The Law · Chapter 22 of 27
Leviticus 22
God commands the priests to treat the holy offerings with reverence, keeping away from them while ceremonially unclean and guarding who may eat them. He then requires that every animal offered to the LORD be without blemish, whether for a vow or a freewill offering, since blemished animals are not acceptable. Young animals must be at least eight days old, and a mother and its young are not to be killed the same day.
What happens in Leviticus 22
The LORD instructs Aaron's sons to separate themselves from the holy things when unclean, lest they profane God's name and die. A priest who is a leper or has a discharge may not eat the holy things until cleansed; contact with uncleanness bars him until evening and washing. Outsiders, hired servants, and a priest's daughter married outside the priesthood may not eat the holy food, but those bought or born in his house may. Eating holy food unwittingly requires restitution with an added fifth.
God then commands that offerings for vows and freewill gifts be a male without blemish to be accepted; the blind, broken, maimed, or diseased are refused, and even animals from a foreigner's hand with such defects are unacceptable. Newborn animals must be eight days old before being offered, and no animal is to be slaughtered with its young the same day. God seals it: I am the LORD who hallows you.
Leviticus 22 in context
This chapter completes the section on priestly holiness begun in chapter 21, moving from the priests themselves to the offerings they handle and the animals brought to the altar. The double concern is reverence for what is holy and integrity in what is given.
God's name is at stake; careless handling of sacred things profanes it. The insistence on unblemished offerings continues a theme that runs from the first chapters of the book to the cross.
Main themes of Leviticus 22
Leviticus 22 (KJV)
1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD. 3Say 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. 4What 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; 5Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; 6The 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. 7And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food. 8That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD. 9They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them. 10There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. 11But 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. 12If the priest’s daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things. 13But 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. 14And 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. 15And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD; 16Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them. 17And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 18Speak 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; 19Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats. 20But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you. 21And 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 therein. 22Blind, 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. 23Either 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. 24Ye 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. 25Neither 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. 26And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 27When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 28And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day. 29And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. 30On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD. 31Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD. 32Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you, 33That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.
Verses to carry from Leviticus 22
“But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.”Leviticus 22:20
“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 therein.”Leviticus 22:21
“Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,”Leviticus 22:32
Christian typology
How Leviticus 22 points to Jesus
The demand that every sacrifice be without blemish reaches its goal in Christ. Peter says believers were redeemed not with corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Every rejected animal in this chapter, the blind, the broken, the maimed, underlines by contrast the flawless offering God would one day provide in his Son. Where worshipers were tempted to bring defective gifts, God gave his very best, the perfect Lamb.
Malachi rebuked Israel for offering the lame and sick; the answer to that failure is the sinless one who offered himself without spot to God through the eternal Spirit. In Christ the standard is not lowered but perfectly met, and his unblemished sacrifice makes acceptable the worshipers who could never make themselves acceptable.
Questions about Leviticus 22
Why did God refuse blemished animals even when the worshiper meant them for a vow?
Because the gift reveals the giver's heart. Offering a blind or lame animal treats God as unworthy of one's best, honoring him with what one would gladly discard. God required the unblemished so that worship would be genuine devotion rather than convenient disposal. The rule guards against the cheap religion Malachi later condemned, where people brought God the leftovers they would not offer a governor.
What does the unblemished offering teach us about Christ?
It sets the standard that Jesus alone fully meets. Peter calls him a lamb without blemish and without spot, redeeming us by his precious blood. Every rejected animal here highlights, by contrast, the flawless sacrifice God himself would supply. Christ offered not a defective substitute but his own sinless life, satisfying the requirement completely and making acceptable the worshipers who never could have qualified on their own.
Reflection
God asked Israel for unblemished offerings not because he needed animals but because our gifts reveal our hearts. What are you tempted to give God from your leftovers, the time or energy you would otherwise throw away? He gave his best in Christ. Consider what it would mean to offer him yours.
A prayer from Leviticus 22
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