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Leviticus
Chapter Twenty-two
Leviticus 22
Chapter Contents
Laws concerning the priests and sacrifices.
In this chapter we have divers laws concerning the
priests and sacrifices, all for preserving the honour of the sanctuary. Let us
recollect with gratitude that our great High Priest cannot be hindered by any
thing from the discharge of his office. Let us also remember, that the Lord
requires us to reverence his name, his truths, his ordinances, and
commandments. Let us beware of hypocrisy, and examine ourselves concerning our
sinful defilements, seeking to be purified from them in the blood of Christ,
and by his sanctifying Spirit. Whoever attempts to expiate his own sin, or
draws near in the pride of self-righteousness, puts as great an affront on
Christ, as he who comes to the Lord's table from the gratification of sinful
lusts. Nor can the minister who loves the souls of the people, suffer them to continue
in this dangerous delusion. He must call upon them, not only to repent of their
sins, and forsake them; but to put their whole trust in the atonement of
Christ, by faith in his name, for pardon and acceptance with God; thus only
will the Lord make them holy, as his own people.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Leviticus》
Leviticus 22
Verse 2
[2]
Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy
things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in
those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.
Separate themselves —
When any uncleanness is upon them, as appears from Leviticus 22:3,4.
From the holy things — From eating of those parts of the offerings, which belong to them. Only
of the tithes they might eat.
They —
The children of Israel. And it ill became the priests to profane or pollute
what the people did hallow.
Verse 3
[3] Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations,
that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the
LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my
presence: I am the LORD.
Goeth unto the holy things — To eat them, or to touch them; for if the touch of one of the people
having his uncleanness upon him defiled the thing he touched, much more was it
so in the priest.
Cut off —
From my ordinances by excommunication: He shall be excluded both from the
administration, and from the participation of them.
Verse 7
[7] And
when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy
things; because it is his food.
His food —
His portion, the means of his subsistence. This may be added, to signify why
there was no greater nor longer a penalty put upon the priests than upon the
people in the same case, because his necessity craved some mitigation: tho'
otherwise the priests being more sacred persons, deserved a greater punishment.
Verse 9
[9] They
shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die
therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.
Lest they bear sin —
Incur guilt and punishment.
For it —
For the neglect or violation of it.
Verse 10
[10] There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest,
or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
No stranger — Of
a strange family, who is not a priest; but there is an exception to this rule, Leviticus 22:11.
A sojourner —
One that comes to his house and abides there for a season, and eats at his
table.
Verse 12
[12] If
the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an
offering of the holy things.
A stranger — To
one of another family, who is no priest. Yet the priest's wife, though of
another family, might eat. The reason of which difference is, because the wife
passeth into the name, state and privileges of her husband, from whom the
family is denominated.
Verse 14
[14] And
if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part
thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.
Unto it —
Over and above the principle, and besides the ram to be offered to God, Leviticus 5:15.
And shall give unto the priest the holy thing — That is, the worth of it, which the priest was either to take to himself
or to offer to God, as the nature of the thing was.
Verse 15
[15] And
they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they
offer unto the LORD;
They —
The people shall not profane them, by eating them: or the priests shall not
profane them, that is, suffer the people to profane them, without censure and
punishment.
Verse 16
[16] Or
suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things:
for I the LORD do sanctify them.
They —
That is, the priests, shall not (the negative particle being understood out of
the foregoing clause) suffer them - That is, the people, to bear the iniquity
of trespass - That is, the punishment of their sin, which they might expect
from God, and for the prevention whereof the priest was to see restitution
made.
Verse 18
[18]
Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say
unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in
Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill
offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;
Strangers —
Such as were proselytes.
Verse 19
[19] Ye
shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the
sheep, or of the goats.
A male —
For a burnt-offering, which was always of that kind: but the females were
accepted in peace-offerings, and sin-offerings.
Verse 25
[25]
Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of
these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they
shall not be accepted for you.
A stranger's hand —
From proselytes: even from those, such should not be accepted, much less from
the Israelites.
The bread of your God — That is, the sacrifices.
Verse 28
[28] And
whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.
In one day —
Because it favoured of cruelty.
