Leviticus 22:1-33
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.
3 Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.
4 What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;
5 Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;
6 The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.
7 And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.
8 That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD.
9 They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.
10 There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
11 But if the priest buy any soul witha his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.
12 If the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger,b she may not eat of an offering of the holy things.
13 But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.
14 And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.
15 And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD;
16 Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them.
17 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
18 Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;
19 Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
20 But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.
21 And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep,c it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
22 Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.
23 Either a bullock or a lambd that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
24 Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.
25 Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
27 When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
28 And whether it be cow or ewe,e ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.
29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.
30 On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD.
31 Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.
32 Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
33 That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.
NO PROFANING OF SEPARATED THINGS (vv. 1-16)
Aaron and his sons were always in close proximity to those things that had been separated for sacred purposes. They were therefore to be careful as to their contact with these things, lest they should profane the name of the Lord. If one had contacted any uncleanness, he must be cleansed from this before touching the holy things. A number of things are listed as to what would make one unclean.
This was only ceremonial uncleanness, but is, as we have seen before, symbolical of moral or spiritual uncleanness. Cleansing would not be complete until evening. In cases of leprosy, the time was longer, with offerings being made (Leviticus 14:1). But in all cases one was to bathe and wash his clothes, as we find elsewhere (Leviticus 15:1), and in some cases the time for cleansing was longer than in others.
Often now a person may intuitively realize that his moral or spiritual condition is such that he ought to avoid any handling of spiritual things. If we are in an unclean moral state, how much better is this avoidance than any hypocritical pretense of religious observance! At least the person will realize the need of being cleansed.
If an animal died or was killed by beasts, it was not to be eaten (v. 8). In this case it had not been offered before the Lord. Also, only the priests and their families were to eat of the holy things. No hired servant was allowed to eat (v. 10). Yet if the priest bought a person, that person was privileged to eat the priest's fare. A hired servant is one who serves for wages, while the one bought is fully the possession of his master, as true believers today belong fully to the Lord. They do not serve for gain, but because they are His.
If a priest's daughter was married to one who was not of the priestly family, she could no longer eat of the holy things (v. 12), yet if she was widowed or divorced, having no children, and returned to live with her father, she would be allowed to eat her father's food (v. 13).
If one should eat holy food, being unaware that it was holy, then afterward he must restore the same amount as an offering for the priest and add the fifth part to it (v. 14).
All of these things should press upon us the importance of Hebrews 10:22: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” To give God His place of supreme honor, a place of pure holiness and sanctification, is a matter we must not dare to overlook. “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts” (1 Peter 4:15).
UNBLEMISHED SACRIFICES (vv. 17-25)
The Lord now instructs Moses to address Aaron and his sons and all the children of Israel, to insist that even free will burnt offerings must be free from blemishes. For some might think that, though the compulsory offerings for sin and trespass must be without defect, yet this might not be required if the offering was giving voluntarily. But the burnt offering was offered primarily for God's glory, and no defect was to be allowed (vv. 18-20).
The peace offering might be offered to fulfill a vow, or as a free will offering. No defect was to be allowed in such cases either, except that a bull or a lamb that had a limb too long or too short could be allowed for a free will offering, but not for a vow (vv. 21-23). But no animal that had been bruised or crushed or torn or cut was acceptable for any sacrifice. The same law must be applied to a foreigner who desired to offer anything to God (v. 25).
FURTHER CONDITIONS OF ACCEPTABLE OFFERINGS (vv. 26-32)
The Lord adds conditions that are interesting as regards the acceptability of any offering. When a bull, sheep or a goat was born it must be allowed seven days with its mother before being used as an offering. Also, the mother was not to be killed on the same day as her offspring (vv. 26-28). No doubt it will take spiritual discernment to understand the spiritual significance of these things.
The peace offering of a thanksgiving is singled out also (vv. 29-30), to insist that it was to be offered entirely voluntarily and eaten the same day it was offered, with nothing allowed to remain over night. This is repeated from Leviticus 7:15. Just as God's mercies are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22), so our occasions of thanksgiving should be always new and fresh.
Therefore, even what seemed to be the least of God's commandments were to be carefully observed, that God's name should not be profaned, but hallowed by His people, for He had brought them out of Egypt (vv. 31-33).