Message 50
Scripture Reading: Lev. 21:1-24
I very much appreciate the sequence in the book of Leviticus. In chapters eleven through fifteen our condition is exposed. Then in chapter sixteen propitiation is presented to us. In chapter seventeen we have the matter of treasuring the person of Christ and His redemptive work. Following this, chapters eighteen through twenty deal with the holy living of God’s holy people. This brings us to Leviticus 21, which covers the holy living for the priesthood.
It is crucial for us to realize that every one of God’s people should be a priest. All of God’s people, not just a group among the whole of the people, should be priests. The holy living of the holy people is for the priesthood. Having covered this holy living as it is revealed in chapters eighteen through twenty, we now need to see that such a holy living is for the priesthood.
Leviticus 21 has two sections. The first section, verses 2 through 15, is on the holy living for the priesthood. The second section, verses 16 through 24, is on the disqualifications from the priesthood. Although we have been regenerated into the holy priesthood, we might still be disqualified from the priesthood in some ways, even in many ways.
Leviticus 21:1-4 tells us that the priests were not allowed to defile and profane themselves for a dead person among their people, except for their relatives. This signifies that we, the New Testament believers, being priests of God, should not behave ourselves like the common people to defile and profane ourselves.
As a holy people for God’s holy priesthood, we must be careful not to touch anything that would defile us or profane us. To be profaned is to be made common, to be made worldly, to be made like those who are in death. We have been sanctified, made holy, and we should not be profaned.
“They shall not make any baldness on their head, nor shave off the corners of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh” (v. 5). This signifies that we should accept what God has ordained for us and subject ourselves to God’s authority, not making any change or any display or performance by our human labor, but being natural. The more natural we are in this sense, the better.
To make our head bald indicates that we do not subject ourselves to God’s headship, that we do not accept God’s authority over us. Therefore, we should not make any baldness on our head.
To shave off the corners of the beard or to make cuttings in the flesh indicates that we are engaging in human labor to have some change in our body, which was designed and created by God. In a sense, to change ourselves in this way is to defile ourselves. Therefore, instead of making such changes, we should be natural.
Leviticus 21:6 says, “They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of Jehovah by fire, the food of their God; therefore they shall be holy.” Verse 8 goes on to say, “You shall sanctify him, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you, for I Jehovah, who sanctify you, am holy.” This signifies that we, the ones who minister Christ to God as food for God’s enjoyment, should separate ourselves to be holy unto God.
As God’s priests, we are actually God’s “cooks.” For us to offer Christ to God means that we “cook” Christ as God’s food for His satisfaction. We need to eat, and God also needs to eat. We eat what He cooks for us, and He eats what we cook for Him. As God’s cooks, we should be a holy people, a people undefiled, so that we would not profane the name of our holy God.
Verses 7 and 9 tell us that the priests were to be pure in marriage. This signifies that we, the New Testament priests, should be pure in our closest human relationship. We must be pure in this relationship in order to keep the status of the holy priesthood.
Verse 10a speaks of the priest “on whose head the anointing oil has been poured.” This signifies that we, the New Testament priests, have the anointing Spirit for our priestly service. We have been anointed with the all-inclusive Spirit. Today this Spirit is not only within us but also upon us for our priestly service.
Verse 10b speaks of the priest “who has been consecrated to wear the garments.” This signifies that we should live a life that befits our priestly service.
Here “consecrated” actually means inaugurated. In Exodus 29 we see that when the priests were inaugurated, they were clothed with priestly garments, and from that time onward the priests wore the garments of their consecration. Garments signify our living, our conduct. For us as God’s priests today to wear the garments of consecration is for us to have a living that befits our priesthood.
According to verse 10c, the priest was not to dishevel his head. This signifies that we should not be disobedient, unrestrained, or disorderly in our actions. Speaking typo-logically, we should keep our hair in good order and thereby show that we submit to God’s headship, that we submit to our God in His authority. Furthermore, we should be restrained in our walk, especially in our speaking. It is wrong to speak in a loose way without restraint. One who walks in the holiness of God is one who is continually ruled by God’s presence. Hence, he is orderly in his daily walk. In all that we do and say, we should be in good order.
The priests were not allowed to tear their garments (v. 10d). For a priest to tear his garments would be a sign that he was bankrupt in behavior. The priests’ not tearing their garments signifies that we should not make ourselves bankrupt in morality.
“Neither shall he go near any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; neither shall he go out from the sanctuary and profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am Jehovah” (vv. 11-12). This signifies that when we bear the highest priesthood, having the closest fellowship with God, we should restrain our natural affection, not defiling ourselves even by our affection for our parents.
These verses indicate that the higher our priesthood is, the more requirements there are. The priests could take care of their father and mother in their death, but the high priest could not be defiled even by the death of his father or mother. He had to remain in the priesthood as the high priest because of the sanctuary and because of the anointing oil that was upon him. He had to remain separated and consecrated to God for His holy priesthood. When we bear the highest priesthood today, we also shall have to control our natural affection, not defiling ourselves even by our affection for our parents. Humanly speaking, this is not easy. However, we have a life that affords us the strength to live such a holy life.
Leviticus 21:7, 9,13-15 speak of purity in marriage, even concerning the high priest’s offspring. This signifies that we who bear the highest responsibility in God’s service should be pure in our closest human relationship, for ourselves and even for our offspring.
All the points we have covered in this section are regulations for the living of a life that befits our priesthood. According to the New Testament, we all are priests; we are not laymen. Since we are priests, we should live a life not only of the holy people but also of the holy priests. The people are somewhat ordinary, but the priests are altogether separated unto God, that is, sanctified, holy, to God.
The second section of chapter twenty-one (vv. 17-24) concerns the disqualifications from the priesthood. This section shows us what can cause us to be disqualified from the priesthood, to lose our qualifications as God’s priests.
The priest with a blemish, that is, some kind of defect, was not allowed to come near to offer the food of his God (vv. 17-21). This signifies that anyone among us who is deficient in Christ is not able to take care of Christ as food offered to God. As God’s priests, we daily take care of Christ, ministering Him to our God as His food for His satisfaction. But if we have a defect, we shall be disqualified from this priestly service. Therefore, we must be careful about defects.
Let us now consider the various defects that disqualify a person from the priesthood.
Blindness (v. 18b) disqualified a person from the priesthood. Blindness signifies a lack of sight for seeing because of the shortage of Christ as the enlightening light. If we are short of Christ in His light, we shall not have the adequate sight, and this shortage will disqualify us from the priesthood.
As New Testament believers, we are God’s priests, yet we still need the sight to see spiritual things. For this, we need to experience Christ, particularly in the sense of light. If we experience Christ in this way, we shall be under His enlightening. Then we shall receive the light and the sight to see what others cannot see.
Lameness (v. 18c) signifies the lack of strength for acting because of the shortage of the strengthening Christ. Many believers today are lame, crippled, and are thus disqualified from the New Testament priesthood. The old way of meeting and serving in traditional Christianity is a cause of this lameness, for it annuls the organic function of the believers and thereby annuls their qualification to serve as priests.
We need to learn to do everything in the strengthening Christ. Paul could say, “I can do all things in Him who empowers me” (Phil. 4:13). If we learn to enjoy Christ’s strengthening, we shall not be lame and shall not walk in a crippled way.
A flat nose (v. 18d) signifies the lack of Christ as our sensation in our service of God. Many things in the spiritual realm cannot be seen or touched, but they can be sensed, that is, “smelled.” If we would be able to sense these things, we need a proper nose. This means that in order to serve God as priests, we need a keen sense of smell. This is a necessary part of our spiritual life. The seeker in Song of Songs is praised for having a nose “as the tower of Lebanon” (S.S. 7:4b). This kind of nose is not flat but is elevated and has a keen sense of smell.
Having one limb longer than the other (v. 18e) signifies overstepping and overtouching outside of Christ. Some saints overstep or overtouch outside of Christ. We, however, should remain within our limit, and our limit is Christ. We should be limited by our experience of Christ. If we are limited in this way, we shall be balanced and not have one limb longer than another.
A priest with a broken foot or a broken hand was disqualified. A broken foot or hand (v. 19) signifies some part of our being that is not complete in Christ. In our spiritual life we should be complete, perfect, and balanced. If any part of our being is damaged, we shall be disqualified from serving God.
Being a hunchback (v. 20a) signifies having the sight that is able to see only the things on earth, not the things in heaven, because of the lack of the experience of the heavenly Christ (cf. Col. 3:1-3). If we lack the experience and enjoyment of the heavenly Christ, we may be a hunchback. We need to look upward and consider the things in the heavens because our Christ is there. Our hope and our citizenship are also in the heavens (Col. 1:5; Phil. 3:20). Instead of being a hunchback, we should be those with a straight back. We should be a heavenly people.
Being a dwarf (v. 20b) signifies the lack of the stature of Christ in the growth in life (cf. Eph. 4:13). Some saints are spiritual dwarfs. They have listened to many messages and they know a lot, but they have not increased in stature. With them the measure of Christ remains the same. They have become old dwarfs.
A defective sight (v. 20c) signifies the sight in spiritual things that is not perfect because of the lack of a full view of Christ. How much sight we have depends on how much we have experienced Christ in a full view. Having a full view of Christ will strengthen and even widen our sight.
Eczema (v. 20d) signifies some expression that is abnormal in life, making oneself feel uneasy and making others feel badly, because of the lack of the Spirit of Christ. Certain saints have spiritual eczema. This means that they have something abnormal in life that, due to an “itching,” causes them to have no peace and that gives them an unpleasant appearance, an appearance that makes others uncomfortable.
Scabs (v. 20e) signify something that causes oneself to be uncomfortable and in its appearance bothers others, because of a lack in living Christ.
Scabs and eczema are in the same category of defect. Both cause a saint to be uncomfortable and to have an appearance, an expression, that is troubling to others in the church life. There are such saints in the church, and often they cause trouble because of their “itching” and abnormal expression.
Damaged testicles (v. 20f) signify that the spiritual reproductive function is damaged because of the serious lack of the experience of Christ as life. If we do not have the adequate experience of Christ as life, the organs for spiritual reproduction will be damaged.
“He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and the holy, but he shall not come in unto the veil or approach the altar, because a blemish is in him, so that he may not profane My sanctuaries; for I am Jehovah who sanctifies them” (vv. 22-23). This signifies that although the defective believers can enjoy Christ, the food of God, as their food, they are not qualified to serve God in the church, God’s sanctuary, or around the cross of Christ, typified by the altar, lest they profane the holy things of God.
If, as New Testament priests, we have a blemish, a defect, this will disqualify us from doing the priestly service. Nevertheless, we would still be qualified to enjoy Christ as our food.
If we study Leviticus 21 using the outline contained in this message, we shall be clear concerning what kind of persons we should be in order to keep our qualifications to serve God as priests. We need to live a holy life, a life that befits our priesthood, and we need to keep ourselves complete, perfect, and properly balanced. How can we be this kind of person? We can be such persons only by contacting the perfect Christ, enjoying Him and experiencing Him day by day. He will make us complete, perfect, and properly balanced. Then we shall have all the qualifications required for us to serve as priests in the New Testament age.
