Commentaries:
No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for Leviticus 21:12.
Leviticus 21:10-15
Excerpted from: The Priesthood of God (Part 4)Pretty stiff. I think you are beginning to get the point that for those who have such a close relationship with God, there are demanding requirements given them to continue in that office. You see, this includes you and me now, because we are called to be priests. Can you begin to see the level of holiness that God requires of us, because of the office that we have been called to? Brethren, Americans are so informal. God likes both. There is a place for informality, but not when we are serving Him.
Just a summary of this: A priest who is not ceremonial clean was not permitted to perform his duties until he was once again ceremonial clean. These verses here detail circumstances that render a priest unclean or temporarily defiled, prohibiting him from serving in his normal office for a period of time. On most of these occasions what happened was the priest became ceremonial unclean inadvertently, thus it involved no presumptuousness on the priests part.
Touching someone who is dead is the first thing addressed. The thought is this: the living God is clean and pure. Sin is the cause of death. So death and sin are enemies of God and therefore defiling. Since the priest is a leader in holiness and handles holy things, these laws magnify the carefulness with which he must conduct his life. He cannot allow himself to become defiled in any way.
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