I will be honest...I had a tremendously hard time with this chapter because the directives given do not represent the loving God that I have come to know and love in my life. There is a decidedly biased and discriminatory tone in this chapter that left me somewhat soured in my thoughts.
In terms of comparison, we are talking about God, I could not help but visualize the unconditional love of Jesus. Regardless of sin, regardless of appearance, regardless of race, creed, intellectual capacity or sex, Jesus loved openly and without stipulation. Through my faith and belief in him, my Savior and Redeemer, I have also come to know God, His Father, our Father, and cannot fathom His love being any less unconditional then that of His son.
How then am I supposed to accept the discriminative nature of God's stipulations towards those that are allowed to act in His name as priests in His tabernacle...
LEVITICUS 21:18-21
18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,
19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
First, let me address the elephant in the room, that, of course, being the idea of having "broken stones," yeah, not sure I would want to be a public figure or serve in any capacity if I suffered from such a malady! So, in regards to that one blemish, I agree; otherwise, I still need some convincing...21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.
Essentially the verses state that only men most attractive could serve in the tabernacle of God...what the hell? I apologize for the frankness of speech but seriously, where does this come from? I'm severely taken aback by this chapter and cannot understand how this can be...did Moses take some license in interpreting the directives of God? What is going on because I truly cannot, in any manner or perspective, allow the idea of my supreme being, the most omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent one, He that is all and created all, having any smidgeon of a discriminative nature - I can't see it? I won't see it!
Well...after much contemplation, study, and pondering...I have deciphered the answer and eased my troubled thoughts.
There is only one possibly conclusion, keep in mind that those who suffered from such blemishes were by no means excluded from accepting the service and partaking of the atonements offered, they just couldn't perform the duties required of the priests. Still not a consolation in terms of discrimination but it does lighten the load somewhat. Okay, back to the only possible conclusion; understanding that the Israelites were an enslaved people for hundreds of years, doing only as directed by their Egyptian masters, adhering to a strict subservient code and structure, it is understandable that a new set of codes, mores, standards and structure had to be put into place otherwise the people would easily falter, as witnessed by their swiftly turning to idol worship when Moses had gone off to converse with God at Mount Sinai. It is easy to accept, then, the idea that the Israelites were not fond of those with any type of blemish because it is certain that the Egyptians were harsh toward them and refused to acknowledge such people. The discriminative attitude of the Egyptians translated to the Israelites.
To put this idea of base discrimination into perspective...it is very probable that the Israelites, if attended to by a priest with any of the listed blemishes, would not believe in the sanctity of the ceremony and therefore scoff at the practice and eventually join with others to murmur and ultimately disregard the importance of the requisite sacrifices.
It was not an act of discrimination by God but a needed directive to maintain the sanctity of the tabernacle and its ceremonies in the eyes of a simple, discriminatory, people.
I should reread the simple blog of a few days back: believe, have faith, and know that God does see the big picture...He is God, after all...
~Kipling
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