"In this chapter, God lays out more guidelines for the priests to follow. Also, God instructs the Israelites that priests who have various physical defects must not go near the altar in the tent of meeting to present offerings to the Lord."
Leviticus 21 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Regulations concerning Priests
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:Regulations concerning Priests
‘No one shall defile himself [that is, become ceremonially unclean] for the dead among his people [by touching a corpse or assisting in preparing it for burial], 2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother, 3 also his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may become unclean. 4 He shall not become unclean as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. 5 The priests [a]shall not shave their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they present the offerings by fire to the Lord, the food of their God; so they shall be holy. 7 They shall not take [as a wife] a woman who is a prostitute, nor a woman who is divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. 9 The daughter of any priest who profanes herself by prostitution profanes her father; she shall be burned in fire.
- THE CALL TO BE HOLY. After establishing regulations and laws for all the Israelites, God now specifically command the chosen "priests" from the Tribe of Levi, sons of Aaron-- to be holy, as He is holy. Being a priest, and serving God in His tabernacle was a great privilege that comes with great responsibility as well. They are the ones 'offering' the food for God, therefore they should avoid defilement, physically and spiritually-- and they should be consecrated or 'set apart' for God's holy purposes.
"And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him,
“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”; Hebrews 5:4-5
10 ‘But he who is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the [sacred] garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes [in mourning], 11 nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself [by doing so, even] for his father or for his mother; 12 nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane (make ceremonially unclean) the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. 13 He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 He may not marry a widow or a divorced woman or one who is profaned by prostitution, but he is to marry a virgin from his own people, 15 so that he will not profane or dishonor his children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies the high priest.’”
- BEING MARRIED TO THE RIGHT WOMAN. God cares for every area of the lives of Israelites, especially the priests, and High Priest that He has anointed. The High Priest was to marry a woman that is a virgin and undefiled, and she must also come from his own people, the priestly tribe of Levites. I think this way, the wife/spouse will be more patient and understanding that service to God comes first in the life of the High Priest. She will understand the great calling of her husband.
Footnotes: Leviticus 21:5 These practices were mourning customs associated with paganism.
"We need to understand holiness is not something we can achieve on our own. God said to the priests; ‘I make you holy’. This tells me we need God’s help to live a holy life. We need to yield and work in agreement with His Spirit so we can daily live a life that is holy and pleasing before Him."
- JESUS AS THE UNBLEMISHED SACRIFICE. Just like the animal sacrifices or offering that should be unblemished, and without defects-- the Lord also set a high standard for the priestly tribe in who is allowed and not allowed to approach the altar of God to present the food. I believe the physical defects (deformities, etc) just symbolizes 'imperfection' before God that's why God was not allowing them to approach the altar. It's not about discrimination, but it's more about the deeper, spiritual meaning of who the Lord Jesus (the High Priest) is. He is the unblemished, perfect, without sin-- sacrifice, Lamb of God-- who will take away the sins of the world.
After reading, I always check out the Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik (very helpful!):
a. Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron: The priests came from a particular family of the tribe of Levi - the family of Aaron. The priests, because of their special responsibility to represent God before the people and the people before God, had a special call to holiness and ritualistic purity.i. The purpose behind these laws was to illustrate the purity and separation from sin that was to characterize the priest; a dead body is a picture of sin's result in this world, especially in the way it rapidly decays.
a. They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman: Priests were only to take virgins for wives, again as an illustration of the commitment and purity that was required of priests. A priest - under the Old or New Covenant - was only to set their affections on that which is pure.
a. Shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes: These were extreme signs of mourning for the dead. The high priest was not allowed to mourn in this extreme way for any dead person - even his father or mother.
b. And he shall take a wife in her virginity: The high priest also had to take special care in selecting his wife; not just any woman would do. A woman would have to have a unique purity and a unique calling to be the wife of a high priest.
i. "The mention of a harlot is intended to remind the Israelites that cultic prostitution of the Canaanite variety had no place whatever in the life of the covenant community, since such behaviour would profane God's holy name." (Harrison)
a. No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God: This obviously shows God's standard for those who would come before Him in service as priests. The prohibition against those with physical defects was meant to point to the even more obvious need to be free from spiritual defect when coming to God.
b. He may eat the bread of his God: This indicates that those in priestly families could be supported by the priesthood. The barring of physically defective persons as priests was no bar to fellowship with God, only a bar against the public service of God in the tabernacle itself.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Lev/Lev-21.cfm © 2004 David Guzik
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