Do God’s commands for personal holiness weary you sometimes, as it does me? In her book, “When Strivings Cease,” Ruth Chou Simons writes, “We’ve gotten out of sync with the foundations of what we believe and why our beliefs about God matter in our everyday lives…Our culture’s answer to ‘Am I enough?’…is always ‘You are if you believe it…We buy into this formula every single day.” (1) Everything in our culture either puts the focus on us or others. We need God’s means of grace, that we have in Christ, to bring us back to the awesome truth about God. He is the singular, awesome, infinite, generous, good, wise, perfect King who desires our adoration and devotion. Nothing in this world (God’s creation and creatures) can compare to the Creator. He alone is to be our goal, desire, and life—not a financially secure future, health, or amazing achievements. Is it easy to leave behind the bling and values of the world for God’s holy things? No—we have to work at it. That’s why we need grace. “Paul and the other writers of the epistles reminded us of all these things because it’s easy to fall back into a pattern of striving for grace rather than striving in grace…Grace simply makes it possible for you to stop striving for yourself and strive out of love for God instead.” (2) The Lord held Israelite leaders to the highest holiness standards for his people’s purity and acceptability, reverence, and witness. Now, Christ redeems his people from enslavement to sin and sets us apart to live in holiness for the purpose, pleasure, and privilege of reflecting his holy character. Where do I find my purpose and pleasure? How can I enjoy my privileges in Christ through his grace, not focused on self-evaluation but on the Lord’s calling? How can we obediently and joyfully “Live as people who are free, not using…freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God”? (1 Peter 2:16) It is by turning our focus to the God who gives us his Spirit and Word, reminding us of his standards, so we aren’t so enamored with the world’s misguided values.
God Gives Us Leaders to Help Us
After instructions on personal holiness in all areas of life, “Leviticus 21:1-22:16 now returns to matters more closely related to the tabernacle. These chapters teach that priests are held to higher standards than other Israelites. There are at least two reasons. First, the Lord calls the priests to a special role as those who serve…Since the Lord is a holy King, it is especially important that his palace servants maintain their holy status, not only so they can come near him, but also to communicate to his people how much he values holiness…The second reason is related: priests are to be models not only of ritual purity but also of moral purity. While we expect this of most leaders, we especially expect it of those who lead us in the things of God. It is therefore no surprise that the New Testament lists specific moral qualifications for elders: 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9. Leaders of the Lord’s people are to be uniquely holy.” (3) “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, except for his closest relatives…He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body.'” (Leviticus 21:1-5) “Such rules made Israel’s priests different from priests in pagan religions…The religions of Canaan, Egypt to the south, and Mesopotamia to the north had extensive cults of the dead and ancestor worship…[Today] Funerals can reveal a lot about our character. God calls us to reflect His truth in our grief. First Thessalonians 4:13 says that followers of Jesus ‘will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.’ Why is our grief different from those who don’t know Christ? We have hope!…First Corinthians 15:53-54 beautifully affirms the reality of eternal life for Christians: ‘For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”‘ We reflect God’s truth in our grief.” (4) As a kingdom of priests in Christ we are set apart to live in holiness for the purpose, pleasure, and privilege of reflecting God’s holy character. And the Lord gives us leaders in the church to point the way.
Holy Offerings For the Lord
“A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing…They shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the Lord who sanctifies them…So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 22:10, 16, 31-33) “God was telling His people to [offer] Him only the best—nothing second-rate or sub-standard. Why not? He is God. When we recognize His greatness and glory we give offerings that are great and glorious—the best we have…Sub-standard sacrifices, second-rate offerings, profane God’s name. We give Him the best, the first, and we give Him obedience because He is God. Romans 12:1 calls us to give not just our gifts but our lives to God. It says, ‘Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.’ Have we given ourselves to God? Are we daily placing our lives on the altar as gifts to Him? That is the offering acceptable to God, and God calls us to present acceptable offerings.” (5) How do we show our appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice for us?
