There are portions of Your Word which are like high mountains that thrill us. And we also confess to you, our Father, that there are portions of Your Word which seem like open plains to which we are not natively drawn. We pray that we would use this Scripture by Your Holy Spirit to better our souls and to make us adequate for every good work. So we depend upon You, our Father, to come down and enliven this passage so that our souls might be moved and bent toward You.
We continue our chapter-by-chapter exposition through this Old Testament book of Leviticus, and we now come to the 21st chapter. If we have truly grasped the lessons of the first 20 chapters of Leviticus, what effect should that create in us? Think of all the themes we have seen—a book that heals you and makes you whole! Out of all the world, God graciously shows how depraved, damaged sinners can come to Him through five sacrifices:
- The Burnt Offering for a burning conscience
- The Grain Offering for sad hearts
- The Peace Offering for restless hearts
- The Sin Offering and Guilt Offering for sins committed in ignorance
These five offerings reveal a marvelous way for us sinners to come acceptably to God.
Then, we saw the colossal value of the priestly ministry. God showed us the blessings of God-ordained worship, warning that the curses of man-centered worship will destroy your soul, and that mindless worship is an open invitation to demons.
Next, God taught us about holiness and actual sins through the categories of clean and unclean animals, the echoes of Eden in every birth, and how sin has fully infected us through soul leprosy, the cleansing and worship of a leper, and bodily discharges—all showing the utter depravity of our being.
Then, we saw the marvelous way God saves us through the two goats, giving us glimpses of the Mediator. With all the weight of God’s great and amazing salvation—saving us from an unclean world, from the leprosy of sin, and from the flowing depravity of our sinful nature when we deserved to eternally perish under His wrath—God graciously comes through complex, beautiful means to show what He does to save dirty people like us.
If we have grasped the essence of all those chapters, there will be a great urge and desire to grow in holiness. Holiness, as we have seen, is not a grim, sad, funless life. It is wholeness—everything working as it should in our lives, enjoying all the blessings of God.
How does that kind of life start for sinners like us? God showed us in chapters 18, 19, and 20 that it starts by taking the Ten Commandments seriously:
- Children keeping the Fifth Commandment to obey their parents as the path to a blessed life.
- Men and women controlling and binding their hearts with the law of God (“Thou shalt not commit adultery,” “Thou shalt not lust”).
- Holding our hearts strong against covetousness (“Thou shalt not covet”), avoiding the greed and envy that serve as the root causes for all unhappiness, bitterness, and dissatisfaction in life.
The first secret of happiness is to avoid those things. We also saw the terrible punishments for breaking the law—stoning, burning, cutting off, and curses—which all point to God’s hatred of sin. So do not break His law if you truly want to be happy in life.
However, this is not yet full, positive, active holiness. Remember, we called this basic holiness: do not keep idols, do not commit adultery, do not covet. This is basic, negative holiness, though you cannot grow spiritually without it.
The reason I call this basic holiness is that in chapters 18 and 19, the holiness code was given to the general people of Israel. Leviticus 18:2 says, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord.” Then Leviticus 19:2 says, “Speak to the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them.” This is the basic holiness required to enjoy the outer-court blessings of God.
Remember, the tabernacle had three sections. In the outer court, circumcised Israelites were allowed to enter, but the glorious presence and richest blessings of Jehovah resided in the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. Only the priests and the High Priest were allowed to enter those areas. In chapter 21, God speaks about the holiness required specifically of the priests. Unlike chapters 18 and 19, Leviticus 21:1 says: “Then the Lord said to Moses, Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron…”
Here, we are moving beyond basic holiness to a higher level of holiness. Yes, if you follow the Ten Commandments, you will enjoy blessings in this life. But if you truly want deep spiritual pleasures and joy in His presence, you need to learn the priestly holiness taught in these chapters. While these laws contain ceremonial elements, the spiritual principles fully apply to us today.