Verse 32
[32]
Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the
children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
Hallowed, or sanctified, either by you in
keeping my holy commands, or upon you in executing my holy and righteous
judgments. I will manifest myself to be an holy God that will not bear the
transgression of my laws.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on
Leviticus》
22 Chapter 22
Verse 11
If the priest buy any soul . . . and he that is born.
Bought, or born
Strangers, sojourners, and servants upon hire were not to eat of
holy things. It is so in spiritual matters still. But two classes were free at
the sacred table--those who were bought with the priest’s money, and those who
were born into the priest’s house.
I. Bought. Our
great High Priest has bought with a price all those who put their trust in Him.
They are His absolute property. Not for what they are in themselves, but for
their Owner’s sake they are admitted into the same privileges which He Himself
enjoys, and they shall “eat of His meat.” He has meat to eat which worldlings
know not of. “Because ye belong to Christ,” therefore shall ye share with your
Lord.
II. Born. This is
an equally sure way to privilege; if born in the Priest’s house we take our
place with the rest of the family. Regeneration makes us fellow-heirs, and of
the same body; and, therefore, the peace, the joy, the glory, which the Father has given
to Christ, Christ has given to us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 21
It shall be perfect to be accepted.
A plain man’s sermon
1. The ceremonial
law, as ordained by the hand of Moses and Aaron, called the worshippers of God
to great carefulness before Him. Before their minds that solemn truth was ever made visible, “I
the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” Nothing might be done thoughtlessly. Of every
ceremony it might be said, “It must be perfect to be accepted.” God must have
the minds and thoughts of men, or He counts that they are no worshippers. We
need to think a great deal more about how we come before the Most High; and if
we thought more and prayed more, we should become more certain of our inability
to do anything as we ought to do it, and we should be driven to a more entire
dependence upon the Spirit of God in every act of worship. This in itself would
be a great blessing.
2. The ceremonial law also engendered in men who did think a great
respect for the holiness of God. They could not help seeing that God required
everything in His service to be of the very best. They must have felt that sin
was not a trifle, but a thing for which there must be life given and blood shed
before it could be removed; and that life and blood must be the life and blood
of a perfect and unblemished offering.
3. Under the Jewish ceremonial law, one of the most prominent
thoughts, next to a great respect for the holiness of God, would be a deep
regard for the law of God. Everywhere that the Israelite went he was surrounded
by law. If men do not understand the law, they will not feel that they are
sinners; and if they are not consciously sinners, they will never value the
sin-offering.
I. First, then,
the rule of our text, “it shall be perfect to be accepted,” may be used to shut
out all those faulty offerings whereon so many place their confidence.
1. It most effectually judges and casts forth all self-righteousness,
although this is the great deceit wherewith thousands are buoyed up with false
hopes. “It shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.”
If you can come up to this rule you shall be saved by your righteousness; but
if you cannot reach you must fail of acceptance.
2. Why, look, ye that hope to be saved by your own doings, your
nature at the very first is tainted! There is evil in your heart from the very
beginning, so that you are not perfect and are not without blemish. Who can
bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
3. Look again, for I feel sure that there must have been a blemish
somewhere as matter of fact. As yet you are not conscious of a blemish; and
possibly there is some justification for this unconsciousness. Looking upon
you, I feel inclined to love you, as Jesus loved that young man who could say
of the commandments, “All these have I kept from my youth up.” But I must beg
you to answer this question--Has there not been a blemish in your motives? What
have you been doing all these good things for? “Why, that I might be saved!”
Precisely so. Therefore selfishness has been the motive which has ruled your
life. Moreover, it is not only your nature and your motive which are imperfect.
You certainly must have erred somewhere or other, in some act of your life. The
Scripture also is dead against you when it says, “There is none righteous; no,
not one.”
4. Methinks if I could read all hearts, there is not one here,
however self-righteous he may be, who would not have to confess distinct acts
of sin. I know how some of you have lived. You were amiable girls and excellent
young women, and have grown up to be careful, loving wives; and therefore you
say, “I never did anybody any harm; surely I may be accepted.” I wish that there
were more like you. I am not condemning you; far from it; but I know that your
tendency is to think that because of all this you must in yourselves be
accepted of God. Give me your hand, and let me say to you, with tears, “It is
not so, my sister; it is not so, my brother. It must be perfect to be accepted;
there must be no blemish in it.” This is a death-blow for your self-confidence;
for there was a time, some day or other in your life, in which you did wrong.
