Leviticus 17 - Part 1
Chapter 17 of Leviticus records two of the more mysterious and significant laws in Torah. On the surface, these laws deal with unauthorized sacrifices and dietary restrictions regarding blood. But these regulations point to something deeper, I am certain - truths held in the heart of the Father and safeguarded by the instructions in question. As Paul said to the Corinthians, “now we see in a mirror dimly what we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall I know fully just as I am fully known.” I do not understand all these laws signify, but I know they point toward Christ. The signs speak both to His ministry on earth and His eternal ministry before the Father in heaven. I have more questions in my mind than conclusions this week. If anyone reading would like to chime in, please feel free.
The first half of the chapter (vs. 1-9) deals with restrictions on the sacrifice animals. The LORD requires all sacrifices to be brought to the Tabernacle (or later to the Temple) and presented to a priest. Non-Levites are not allowed to make offerings to the LORD wherever they wanted - not even the king. Lay people are prohibited from acting as their own priests. One reason for this restriction is given in scripture. Apparently some Israelites had “played the harlot” by offering goats to demons. The text indicates that this practice had been adopted either in Egypt or along the way. The use of that language puts God in the role of Husband and Lover unwilling to share His affection with other “gods.” When I was young the term “jealous God” terrified me because it was always associated with God’s anger. Having never experienced the jealousy of romantic love, I assumed that God was an exacting Judge looking for every moral failure of His people. While I understood that holiness demanded purity, I had a hard time squaring my image of a jealous God with the merciful Jesus I knew. It was not until I understood the language of love implied in this jealousy that my heart melted and my head swam. Who is this God that makes His emotions, so much deeper and purer than our own, vulnerable to our weak, often fickle, response? Why does our worship move Him so deeply?
God ordained a priesthood to safeguard the worship of His people. He set aside the Levites to offer sacrifices and commit the Law to memory. But before Leviticus was written, the LORD spoke to the whole of His people in Egypt saying “You will be a kingdom of priests and my holy nation.” (Ex 19:6) The whole of God’s people is called to serve a priestly role in His sight. And yet, there is a priesthood within God’s priestly people. What does this mean? Is this corporate priesthood of Israel a reality in the present moment? Is it a promise of the age to come? Might the two realities run together in ways we find difficult to distinguish from our vantage point?
This law requiring sacrifices to be offered at the “tent of meeting” was broken when the two kingdoms were divided.. The kings of Israel did not want their people going to Jerusalem to worship, so they established alternate places of sacrifice. This liberty, this violation of holy order, greatly displeased the LORD. Eventually, both Israel and Judah were driven into exile for the sin of idolatry and the Temple was sacked. After seventy years of exile, a remnant of Judah (including Levites) returned to Jerusalem, rebuilt the Temple and re-instituted sacrificial worship in keeping with Torah. The Jewish people were cleansed from their idolatry and all seemed to be going until….
The Holy Spirit fell upon Gentiles. Suddenly Gentiles from all parts of the world were calling upon Jesus as their Savior. This development seemed to take even Jesus’ apostles by surprise. The conversion of Gentiles required not only a transformation of theology, it demanded new practices. How, exactly, were Gentile worshipers supposed to practice their faith? Would they be required to convert to Judaism before becoming Christians? Some early believers did, indeed, hold that view. But this rule about sacrificing animals only at the Temple had immediate and practical ramifications. Because most Gentile converts lived outside Jerusalem, Temple worship was out of the question from the start. Animal sacrifice would never play a role in Gentile Christian worship. After 70 AD, it would no longer play a role in Jewish worship. The LORD was shaking the world. A New Covenant - based upon earlier covenants but fuller, broader, and more glorious - had burst upon the scene. How would Mosaic law inform both Jew and Gentile in this new age?
I find it interesting that Peter, while grappling with these questions, quotes Exodus 19:6 in his epistle. He writes to both Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus saying, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (I Peter 2:9) Peter is clearly asserting that Gentiles who believe in Jesus are now part of the “holy nation.” They are a “royal priesthood” along with Israel. But how does this priesthood express itself? It is clearly not a matter of sacrificing animals. Christian salvation hinges on faith in Jesus. But where does Jesus fit into Jewish law? How is His Messianic role to be understood in light of the covenants and promises of old? Such questions prompted the writing of Paul’s epistle to the Romans and the book of Hebrews. The answer the apostles give us is that Jesus is our Great High Priest, offering His own blood in the true Temple of heaven. The former way of doing things was just a shadow and a prefigure of this reality.
When I was young, I Pet 2:9 was something of a motto for our church. Dan Davis, our pastor, frequently reminded us that we were all called to be a holy people. His exhortation excited me, emboldened me, encouraged me to pray for others, to share my faith and to explore the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That is how I interpreted the priesthood of all believers and I have no regrets about that! I believe that all Christians should do these things. The vigorous engagement of all Christians in the work of the Church strengthens the Body of Christ and blesses the world. But is there a place for an ordained priesthood within the Body? As a youth I did not think so. Then the Spirit drew me into the Catholic Church.
At first I was offended at the thought that I could not have communion whenever I wished, with whomever I cared to share it. I bristled at the thought of being required to confess my sins to some man who might not be any holier or wiser than I. I did not know how I felt about scripted prayers in a liturgy which never changed. But the more I experienced worship in the Catholic Church, the more I had to recognize this order more closely reflected the order God gave to Israel. I came to see there was a beauty in the delineation between the priesthood and the laity, not unlike the beauty which separates male from female, or child from parent . Being unable to offer myself the sacraments made me dependent upon others in the Body in a way I had never experienced before. It humbled me in a way that I needed humbling. The words of liturgy found their way deep into my heart. These ancient scripted prayers proved to be solid, transcendent anchor to my soul in ways that spontaneous prayers simply are not. Do I still value spontaneous prayer? Absolutely! If we fail to make our personal desires, thoughts and joys known to the LORD in our own words then I doubt we are fully engaged in the kind of intimate relationship He desires with His people. But if we disdain the ancient prayers of God’s people, we may fail to grasp the glory of “royal priesthood” into which we have been grafted.
It is true, I believe, that God’s people act in a priestly role within the world by pointing the way to Jesus. We sanctify the places where we work and serve. It is not a stretch to say that our prayers play a vital role in the healing and salvation of others. Jesus Himself promises the He will share His Throne with those who overcome. But Christ alone is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He alone is the Great High Priest. No one else can serve at the altar before the Throne of God and there is no other altar on which we can be saved.
P.S. For a Jewish point of view on the tension between spontaneity and liturgy, or the role of the prophet versus the role of the priest, I found this article interesting. https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/shemini/spontaneity-good-or-bad/