You might say, “We don’t have priests today.” Not Old Testament priests, but the Apostle Peter addresses the entire church, saying we are a holy priesthood and a royal nation. He explicitly quotes Leviticus, noting that we are called to be holy as God is holy.
If we truly understand the depth from which God has saved us, what is the appropriate, reasonable response to His salvation? As Paul writes in Romans 12, if you are thinking clearly, you will not be conformed to this world, but you will offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God. That is priestly language!
Remember the cleansed leper. If we know the depth of our sin—having understood the lessons of clean and unclean animals, leprosy, and depravity—our gratitude to God will mirror that of the cleansed leper. The cleansed leper was expected to participate in priestly rituals to express gratitude and consecration. That is why this topic is royal priesthood consecration. As cleansed lepers, we have all been called to live out a priestly consecration.
Let us approach this passage to learn not just basic holiness, but higher holiness, so that we may enjoy heavenly joy in our lives. Such heavenly bliss is not for double-minded Christians who keep one foot in the world and one foot in heaven, but for believers who learn to live with true priestly consecration.
The good news about holiness is that it does not rely solely on our human efforts. The Lord promises again and again, revealing Himself as Jehovah M’Kaddesh—the Lord who sanctifies you.
We will examine three areas of positive, advanced holiness:
- The Royal Priest’s Life Priority
- The Royal Priest’s Family
- The Royal Priest’s Body and Soul
The Royal Priest’s Chief Life Priority
The chief priority of a priest’s life is the worship of God, taking precedence over all worldly relationships. If you want to draw near to the court of God and enjoy His blessings, you must learn to distance yourself from the common defilements of the world. God demonstrates this ceremonially through the rules regarding mourning for the dead.
In almost any culture, attending a funeral and mourning the deceased is considered the highest mark of respect. You might miss a birthday or a wedding, but missing a funeral is significant. Yet, here God places a strict restriction on the priests regarding funerals.
Leviticus 21:1 instructs that the sons of Aaron were not to be defiled by a corpse. They were not to come into physical contact with a dead body. Why? Numbers 19:11 states that if an individual came into contact with a corpse, they were ceremonial unclean for seven days. If you were a priest whose vocation was to labor in the sanctuary, coming into contact with a dead body meant you were out of commission for seven days. You would be unable to serve in the tabernacle, which was the chief priority of your life.
There was an exception to this rule, as seen in verse 2: unless it was one of your closest relatives. If it was your father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried sister, it was permissible to attend funeral proceedings and touch the body. A wife would also be included as one flesh with him. But for any other relationship, he could not attend if it resulted in defilement. For anyone outside the most intimate family circle, priestly service was not to be interrupted. Common funerals were off-limits for priests, nor were they to shave their heads, trim their beards, or cut their bodies as pagans did in their mourning rites to appease false gods.
This standard of priority holiness was even higher for the High Priest. Verse 10 addresses the man who stood closest to God’s presence in the Holy of Holies, placing even stricter demands on his behavior: “The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes.”
In the ancient world, people commonly expressed intense grief by disheveling their hair and tearing their garments. What was permissible for a normal Israelite—and even for ordinary priests—was forbidden for the High Priest. We see patriarchs like Jacob, Joshua, and Job tearing their clothes upon hearing tragic news of death. Yet, the High Priest was prohibited from doing something that was not inherently sinful in itself.
It is not sinful to mourn, but he was forbidden from overly expressing it by rending his official garments. One reason was that his head had been anointed with holy oil, and that anointing was not to be disheveled. Furthermore, he was clothed in specially designed garments and held a high-profile, sacred position before the public.
His service and activities in the tabernacle were not to be disrupted even by the death of a close family member. Verse 11 emphasizes that even if it were his own mother or father, tabernacle service took priority: he was not to go near any dead body nor defile himself for his father or mother.
Remember the event in Leviticus 10, when Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire before the Lord. Their father, Aaron, saw his sons consumed by God’s judgment right before his eyes. What did the Lord tell Aaron? He commanded him to remain silent and not mourn publicly. This was for at least two profound reasons:
- Aaron was not to express any hint of disagreement with God’s holy judgment through his public grief.
