Leviticus Chapters 21-23
Rules for Priests and The Sabbath
These chapters give more rules for the priests to follow. One author said that the closer you get to the sacred, the more set apart one needs to be. The temple has “concentric circles of sacrality”. Now there’s an expression you don’t hear very often. Use that term in a Bible study, “concentric circles of sacrality” and see what kind of looks you get.
Here’s what it means. The most sacred part of the temple was the Holy of Holies, which was entered only once a year and only by the High Priest. As you move away from the Holy of Holies, the space is less sacred area where the priests work. Further away from the Holy of Holies is the inner court of the temple where Israelite men can gather. The outer court, the least sacred area, is where non-Jews could gather.
Since it was the priest who had access to the inner circles of sacrality, the more sacred part of the complex, they had more restrictions place on them than on the general population. For instance, they could not marry women who were prostitutes (Lev. 21:2) or divorced from their husbands. They must marry a virgin. Nor could they enter a place where there is a dead body (verse 11).
The higher standard for those in “ministry” is also seen in the New Testament. The elders of the church had to meet the standards of (I Tim 3). Elders had to be above reproach, temperate, respectable, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money. Can you imagine if the church members were held to the same standard? “Hey, where did all the members go?”
Why is it so important for leaders to be held to a higher standard? Because their behavior can influence so many other people. You might hear someone say, “Well, the pastor does this or that. Well, if he can do it, so can we.”
Lev. 23:28 has another prohibition for the priests. They couldn’t cut their bodies or get tattoos. The pagan priests would cut their bodies to gain the attention of their false gods. You might recall this practice when Elijah had that confrontation with the prophets of Baal (I Kings 18:28). The prophets shouted, danced and finally, to get the attention of their gods, “And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.”
The Holy Days of Israel - Lev. 23
Most every nation has special days to commemorate important events in its history. Imagine if our founding fathers declared, “Let’s commemorate our independence from Great Britain by having a holiday on July 4th.” Then over time, they added other special days, to honor veterans, presidents, mothers, and fathers, etc. So, it was with Israel.
Lev. 23:2, “Speak to the Israelites . . . These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.”
The first is the Sabbath.
The fourth commandment is, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” This is the ONLY one of the TEN that is NOT repeated for the church. Some Christians make a big deal about the posting of the Ten Commandments on public property. Most people say that they try to keep the Ten Commandments. I don’t. I make no attempt to obey the Ten Commandments. I will say that I try to obey nine of the ten because only nine are repeated in the New Testament. Perhaps the churches who want to post the Ten Commandments should post The Nine Commandments, instead. Here the Nine Commandments repeated for the church.
- Worship God ONLY! (I Cor 8:6)
- Avoid idols (I John 5:21)
- Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain (I Tim 6:1).
- Honor your mother and father (Eph 6:1-3). Did you know that the captivity of the Jews in Babylon for 70 years was due, in part, to not obeying this command? Ezek. 22:7, 15, “In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. . . I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness.
- Do not murder (Rom 13:8-10). It doesn’t mean, “Do not kill.” There is a big difference. Murder is intentional killing of an innocent human being, made in the image of God. It does not apply to killing animals (Gen. 9:3), self-defense (Ex. 22:2), accidental killings (Deut. 19:5), execution of murderers by the state (Gen 9:6) or killing in a war. You don’t have to feel guilty if you kill mosquitoes or take an antibiotic to kill bacteria.
- Do not commit adultery (Rom 13:8-10). Did you know that there was a Bible published with the misprint which read, “Thou shalt commit adultery”? It was called the Wicked Bible, the Sinner’s Bible, or the Adulterous Bible. The printer in London made the blunder in a 1631 reprint of the King James Version. The printer lost his printing license. There are still a few copies around, mostly in museums.
- Do not steal (Rom 13:8-10). Some Jewish commentators say that this refers to the stealing of another human being, or kidnapping. No, this doesn’t mean you can go shop lifting things from the store or your employer. There is a prohibition against material theft found elsewhere, such as in Lev. 19:11.
- Do not bear false witness (Rom 13:8-10). This would include gossip and slander.
- Do not covet (Rom 13:8-10). Does this mean you can’t desire to have a newer car or to redecorate your living room? No. To covet is to desire something that you have no right to have, such as your neighbors’ wife or his boat or the drill you borrowed and never returned. Did I touch a nerve? Go on, give it back. You can buy your own drill, car, or furniture without any guilt of coveting. Just be sure you pay for it (do not steal).
Let’s see . . . did I miss any of the Ten Commandments? Yes, the one concerning the Sabbath. It is not to be found in the letters to the churches.
