“They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the offerings made to the LORD by fire, the food of their God, they are to be holy.”
– Leviticus 21:6
Hi James and Ellen,
At the very exact moment when God releases a guy, gal or kid from his or her sin prison, God’s mercy spirit embeds and imbues the hope spirit into the heart of the guy, gal or kid. God – as God the Spirit, at this very moment begins to sanctify or cleanse the polluted, sin filled heart of a guy, gal or kid who has been reborn through the death sacrifice of God – as God the Son, on a cross. As God – as God the Spirit, – through invisible, persuasive nudging involuntarily voluntarily prompts a guy, gal or kid to pass the figuratively blood stained cross and then through the faith/grace door and into an ever-growing family of only Christ-follower guys, gals and kids, he or she is invariably overwhelmed by the everlasting love spirit and by the eternal peace spirit. A new Christ-follower member will find nothing else but structure, security, safety, and shelter among his or her Christ-follower peers. Because of the subtle insidious ability of the sin facilitator – who is Satan, of knowing the moral, ethical and principled weakness in every guy, gal or kid and then implanting himself into those weaknesses – and even though God – as God the Son, was sent by God – as God the Father, to planet Earth to excruciatingly suffer a horrendous death on a cross to ransom and justified for Him for all eternity the life of every specially elected guy, gal or kid Who He adopted before He created planet Earth, an ongoing task for God – as God the Spirit, is to weed out and then detach each sin tentacle from the thoughts of every guy, gal and kid who God – as God the Spirit, has led to make the decision of faith to become a Christ-follower. What is driving your grandpaa today to center on the roles of God – as God the Father, God – as God the Son and God – as God the Spirit is your grandpaa’s concern that big brother government doing whatever it can to usurp the authority and primacy that can only be found through the knowing of the presence of God – as God the Father, that can only be experienced through the unabashed using in all situations the power that is the name of God – as God the Son, and that can only be heard through the attentive listening to the prompting voice of God – as the God the Spirit, discreetly pleading for obedience to and faithfulness in God – as God the Father.
God has a high standard expectation in place for Christ-follower guys, gals and kids. God – as God the Father, expects nothing less than the continuous pursuit of excellence and perfection from the guys, gals and kids who He specially elected to be His Christ-followers. God’s high standard expectation for the Levite tribal clan priests who sacrificed animal offerings to Him is found in Leviticus 21. Verse 6 says, “They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the offerings made to the LORD by fire, the food of their God, they are to be holy.” The Mosaic or Levitical Law – which God over 3400 years ago gave to Moses when Moses met with Him on the top of Mount Sinai, unambiguously communicates God not trying to please every guy. God specifically told Moses that Aaron and that Aaron’s boys were going to be His designated priests who will be the only ones who He will permit to burn pleasing sacrifices to Him. No Levi tribal clan guy who had a defect of any kind – such as being blind, lame, disfigured, having a crippled hand or foot, having a hunchback, being dwarfed, having an eye issue, festering or running sores could become a priest. God’s mandate for a priest was that the guy was never to shave his head, never to shave the edges of his beard and never to lacerate or disfigure his body. The guy who is assigned or designated to be the high priest – who first was Aaron and then it was one of Aaron’s boys, had to be first anointed with olive oil that had been specially sanctified before he could begin sacrificing to God the kind of holy offerings that God expected from His specially chosen guys. The ordained high priest had to always wear a sanctified priestly garment, never to let his hair become unkempt, never to tear his clothes and never to be around a deceased guy, gal or kid. A high priest’s wife was not to be a widow, a divorced gal or a gal who had had relationships with another guy or other guys.
Because the Israelite people group guys and gals – as God’s specially chosen guys and gals, could not maintain the Mosaic or Levitical Law mandates that God gave to them through Moses over 3400 years ago, God – through the reprehensible death of His Son – God the Son, nearly 2000 years ago has now in place for every guy, gal and kid who He elected before He created and placed planet Earth in His cosmos, a new high priest Whose sacrificial death has replaced once and for all the Mosaic or Levitical Law. God now looks past all the defects that a guy, gal or kid has who is a Christ-follower and calls each one of His specially elected guys, gals and kids dearly loved and holy just as they are at any moment of time. No one guy or gal in any country in any kind of positional role will ever be able to change in any way God’s perfect plan – which is always dynamic and morphing per the knowledge that God put in place nearly 2000 years ago when He jumpstarted a new belief paradigm that He inscribed in each guy, gal and kid who He has do planet Earth time who He elected before He created planet Earth. Your grandpaa believes that God expects your grandpaa to always keep Him central in his life as one of His Christ-follower body members.
Leviticus 21 (979)