- The worship of God was not to be halted. Even though his beloved sons had died, the tabernacle worship of the living God had to go on. That was his chief priority as High Priest.
Verse 12 reinforces this: “Nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord.” As High Priest, he alone could perform specific duties, and his supreme interest was serving God without interruption.
Does this mean priests had no personal life? Does it seem harsh? This is the true meaning of royal priestly consecration. This was written for our instruction as New Testament priests. If you want to know advanced holiness and experience the close presence of God, you must learn royal priestly consecration.
First, you must learn that God and His worship are the primary priorities in life. Man’s service to God must be his supreme interest. We are called to be a New Testament priesthood. Yet how often do we overlook this truth? Is God’s worship the top priority in your life, or do you have other idols? Remember, placing anything—whether family, career, or wealth—in the place of God will eventually bring bitterness into your life.
Is this principle unique to the Old Testament? Did not our Lord Jesus demand the very same commitment from His followers? When a prospective disciple said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father,” what was Christ’s response? He said, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” Your highest priority must be obeying and worshipping God; only then are you acting in your true calling as a New Testament priest.
Serving the living God in His tabernacle and offering up spiritual sacrifices to Him must take precedence over earthly affairs. We often make excuses about domestic responsibilities while completely neglecting the house of God. We must ask ourselves: Are we a church of priests? Is the worship of our God our highest priority? An Old Testament priest was rarely released from his duty to offer sacrifices, and the High Priest was never released from his life’s work, even upon the death of his parents, because worshipping God was his primary pursuit.
If you possess the gratitude of a cleansed leper whom God has made into a royal priest—capable of drawing near to the Most Holy Place—then whatever comes and goes in life (rain, sun, sickness, health, prosperity, or trial), your priority remains the worship of God. You will ensure that spiritual sacrifices are offered morning and evening, especially on the Lord’s Day.
This is the chief pursuit of our lives: to offer ourselves up as living sacrifices to God, giving our primary allegiance to our Lord. When earthly relationships, house duties, or job pressures compete with our commitment to Christ, what choice do we make? Do we set aside our spiritual sacrifices for a week to pursue worldly tasks or family functions?
The Lord Jesus spoke clearly regarding true discipleship: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Following Christ creates lines of allegiance. You cannot follow Him faithfully if your main goal is to please everyone in the world. He declared, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me… and he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”
We read of historical martyrs who faced agonizing choices. Persecutors would line up a believer’s children and demand, “Will you stop following Christ? Every time you refuse, we will execute one of your children.” One martyr stood firm as his children were taken one by one, declaring that neither the death of his family nor his own death would stop him from following Christ. Are we true disciples of Christ? Are we resolved to follow the Lamb wherever He goes?
If following Christ brings risks—such as losing a job, a home, a reputation, or a promotion—will you back down, or will you remain steadfast in your resolve to offer spiritual sacrifices?
What about the smaller tests in life? Your responsibility as a priest includes gathering weekly with the people of God and keeping the Lord’s Day holy. In the Old Testament temple, there were daily morning and evening sacrifices, along with the incense of prayer. At the very least, we should regularly gather in His house to offer the pleasing aroma of Scripture reading, prayer, and worship. True worship in a community is what stays the judgment of God. Do you recognize its immense value?
Are you resolved to be a part of this? What keeps you away from gathering with God’s people? Is it a slight physical ache, a cold, a long drive, a family event, or simple tiredness from the workweek? How often do we make excuses like the guests in the gospel parable who cited their land, oxen, or marriages to avoid attending the master’s feast?
If we are so easily turned back from coming to the house of God, we must re-examine our commitment. God has called us to be a kingdom of priests, and we ought to be in earnest about the business of worshipping Him.
As we will see in the next passage, anyone with a physical defect could not serve as an Old Testament priest. Spiritually, we were not merely blind or lame; we were dead in our sins. Yet God gave us new life and made us kings and priests to Him. What an incredible honor! Therefore, as long as we have breath, let us faithfully come and offer our sacrifices of praise in the house of God.
