Does your pastor measure up? What about you?

Leviticus Chapter 21: What God Wants You to Know About Priests – Part 1

Leviticus 21:1-9 Laws Concerning Priests

Today is the 19^th day of our self-isolation and/or social-distancing due to Covid-19. After two weeks of self-quarantine we can now go out but only if absolutely necessary. Until now, those terms remain definable by the person thinking of venturing away from his/her residence. We went for a walk (over ten kilometres; 2.25 hours). We saw very few people and they were definitely keeping their distance. A small majority wore masks. I imagine the majority of those that didn’t were not able to find any.

Back at home we continue to do things around the house, listen to inspiring music recommended by friends, and playing Scrabble (my wife leads our series 19-14). I am continuing my study in Leviticus.  Thanks for joining me.  Read on.

The Passage

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

‘No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, ² except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother, ³ also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. ⁴ He shall not defile himself as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. ⁵ They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh. ⁶ They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire to the Lord, the food of their God; so, they shall be holy. ⁷ They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. ⁸ You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. ⁹ Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

Thoughts on the Passage

After God finished telling Moses what commands He had for His people, He then commenced His order for His priests. Chuck Smith reminds us to view this and the next chapter as parallels to the guidelines that God provides us for bishops in the New Testament. Also, as Paul tells Timothy (in I Timothy 4:12), “Be thou an example unto the believer,” so we too are to consider the laws for priests as examples to the extent feasible, for us.

The very first instruction here, “no one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people” requires some explanation. You will remember that touching a dead person made one unclean and they remained so until the next day. Here God is reminding priests that they are not to touch any dead person, lest they defile themselves. The exceptions are then provided in verses 2 to 4.

Verse 5 forbids a priest to shave his head or his sideburns, or to cut his bodily flesh in any way. Simply put, God wanted the priests’ bodies to be unblemished. They were in a sense standing before God, Who wanted them to be whole, as He had created them. I believe God wants that of us as well.

In verse 6 God tells us priests are not to swear or “profane the name of their God”. They need to realize that as they are presenting the offerings, they are in a sense presenting the food of their God, and so they need to be holy.

Verse 7 tells us that priests can only have women who have not been harlots, or affected by harlotry, or divorced. David Guzik says priests were only allowed to take virgins for wives, symbolic of their commitment and purity that was required of them. In all aspects of their lives, they were to seek purity.

Verse 8 requires the people to consecrate the priest for the priest is holy to the people.

And finally verse 9 provides a very strong penalty for a daughter of a priest who profanes herself in harlotry – she is to be burned with fire. While this was covered under the laws applicable to the general populace, it is repeated here for emphasis. There seems to be a special responsibility on priests to keep their daughters pure, but perhaps also on the children of priests to remain pure, recognizing the role of their family before God.

This passage yields two good questions for us today. First, do we expect our clergy to follow all these laws of God today? With the exception of not touching dead people (as some are required to when performing services among the very sick or in a war zone) and the burning of daughters of the clergy, I can see no valid reason why these things are not to be the norm for our pastors today.  Sadly, I see many pastors breaking one or more of these. So much for being examples to us as Paul called on Timothy to be.

Secondly, regardless of how our clergy are behaving, what about us? I believe the above laws could easily be adhered to by many more of God’s children. There are exceptions of course because of what God’s Son has done for us. So, I would consider it perfectly acceptable for a Christian to marry someone who is not a virgin. But that does not mean as a Christian who is a virgin, one can now go out seeking to lose their virginity outside of marriage.  Also, it would be acceptable to have tattoos and become a Christian. But these verses suggest it not okay to be a Christian and actively seek to get a tattoo because you feel you are free in Christ to do so.  God does not change His view of such things.  There is no verse in the New Testament telling you to go out and cut or mark up your body. You get the idea. Still, having said all of that, our God is a big and forgiving God.  His grace and mercy are immeasurable. And even when we fail in that way, He loves us and keeps us in His arms. 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Bolivar Heights: When Failure Is Not Final

Author: Leighton Kramer

Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc., Meadville, PA, 2018

A Warning to the Unfallen; An Explanation, Hope, and Purpose for the Fallen 

Leighton Kramer’s book is one of the most complex books I have ever reviewed. I felt at times like a judge on “America’s Got Talent” – one minute I marveled at his perceptions and the next, I was totally frustrated with both the structural and grammatical editing of his book. The human insights are so on target. But it is hard to clearly adjudicate who is really doing the writing on any given page, about whom, when, and where.

There were many times when I felt this (or at least most of this) is indeed Kramer’s own story without him wanting to admit it.  There is no other explanation for some of his thoughts on what a fallen person can think or feel except that he personally had experienced the same thoughts and feelings. If I am wrong, then he truly has a great gift.

There is no doubt the book is a much-needed one. Too many people in the ministry do not finish well, as Kramer tells us. Many failures could have been avoided by God’s servants making better and less rushed decisions. Others, by having accountability partners who speak up in a timely fashion. Still others, by prayers that rise upwards, uttered by saints on bended knee.

Kramer correctly points out that everyone has a weak spot. But when it comes to God’s servants, that weak spot is fervently and constantly being observed by the Enemy, seeking the most opportune time and way to hurt it again, and if possible, to the point of death. Satan certainly knew the main character’s weakness and he knew exactly how to use it to his advantage.

This book is a must-read for anyone who is in the ministry, anyone who loves someone in the ministry, and even anyone who knows or is responsible from a governance perspective, for someone in the ministry.

The author capably demonstrates that the battle is indeed spiritual. The Enemy is indeed real. The consequences are deadly – not only for the individual but for those he/she entangles in his/her downfall.

