a rabbi who saw a priest's daughter burned for fornication. It is the best wisdom of a nation to send prostitutes to asylums, or houses of industry.
REFLECTIONS.
The highpriest of the Lord, the healer of an afflicted nation, the mediator between God and his country, must not disqualify himself for the service of the sanctuary by the incidents and natural impurities of life. His ministry was for the life and health of the nation, consequently the death of relatives was not to obstruct his more essential duties. Thus our great Highpriest, the Lord Jesus, is daily before the throne, presenting to God the oblation of his death, for the cleansing of his people. Nor were the sons of Aaron, essential helps to the Sire, allowed to defile themselves with the dead, except for their nearest relations. Let this teach christian ministers to be fully employed for God. Their entrance into secular concerns is in fact a declaration, that the gospel is only a secondary concern; and good men will henceforth grieve at their conduct, and view them but in a secondary light.
Prostitution in a priest's daughter is here sentenced to the severest punishment the legislature could inflict. The crime was equally heinous in one of his sons; and we may presume, would incur the same penalty of death, though longer delayed. 1 Samuel 2. How serious, how holy and upright, should those be whose fathers are wholly employed for God. Faults in them are very much noticed by the people, and they shall be severely punished of the Lord.
It has often been remarked, that the priesthood of Aaron was a figure of the priesthood of Christ, and consequently purity of marriage must be required of him and his sons, the better to presignify the chaste union subsisting between the Lord and the church. Hence, while all christians see in these precepts the purity to which they are called, ministers in particular must see the care and caution required to marry in the Lord; or otherwise, to abide single, and be wholly married to their work. The ministry is not to be degraded by an Egyptian marriage for secular considerations. The help- meet for a public servant of Christ must be a woman of piety, of irreproachable morals, and ready with cheerful looks and an open soul to welcome the saints into her house. She must be a woman devoted to practical godliness, able to visit the sick and comfort the afflicted; and so qualified to manage her house, that her husband being the less encumbered with domestic cares, may the more freely devote life to his studies, to his flock, and the sanctuary of God.
The priests were further required to be free from blemishes and defects of body, as well as of life and conduct. Defects of this nature precluded them from assisting at the altar, because they could not shadow forth the glory of Christ, who was without spot and blameless. In the christian ministry we have no such restrictions, though external perfection of body is certainly desirable. When the Spartans in the Persian war scrupled to elect Agesilaus to the command of the army, they at length resolved that it was better for their captain to be lame of a foot, than for their army to be deficient of a good commander. A good workman therefore should not be rejected for his natural infirmities. But if bodily defects were insuperable barriers to the priesthood, how much more so are moral defects, to the high and holy ministry of the gospel. A man spiritually deaf and blind, one whose heart is unregenerate, and whose tempers are unsubdued; a man habituated to intemperance, inclined to covetousness, or captivated by the desires of the flesh, can never so adorn the sanctuary of God as to shed forth on all around a savour of the knowledge of Christ.