God as the Inheritance of the Holy
A second crucial theme highlighted here is that God Himself is the ultimate, unremovable portion of those who are truly holy.
When God apportioned the Promised Land among the twelve tribes, how many acres did the priestly sons of Aaron receive as a territorial inheritance? They were given none. To the other tribes, the land was their inheritance. But to the priests, the Lord declared that He Himself was their portion and their inheritance.
This explains why the High Priest was forbidden to mourn in the manner of others. For a priest to mourn as if the loss of an earthly relative meant the loss of everything would be a denial of his true inheritance. Deep, despairing grief often implies, “I have lost everything; my whole life is gone.” If the High Priest wept over earthly losses as though he had lost his all, his outward conduct would fail to bear witness to the faithfulness, sufficiency, and promise of God as his portion.
The High Priest was uniquely called to demonstrate that having God meant having everything necessary to sustain the soul. Since Jehovah was his inheritance, every true need was met in Him. God will sustain His people. If it is His sovereign will that a near and dear one is taken away, His will and His presence remain sufficient for the believer. God Himself is our ultimate portion, and in Him, the soul finds complete contentment.
The Marriage of the Priest
Moving from the priority of worship, we examine the second area of advanced holiness: the royal priest’s family, specifically the marriage of the priest.
In Leviticus 21, we notice the highest standards of holiness applied to the priests. They were permitted to marry, which demonstrates that the institution of marriage is inherently godly and ordained by God. This stands in contrast to the ascetic teachings of Roman Catholicism, which promote celibacy for priests and monastic living for nuns as morally superior. Scripture offers no support for mandatory celibacy in either the Old or New Covenants; historically, such policies were enforced primarily to retain wealth within the institution of the church.
However, Leviticus 21:7 places specific limitations on whom a priest could marry: “They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.”
None of these categories were strictly forbidden to the ordinary sons of Israel. In the New Testament, there are no civil restrictions regarding who may be redeemed and joined to the church—as Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Some of you were adulterers, some of you were homosexuals; but you were washed, you were sanctified.” Yet under the Old Covenant ceremonial system, these limitations highlighted a higher standard for the priesthood. The seed born to them had to be pure, and the priest’s home was to remain above reproach.
Furthermore, Leviticus 21:9 states that if a priest’s daughter fell into prostitution, she was subjected to severe judgment—stoning followed by burning—reflecting the gravity of defiling the priest’s house. Everything in a priest’s home was to serve as an example of virtue and moral purity. A priest’s home had to be a place of cleanness.
The restrictions were even stricter for the High Priest in Leviticus 21:13–14: “He shall take a wife in her virginity. A widow or a divorced woman or one profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but his own people.”
An ordinary priest or a king was permitted to marry a widow—as David married Abigail, the widow of Nabal—but the High Priest was not. His wife had to be a virgin. Verse 15 explains why: “That he may not profane his seed among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.” This safeguard preserved the High Priest’s bloodline beyond any question of paternity, ensuring that the lineage pointing to God’s divine appointment remained untainted.
Personal Integrity and Physical Wholeness
The third area of priestly consecration addresses the priest’s personal body and soul in verses 16 through 24.
Under the Old Covenant, physical blemishes disqualified a son of Aaron from performing priestly duties in the Holy Place. Leviticus 21:17–21 lists various physical defects: blindness, lameness, a disfigured face, a hunchback, dwarfism, a defect in the eye, severe skin diseases like eczema or scabs, or damaged reproductive organs. Any descendant of Aaron with such a defect was barred from approaching the altar to offer the bread of God.
In His mercy, however, God permitted disqualified priests to eat of the holy and most holy bread (verse 22). Just as King David showed grace to Mephibosheth—allowing Saul’s lame grandson to sit and eat at the royal table despite his disability—God provided for defective priests while maintaining the ceremonial standard of the altar.
