Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• Matthew 5:23-24

Key OT Scriptures

• Leviticus 16:5-11
  Click to retrieve Leviticus 16:5-11
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 16:15-19
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 21:6
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 22:2
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 22:8-9
  Jewish Commentary

Supportive NT Scriptures

• 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
• Luke 6:41-42
• Matthew 7:3-5

Supportive OT Scriptures

• Leviticus 11:29-32
  Jewish Commentary

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Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

The Leviticus 11, 21, and 22 Scriptures quoted above are cited by Maimonides and HaChinuch as cumulatively commanding the Levitical cohanim of old to refrain from ministering in the Holy Sanctuary while they are ceremonially unclean. I have expressed my view elsewhere in this book, that ceremonial cleanness (ritual purity) in the Tabernacle and Holy Temple of old are analogous to repentant holiness today when our New Covenant Temples are not of brick and mortar, but are our physical bodies ( 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ). Since Scripture teaches that we who are Yeshua's disciples are priests under His New Covenant Priesthood ( 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10 ), how much more must the commandment to the Levitical cohanim apply to us! We must therefore refrain from ministering to others while we ourselves are spiritually unclean and in need of repentance. That is not an invitation to "stop ministering" - it is a commandment to "repent before ministering." This principle that a priest had to be spiritually clean before he could minister in the Temple was operative even as far back as Moses. We find a powerful example of this in Leviticus 16:5-11, 15-19 , which commands the Cohen Gadol (on Yom Kippur ) to first sacrifice a bull for himself and his family before he could conduct sacrifices in behalf of the people of Israel. Matthew 5:23-24 teaches that if we have sinned against our brother (or he thinks we have), we are to make things right with our brother (i.e. repent of our sin and reconcile with him) even before presenting our offering to God. That of course speaks of a time when animal sacrifices were still being offered in the Holy Temple, but the application for today is clear: We should not think that we can have a reconciled relationship with our Father in heaven without first repenting of our sins and reconciling with our brother on earth. Matthew 7:3-5 and Luke 6:41-42 teach a related lesson using the example of a splinter in the eye - something with which we are all familiar. The smallest splinter in our eye is so disabling to our sight that it might as well be an entire log. The splinter and log are symbolic of sin, and we are instructed to correct ourselves and repent of our own sin (that blocks our sight and judgment) before we are qualified and able to minister correction and repentance to our brother.

Classical commentators

Maimonides' mitzvah RN75 and HaChinuch's corresponding mitzvah C278 prohibit cohanim from ministering in the Temple sanctuary while they are ceremonially unclean; there is no Meir counterpart. Also, Maimonides' mitzvah RN76 and HaChinuch's corresponding mitzvah C265 prohibit cohanim who are t'vul yom (bathed but unclean until sundown) from serving in the Temple sanctuary; there is no Meir counterpart of this mitzvah either. I do not see how Maimonides and HaChinuch derive their respective mitzvot from the Scriptures they cite, but other Scriptures on the subject make it clear that they are correct.

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

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Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

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Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

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