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Priest were to be Holy unto the Lord.
Priest were to be Holy unto the Lord.
Concerning the Priests and Levites, Elwell wrote: “Priestly duties, in general, fell into three areas (Dt 33:8–10). First, they were responsible in conjunction with the high priest for declaring God’s will to the people. Second, they had responsibilities in religious education; they were to teach to Israel God’s ordinances and Law (Torah; Dt 33:10). Third, they were to be the servants of the tabernacle, participating in Israel’s sacrifices and worship. [Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Walter Elwell, pg 1757]
They were restricted from marrying a divorcee or a former prostitute (Lev. 21:7) – let alone committing fornication or adultery (forbidden to all – Deut. 5:18; 21). They were privileged to ‘draw near’ unto God and offer sacrifice for the people to atone for sin, but such privilege required that they above all would honor the LORD.
Thus, the tragic story of Nadab and Abihu in Lev. 10. “3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the Lord spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'" So Aaron, therefore, kept silent” (Leviticus 10:3).
We now come back to Eli’s sons. They readily took the privileges of the position with all of its ‘perks’ but had no regard for God or His laws. They were ‘sons of Belial’ (idolaters?), they did not know the LORD (1Sam. 2:12). They despised the offering of the LORD (1Sam. 2:17). They openly committed adultery (1Sam. 3:22). Eli knew all of this, yet he did not correct them as he should have. When Nadab and Abihu failed to honor the LORD, the LORD put them to death. God had instructed that such rebellious ungodly children were to be judged and put to death (Deut. 21:18-20). Eli however “honored his sons above the Lord (1Sam. 3:29). For all of this, Eli and his house were condemned (1Sam. 3). God’s holiness is to be honored.
So we try to apply the principles learned here as we read about ourselves as ‘those who draw near unto God’ (Heb. 4:6, 7:19, 25; 10:22, 25). Above all, we must treat God as HOLY and must honor God by a life that is governed by His teaching. How seriously are you taking God’s holiness?
Hugh DeLong