What I have you no hasty temper? Have no quick words escaped you which you
would wish to recall? What! have you never murmured against God, or complained
of His providence? Have you never been slothful when you ought to have been
diligent? Can you say that your heart has never desired evil--never imagined
impurity? Have you never gone to live in an old house which looked like new?
You had fresh paint, and varnish, and paper in superabundance; and you thought
yourself dwelling in one of the sweetest of places, till one day it happened
that a board was taken up, and you saw under the floor. What a gathering of
every foul thing! You could not have lived in that house at peace for a minute
had you known what had been covered up. Rottenness had been hidden, decay had
been doctored, death had been decorated. That is just like our humanity. When lusts are quiet,
they are all there. The best man in this place, who is not a believer in
Christ, would go mad if he were to see himself as God sees him.
5. This text makes a clean sweep of all other kinds of human confidences.
Some are deceived in this sort: “Well,” they say, “I do not trust in my works; but I am a
religious person, and I attend the sacrament, and I go to my place of worship
pretty regularly. I feel that I must certainly be right. I have faith in Jesus
Christ and in myself.” In various ways men thus compose an image whose feet are
part of iron and part of clay.
II. As this rule
shuts out all other confidences, so this rule shuts us up to the sacrifice of
Jesus Christ. Oh, if I had the tongues of men and of angels, I could never
fitly tell you of Him who offered Himself without spot unto God, for He is
absolutely perfect; there is no blemish in Him!
1. He is perfect in His nature as God and man. There was not the
possibility of sinning about the Saviour--no tendency that way, no desire that
way. Nothing that could be construed into evil ever came upon His character.
2. As He was perfect in His nature, so was He in His motive. What
brought Him from above but love to God and man? You can find no trace of ambition
in Christ Jesus. In Him there is no thought of self.
3. As His nature was perfect, so was His spirit. He was never
sinfully angry, nor harsh, nor untrue, nor idle. Tile air of His soul was the
atmosphere of heaven rather than of earth.
4. Look at His life of obedience, and see how perfect that was. Which
commandment did He ever break? Which duty of relationship did He ever forget?
He honoured the law of God and loved the souls of men.
5. Look at the perfection of His sacrifice. He gave His body to be
tortured, and His mind to be crushed and broken, even unto the death-agony. He
gave Himself for us a perfect sacrifice. All that the law could ask was in Him.
III. Listen, ye that
follow after righteousness, ye that know the Lord! You are saved. You have not,
therefore, to bring any sacrifice by way of a sin-offering, but you have to
bring sacrifices of thanksgiving. It is your reasonable service that you offer
your bodies a living sacrifice unto God. If you do this you cannot bring an
absolutely perfect sacrifice, but you must labour to let it be perfect in what
is often the Biblical sense of perfection. You must take care that what you
bring is not blind, for the blind were not to be offered. You must serve God
with a single eye to the glory of God. And as it must not be blind, so it must
not be broken. Whenever we serve God, we must do it with the whole of our
being, for if we try to serve God with a bit of our nature, and leave the rest
unconsecrated, we shall not be accepted. Next, they were not to bring a maimed
sacrifice: that is, one without its limbs. Some people give grudgingly, that is
to say, they come up to the collection-box with a limp. Many serve Christ with
a broken arm. The holy work is done, but it is painfully and slowly done. Among
the heathen, I believe, they never offered in sacrifice to the gods a calf that
had to be carried. The reason was that they considered that the sacrifice ought
to be willing to be offered, “and so it must be able to walk up to the altar.
Notice in the Old Testament, though there were many creatures, both birds and
beasts, that were offered to God, they never offered any fish on the holy
altar. The reason probably is that a fish could not come there alive. Its life
would be spent before it came to the altar, and therefore it could not render a
life unto God. Take care that you bring your bodies a living sacrifice. We must
not bring Him the mere chrysalis of a man, out of which the life has gone; but
we must bring before Him our living, unmaimed selves if we would be acceptable
before Him. It is then added, “or having a wen.” It does not look as though it
would hurt the sacrifice much to have a wen; yet there must not be a wen, or
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Above all, avoid that big wen of pride.
