Leviticus 23:22

Leviticus 23:22 says, And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.  God told the people of Israel to not reap the corners of their fields and to not glean their fields, but ti leave some behind for the stranger.  We today as followers of Christ may not have fields to harvest or glean, but I believe that God still expects us to help those in need as much as we possibly can.  Verse twenty-three adds, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse twenty-four continues, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.  God told Moses that in the seventh month on the first day of the month that they the people of Israel were to have a sabbath as a memorial of the blowing of the trumpets.  This was to be a holy convocation, or meeting.  Verse twenty-five concludes, Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.  The people were not to do unnecessary work during this time, but were to offer a burnt offering to God.  We are to keep the sabbath, or Lord's day as we celebrate and keep it holy and to do no unnecessary work.  Verse twenty-six states, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse twenty-seven adds, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.  The tenth day of the seventh month was to be a day of personal atonement where the people were to afflict, or I believe we could say search, their souls and then they were to offer a burnt offering to God.  We may worship God as a group, but before we do we need to first individually search our own soul to make sure that nothing stands between God and us.  Verse twenty-eight continues, And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.  This was to be another day set aside fir God with no unnecessary work being done.  Too often today we declare anything that we want to do as necessary on the days set aside for God instead of keeping them holy for God.  Verse twenty-nine declares, For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.  I don't believe that this means a physical affliction, but a lack of being willing to search one's life for any sin in it.  Those unwilling to do so were to be cut off from the rest of the people of Israel.  This wasn't just an act of going through the motions, but a real searching of one's life.  We today must be sincere in our relationship with God and search for any sin that needs to be rooted out daily.  Verse thirty adds, And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.  God told Moses that He would destroy anyone who was doing unnecessary work that day.  As followers of Christ, God may not destroy us for working unnecessarily on Sunday or other days set aside for worshipping Him, but I wonder if He often does not destroy the things we gain that day.  Verse thirty-one continues, Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.  Then verse thirty-two concludes, It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.  This was to be a day set aside exclusively for God.  We today need that time that is set aside exclusively for searching our soul and worshipping God.

Leviticus 23:9

Leviticus 23:9 says. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse then adds, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:  Moses was now telling the people of Israel what they were to do when He brought them into the land that He was going to give to them.  Just as they were assured of being given the promised land, we today as followers of Christ have the promise a heavenly home where we will live forever with God.  Verse eleven continues, And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.  The people were to bring a sheaf of the first fruits to the priests, and he was to wave it before God on their behalf, on the day after the sabbath. Not all religious events occurred on the sabbath.  Verse twelve states, And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord.  On the day that the priest waved the sheaf before God, the person offering it was also to offer a lamb that was less than a year old and without blemish  for a burnt offering.  Jesus Christ is the Lamb without blemish Who is offered as a sacrifice for all our sins forever.  Verse thirteen adds, And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.  There was also to be an offering of flour mixed with oil and of wine.  We today commemorate the death of Christ with the bread to represent His body and the wine to represent His shed blood.  Verse fourteen continues, And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your genarations in all your dwellings.  The people of Israel were not to eat until they brought their offering to God.  We today should likewise first bring our tithes and offerings to God before we begin to use the things He blesses us with for our own purposes.  Verse fifteen says, And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:  Verse sixteen adds, Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.  This meat offering was to be good for seven weeks, and on the fiftieth day the people were to bring a new meat offering.  We today have an offering for our sins through the death of Jesus Christ, and once we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, it is a forever sacrifice.  Verse seventeen continues, Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.  Verse eighteen states, And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.  During this feast, there was to be more brought for the various offerings, and when they were brought, they were to be a sweet savor to the LORD.  Verse nineteen adds, Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.  One kid goat was to be for the sin offering and two lambs for the peace offering.  Verse twenty continues, And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.  The priest was to offer the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering to the LORD and it was to be holy to the LORD for the priests.  Verse twenty-one concludes, And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.  This day was to be a holy day, or a day set aside for God.  Really, as Christians, everyday should be a holy day, a day set aside to follow God's will.

