7. Who May Offer the Bread of His God?

In Leviticus 21, the Lord teaches Moses who may approach to offer the bread of his God. It had to be a man who had no blemish. “For any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too long, a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.”

We know that everything in the old covenant was written for our instruction. The old covenant is the shadow of things to come. But now the shadow has passed, and we have entered into the Person who cast the shadow—into Christ Himself. If the priests of the old covenant (the priests of the shadow) had to be without blemish to offer the bread of their God, we can conclude that the servants of the new covenant (servants of the Spirit) must be even more free from blemish if they are to stand before Him to receive spiritual food from His table to bring to the people.

He must not be blind. The eyes of his heart must be enlightened. Eph. 1:18. He must be able to see clearly so that he can separate the pure from the impure and the holy from the unholy. He must know the flock by sight and perceive their condition. His eyes must always be looking for the best pastures. He must see that none is unhappy or suffering want.

He must not be lame. He must not halt to one side or the other. He must be able to run in the race that is set before him and always stand on the front line. He must always be able to say with Paul, “Imitate me even as I follow Christ.” The sheep must always live with the feeling that they cannot escape from their shepherd’s care to enjoy a freedom that is not permissible. He must be quick on his feet, being shod with the gospel of peace in preparation for war. He must be able to capture and drive off every enemy who tries to break into the sheepfold.

He must not have a marred face. His spiritual face must be free from blemish. A disfigured face will rob him of his boldness. He must not feel that he has a reason to hide his face. If he is to offer the bread of his God, his face must not be marred.

He must not have any limb too long. He must not have some areas that grow great and strong while other areas remain stunted and underdeveloped. He must be able to relate to everyone if he is to provide them all with the bread of his God. He must not have any limb too long.

He must not have a broken foot or a broken hand. A broken hand or a broken foot will impair his ministry; he will not be able to give bread at the right time. Even if the break is healed, he will still feel his weakness. In hand-to-hand combat—if such were necessary—he would not be able to grip as hard as he would like. He has a broken foot or hand and therefore must not offer the bread of his God.

He must not be a hunchback or a dwarf. A person who has fallen and as a result has become a hunchback must not offer the bread of his God. Because of his fall, he has received permanent injury. A dwarf shall not approach the table to offer the bread of the Lord because he has stopped growing spiritually and is therefore not able to instruct anyone else.

He must not have a blemish on his eye. His eye must be unblemished. A blemish or spot on his eye signifies that he looks at things with warped judgment. He will fail in his discernment and waver in his judgment. His eyes must reflect faithfulness and confidence. No blemish must be permitted to hide that precious jewel. He must be able to gaze openly upon the face of God. There must be no spot behind which he can hide the true condition of his soul from the eye of the Lord Sabaoth.

He must not have any scab or eczema. No evil report must cling to him, neither should his flesh be active so that the rash of sin can be seen on his body. He must have his body washed with pure water at all times so that his flesh is pure like that of a young boy. Scab and rash will cause reproach, and therefore he must not offer the bread of his God.

He must not be a eunuch. He must not be made a eunuch by men. He must be energetic and courageous, not slothful and despondent spiritually. He must be a man whom people respect if he is to offer the bread of his God.

“No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.” Verse 21.

When God wants a person brought to the altar of burnt offering, he cannot use as a co-laborer one who has a blemish. He will always use a soul who is well acquainted with the fire.

“He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy . . . .” Verse 22.

God in His infinite love will not withhold spiritual food from anyone. He desires that all eat of both the most holy and the holy. Those who are blind, lame, disfigured, hunchbacked, who have a broken foot or hand, scabs or eczema, or a blemish on their eye may all eat of the most holy and the holy bread of God.

“Only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.” Verse 23.

We learn from this that God cannot use anyone who has a blemish to offer spiritual food. They are permitted to eat and be satisfied with both the holy and the most holy, but they must not profane the sanctuary by drawing near to the veil.

