I Know We Don't Get to Pick and Choose What We Like, But...
...I had some trouble with this when I read it this morning -
The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the offerings made to the Lord by fire. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.”
- Leviticus 21:16-23
Any thoughts or insights?
posted by hobbitsister @ 8:34 AM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
my husband, elder don (doesn't that make him sound mormon?) helped me understand this. but i want to hear your thoughts.
my thoughts would be that defects came into being at the time of the fall. thus, while they might not be a consequence of that person's sin in particular, they are ultimately linked to sin, and thus cannot be in a holy GOD's presence.
however, in allowing the person to eat of the holy food, GOD is allowing the person to interact with HIM. thus, what sounds harsh and cruel ends with 'I am the LORD, who makes them holy.' this passage is not about GOD being mean. it's about GOD reaching out to those with 'defects.'
ok. very similar to what don pointed out.
1) i was looking at this with 21st century eyes. it did sound harsh and cruel. after all, aren't we all perfectly and wonderfully made? however, like you said, God did allow them to partake. mosaic law is much more compassionate toward those considered "inferior" than other laws of that time.
2) this is talking about the priest who is bringing the sacrifice to God. Jesus is our High Priest, perfect and unblemished.
3) before we can bring our sacrifices of praise and worship to God, we first need to come to Him with our imperfections. we need to allow Him to heal us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. only then are we worthy to come into His presence.
thank you!
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, especially in the light of the defects or differences, people are born with- something that didn't necessarily need to happen.
I think it has to do with using sickness as a sign of sin- not necessarily that the sick person was sinful (although people certainly did- and still- think that) but that these deformed people represented the sin of the nation. They "carried" the sin, functioning as a mirror to the general population. As sin, they could not come near to a Holy Presence.
As to how this works today- I've been thinking a lot about the blessing of being sick- of being broken and lowely and requiring help and failing, always failing- and how maybe God still does use sickness to glorify Him, beyond the usual ideas of praising Him through anything. I am not kept out of the church (thankfully!) but maybe I carry this as a sign of God's mercy.
Maybe.
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