Leadership and Separation
The NASB Bible says it this way:
Leviticus 22:1-2 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy {gifts} of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the LORD".
But other versions follow the original reflexive word order:
Leviticus 22:1-2 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they hallow unto me, and that they profane not my holy name: I am Jehovah.The original reflexive construction regarding separation seems a bit peculiar to us, and it begs the question as to why it was put in this way. It seems that the priests, the leaders in the spiritual life of Israel who were specifically chosen to represent the holiness of God are being told to keep themselves separate from the holy things of God. At first this seems to be contrary to what we would expect for it was their business to handle those holy things all the while keeping the holy things separated from the sinful people, but is that the full intended meaning? Believing that every word of God is inspired we look at it as having a literal meaning of its own that does not conflict with the other commands Moses is passing on to his brother and all future generations of priests. What else might it mean?
This instruction given by God through Moses came after the presumptuous sons of Aaron had offered strange fire to the Lord and had died for their foolishness—or was it just foolishness? Very likely it was what we today refer to as familiarity with the sacred, or more explicitly confusing their privileges with their persons.
Now their position as priests or leaders was not based on their own choice or personal qualifications, the positions and the privileges that went with the positions were appointed solely by God's choice. God was the one who had chosen the family of Aaron to be priests, and apart from being barred by deformities it was both their privilege and duty to serve as mediators between the people and the holiness of God. And yet the command here is for them to keep themselves separate from the holy things. Although the words may include other meanings of being separate and holy they certainly do say that the priests were to keep themselves separate from the holy things.
God has described Himself as a jealous God who will not give His own glory to any other, however it is evident that others have tried to claim His glory. Satan is the first example of one who wanted to either share or claim the glory for himself, but Jesus put it very definitely when He said, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God; Him only shalt thou serve." And leaders are likewise tempted to want glory for themselves, so we have the command to remember that you of yourself are not holy. There is only One who is holy as Jesus reminded the rich young ruler in Luke 18:19 "And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God."
In the past there have been rulers and leaders who have confused their privileges with their persons. Herod suffered a painful and humiliating death when he willingly took honor as being God, and history shows that he was not the only one for there are many other Bible examples.
And not just in the past, but it happens in our own times, for we have even heard of a Christian minister telling us that he would take it personally if we were to reject his doings. Evidently he did not understand that he was different from the holy things of God. Jesus told us to judge the fruit of the act and at the same time to refrain from judging their character and salvation. Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure in that He (alone) knows them that are His own. Being in an important position neither keeps us from making mistakes nor from being sinless.
If this failing to see the difference were only limited to Aaron and his sons it would be bad enough, but it is here in all of us. We use the phrase servant leaders, but are we really thinking of little god leaders? That because of the job or position we are made better and deserve to be honored as much or more than the one who gave us the privilege? The message to keep ourselves separate from the holy is for us today. We do not make the holy to be holy, but it can make us to be holy. It is a privilege, not an entitlement.
Certainly we and Aaron are to act holy, to be holy and known and seen as portrayers of the holiness of God before the people, and we are responsible for them being holy, but we cannot do this if we confuse our imparted position and job related holiness with God who alone is absolutely holy. We are only holy in Him.
How does this relate to leaders eating last? Again think privilege or person. Are we leading for the authority that appointed us or for ourselves?
Writing is communication, and communication is a good way to prevent misconceptions and animosities. If we only knew what the other person was thinking we might not write them off so quickly. And we will never know unless we hear from them and they hear from us. The other day someone said that hypocrites are the biggest problem in the church, and I can agree with that point if you really know what the word hypocrite means, or where it came from.
Jesus used the word and made it popular, but we first see it in the Book of Job. So it has become a popular escape to get us off the hook when we can blame it for mis- or dis- or lacking communication. In His day the Romans were the social rulers of Jerusalem while the unbelieving Sadducees were the religious rulers and the Pharisees were considered the ones who were faithful to the laws of Moses. The Romans were out and out idolators denying Jehovah's lordship, the Saducees doubted that Jehovah had spoken and yet they collected the tithes, but it was the fundamental Pharisees who were singled out to be called hypocrites. The word hypocrite was not even a Hebrew word, it was a Greek word and had no religious significance at all in those days. However, it did have special meaning to those who respected Moses' laws, for it was part of the detestable Greek virtual reality culture.
When the Roman occupation leaders allowed the worldly crowd to have their way they planned and built an entertainment complex right beside the holy Temple complex in Jerusalem, barely a stone's throw away, and it was there that all the alternates to worship of Jehovah were presented. It was a full fledged Greek theatre with portrayals of Greek myths and Roman immorality. A direct and blatant denial of all the goodness of the laws of Moses that the Pharisees held dear. And the performers, those who portrayed roles in the theatre were called hypocrites, role actors, fakes, assumed characters, masked and costumed. In Greek theatre the word hypocrite was a good word, but to the Pharisees nothing could be more abominable, so when Jesus called them role players the message was that they were not what they seemed to be. They were only playing the part, they were not communicating the truth. They could not say, "What you see is what you get."
The Pharisees apparently understood the message Moses gave the Israelites that they were to be different from the nations around them. However they were taking the glory for being holy to themselves and God has said that He will not give His glory to another, so that is what Jesus was rebuking. They were right in being holy but definitely not right in being self-made holy.
Matt 23:10 – 17 "Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, {that is,} Christ. "But the greatest among you shall be your servant. "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, {that} is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.' "You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?So good and true communication is what might be called anti-hypocrisy and is to be encouraged. Just like the preacher must be a "what you see is what you get" person so must be the writer. And of course that is what the hope is for the audience in both cases. Our example is God Himself Who wants us to be as real as He is, and He wants us to know who He really is. The moral is to learn to communicate well using whatever media is yours.
Yes, Christian leaders of any kind must never imagine that holiness, although a basic requirement of Christian leaders, is theirs. Any holiness that others may see in me -- and again we know that it should be seen -- is God's. Yes, He wants the world to see His glory in us, but it is His glory every time.
So after all this we have to say that the text is correct in using a reflexive verb to tell the Levitical priests to never forget that they are to keep themselves separate from the holy things. God makes both them and the sacrifices holy, and not the priest who carries the vessel and the offering that it is in.