The Pulpit Commentary — Leviticus — Section 158

HOMILETICS. Vel"I. 1-36.-Priuthood, which had existed fl'Om the beginning of the world is now for the first time made the exclusive and hereditary function of one family so' far as the Israelitish nation is concerned. I. A.a.BON AND ms SONS ARE APPOINTED, NOT BY THE NATION BUT BY GOD. In Exod. x?tvili. 1, we read," An~ take thou unto thee Aaron thy br~ther, and bis sons with him, tjom among.~he ch1ldf.en of Israel, that h_e may ~nister unto me in the priest's office. In eh. vm. 2-5, Take Aaron and hrs sons with him. . . . And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to he done." In Numb. ~viii. 7, ".I have give~ your priest's offi~ unto you as a service of gift." In 1 Sam. n .. 28, "Did I cboo~e him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mrne altar, to burn rncense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? " These texts and the whole tenor of Holy Scripture clearly declare that the appointment of Aaron and his sons to the prie.sthood was the act of God. On the other side, there is no statement whatever to prove or~ indicat~ that they _were, as has been affirmed, merely the delegates of the people, so_far,as the priestly capacity of the latter is concerned. The only passage alleged to have a bearing in that direction is the following :-" 'fake ihe Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. . . . And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites" (Numb. viii. 6-10). It is argued that the laying on of hands upon the Levites by the congregation was a delegatio•n of power already existing in the congregation to them. If this were so, still the Levites were not the priests ; the act would have been a delegation of the right and function only which the Levites possessed-and these were not priestly functions, but the office of waiting upon the service of the tabernacle. But the laying on of hands, in itielf, means no more than setting apart, and, in the case of the Levite, we 'are told that its special meaning was setting apart as an offering or sacrifice. "And Aaron sball offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord. . .. And Aaron offered them ae an offering before the Lord; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them. And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before bis sons: as the Lord had comma.nded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them" (Numb. viii. 11-22). The consecration of the priests was entirely distinct from the dedication of the Levites, and had taken place previously to it. The priest was the minister of God ; the Le,ite was the minister of the priest. None can make a priest of God but God himself. ll. QuALJFICATIONB FOB THE l'llIEBTBOOD. 1. Aaronic descent (see Exod. xxviii.; eh. viii.; 2 Chron. xxxi. 17-19; Ezra ii. 62; N eh. vii. 64). 2. Physical integrity and freedom from blemish. "No man that bath a blemish of the seed of Aaron tho priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire : he bath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of bis God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he bath a blemish ; that he profane not my sanctuaries" (eh. xxi. 21-23). 8. Respectable marriage (eh. xxi. 7); in the case of the high priest, marriage with one previously unmarried, "in her virginity" (eh. xxi. 13). The two last qualifications symbolize the integrity of heart and purity of life and surroundings which are requisite in the minister of God. Further, at the time of his ministrations, the priest must be free from any ceremonial uncleanness (eh. x:z:ii. 8, 4), and must abstain from wine (eh. x. 8, 10), the purity and collectedness o.emanded of God's minister at all times being specially required while he is officiating. III. ,vHEREIN THE PRIEST'S OFFICE CONSISTED. 1. It consisted in "offering gifls and sacrifices for ~ins" (Heb. v. 1), this expression including all kinds of offerings and sacri- fices by which men drew near to God, together with the burning of incense symbolical of prayer. 'l'be priest's action was necessary for the offering of the sacrificial blood and burning the fiei;h upon the altar, and in some cases for consuming a portion of the victims oH. vm. 1-36.) THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 119