Scripture Daily

Context No. 4121 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 22:1-8: in context

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they make holy to me, and that they not profane my holy name. I am the LORD. 3“Tell them, ‘If anyone of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things which the children of Israel make holy to the LORD, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me. I am the LORD. 4“‘Whoever of the offspring of Aaron is a leper or has a discharge shall not eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man who has a seminal emission, 5or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he may be made unclean, or a man from whom he may become unclean, whatever uncleanness he has— 6the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things unless he bathes his body in water. 7When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread. 8He shall not eat that which dies of itself or is torn by animals, defiling himself by it. I am the LORD.

God gives instructions that the priests must not approach or eat the holy things while they are unclean; they must be cleansed first, or be cut off from his presence. The holy offerings, dedicated to God, could not be handled by those in a state of defilement; reverence for God's holiness required that those who drew near be clean.

We read these ritual laws across a great distance, but the principle beneath them endures: to draw near to a holy God is a weighty thing, not to be done carelessly or in a state of defilement. God's holiness is real, and it calls for reverence in those who approach him. There was to be no casual, careless approach to what belonged to God. While we now draw near through Christ, who cleanses us, the call to reverence remains. We are not to treat the holy carelessly, to come before God with unconfessed sin or a heart defiled by what we have refused to deal with. The way to approach a holy God is with a cleansed heart, made clean through Christ.

Do I approach God and the holy things of his worship with reverence and a cleansed heart, made clean through Christ, rather than coming carelessly or with unconfessed sin, failing to reckon with his holiness?

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