Weekly Readings: Leviticus 21:1-24:23; Ezekiel 44:15-31; 1 Peter 2:4-10
This week we resume the Torah Reading Schedule at Leviticus 21-24, chapters which give details about the Jewish feasts, Sabbaths and - importantly - the priestly ministry.
The ministry granted to the Levitical priesthood – including its dress code, rituals, responsibilities and regulations - seems a world away from the modern Christian life. And yet, according to Peter, we are all part of a "royal priesthood" (1 Pet 2:9). This ministry is not dead, nor is it irrelevant, it would seem. In Jesus, and in us through Jesus, it is fulfilled.
Like the Levites, each of us has received a calling from God to serve Him with our whole lives. We may not be required to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifices to the Lord on behalf of the people, but nevertheless we can learn a lot from these chapters about our priestly calling.
Set Apart
First, these chapters give us an awe-inspiring shadow of our new identity and position in Jesus.
Like the Levites, we have been set apart for God (Heb 10:10) – our lives are no longer our own (1 Cor 6:19-20). God undertook to provide for the priesthood out of the sacrifices that had been offered to Him in worship – in other words, to share with them out of the gifts given to Him (Ezek 44:28-29), freeing them from dependence on material wealth and worldly work, unto complete dependence upon Him.
Likewise, for us, in spiritual terms our provision has been made by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, our eternal Great High Priest – opening the way for us to partake in "every spiritual blessing" (Eph 1:3) and freeing us from dependence on fleshly effort or worldly securities.
Emphasised unmissably in Leviticus 21-24 is the formidable requirement for the priesthood to remain pure and undefiled. Under the Mosaic covenant this purity was outward, achieved through ceremonial washing and sacrifice. The priests weren't even allowed to sweat inside the Temple (Ezek 44:18) – and no 'defective' person (i.e. with an illness or disability) was allowed to minister (Lev 21:16-23).
We know that God is not against those who are ill or disabled (as the ministry of Jesus amply shows) - but this is a physical shadow of God's desired spiritual reality: His underlying purpose is for us to be pure and without defect on the inside, in the heart (Ps 51:10; Matt 5:8). Only through Jesus' sacrifice, which renders us eternally blemishless in the eyes of the Father, and through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit in our day-to-day lives, can this be achieved.
Ministering to God
Secondly, we see in Leviticus 21-24 a glimpse of how God wants His people to attend to Him. To attend to Him! What humility the Lord displays in asking to be ministered to by imperfect, broken humans – He who is tended to by angels and heavenly beings beyond our imagining! Our Heavenly Father does not need anything from us, yet He nevertheless requests that we minister to Him – care for Him, tend to Him, pour out our love upon Him - as Mary did when she bathed Jesus' feet in perfume and her own tears, drying him with her hair. What an indescribable privilege!
As part of their ministry, the Levites were always presenting sacrifices to God, for one reason or another – sacrifices with purposes such as repentance, thanksgiving, remembrance and freewill praise. So today, Christians are encouraged to "give thanks continually" (1 Thess 5:18) and to "offer God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that profess His name" (Heb 13:15). We are called to be living sacrifices (Rom 12:1) who every day offer God all that we are, for His glory.
Ministering to Others
Finally, these chapters reveal something of how God wants us to minister to other people. The priestly role doesn't just involve attending to God (though it is about this before and above all else) – it is also outward in focus, about tending to the needs of others. In Leviticus this partly meant handling people's sacrifices and being intermediaries between them and God – now it means interceding for people and encouraging them in the direction of Jesus, so they can draw near and know the Lord for themselves.
The Levites were also required to tend to the lamps in the sanctuary and keep them burning with a constant oil supply; so we are given the responsibility of tending to the spiritual welfare of God's temples (that's us, and each other) to make sure that the fire of the Holy Spirit is kept burning (1 Thess 5:19).
Ezekiel 44:23 reveals another vital aspect of this outward ministry: priests had the responsibility to teach the people to distinguish holy from common, clean from unclean. So today, as God's people we are given the responsibility of holding out the word of life to a dying world, being living examples of what is right and clean through the power of the Holy Spirit, and speaking wisdom into the lives of others. This we do humbly, because we know that our righteousness is not from us – but from God.
What would the Church look like if believers took this ministry seriously – and sought to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, who fulfils the priestly role perfectly? This week, why not ask God to reveal more to you about your part in His royal priesthood?
Author: Frances Rabbitts