The sacrifice was not to be scabbed, or to have the scurvy. That is to say, it
was to be without any sort of outward fault. I have heard men say, “It is true
I did not do that thing well, but my heart was right.” That may be, but you
must try and make the whole matter as good as it can be. What a deal of scabbed
service our Lord gets! Men try to be benevolent to their fellow-creatures with
an irritable temper. Certain people try to serve God, and write stinging
letters to promote brotherly love, and dogmatical epistles in favour of
large-mindedness. Too many render to the Lord hurried, thoughtless worship; and
many more give for offerings their smallest coins and such things as they will
never miss. God has many a scurvy sheep brought before Him. The best of the best
should be given to the Best of the best. Would God that the best of our lives,
the best hours of the morning, the best skill of our hands, the best thoughts
of our minds, the very cream of our being, were given to our God! (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
Offerings to be without blemish
1. This law was, then, necessary for the preserving of the honour of
the sanctuary and of the God that was there worshipped.
2. This law made all the legal sacrifices the fitter to be types of
Christ, the great Sacrifice, from which all those derived their virtue.
3. It is an instruction to us to offer to God the best we have in our
spiritual sacrifices. If our devotions be ignorant, and cold, and trifling, and
full of distractions, we offer the blind, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice.
But cursed be the deceiver that doth so, for while he thinks to put a cheat
upon God, he puts a damning cheat upon his own soul. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Blemishes in our sacrifices
All religious service is of the nature of sacrifice.
I. Read this requirement
of perfect sacrifices, and by it let us test our regard for the sabbath
services. God has once, at least, read us a very solemn lesson of the manner in
which He regards lost Sabbaths. Seventy Sabbatical years the Jews allowed to
drop out of their calendar. Seventy years were spent by them in captivity. A
fearful presage to us of what might be the national judgment if, as a Church
and people, we went on to blot out from amongst us our day of rest. Every one
will agree that if the Sabbath be obligatory, then it is assuredly obligatory
thus far--
1. That there be regular attendance upon public service.
2. Of the other hours of the day, that a part be spent in private
devotional exercises, a part in religious reading; that a higher and more
sacred tone of conversation be maintained; that some work of piety and love be
performed.
II. By this test
let us judge our sanctuary worship. Examine ourselves in the house of God.
Difficulty of keeping the mind collected and devout results from want of due
preparation.
1. Something may be said respecting the posture of body we assume in
the sanctuary. Position of body reacts upon the mind. Indolence is associated
with, and leads to, irreverence. Kneeling is required equally by the dignity of
God and the weakness of our nature.
2. So with the voice. Difficult to overestimate how much is lost--
(a) to the beauty of our services;
(b) to the glory of God;
(c) to our own souls, by the silence so many of us maintain, both in
the responses and in the service of song.
But there are more serious “blemishes” in our sanctuary sacrifices
than these. Where is--
Well might St. James say, “Ye have not because ye ask not, or ask
amiss.” “Blemish on sacrifice” drives the flame down again.
III. By this test
let us examine our observance of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper. A word in
solemn affection to some. You never attend the sacrament to celebrate the
Lord’s death at all. Others, if at all, so irregularly as almost to turn the
attendance into a mockery.
1. Happy for us that we can turn from all our poor “blemished”
sacrifices to that pure and perfect sacrifice of Christ, which has been offered
“without blemish and without spot” for us.
2. Only let us never forget that he who would safely trust in the
power of that “Sacrifice” for his salvation must take the spotlessness of that
Sacrifice for his daily pattern. (Anon.)
Giving the worst to God
A pastor went one day to call on a member of his church,
who was a farmer. During the conversation the work of Christian benevolences
was touched upon, and the farmer proudly alluded to the fact that out of his
few acres of ground he always set aside one acre to the Lord’s use. The pastor,
hoping to here get the material for an illustration in his own work, asked the
farmer brother, “Which acre do you set aside?” This was a question that came
very unexpectedly, but the farmer was honest enough to tell the truth, and
replied, “When it is a dry season, I select one up there,” pointing to a field
on the hillside; “and when it is a wet season, I choose one down there,”
pointing to a field of very low land which lay at the foot of the hill. I give
this illustration, not on account of its rarity, but because it is a true
picture of thousands of professed Christians, who give to God’s service that
part of their time and means that is left after first satisfying their own
personal selfish ends. (Sharpened Arrows.)
