This chapter continues with additional instructions to the priests.

Leviticus 22:1 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,"

Leviticus 22:2 "Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the the children of Israel, and that they profane not My holy name in those things which they hallow unto Me: I am the Lord."

The priests are to separate themselves from these holy things, when the things spoken of in the following verses are in order. Those things that are hallow, are the things that are dedicated to the Lord. So lets look at what are those things?

Leviticus 22:3 "Say unto them, `Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him that soul shall be cut off from My presence, I am the Lord"

God is telling Moses to say to Aaron and his sons the priests; tell them that all the men of the Levites, that all the things that the children of Israel sacrifice unto the Lord that are utterly consumed by sacrifice are hallowed, meaning dedicated to the Lord. If the priest shall approach and touch those dedicated things in an unclean state, and bring them before the Lord; God is promising that that priest's soul shall be destroyed. You don't mess around with the sacrifices at the altar of God in an unclean state.

Leviticus 22:4 "What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;"

Any offspring, son or grandson of Aaron that has leprosy, or an issue, which in the Hebrew text is "zuwb", which is a "free flowing flux of sexual fluids, to waste away": in other words, as sexual problem, or touches a dead soul, that priest is not to go near unto the holy dedicated things of the Lord.

Leviticus 22:5 "Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;"

If a priest touches a "swarming thing" [creeping thing], where by it made him unclean; or if the "man of whom he may take uncleanness"; this condition was covered in Leviticus 15:7, and 19; and it matters not how this uncleanness came upon that man.

Leviticus 22:6 "The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water."

This priest was required to bathe after touching those unclean things, and then he still could not touch a holy things until the evening. The "holy things" are the sacrifices where portions of them were dedicated to God by the congregation. Those things considered holy belonged to the priest for their livelihood. When a priest was unclean, it was required to bath and cleanse himself before making an offering sacrifice on behalf of one of the congregation, and eat those things that were made holy.

Leviticus 22:7 "And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food."

This is talking about the sin, trespass, heave and wave offerings of the people, and that part of those other offerings that belonged to the priest as his wages for service in his priestly office.

Leviticus 22:8 "That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the Lord."

This was given under the health laws, but it is given here with a special reference for the priest. This is referring to clean animals that died by natural causes or were torn to their death by animals of prey; they were not to be eaten. The reason for this is the unknown condition as to whether the animal had been properly bled. Eating of the blood was strictly forbidden to the Israelites.

Leviticus 22:9 "They shall therefore keep Mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the Lord do sanctify them."

Calling attention to keep the ordinances of God.

Leviticus 22:10 "There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing."

The foreigner, the visitor with the priest, or even a person that the priest had hired was not allowed to eat the food that was given as a sacrifice offerings [the holy thing], that was strictly for the Priest and his family.

Leviticus 22:11 "But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat."

If a priest should buy a slave with his money, then that slave will eat of the food that is part of the priests household. That slave is part of the family of the priest, and shall eat right along with the rest of the family. The holy thing was the food for the keep of the household.

Leviticus 22:12 "If the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things."

If the daughter of a priest married into another tribe of Israel, then she is not considered a Levite, and may not take of the "holy thing", food given in offering sacrifices.

Leviticus 22:13 "But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof."

However if that woman, the daughter of a priest that had married outside the Levite tribe, is widowed or divorced, and has no child, then if she moves back into her father's household, she may then eat of the holy thing. This is why the Levitical priests were required to marry into the tribe of Levi. Think of it, if she had a child outside of the tribe of Levi, that child would not be able to eat at its grandfather's table, right along with its mother. These children would be the child of a non-levitical priest, and as part of a priest's household, when that child had grown up, it would have been assumed that it was of the lineage of Aaron.

Leviticus 22:14 "And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing."

If a layman had unknowingly eaten of a holy thing, then it is necessary for that person to replace that amount that he had eaten, and add one fifth more to the portion that he had returned.

Leviticus 22:15 "And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the Lord;"

Leviticus 22:16 "Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat there holy things: for I the Lord do sanctify them.' "

The priest shall not knowingly profane any of the holy things by doing any of the things mentioned above in these verses. So now we get into a different subject; the acceptable sacrifices unto the Lord.

Leviticus 22:17 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, "

Leviticus 22:18 "Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, "Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the Lord for a burnt offering;"

So now this message is not just to Aaron and his sons, but the the entire nation of Israel; all the tribes. This verse concerns vows, or promise gifts to God, given as a oblation or "Korban gift" offering. In other words is is talking about free will offerings by the people.

