The privilege of leadership brings with it the responsibility of maintaining a life that’s above reproach. In their devotion and obedience to God, the priests were to be examples to the rest of the nation. Unfortunately, the priesthood in Israel declined spiritually and led the people astray. “They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness. And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds’’ (Hos. 4:8–9 niv).
There were qualifications and requirements not only for the priests but also for every member of the priests’ families. The important thing for all of them was that they remain ceremonially clean before the Lord. The word defile is used four times in this chapter, and the word profane is used eight times. You will notice that at the end of each major paragraph in chapters 21—22, the Lord says, “I am the Lord who sanctifies you,’’ or words to that effect (Lev. 21:8, 15, 23; 22:9, 16, 32).
The high priests’s sons (vv. 1–8). There was only one high priest, but since his sons served with him, they were also ordained and required to meet the qualifications given by the Lord. Other Jews in the camp could plan weddings and funerals pretty much as they pleased, but God told the priests how to express their grief (vv. 1–6) and how to select a wife (vv. 7–8).
During Bible times, expressing grief was an art form practiced by people who were specialists in mourning (Gen. 50:7–11; 2 Chron. 35:25; Mark 5:38). While God expected the priests to show sorrow at the death of a loved one, He also expected them to act like the servants of God. Anyone who touched a dead body, or even went into a tent where somebody had died, was defiled for a week, and defilement would prevent the priest from serving the people (Num. 19:11–14). Therefore, the priests could defile themselves only for their parents, their children, and their brothers and unmarried sisters, but all other deceased were off-limits for them. Obedience had to take precedence over affection.
But the Lord even regulated the manner of their grief (Lev. 21:4–6; see 19:27–28). These forbidden practices were the customs of the pagan peoples around Israel, and God’s people aren’t supposed to “sorrow … as others which have no hope’’ (1 Thess. 4:13). Even in our grief, we must seek to glorify God.
Any priest who shaved his head and his beard and who cut his body (1 Kings 18:28) was acting like the heathen and thereby profaning God’s name and defiling God’s altar. A priest who acted like his pagan neighbors would encourage the Jewish people to disobey God’s law and follow his bad example. It was indeed a privilege for him to know God and serve at God’s altar. To disobey God would mean dishonoring God’s name and defiling God’s altar and sacrifices.
Whenever I’m asked to participate in the ordination of a pastor or the commissioning of a missionary, I’ve tried to encourage the candidate to focus on the privileges of ministry and not on the burdens and sacrifices. Jesus Christ is not a hard taskmaster and “his commands are not burdensome’’ (1 John 5: niv). No priest should have complained because of these restrictions. After all, he was serving the Lord and the Lord’s people, a privilege well worth any sacrifices he might have to make.
As for marriage, the priests were forbidden to marry prostitutes and divorcees. In the pagan religions, there were temple prostitutes serving with the priests, but prostitution was forbidden in Israel (Lev. 21:9; see 19:29; Deut. 23:17). Since a priest’s sons would hold a special place in the nation, he would have to be careful not to marry a woman who might bring alien progeny into the family. The only way to be sure the priestly line was kept pure was for him to marry a virgin.
When you read the qualifications for pastors (elders, bishops) and deacons in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, you can’t help but see that a church officer’s wife and family are an important part of his ministry. During more than forty years of ministry, I’ve met more than one Christian worker who’s had to “go it alone’’ in his service because his wife had no interest in spiritual things. All believers must be careful in choosing mates (1 Cor. 7:39; 2 Cor. 6:14–18), but those who have been called to serve Christ must be even more vigilant.
The priest’s daughter (v. 9). If his daughter became a prostitute and lived a wicked life, the priest didn’t lose his ministry, but the daughter lost her life. She was probably stoned to death (Deut. 22:21) and then her corpse humiliated by being burned like common trash (Josh. 7:25; see Lev. 20:14). In the church today, the elder must be one whose “children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient’’ (Titus 1: niv). This requirement may appear to be unnecessarily severe, but “if anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?’’ (1 Tim. 3: niv).
The high priest (vv. 10–15). Since the high priest was especially anointed and clothed with holy garments (8:7–12; 16:4), he had a greater obligation to serve the Lord faithfully and honor His name. The ordinary priests were permitted to be defiled by the dead bodies of their immediate family, but the high priest wasn’t allowed to do even that. Nor was he allowed to manifest grief in the usual ways or to leave the tabernacle precincts for a burial (see 10:6–7). Aaron and his sons had their tents on the east side of the tabernacle (Num. 3:38), and they were expected to stay on duty and not become involved in other activities in the camp (see 2 Tim. 2:4).
Since the firstborn son of the high priest became the next high priest, it was important that no alien issue invade the family; hence, the high priest could marry only a virgin (Lev. 21:13–14). In most cases, the priests chose their wives from the tribe of Levi (Luke 1:5), and this would be especially so with the high priest. To marry an unfit woman would defile his offspring, and this would defile the priesthood which the Lord God had sanctified (Lev. 21:8, 15).
While these special regulations don’t apply to workers in the church today, the principles are still important and applicable. If we want to have God’s blessing on our ministry, we must keep ourselves, our marriages, and our families pure and dedicated before God. A godly marriage with godly children constitutes a spiritual fortress from which God’s servants can go forth to do battle for the Lord. Christians need to pray much for pastors and other spiritual leaders, and their families, because those who lead are special targets of the enemy.