Value for Value
“The value of the sacrifice must match the value of the one to whom it is given [not the value of the offerer. In Leviticus 22:26-28, God gave two commands. Newborn animals may not be sacrificed until they are seven days old. And an entire ‘family’ of animals may not be sacrificed.]…both ancient and modern writers have understood these commands to be an act of compassion, and this explanation fits with several other laws in the Pentateuch that show concern for an animal’s well-being…they must bring only the sacrifices that he approves and offer them only in the way he allows…The New Testament picks up on these same themes when it presents Jesus as the ultimate unblemished sacrifice which the Lord approves and states that through his sacrifice—and only through his sacrifice—we ourselves may be accepted by God as those who have been made holy and are without blemish. The Lord is [Israel’s] Redeemer, who brought them out of Egypt to be their God. They did nothing to deserve such redemption; it was an act of his gracious love, and such love alone calls for them to obey him as an act of grateful worship. Second, he is also their redeeming God, who is above all holy. This means they must not profane him—treat him as non-holy—by disobeying his commands; they are instead to acknowledge his holiness with reverential obedience. The Lord does not simply rescue his people from slavery; he ‘sets them apart to live in a holy manner, in this way privileging them with reflecting his holy character to the world. Redemption and holy obedience to the Redeemer always go hand in hand.” (6) Having been redeemed, we are without blemish in Christ and called to offer God our transformed, righteous lives as his perfect, sanctified offering.
Holines is Personified in Jesus Christ
“How does Jesus fulfill the laws in Leviticus 21 and 22? Jesus is our high priest. The seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews refers to the imperfection of the priesthood described in the book of Leviticus. The same chapter also describes Jesus as the perfect high priest… ‘holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens’ (v. 26) and ‘perfected forever’ (v. 28). Jesus is our high priest, the one mediator between God and humanity (1 Tim. 2:5) who goes into the most holy place and intercedes for us. Jesus is our perfect sacrifice…Hebrews 9:14 says that He ‘offered Himself without blemish to God’…We worship through Jesus…how we worship matters to God is very clear in Leviticus. He requires that we worship Him according to His commands…God gave the sacrificial system to show us the need to atone for our sin in order to worship Him…Jesus, God the Son lived a sinless life, endured persecution by sinful men, and allowed Himself to be tortured and crucified to provide the final and perfect sacrifice for our sins…In the new covenant in Jesus, holiness is personified…Much of Jesus’ conflict with the Jewish leaders related to the way they interpreted and applied the book of Leviticus regarding holiness…the Sadducees and Pharisees understood Leviticus 21 and 22 to be about them. They saw themselves as the inheritors of the obligations and privileges of the Aaronic priesthood. When they read Leviticus 21 and 22 they saw that the standards God gave for priests and for the high priest were higher than God’s standards for non-priests. Therefore, they saw reasons to regard themselves as higher and better than the rest of God’s people…They were wrong…God gave the priestly laws of Leviticus to create in priests a greater sensitivity to holiness and corruption, not to create pride or elitism as though the priests were better because God required more of them. All of God’s commands should result in humble submission, our obedience to His Word.” (7)
True Holiness
God never said that observance of external ceremonies made someone righteous. All the external matters were symbolic; they taught the truth that God is holy…Separation from ceremonial defilement was symbolic of separation from sin…The Pharisees failed to understand, as many people today fail to understand, that ceremonial correctness does not constitute holiness…Recognizing the difference is the beginning of holiness, not the end…Jesus consistently taught the priority of the condition of our hearts. The heart, He said, is the source of sin. ‘You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder; and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment’ (Matthew 5:21-22)” (8) “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.'” (1 Peter 1:13-16). And when we become weary, let’s remember, “The hope of the righteous brings joy.” (Proverbs 10:28a)
Related Scripture: Exodus 19:6; 23:5, 10; Deuteronomy 22:6-7; Proverbs 12:10; Mal. 2:7; John 14:6; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9; James 3:1; Hebrews 10:19-22; 13:15-18; 1 Peter 2:9.
Notes:
1. Simons, Ruth Chou, “When Strivings Cease,” Chapters 2, 4, Nelson Books, 2021.
2. Simons, chapter 10, Ibid.
3. Sklar, Jay, Leviticus, An Introduction and Commentary, Chapter 21 Introduction, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, IVP Academic, 2014.
4. Moseley, Allen, Exalting Jesus in Leviticus, Christ-Centered Exposition Series, Leviticus 21-22, B&H Publishing Group, 2015.
5. Mosley, Ibid.
6. Sklar, Leviticus 22, Ibid.
7. Mosley, Ibid.
8. Mosley, Ibid.
June 8, 2023
Divine Wisdom for Daily Living by Joanne Colvin 