But you might say, isn’t going to church on Sunday observing the “Christian Sabbath?” No. The Sabbath is clearly defined in Scripture, and we don’t have the right to change it any more than we can change the others. The Sabbath was given to Israelites, not Gentiles. Going to church on Sunday is not observing the Sabbath. The Sabbath began on Friday at sundown and ended on Saturday at sundown, the 7th day of the week, not the first. Also, on the Sabbath:
No work was allowed (Ex. 20:10; 23:12; Deut. 25:13-14). Not only were you not allowed to work, neither were your servants or animals. This causes some controversies when those who claim to observe the 7th Day Sabbath debate whether they should eat out after church services or go shopping. After all, doesn’t this mean that others must work to serve you? Israelites, their servants, and their animals were to rest on the Sabbath.
How far do you go with this commandment? How do you apply this commandment in the modern age? In Israel, some elevators are programmed to stop at each floor on the Sabbath. This way no one would have to “work” by pushing the button. Wouldn’t they have had to walk into the elevator to get near the button? Is walking a form of work? Is there a limit as to how far you can walk? What if you are obese? Would you be limited in how far you could walk because it requires more effort than others? Can you play a game or play tennis, ride a bicycle? If your job required great physical effort to perform, to rest would be a real benefit. But if you sit at a desk or conference table most of the week, wouldn’t some more vigorous physical activity be more therapeutic than being passive?
Other Sabbath restrictions included:
- No cooking allowed. Meals were prepared the day before (Ex 16:5; 23-30). Cooking back then was labor intensive. Can I warm up coffee in my microwave or push the button to start my coffee maker on the Sabbath?
- No food was to be purchased from Gentiles (Neh. 10:31; 13:16, 20-21). Well, I guess this answers the question about eating out after church.
- No fires were to be kindled (Ex 35:3). Even today some Jews will not drive a car on the Sabbath since a fire is what powers the internal combustion engine. Can they drive an electric vehicle? Maybe they could mount a sail on the roof of the car and pray for a breeze.
The one thing the Sabbath commandment demanded was REST. They didn’t “go anywhere. Israel was about the size of New Jersey. Jews didn’t caravan down to Jerusalem for the weekly Sabbath Service at the Temple. Here is your excuse to avoid going to church if your claim to observe the 7th Day Sabbath. Tell the pastor, “I’m resting and can’t drive a car and it is too far to walk to church.”
But Hebrews 10:25 says you shouldn’t avoid coming together to encourage each other to love and good deeds. What do we do now? Perhaps you could go to church on Wednesday to “encourage each other to love and good deeds” and stay home and rest on the Sabbath. Or rest at home and text others to love and do good deeds.
The penalty for breaking the Sabbath was very stiff. It was a capital offense. (Num 15:32-36). If someone claimed to keep the Sabbath, I would ask them, “Where do you execute your Sabbath breakers?”
In the church, Christians are urged to come together for fellowship (Heb 10:24) but we can do that on any day of the week. Col 2:17 says, “. . . do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.” And Romans 14:5-6, “One man considers one day more sacred than another, another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.”
The early church met in homes on the FIRST day of the week. Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. . . Paul spoke until midnight.” They probably met on Saturday evening, after sunset, the first day of the week. It was then that they also took up a voluntary offering. I Cor 16:2, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income . . .”
Why did they meet on the first day? That was the day of the resurrection of Jesus and the day the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles. It also freed up some, like Paul, to visit the synagogues on the 7th day and evangelize the Jews.
One Sabbath keeping church uses the passage that Paul visited the synagogues to show that the early church observed the Sabbath. But that is not why he went there. He had the right to observe the Sabbath, but he never imposed its’ observance onto others.
He also wanted to get back to Jerusalem for Pentecost (Acts 20:16); but that doesn’t mean that the early church observed the Holy Days of Lev. 23. He probably wanted to return to preach to a large audience of Jews who made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Paul was a Jew. He wasn’t required to give up his Jewish customs when he accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Even as late as Acts 22:6 he describes himself saying, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.” He was a Messianic Jew or as some say, a completed Jew. But he did not impose his practices onto the Gentile church. I have no problem with those who choose one day over another; but I resent it when they claim that they obey the Law of God, when they really don’t and then they try to impose it on me.
The Law of Moses was given to the Israelites, not the Church. The only Sabbath the Christians are to observe is the sabbath rest mentioned in Heb 4:9, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, and just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”
This rest is the rest from our efforts to gain salvation by our deeds or work, by keeping the Law of Moses. We can rest in the finished work of Christ. And to use the term “Christian Sabbath” when referring to Sunday worship makes no more sense than using the term “kosher pork chop.” The Sabbath, when referring to a single day is the 7th day, not the first. The rest we enter into is not one day a week, but every day.
So, enjoy your Sabbath rest from trying to earn your salvation.
Eph. 2:8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We do good works because we have been saved, not in order to be saved.
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