Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20080416.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Leviticus: Fellowship With A Holy God
Part III: Acceptable Living Before A Holy God, Leviticus 11:1-27:34
K. Heeding God's Standard Of Reverent Living For His Servants
(Leviticus 22:1-16)
  1. Introduction
    1. An increasing thrust exists in Christian circles to ease the distinction between the secular and the sacred to attract the lost to church. For example, a large, well-known Church in the "'Bible Belt'" had "their pastoral staff . . . during a Sunday service" conduct themselves in such a way that their behavior was reported as being profane even according to the secular business magazine, the Wall Street Journal (cf. "Mighty Fortress: Megachurches Strive to Be All Things to All Parishioners," by E. Gustav Niebuhr, May 13, 1991, p. A:6 as cited in John H. Armstrong, gen. ed., The Coming Evangelical Crisis, 1996, p. 185-186).
    2. Yet, God held His servants in Leviticus 22:1-16 to a high standard of reverential conduct before the lost:
  2. Heeding God's Standard Of Reverent Living For His Servants, Leviticus 22:1-16. (I am heavily indebted to J. Vernon McGee's work, Thru the Bible, volume I, p. 423-424 for the following outline.)
    1. God directed Israel's priests of the line of Aaron not to profane the material items that belonged to God with ceremonial pollution lest this reflect negatively upon God's sinless character, Leviticus 22:1-2.
    2. In application, the Lord directed that if a priest began to function in connection to the holy materials in the tabernacle while he himself was ceremonially unclean, he was to be excommunicated from the nation to restore the reputation of God before onlookers, Leviticus 22:3 in view of Leviticus 22:1-2!
    3. Not only were the priests to avoid profane conduct while serving in the tabernacle, they were to be holy in their personal lives lest their lives be a poor testimony to God's holiness before onlookers, Lev. 22:4-9:
      1. The priests were accountable to God for the same uncleanness of non-priests, whether such defilement came by uncleanness rising from one's health problems, or by way of contact with others who were ceremonially defiled, Lev. 22:4-8; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to Lev. 22:1-9.
      2. Failure to heed this call for holiness in their personal lives could lead to divine judgment by their premature death, revealing how important it was to God that the priests live reverently, Lev. 22:9!
    4. Additionally, the priests were to keep Biblically unqualified people from eating of the holy sacrifices offered to the Lord that only the priests were to eat lest it reflect negatively upon God's holiness, 22:10.
    5. For clarification, Leviticus 22:11-13 explained who actually was qualified to eat of the food the priest was to share with his family, for this passage defined who actually belonged to his family in God's estimation:
      1. The Lord considered any slave purchased by the priest, and any child born in his house, be it his own or that of a slave he possessed, to be part of his house and qualified to eat of the priest's share, Lev. 22:11.
      2. Yet, if a priest's daughter married outside the priestly line, she could not eat of the food, Lev. 22:12.
      3. If she became a childless widow or divorc<\i>e and returned to her father to live as she once had has his virgin daughter, she was again considered part of his family, and could eat of the food, Lev. 22:13.
    6. Even if a disqualified person unknowingly ate of the sacred food, he had to make reparation in protection of the testimony of the Lord, Leviticus 22:14-16:
      1. The mistaken violations of eating God's sacrificial foods were to be viewed as transgressions of the sin of ignorance to protect God's reputation: the violator had to make reparation, Lev. 22:14 with 5:15-19.
      2. Thus, the Lord wanted the priests to recognize that what the people of God offered to the Lord was considered the Lord's, and what was the Lord's had to be handled with reverence to uphold the reputation of God as being a God Who was separate from sin, Leviticus 22:15-16!
Lesson: (1) At ALL times, God's people REPRESENT Him as His AMBASSADORS (2 Corinthians 5:20), so they must ALWAYS be REVERENT, Titus 2:12 (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Tit. 2:12 where "ungodliness" [to be denied] is "irreverence")! (2) The offerings of God's people to their Lord belong to Him, so we who handle those offerings must treat them with utmost responsibility!

Application: (1) May we view ourselves as ALWAYS responsible to EXEMPLIFY God's CHARACTER to onlookers, and so live REVERENTLY! (2) May we treat the offerings of God's people with respect!