If you learn nothing else from this book (and there is so much to absorb and adopt), every reader should learn at least two things: First, you are not protected from failure in your Christian life. As Kramer contends, life is a “probation” period. This could happen to you. And second, when you know the weak spot in yourself or in your circumstances is at jeopardy of being attacked – take every step possible to address it as God would have you address it. Kramer in a very powerful way, especially in his last chapter, drives home the mistake that many of us make – trying to address our ‘problem’ without God and outside our public world.

Indirectly, this book is a call to prayer for pastors, for those in our family who lead ministries, and for ourselves – for many of us are called to serve God without going into full-time pastoral or similar work.   Highly recommended.

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·     Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, March 17, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

How has your church dealt with the "consecration" of your pastor or pastoral team?

God’s Details, Not Moses’, and certainly Not Ours Today

Leviticus 8:1-30

The first thirty verses of this chapter refer to a “consecration” that God commanded Moses to carry out (verses 1-5). It involved cleansing the Priests with water (verse 6), donning them with special garments (verses 7-9), anointing them with oil (verses 10-13), and consecrating them with blood (verses 14-30).

Thoughts on the Passage

Now that the tabernacle had been completed, it was time to consecrate those that would work in it and serve the people as priests. 

First, we note that God commanded this consecration of the priests.  And secondly, that it was to be done in the presence of the “full congregation” which was to be assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

Second, this involved all the priests, from father Aaron down to his last son.

Third, the priests were to have special clothing which included a place for the Urim and the Thummin, which were to help them determine God’s will for a particular issue or question posed. Today, as believers and all part of the Royal priesthood, each of us is clothed in Jesus Christ and His righteousness (Revelation 3:5). David Guzik says these ‘clothes’ are given freely by Jesus but received and ‘worn’ by us in faith.

Clearly, this was a ceremony which demonstrated that the priests were being “set apart” and part of that was the need for the atonement of their sins, as well as a committing of their entire lives to the ministry and service God was calling them to.

Finally, of noteworthiness here is the fact that this whole ceremony was not done “à la Moses” but rather according to God in every detail.  Sometimes we do things in our churches attempting to replicate a ceremony we note in the Bible, but we often choose to add our own touches. We need to be mindful that whatever we do – we do not add or subtract from what the Bible teaches us was done by God in the O.T. or Christ in the N.T.  I suppose the whole way our churches observe the Communion meal will come to mind for many of us. And perhaps it should.

How has your church dealt with the "consecration" of your pastor or pastoral team?

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Let Me Introduce You to Israel's Auditor-General

Exodus 38:21-23:

²¹This is the number of the things for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were numbered according to the command of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

²² Now Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

²³ With him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and a skillful workman and a weaver in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and fine linen.

Thoughts on the Passage

In these three verses, we get to meet some of the leaders of the work that were involved in the inventory of the list of materials that went into the building of the Tabernacle.

David Guzak suggests that Ithabar, the son of Aaron the head of the Levites, was named to oversee either the Levites in the work to be done by the priests in the Tabernacle or to oversee the taking of the inventory of what materials were used in the making of the Tabernacle.  The text is not clear. Until further notice, I would suggest it was the latter. Either way, this was a big responsibility to manage all these resources and/or to perform their services in the Tabernacle. Both were done well.

Moses had ordered the inventory to be taken as clearly indicated in verse 21.

It is difficult to estimate the present-day value of the materials used in the tabernacle, but David Guzak writing in his updated commentary (2017) estimates over $13 million U.S. dollars.  The combined weight of the material, he says, would be almost 19,000 pounds (more than 9 tons or 8,500 kilograms). Not only was this a significant project to manage but think of having to relocate this structure every time God moved the Israelite camp to another spot for close to 40 years.

This was God’s work and money or valuable assets that belonged to worshippers were involved. So, this inventory was most important and sets up a model for us that points to the necessity of thoroughness and accuracy and transparency in the work of the Lord in all financial matters.

Guzak also reminds us that all these resources given by the children of Israel originally came because as Exodus 12:36 tells us, from the fact that Egyptians willingly gave it to them as the equivalent of their back wages for all the years of slavery that the Israelite’s had served the Egyptians. It was guilt money in a sense and also a desire of the Egyptians to get rid of the Israelites given all the plagues that had taken place, attributed to their the Israelites’ God.

Matthew Henry, referring to the key players mentioned in this passage, indicates that Ithamar the son of Aaron was appointed to draw up this account or inventory. Bezaleel and Aholiab must bring in the account of all the materials and Ithamar was to audit it, and then give it to Moses.

This reminds me a lot of the Auditor Generals that we have in our western government systems. The government spending the money must provide records to the appointed supposedly non-partisan Auditor General who then audits and renders his or her findings, which are then presented to the ultimate level of government in a democracy, the people.

For us the message is clear – God’s work must be done openly, honestly, accurately, with attention to details. I am so disheartened by local church leaders that operate their “business” with respect to what they tell their congregants on a “need-to-know” basis. That is not what God intended for His work, nor what He wants. And saying that we have been “audited by Chartered Accountants” does not replace the need to keep your people informed of how money is brought in and how it is spent for the Kingdom.

Without going into details here, both the Old and New Testament is very clear about the transparency that is to be built into that process. This is not something that can simply be delegated to a group of elders as many try to do. If a minister of the Gospel is making the kind of money that his or her elders are afraid or ashamed to share with their congregations, then he or she is making way too much.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

What Does God Do When A Pastor is asked "Have YOU ever had a catheter?" by one of his very ill members?

This active pastor, related to a great friend, presents an interesting and humorous treatise on "facing serious surgery" himself. I pray it will bless your heart.

West London Alliance Church - In The Long Run: "Have YOU ever had a catheter, Mike?"

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.