God ought to have the best
One cold morning a little ragged, woeful-looking child came in at
our back door, begging for food. “Please, ma’am, mend the children most
starved. Only a bit o’ bread.” “Have you no father or mother, child?” asked
I. “Yes’m,” and a
look of shame and despair mantled his hollow cheeks. “Don’t they work and earn
money?” “Yes’m, little; but they most allus spend it afore they gets home, at
the ‘Horn o’ Plenty.’ “Immediately my heart became adamant. The miserable,
drunken brutes, thought I, I’ll not feed their children. Then I remembered
there is a very stale loaf of bread in the cupboard, scarcely fit for toast. I
gave that to the child, very glad to dispose of it. He grabbed it eagerly, with
a clutch that reminded one of the grasp of the drowning, when they would fain
save themselves. Little Gracie, our six-year-old darling, had been a silent
spectator; but after the boy departed, she came to me with deep inquiry
depicted upon her spiritual countenance, saying, “Mamma, if Jesus Christ had
come and said He was starving to death, would you have given Him that awful dry
loaf of bread?” “Why, child,” said I, “why do you ask such a question ?” “Why,
when we give to the poor, ought we not to think that we are really giving to
Jesus Himself? I thought He said so when here upon the earth.” “Well, Gracie,”
said I, kissing her sweet, troubled face, “I think you are right, and I will
remember your lesson next time. Yes, Gracie, we, whom the Lord hath blessed in
our ‘granary and our store,’ would soon relieve suffering humanity if we gave
our alms as if we really were giving to the ‘Blessed Redeemer.’ We are too
prone to forget this truth.” “The very best that we have in the house isn’t too
good for Him, is it, mamma?” asked she. “No, no, my precious child,” replied I,
clasping her to my heart and thinking, “Out of the mouths of babes and
sucklings hast Thou ordained strength and wisdom.” (Christian Age.)
Worthless offerings
A missionary in China, describing in the Sunday at Home, the
sacrifices which are offered to Confucius at the usual and autumnal equinoxes,
says, “We looked at the victims, and they were diseased, scraggy brutes,
worthless offerings. Oh, the mockery and the utter insincerity and indifference
of the Chinese mind to all sense of honour I My friend explained the matter to
me; he said they were allowed so much by the Treasury for this purpose, and the
cheaper they could get the animals the more they could pocket.” (J. Tinling.)
Verses 31-33
I am the Lord.
Five motives to obedience
Five motives are strewn on their path to constrain them to close
obedience.
1. “I am the Lord.” This is authority employed.
2. “I will be hallowed among the children of Israel.” This is His
holiness, and His desire to diffuse awe of His holy name.
3. “I am the Lord which hallow you.” Here is an appeal to their privileges
as Israelites. Do you not feel that you actually are set apart for Me?
4. “I am the Lord which brought you out of Egypt.” Here is His claim
as Redeemer, who paid the price and set free the captives. Is there gratitude
in your souls? Is there sense of thankfulness for favour done?
5. “Your God”--as well as your Lord: His claim as Father, Shepherd,
King, and whatever else there is that is tender in relationship, or beneficial
in office, or sweet in character--all is summed up in “your God”! Who is like
“our God”? “Who would not fear Thee?” (Jeremiah 10:7). (A. A. Bonar.)
Unquestioning obedience peremptorily enforced
I. What Jehovah
was in Israel. “I am the Lord.”
II. What Jehovah
was to Israel. “Your God.”
III. What Jehovah
had done for Israel. “That brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
IV. What Jehovah
would do with Israel. “I am the Lord which hallow you.” Ceremonially and
symbolically priests and people were made holy by--
1. The rights they observed.
2. The sacrifices they offered.
3. The manifested presence of the Lord. (F. W. Brown.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》