The Priests —

When God established Israel as a nation, He made the priesthood a fundamental element of it. While other cultures and nations also had priesthoods, Israel’s was not a copy of these, but something new. This is like what we see with the Law of God which deals with much of the same subject matter as contemporary law codes but differs in how it handles the subject matter and what it highlights as important.

The book of Leviticus gives us insight into the work of the priests, and how they were to operate around God’s holiness. The priests were constantly responsible for mediating Israel’s relationship with God and highlighting His preeminence and holiness.

As I studied through Leviticus and Deuteronomy this year, it struck me that the Law of God wasn’t primarily about being a good citizen so that Israelite society could function properly. Instead, it was about honoring God because He is true, because He was Israel’s king and had saved them. Good citizens of Israel were first spiritually well, and everything else was to flow from that.

Today is a good time to reconsider our own lives in each of our unique contexts. Are we spiritually well? Are we following God first? Are we living according to God’s morality? Are we honoring the authority in our churches, workplaces, and nations? Are we praying for them?

Things to think about as we read!