Leviticus 21:1-8 – Consecrated for service.

Through Moses, God had prescribed how the children of Israel ought to conduct their lives in Leviticus 18-20. The had the responsibility to live their lives in holiness in the light of their relationship with Him. God punctuated the call by repeatedly reminding them saying, “I am the LORD.” Fundamentally, the call to holy living rested on the holiness of God. In Leviticus 21:1 right through to Leviticus 22:16, are God’s instructions to the priests. In this segment, God repeatedly reminded the priests through Moses saying, “I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”  Neatly, Leviticus 21:1-22:16 broadly categorized five aspects for the priests to observe: (1) Leviticus 21:1-8, contains regulations concerning mourning and marriage for the ordinary priests. (2)  Leviticus 21:9-15 contains regulations concerning mourning and marriage of the high priest. (3)  Leviticus 21:16-24 contains instructions barring the physical impaired from serving in the office of the priesthood. (4)  Leviticus 22:1-9 contains regulations on impediment to eating the food reserved for the office of the priesthood (5)  Leviticus 22:10-16 contains the restrictions on the entitlement to eating the portion of the food reserved for the priesthood.

In the opening line of Leviticus 21:1, God told Moses specifically to address the priests.  The line reads, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them….’” In verses 2-6 were the prescribed mourning rites for the priests. They were not allowed to come into contact with a corpse. Coming into contact with a corpse would render them unclean because dead bodies were considered unclean. They could not attend any funerals except for those who were their close relatives. Verses 2-3 specified the exception. They could only attend “…relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother, also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her, he may defile himself.” Besides, priests were also not allowed to shave bald their “heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh.” These were pagan practices of mourning for the dead.  In verse 7, God gave them regulations concerning the marriage of the priests. The priest “…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.”

The big idea is the call to be consecrated for the service in the temple. Holiness demands separation. More than just about not touching unclean things is the call to be consecrated unto the Lord. The holiness of God demands that we offer only consecrated service to Him. We are God's set-apart people!