Leviticus 21

Rules for the Priest

21:1 The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron—say to them, ‘For a dead person no priest is to defile himself among his people,  

The entire nation was called to become a nation of priests. However, their sin with the golden calf kept them from becoming the perfect and ideal nation of God. During the Mosaic Law, only the tribe of Levi was to become priests. Jesus is the Great Priest who offered Himself for the sins of the world. During the Dispensation of Grace, all believers are to become a royal priesthood. In the Millennial Kingdom, all of Israel will become saved. Then, Israel will become priests to all of the nations. 

21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 21:3 and his virgin sister who is near to him, who has no husband; he may defile himself for her. 21:4 He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself. 21:5 Priests must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body. 

Priests were to be holy to God. Therefore, they were not to touch any dead body, unless it was the body of their close relative. They were allowed to grieve for their family members, just as Jesus wept for Lazarus. 

They were not allowed to shave a bald spot on their head. This was a pagan practice used to mourn for the dead. Pagan priests also shaved a bald spot on their head as a worship of the sun god. This ritual began at the Tower of Babel and was spread through all cultures after the confusion of languages. The Greeks and Roman priests practiced this same ritual. After Constantine converted to Christianity, all of his priests were still pagan. They infiltrated this custom into the Catholic priesthood. Catholic priests and monks still practice this ritual today.

The slashing of bodies was an occult ritual which ancient nations performed at the death of a loved one. They were cutting their skin in an attempt to draw compassion from the demonic gods  which they worshipped. idolatry is the worship of demonic gods who hate their worshippers. During the days of Elijah, the Baal priests slashed their bodies in an attempt to gain favor with Baal. They were hoping that Baal would notice them, show compassion to them, and then bring rain.

21:6 “ ‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. 21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the Lord who sanctifies you all, am holy. 21:9 If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death. 

Prophets gave the people direct revelation from God. The Levitical priests were set apart to represent the people before God. The priests were to offer continual sacrifices for the sins of the people who had sinned against a holy God. All of these offerings pointed to a future Messiah who would become the final and eternal sacrifice.

The priests could not profane the name (or character) of their holy God. They were responsible for performing the rituals which pointed to the Messiah. They could not take a wife who was a former prostitute. They could not marry a divorced woman.  If a daughter engaged in prostitution, she was burned to death. The priest was to be holy, because God was holy.

Rules for the High Priest

21:10 “ ‘The high priest—who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments—must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. 21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother. 21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin. 21:14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people as a wife. 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’ ” 

The High Priest was set at a higher standard than even the priests. He was not allowed to mourn for the dead by disheveling his hair or tearing his garments. When the High Priest falsely charged Jesus with blasphemy, he tore his garment. This was a violation of the Mosaic Law.

The High Priest is not allowed to touch a dead person, even if it was a close family member. Once he was anointed with oil, he could not leave the sanctuary. He could only marry a virgin wife. He could not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a prostitute. His wife must be a Levite. The reason was because God is God and He says so. It was God who sanctified the High Priest.

Rules for the Priesthood

21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses: 21:17 “Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations who has a physical flaw is to approach to present the food of his God. 21:18 Certainly no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, or a limb too long, 21:19 or a man who has had a broken leg or arm, 21:20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or one with a spot in his eye, or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash, or a crushed testicle. 21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God. 

Liberals do not have enough Bible doctrine to understand this symbolic ritual.  They falsely claim that God is insensitive to the handicapped. Just as the offering was to be perfect, so was the offerer. The priest and the sacrifice was a picture of God the Father offering God the Son as a sacrifice for sins. Both types had to be perfect.

21:22 He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God, 21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’ ” 21:24 So Moses spoke these things to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites. 

Notice that God provided for the handicap. This was not the norm of ancient pagan cultures.