What was the teaching intention behind these physical requirements? Physical wholeness served as a visible symbol of moral holiness. True holiness implies completeness and spiritual wholeness without flaw. Just as an animal sacrifice could not be offered if it was blind, lame, or diseased, so the priest offering it had to represent physical wholeness before a holy God.
New Covenant Applications
We must carefully distinguish between ceremonial shadows and moral truths. The ceremonial restrictions of the Levitical priesthood point to several rich New Testament applications:
1. Christ, Our Unblemished High Priest
The entire chapter serves as a type prefiguring our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:19 states that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, “as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” The Greek term for “unblemished” corresponds to the requirement in Leviticus 21.
Christ was completely without defect, both in His active obedience—fulfilling every command of God perfectly—and in His passive obedience, submitting Himself to death on a cross. At His baptism, the Father declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
When Christ fulfilled the ceremonial law, the external ceremonial shells fell away. Thus, when Jesus touched the dead daughter of Jairus or touched the bier of the widow’s son at Nain, He was not defiled; rather, His purity cleansed the unclean. When He wept at the tomb of Lazarus, He demonstrated perfect compassion while remaining completely holy.
Christ is the ultimate embodiment of Levitical purity. He entered the heavenly sanctuary not with temporary vestments, but with His own blood, having the names of His elect engraved upon His heart and hands. As our High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us, His ministry never ends, giving the church absolute security.
2. The Church as the Pure Bride
The High Priest was required to marry a virgin from his own people. This points directly to the relationship between Christ and His church. Corporately, the church is the spouse of Christ.
Though we come from sinful, checkered backgrounds, we have been washed and justified by His blood. Revelation 21 describes the church coming down out of heaven “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Positionally, Christ has cleansed His church to present her to Himself in glory.
Practically, this places a solemn responsibility on us to keep our lives clean as we await His return. Just as a bride fastidiously protects her wedding garments on the morning of her wedding, believers are called to keep their behavioral garments unspotted from the world. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul expresses this concern: “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.” We must avoid false teachings, moral compromises, and worldly entanglements, examining our daily habits to ensure our lives reflect the holiness of the High Priest we serve.
Physical defects in the Old Covenant pointed to spiritual wholeness in the New. We cannot live with unrepentant, spiritual deformities in our souls and expect to walk faithfully as a kingdom of priests.
3. Qualifications for Pastors and Elders
While every believer is a priest before God with direct access to Him through Christ, there are distinct parallels between the Old Testament priesthood and New Testament church leaders (pastors and deacons). Leaders carry out the work of teaching God’s Word and pointing people to the one true sacrifice of Christ. Consequently, Scripture requires a higher standard of spiritual maturity and character for office-bearers.
- Priority of Worship: Pastors and elders must make personal devotion and the worship of God their highest priority, setting an example for the congregation. Personal trials, physical ailments, or exhaustion must not easily divert a shepherd from faithfully ministering the Word and leading God’s people.
- A Pure Household: A pastor or elder must maintain a godly home. 1 Timothy 3:4–5 specifies that an overseer “must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).” If a leader’s family falls into unrebuked immorality or rebellion, it disqualifies him from public ministry. This principle applies to all Christian families: parents must prioritize family prayer, teach their children God’s ways, and live without hypocrisy so that their homes reflect the holiness of God.
- Self-Control in Trial: Leviticus 21 restricted priests from uncontrolled public displays of mourning that would disrupt sanctuary service. Similarly, 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:8 demand that an overseer be temperate, sensible, and self-controlled. When facing severe afflictions, deep grief, or heavy losses, a church leader must demonstrate steadfast faith in God’s sovereignty. While natural grief and tears are appropriate, sinking into hopeless despair or publicly questioning God’s goodness stumbles the flock. Leaders are called to be examples of patient endurance under trial, comforting others with the very comfort they have received from God.
In every circumstance, let us remember that Jehovah is our ultimate portion. Whatever we face or lose in this life, His presence and grace are more than enough to sustain us.