UNROLL
Dawn in a stone sheepfold on a hillside: a flock of sheep and goats in the low sun, the light coming over the rough wall, a clear pale sky above.

The Book of

Leviticus 22

The priests’ food was God’s, and so was every gift: clean hands at His table, and only the best on His altar.

33 verses≈ 6 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–7The offeringsHow sinners draw near
  2. 8–10The priestsOrdained, and a warning
  3. 11–15Clean and uncleanLife before a holy God
  4. 16The Day of AtonementSins carried away
  5. 17–27A holy peopleBe holy, for I am holyChapter 22

Restrictions against the Unclean

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name. I am the LORD.

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Late afternoon at the entrance of the tent: priests in white linen, seen from behind and the side, sit together on the sand sharing boiled meat from a bronze pot and unleavened bread from a basket.

The law

Clean to eat the holy food

  1. Unclean: cut off from My presence

    Tell them that for the generations to come, if any of their descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the LORD.

  2. Skin disease or discharge: wait

    If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean.

  3. Touched what defiles: wash

    Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man who has an emission of semen, or whoever touches a crawling creature or a person that makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be— the man who touches any of these will remain unclean until evening. He must not eat from the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.

  4. At sunset he may eat

    When the sun has set, he will become clean, and then he may eat from the sacred offerings, for they are his food.

  5. Nothing dead or torn

    He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.

  6. Keep My charge

    The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Sunset beside a priest's tent: a white linen tunic hung over a tent rope to dry, a clay water jar and a bronze bowl of water on the sand below, the sun low and red on the horizon.

Reflect

Clean by evening

An unclean priest could not eat the holy food. But the law did not leave him outside for good: he washed, and “When the sun has set, he will become clean, and then he may eat from the sacred offerings.” What makes you hold back from God, feeling too unclean to come near? Write it down. Then ask yourself: do I believe He cleanses, and that His table is open to me again?

Evening at a priest's tent: a young woman in a dark mantle with a bundle on her arm walks up the path toward it, seen from behind; an old man in a white linen tunic in the doorway opens his arms to her.

The law

Who may eat

  1. Outside

    No outsider, guest or hired hand

    No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.

  2. Household

    A slave bought or born in the house

    But if a priest buys a slave with his own money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food.

  3. Outside

    A daughter married outside

    If the priest’s daughter is married to a man other than a priest, she is not to eat of the sacred contributions.

  4. Household

    A widowed daughter come home

    But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.

If anyone eats a sacred offering in error, he must add a fifth to its value and give the sacred offering to the priest. The priests must not profane the sacred offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD by allowing the people to eat the sacred offerings and thus to bear the punishment for guilt. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”

Worthy Offerings

God

The law

Without defect

  1. Peace offerings: without blemish

    When a man presents a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable.

  2. Not blind, injured or maimed

    You are not to present to the LORD any animal that is blind, injured, or maimed, or anything with a running sore, a festering rash, or a scab; you must not put any of these on the altar as a food offering to the LORD.

  3. Stunted limb: freewill gift only

    You may present as a freewill offering an ox or sheep that has a deformed or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable in fulfillment of a vow.

  4. No damaged animal

    You are not to present to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut; you are not to sacrifice them in your land.

  5. Not by you or a foreigner

    Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’”

Without blemish

A spotlessofferingan unblemished male(22:19)A whole priestwithout defect (21:17)Neither tookaway sinHebrews 10:4, 11Holy priest,pure LambHebrews 7:26; 1 Peter1:19Offered Himselfonceunblemished to God(Hebrews 9:14)We arepresented holyand blameless(Colossians 1:22)

Whiteboard

God asked for “an unblemished male” on the altar, and a priest without defect to offer it. Both taught that only what is whole may come before a holy God. Yet Hebrews says the blood of animals could never take away sins. Christ is both the holy High Priest and the spotless Lamb. He offered Himself once, and in Him God presents us holy and blameless.

Pray

The best, not the leftovers

God said of every gift, “You must not present anything with a defect.” Thank Jesus, the spotless Lamb, who gave Himself whole for you. Then ask Him where you have been giving Him the leftovers: your tired time, your spare money, your second thoughts. Pray for a glad heart to give Him your best.

Dawn in a stone sheepfold: a newborn lamb stands on unsteady legs pressed against its mother’s side, straw on the ground and soft gold light coming over the wall.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “When an ox, a sheep, or a goat is born, it must remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the LORD. But you must not slaughter an ox or a sheep on the same day as its young.

0:17

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, offer it so that it may be acceptable on your behalf. It must be eaten that same day. Do not leave any of it until morning. I am the LORD.

You are to keep My commandments and practice them. I am the LORD. You must not profane My holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy among the Israelites. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD.”

Leviticus 22:31–33

Question

Quick question

Anyone in Israel, even a foreign resident, could bring a burnt offering to keep a vow or as a free gift.

What did a burnt offering have to be?

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Leviticus 22

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A verse to carry with you

I am the LORD who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God.

Leviticus 22:32–33

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