Read Leviticus 21 here or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
21:1-15 {s} The priests shall not defile themselves for the dead or with a defiled woman
21:16-24 {p} No man of the house of Aaron with a defect shall offer the bread of God
21:1-24 {s+p} Strong theme: The law of separation for priests who offer the bread of God
We learn that the family of priests must not only abstain from the same unnatural and invalid relations from which all Israel must abstain (Lev 18-20), but YHVH imposes a higher standard of purity upon them for those whom they take to wife. And even more, the descendants of the priests who bear any physical defect, cannot serve in offering sacrifices or bread. But is God prejudiced against the handicapped or the divorced? No!
All of these laws have to do with maintaining the purity of the seed, the biological descendants of Israel. Why? Because, Messiah who is to come is the Promised Seed. He will be born of a woman of Israel. God is keeping the gene pool as free of inherited mutations as possible, because Messiah is to be a male without spot or blemish.
Notice in how many ways, since we started studying Leviticus, that Messiah is pictured without spot or blemish. He is the acceptable Sacrifice without spot or blemish, in chapters 1-7. He is the Promised Seed without spot or blemish, in chapters 18-20. He is the High Priest of our confession, without spot or blemish, in chapter 21. In many diverse and multiple ways, Torah is prophesying of the spotless Messiah who is coming to take away the spots and blemishes of the world.
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