Leviticus 22:19 "Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep or of the goats."

This freewill gift must not not be given by force, but at the delight of the one making the offering. Because it is a gift to God, it must be a male animal without blemish.

To put this on a modern day setting, it is dealing with what you offer to the Lord, either as a gift or a vow to the Lord. If there is any form of deception, forcing you to offer the gift, then it is not a vow, but an obligation, just as a loan at the bank would be. Many ministries today create their mailing lists, and plan their times of begging around events or crisis matters, to get to the emotions of the individual giver. These are not freewill offerings and vows to the Lord, but to a man and his money machine. These pleadings come with a blemish, so as you make your vows, it is not to God; but to the man.

The point to this verse is that for a gift to YHVH to be accepted by God, it must be by your own pleasure in the giving, not by a deceiving obligation of mailings, or needs created in a film room at the ministry's studio.

Leviticus 22:20 "But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you."

Our Lord Jesus Christ was presented as a sacrifice on the cross without spot or blemish. Our Lord gave of Himself freely for those who would have the faith to believe and repent in Jesus name. Your gift to the Lord must originate from your own heart, and be freely given, for it to be a freewill gift.

Leviticus 22:21 "And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish."

This "peace offering" is offered for joy or peace in the past, must also be perfect and without blemish, before God will accept it. That offering of any animal must be given in the right state of mind before God will look favorably [accepted] upon it.

Leviticus 22:22 "Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD."

Animals that are blind, broken limbs, having running sores, or scabs are not to be offered to the Lord.

Leviticus 22:23 "Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted."

Any bullock or kid or sheep that has flaws and missing parts can not be given as a vow offering; you just can give something that is defective to the Lord to fulfill a vow to Him. However as a freewill offering it may be given, as long as vows are not attached to the gift. The vows are always set up with conditions attached to it; if God does one thing for me, then I will do that thing to fulfill my vow to Him.

I you had twenty sheep born in a period of time and one was defective, then that one could not be given in any vow or freewill offering.

Leviticus 22:24 "Ye shall not offer unto the Lord that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land."

This verse pertains to the castration of an animal, for these were all ancient methods of the castration of animals. God demanded that Israel was not to allow any castrated animal in their land at all.

Leviticus 22:25 "Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.' "

"Accepted" as used in this verse, means to satisfy a debt that one has to another. The way the prior "accepted" was used in this chapter, was merely to be favorably or delightful. Remember that the purpose of the sacrifice was to satisfy a debt of sin or falling short of God's mark. Remember when Jesus went into the temple and the Kenite religious leaders were selling mite infested doves for the sake of offering as sacrifices. These two things are what is talked about in this verse. The Israelites did not even take birds of their own for their sacrifice, but they bought sick birds from a stranger's hand for their offering.

Leviticus 22:26 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,"

This gives us more restrictions on sacrifices, for both the priest and the people.

Leviticus 22:27 "When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eight day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the Lord."

Before any sheep or goat or animal can be brought to the tabernacle for an offering, it must have been with its mother for at least seven days. So no animal less than eight days old simply could not be offered up as a sacrifice. There are no maximum age set of sacrifices, only this seven day period; however in certain cases the animal must be one year old.

Leviticus 22:28 "And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day."

The mother and her calf cannot be killed in a sacrifice on the same day. We read in Exodus 23:19 "The first of the firstfruits of the land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk." In the Law, it is okay to take either the cow or the young, but not both at the same time; just as it is right to take either a bird or its young, but not both. This represents the bond of sacredness that God has with parent and its young.

Leviticus 22:29 "And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer it at your own will."

Again, all offerings of thanksgiving must be done at your own delight, and not under pressure.

Leviticus 22:30 "On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow; I am the Lord."

This goes right along with Leviticus 7:15 dealing with the thanksgiving offering; "And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning."

Leviticus 22:31 "Therefore shall ye keep My commandments, and do them: I am the Lord."

Keep the commandments and do them, for this requires an understanding of those commandments and statutes. James 1:22 instructs us; "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." "Keep as given here is not just to do the commandments, but be a defender of those commandments also.

James 1:23 "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:" The only one that he is fooling is himself as he looks into the mirror.

Leviticus 22:32 "Neither shall ye profane My holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord Which hallow you,"

"I am the Lord Which hallow you"; I am the one that causes you to be clean. That cleansing is done through the sacrifices to the Father, and in our generation is it by faith we believe in Jesus Christ, and through repentance we make confession in Jesus name. That is the only way that we can be spiritually clean today.

Leviticus 22:33 "That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord."