Leviticus 21:1-22:16 – Regulations for Priests
Leviticus 22:17-22:33 – Acceptable and Unacceptable Sacrifices
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
An interesting thought occurred to me this morning while reading Leviticus 21 & 22: how would I respond to the new Christian who opens up this passage and asks me to explain its relevance to him? Or perhaps an honest seeker, one who wants to find spiritual peace, who hears the call to read the Bible and sees Leviticus 21:9 and gets confused, how do I traverse these waters? One thought comes from reading a commentary on these chapters, perhaps this is the best insight to consider: the priests were responsible for leading the people, now God insists that the teachers must not only practice what they are preaching, but their standard is even higher. God raises the bar for leaders in the church above those who follow their teaching.
James points out, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1). In Paul’s letter to Timothy, his young and faithful student, he warns him about those who are not true to the faith, who just want the title, but are not willing to actually do the work, “They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm” (1 Timothy 1:7).
The priests who were responsible for offering sacrifices had to be accountable to a higher degree. People came to the tabernacle to offer the best of their best. In my mind, I see those who had little coming to the priests with their prize calf to offer with great confidence that they are obeying the Law. They offer the sacrifice willingly to please God. The priests who are accepting the sacrifice and performing the service must be above reproach.
Those who serve the church must follow this example. No, we’re not going to burn people alive any more than we’re going to sacrifice animals, but we must take our service and our positions seriously. This is a 24x7x365.25 commitment. Resting on the Sabbath does not mean we can disregard our calling. “Not many of you should become teachers” is a fair warning. Lord help me to be a faithful teacher, the leader you want me to be in or outside of the walls of a church. Wherever I go and whatever I do, may my actions honor you.
An interesting thought occurred to me this morning while reading Leviticus 21 & 22: how would I respond to the new Christian who opens up this passage and asks me to explain its relevance to him? Or perhaps an honest seeker, one who wants to find spiritual peace, who hears the call to read the Bible and sees Leviticus 21:9 and gets confused, how do I traverse these waters? One thought comes from reading a commentary on these chapters, perhaps this is the best insight to consider: the priests were responsible for leading the people, now God insists that the teachers must not only practice what they are preaching, but their standard is even higher. God raises the bar for leaders in the church above those who follow their teaching.
James points out, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1). In Paul’s letter to Timothy, his young and faithful student, he warns him about those who are not true to the faith, who just want the title, but are not willing to actually do the work, “They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm” (1 Timothy 1:7).
The priests who were responsible for offering sacrifices had to be accountable to a higher degree. People came to the tabernacle to offer the best of their best. In my mind, I see those who had little coming to the priests with their prize calf to offer with great confidence that they are obeying the Law. They offer the sacrifice willingly to please God. The priests who are accepting the sacrifice and performing the service must be above reproach.
Those who serve the church must follow this example. No, we’re not going to burn people alive any more than we’re going to sacrifice animals, but we must take our service and our positions seriously. This is a 24x7x365.25 commitment. Resting on the Sabbath does not mean we can disregard our calling. “Not many of you should become teachers” is a fair warning. Lord help me to be a faithful teacher, the leader you want me to be in or outside of the walls of a church. Wherever I go and whatever I do, may my actions honor you.