Leviticus 21 Summary: A Short Breakdown in 5 Minutes

Leviticus 21 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Leviticus picks up where Exodus left off. The children of Israel are on their way through the wilderness to the Canaan land.

• According to Leviticus 8, the Tabernacle had already been erected, which would place the year at approximately 1490 B.C. (one year after the Israelites left Egypt).

DEFINITIONS:

• Tiers of Holiness – Depending on who you were in the camp of Israel, a certain level of holiness was expected of you. The common people were to do their best to keep themselves ceremonially clean. A greater level of holiness was expected from the priests. The highest expectation of cleanliness was placed on the High Priest.

TABERNACLE DIAGRAM

OUTLINE:

• THE HOLINESS OF THE PRIESTHOOD (21:1-9):

  • The priests were to give special attention to avoiding uncleanliness because they were responsible for offering sacrifices to God.

  • The priests were not to make themselves unclean by approaching a person’s corpse unless it was that of their father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or virgin sister.

  • They were not to shave parts of their heads, shave off the corners of their beards, or cut themselves.

  • A priest was not allowed to marry a defiled woman, a divorced woman, or a prostitute.

  • If the daughter of a priest defiled herself by “whoring” she was to be burned.

• THE HOLINESS OF THE HIGH PRIEST (21:10-15):

  • The high priest was expected to uphold an even higher standard of holiness than the regular priests.

  • He was not to tear his clothes or let his hair hang loose (signs of mourning).

  • He was not to make himself unclean by approaching a dead body, even the body of his mother or father.

  • He was only allowed to marry a virgin.

• BLEMISHES AMONGST THE PRIESTHOOD (21:16-24):

  • Any of Aaron’s sons who had a “blemish” were not allowed to offer sacrifices to the Lord at the altar.

  • Several blemishes are specifically mentioned: blindness, lameness, mutilation, deformity, an injured foot, an injured hand, a hunchback, dwarfism, eye defects, itching diseases, crushed testicles, and scabs.

  • A man with any of those conditions was allowed to eat of the holy things of the Tabernacle, but they were not to “profane” the sanctuary of God by offering sacrifices.

APPLICATION:

• God had higher expectations of those in leadership in the camp of Israel.

• The High Priest was expected to maintain a sanctified lifestyle beyond that of the common people.

• In the modern Church, God continues to have higher expectations for those who seek to lead.

• A unique list of qualifications is given by the Apostle Paul for those who want to serve in the Church as elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9)

• Those qualifications must be met in order for a person to serve.

• Those qualifications are naturally exclusive, they exclude people whose lives don’t meet a certain standard, which is essential to protecting the sanctity of the Church.

• Any attempt to water-down or ease the necessary requirements is a disrespect to the Church for which Jesus died.