Is this of any value to us in the 21st century? Just as in Leviticus 21, Leviticus 22 is about the function and lifestyle of the High Priest in the physical plane. I want to reiterate this to try to not move this in the 21st century. Imagine you were living in Moshe: You were only a year beyond Mitsraim (Egypt), and you are learning this for the first time.
In preparation for a study of the small Bible book of Jonah in connection with an exploration of the missions of Yonah and other prophets to the kings of Israel and Yehudah (Judah), we take a light-hearted overview of a serious and perplexing battle between God and His prophet to bring a message of mercy to a foreign people.
All of Leviticus is primarily addressed to the priesthood, but Leviticus 21 is about qualifications of the High Priest, not regular priests or the lay Israelites. There are things that other Israelites can do, within limits that are totally forbidden to the High Priest. His family, descendants of Aharon (Aaron) is held to a higher standard than other families. This chapter also shows us how holy — set apart — our High Priest, Yeshua, was to be.
What did Yeshua mean by, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places … I go to prepare a place for you” (Jn. 14:2, 4)? It’s about what God promises to do in transforming us along with the world at some later time and about what God promises to do in transforming us now.
There are different punishments mentioned in this chapter: death, “cutting off from the people” or childlessness. God is simply warning the Israelites that He will not tolerate these types of sins that are commonly committed in Canaan. He is throwing the Canaanites out because of these kinds of transgressions. He is educating the Israelites and doesn’t want them to commit the same sins that got the Canaanites kicked out of the land. God is telling them what is holy and what is unholy.
Amaziah king of Yehudah (Judah) started out good but didn’t remove the pollution of the land — “high places,” places to worship other gods. This historical account helps provide the backdrop for the messages of a number of prophet-writers in the Bible, such as Yonah (Jonah), Amos and Yeshiyahu (Isaiah).
The mysterious deity-king Molekh appears in the Bible for the first time. Canaanites and later Israelites sacrificed their babies in fire to Molekh. What power did this worship hold then and does it unsuspectingly hold now?