Thou shalt sanctify him therefore, for he offereth the bread of thy God, he shall be holy unto thee, for I the Lord, which sanctify you, am holy. Leviticus 21:8
Did you know that a priest in the Old Testament could not be a man who had a flat nose? If you read the 21st chapter of Leviticus, you will find this is actually one of the blemishes that barred a man from serving as priest. The law was very particular about who could qualify as a priest, because such a man was going to represent God in the ordinances of the tabernacle. Nobody who could cast a bad reflection on God could serve as priest. Our text today gives another important reason for being careful about who served as priest: the priests were those who offered the bread of their God. Believer priests today also have the honour of offering the bread of our God.
What is the bread of our God? And what was it in the tabernacle and temple worship? Was it the shewbread that was placed in the inner sanctuary? No, that was for the priests. Actually, it was the offerings that the priests performed during their daily service. All of the offerings that were required and desired by God were tended to by the priests. God looked on all this obedience and sacrifice as that which pleased His heart and satisfied His requirements. Just as we are satisfied by eating our daily bread, so God was satisfied by receiving the service of the priests as they offered the bread of their God. We don’t perform such rituals and offerings today. But we still have the privilege of offering the bread of our God in a different way.
Every believer has the privilege of serving as a priest. We no longer need to make offerings for sin; that requirement was terminated by the offering of the Lord Jesus once for all. But we still have the privilege of offering the bread of our God in very important ways. Firstly, we bring to God the incense of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks. Our worship is the highest form of our service as believer priests. That worship also includes the giving of our substance, as the Lord has prospered us. We can also offer to God our time and our availability for service to Him. We offer our talents and abilities. We offer our compassion for lost souls, our care for the Lord’s people, and our zeal for God’s Assembly. Just as God was satisfied with the service of the Old Testament priests, He is also satisfied when His believer priests today function as we ought before Him.
Have we offered the bread of our God today? Remember, to do so we are required to be holy. – Jim MacIntosh