Leviticus 22:1-8: a reflection

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 instructs the priests, through Moses, to treat the holy things with reverence and not to profane his holy name. Those who came to handle what had been dedicated to God were to be clean, set apart from what would defile. A priest who was unclean was to wait until he had washed and the day had passed before eating of the holy offerings. The point running through these regulations is the holiness of God and the reverence due to what belongs to him.

This can feel remote to us, but the principle endures: approaching a holy God is not to be done carelessly. God is not casual about his own holiness, and those who draw near to serve him and handle holy things were to come with clean hands and reverent hearts. The elaborate care of these laws was a constant, physical reminder that the God they served was holy, and that his people could not treat sacred things as common.

Under the new covenant, all who belong to Christ are made a kingdom of priests, called to draw near to God and to handle holy things, his word, his worship, his service. The old ceremonies pointed to a deeper reality: we come to a holy God, and we come cleansed, not by washings and waiting, but by Christ, who makes us clean. Approach God with the reverence his holiness deserves, never treating sacred things as common, and thank Christ that he has washed you to serve.

Lord, you are holy, and you taught your priests to come to sacred things with clean hands and reverent hearts. Guard me from ever treating holy things, your word, your worship, your service, as common. Thank you that Christ has cleansed me to draw near to you. Let me approach you always with the reverence your holiness deserves, and serve you as one you have made clean. Amen.