Leviticus 23:1

Leviticus 23:1 says. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse two adds, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.  Moses was to remind the people of Israel that when they observed the feasts, they were God's feasts.  When we get together today to observe a time set aside for God, we need to remember that it is Him that we are worshipping.  We should never gather in God's name and not keep Him first and foremost in our thoughts and hearts.  I believe it is possible to be more concerned with gathering together than it is to be concerned about worshipping God.  Verse three continues, Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.  First, the people of Israel were reminded to keep the sabbath day holy and that there was to be no work in all their dwellings.  We today set aside the first day of the week as the Lord's Day, or our sabbath, but do we really keep the day holy?  This is to be a day of rest dedicated to God, and not just a day where part of it is dedicated to God.  Verse four declares, These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.  There were certain other days that were to be set aside for the worship of God in addition to the sabbath.  We today celebrate Christmas and Easter as special days in our worship of God, but how much do we keep the focus on Him and not on the things of the world?  Verse five adds, In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’s passover.  The next day set aside was the Passover, a once-a-year celebration of what God had done for the people of Israel when He brought them out of the bondage of Egypt when He passed over them when the babies of Egypt were killed.  Verse six continues, And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.  The next day, and for a week, the people were to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread.  Verse seven says, In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.  The first day was to be treated as the sabbath was, with no unnecessary work being done.  Then verse eight adds, But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.  Then. the last day, the seventh day, was once again to be treated as the sabbath was.  The days in between were not as restricted, and this was not just a time of vacation for the people.  Matthew Henry says that these were days to be spent meditating praying and praising God.  We need to spend our time that we say is set aside for God the same way. 

Leviticus 22:17

Leviticus 22:17 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Verse eighteen adds, Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;  God told Moses once more what He expected when anyone offered a sacrifice to Him for a burnt offering.  Verse nineteen continues, Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.  Verse twenty states, But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.  Anyone offering male cattle, sheep or goats as an offering was to offer one without blemish, and if it had a blemish, it was not going to be accepted by God.  This is the reason that only Jesus alone is an acceptable sacrifice for our sins, since He was the only One to live without a spiritual blemish.  Verse twenty-one adds, And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.  Verse twenty-two continues, Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.  Animals offered for peace or freewill offerings were also to be without blemishes.  Verse twenty-three says, Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.  Animals with deformities could be offered for a freewill offering, but not for the fulfillment of a vow.  Verse twenty-four adds, Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.  I believe this refers to the bread offerings that could be offered.  We are to only bring the best that we have to God and not the leftovers.  Verse twenty-five continues, Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.  The people of Israel were not to bring offerings from a strangers hand, because there was corruption in them.  Today, when we bring our offerings to God they must be given freely and they must be ours to give, and we must have first accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse twenty-six declares, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse twenty-seven adds, When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD.  An animal had to be at least eight days old before it could be offered to God as a sacrifice.  Verse twenty-eight continues, And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.  Cows and ewes could not be sacrificed the same day that their young were sacrificed.  Verse twenty-nine says, And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.  Sacrifices of thanksgiving were to be offered of a person's own free will, just as any sacrifice we offer to God should be today.  Verse thirty adds, On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD.  Thanksgiving offerings could only be eaten they day that they were offered, because God said this, and He is God.  When we offer anything to God today, we can never forget that He is God.  Verse thirty-one continues, Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.  Keeping God's commandments was not an option, and it is not today.  Once a person accepts Jesus Christ as his or her Savior and Lord, then he or she must obey the commandments of God.  This is not optional. Verse thirty-two states, Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,  I believe anytime we use God's name without really believing in what we are using it for or profess to believe in Him but don't put our faith in Him that we profane His name.  Verse thirty-three adds, That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.  God had brought them out of Egypt, and therefore He alone was to be acknowledged as God and worshipped.  God alone has brought us out of our sinful state by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and if we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, then God alone should we worship.