The veil is rent by the spirit of judgment and fire. Anyone with a blemish will not be able to withstand this, and they must not approach the veil. The glory of God is revealed within the veil and from there, the bread of God is brought out. But if anyone wants to enter in to find spiritual food, he must first offer himself on the altar of burnt offering where every blemish is consumed.

Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He might send many such workers into His harvest.

In the last issue, we wrote about who could draw near to the Lord’s table to serve God’s bread. Let us now consider priests who have another ministry to perform, a ministry which does not require absolute freedom from all spiritual blemishes, as referred to in Leviticus 21. We can read about them in Ezekiel 44, beginning with verse 10.

“‘And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them,’ says the Lord God, ‘that they shall bear their iniquity. And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.’” Ezek. 44:10-13.

Here we read about certain priests who are priests for the people and not for God. When the people served the Lord, these priests served Him too, but when the people went astray and began to worship idols, these priests followed along with them and served Baal.

The people had the grain, wine and money from which the priests received their income. This made it very easy for them to be swayed by the people. They should have continued in the Lord’s sanctuary and encouraged the people to be faithful to the Lord, even when the stores were exhausted; but they did not. They chose to lose favor with God rather than with people. What if people should begin to dislike them? What if they should cut off their tithes? They were in a difficult situation indeed, so they neglected the Lord’s temple and their ministry in order to get what they wanted—the people’s tithes and approval.

The Scriptures call these priests priests for the people. But they are not priests without blemish. They will, however, be allowed to perform an outward ministry; they can be keepers of the gates of the house and can serve in the house. But when the people have returned again to the Lord, God will not have such priests in His holy presence. They can stand in the gates and invite people to receive the forgiveness of sins, and they can point out transgressions. Their ministry can be likened to dusting and cleaning in the house—a servant’s ministry.

But they may not draw near to the Lord to serve Him as priests. They are not allowed to perform an inner service. They may not draw near to things that are holy or most holy; they will not be allowed to lead a person into a deeper spiritual life. They may slay the burnt offering and sin offering for the people. They are permitted to preach Christ as the sin offering, the Lamb who bore the sins of the world; but they may not draw near to the veil, for there they would come into contact with the holy and most holy things. They may not approach the Lord’s table. They are not allowed to serve spiritual food which can give nourishment leading to sanctification.

Has the world changed since those times? Do not those who are priests for the people still have an abundance of all they need? Yet the God-fearing soul, the poor in spirit, preaches God’s Word free of charge and often lacks even the bare essentials. May God open our eyes so we can see!

The priests for the people receive their wages and recognition from the people. Even the basest, most ungodly people are allowed to belong to their churches. Their churches can include theaters and taverns, prisons and chapels, churches and houses of forced labor. They who kill and those who are being killed belong to the congregation of such priests.

Priests and preachers of this sort have a ministry to carry out, but it is an outward ministry. If anyone wants to press into a deeper spiritual life, they should never ask such priests for advice, because they have never had any access to the holy things or to God’s table. They believe that everyone who does not remain within their ranks has gone astray.

Yet there were some priests who endured in the trial:

“‘But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,’ says the Lord God. ‘They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.’” Ezek. 44:15-16.

Here we see priests according to God’s heart. They continued faithfully on God’s side when the people went astray. They certainly warned and exhorted the people diligently to turn from their error, but when they saw that their labor was fruitless, they let the people go their own way. The priests, however, continued to hold fast to the Lord. These are the priests who also today care for the things the Lord wants cared for. They draw near to the Lord’s table to bring forth the bread of their God, because in the eyes of the Lord, they are free from blemish.

From all this we learn that God is exact, extremely exact. There is much preaching in our days, but no one should imagine that all preachers have been in the presence of the Lord and have received spiritual food from His table. Usually, these preachers stand before the face of the people and form their words to please them. This is true of both the spoken and written word.

May God give us grace not to be men-pleasers; but as servants of Christ, may we always, in all we speak and all we write, seek to please Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and who has made us kings and priests for our God. Rev. 5:10.