Leviticus 21:16

Leviticus 21:16 says. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Verse seventeen adds, Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.  These laws pertain to the priests, and even the priests could suffer from physical handicaps.  As followers of Christ today, we are not exempt from physical handicaps either.  Matthew Henry says these deformities were sometimes permanent and sometimes temporary, and if they were temporary, such as a sore place, that when it cleared up that the priest could serve again.  Verse eighteen continues, For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,  This lists what were called blemishes: being blind, lame or something superfluous, which would be some temporary thing.  These men were to represent the people before God, and they needed to be able to do so without limitations.  I don't believe that this means that people with physical ailments or limitations were to be looked down on, nor should they today.  Verse nineteen states, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,  Verse twenty adds, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;  These were just a continuation of the things that could keep a man from serving as a priest, and they applied only to serving as a priest.  The descendants of Aaron were born into the priesthood, and they were born to serve in the tabernacle as such and needed to be their best physically to do so.  We today, as Christians, are reborn onto the priesthood of believers, and it is our spiritual condition, not our physical condition, that may keep us from being effective servants of God.  Verse twenty-one continues, No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.  The descendants of Aaron who were a part of the priesthood were not to serve in the role of a priest as long as that had a blemish, which has just been discussed.  Verse twenty-two says, He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.  The children of Aaron who could not serve as priests were to still have their physical needs met.  We today may not be able to serve God as easily as someone else does due to a physical limitation, but God will always meet our spiritual needs, and if we put our faith in him, He will meet our physical needs as well.  Verse twenty-three adds, Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.  God said that those with a blemish should not go under the veil or near the altar to profane it.  Once more, this man was to represent the people before God and they needed to be their best to do so.  When we come before God today, even if we have a physical blemish in our life, we need to make sure that we do not have a spiritual blemish as well.  Verse twenty-four continues, And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.  Moses told not only Aaron and his sons what God had said, but he told all the people of Israel.  It was important that not only Aaron and his descendants knew what God expected of the priests, but that the whole congregation of Israel knew as well.  When we act as representatives of God today, it is important that everyone knows that we are acting under His authority.