Leviticus 22:1

Leviticus 22:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse two adds, Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the Lord.  Aaron and his sons were to separate themselves from the holy things of God if they were impure.  The priests of God could not just use the things set aside for use in the worship of God as their own but were to use them as God intended them to be used, and so must we today.  Verse three continues, Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.  God warned that anyone using the holy things, those things consecrated to God, in an unclean state or way would be cut off from God.  We today must come to God on His terms, which is through faith in Jesus Christ, or we will be cut off from His everlasting salvation.  Verse four states, What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean.  And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;  Priests were not exempt from physical ailments, and neither are we today.  Verse five adds, Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;  Priests then could be made unclean by coming into physical contact with unclean things, and we today can be made unclean by physical acts that are contrary to God's will.  Verse six continues, The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.  Verse seven says, And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food. There was a provision for the priest to be made clean again, just as there is for us to be made spiritually clean today.  They were to wash themselves, and we today are to wash ourselves in the blood of Christ.  Verse eight adds, That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD.  The priests were to obey the rules concerning eating animals that died naturally or were killed by some other animal, because this was God's law.  Verse nine continues, They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.  The priests were to keep God's law and not profane it because God sanctified them.  As followers of Christ today, we are a part of the priesthood of believers, and we must obey God's law because God is still God, and He sanctifies, or sets us apart from the rest of the world.  Verse ten states, There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.  Just as strangers then could not eat of the holy thing, nether can a stranger, someone who has not accepted Christ as his or her Savior, eat tof the Bread of Life.  Verse eleven adds, But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.  Those that the priest had bought with his money could eat of the holy thing.  If we today are bought with the blood of Christ, we have free access to all of God's blessings.  Verse twelve continues, If the priest’s daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things.  Then verse thirteen says, But if the priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.  A priest's daughter married to a stranger could not eat of the holy thing, but if she was widowed or divorced and returned to her father's house, she could once again eat of it.  Verse fourteen adds, And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.  If someone unwittingly ate of the holy thing, then he was to return it with a twenty percent addition.  Verse fifteen continues, And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD;  Priests were not to profane the things given to God as sacrifices.  We today must not profane the things given to God as sacrifices, and that includes even our own life.  Verse sixteen concludes, Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them.  The priests were not to have unconfessed sin in their lives when they offered sacrifices, and neither should we.

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. 

Leviticus 21:1

Leviticus 21:1 says, And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:  This law concerned the priests and coming into contact with a dead body and thereby being defiled.  Verse two adds, But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,  Verse three continues, And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.  A priest could come into contact with a dead person if it were his mother, father, brother, or unmarried sister.  Close family was exempt from this rule of not coming in contact with a dead body, just as our close family today is generally dearer to us.  Verse four declares, But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.  The priest had an important role in the nation of Israel as the representative of God to the people. and could not afford to defile himself with the death of just anyone, even a close friend.  Verse five adds, They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.  The priests were not to make a big display of mourning, since they should have know that the person was in a much better place if they were spiritually a part of God's people.  We today, as followers of Christ, should not allow the death of a loved one who is a Christian to cause use to bring dishonor to God by our actions at their death.  Verse six continues, They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy. Since the priests made the offerings to God, they were not to profane themselves.  We today, as Christians, are a part of the priesthood of believers and we should never do anything that would prevent us from effectively worshipping and serving God.  Verse seven states, They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.  Then God had a command concerning the marriage of the priest.  He was not to marry a woman who was not sexually moral and was not to marry a divorced woman.  This was to keep the priest spiritually pure.  Verse eight adds, Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.  The priest was to be sanctified in all his actions because he offered the offerings to God.  We, as followers of Christ, need to be spiritually pure in all our actions since we represent God in the world today.  Verse nine continues, And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.  The daughter of a priest who was being sexually impure brought dishonor to her father, the  priest, and was to be burned to death.  I am not sure why the daughter was singled out and not the son as well, but we need to realize that even though he cannot be held responsible, often today the children of ministers do things that some see as a reflection on the ability of the minister to be accepted.  This should not be the case though, since even the children of ministers have free will to follow or reject God.  Verse ten says, And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;  The high priest was not to follow any of the rules of mourning, since he was the one consecrated to offer the sacrifices.  The high priest was held to an even higher standard.  Jesus is our High Priest and He met a higher standard than we will ever be able to accomplish, so we must simply put our faith in Him.  Verse eleven adds, Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;  The high priest wasn't even to go out to mourn his father or mother.  Verse twelve continues, Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.  The high priest was to remain in the sanctuary, just as our High Priest, Jesus Christ, is forever in the sanctuary of God.  Verse thirteen declares, And he shall take a wife in her virginity.  Verse fourteen adds, A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.  The high priest was to marry a virgin of his own people and was not to marry a widow or divorced woman.  Verse fifteen continues, Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.  I believe this would mean that the high priest himself was expected to remain sexually pure.