Leviticus 22:10 - Meaning and Application

The holy things were to be eaten by the priests and their families.

Here is a law that no stranger should eat of them, that is, no one except the priests and those who belonged to them (Leviticus 22:10). The priests were responsible to keep the holy things from being treated as ordinary food. They were not to let outsiders eat them (Leviticus 22:15), or let them bring guilt on themselves by handling what they had no right to touch (Leviticus 22:16). We must not only avoid sin ourselves, but also do what we can to keep others from sinning. We should not only avoid placing guilt on our brother, but, if we can help it, keep it from coming on him.

There may also be another meaning here. The priests ate the sin offerings as part of bearing the guilt of the people, to make atonement for them (Leviticus 10:17). So no stranger should eat that holy food and pretend to take on that work. It is bold presumption for anyone to claim what God has appointed only for certain people. Those who set up other mediators, that is, other go-betweens besides Christ our priest, to bear the guilt of sin, rob Christ of his honor and take his place.

When we warn people not to trust their own righteousness, that is, their own right standing with God, and not to appear before God relying on it, but to rely on Christ’s righteousness alone for peace and pardon, it is because we cannot let them carry the guilt of trespass. We know that burden is too heavy for them.

The law also explains who belonged to the priest’s family and who did not. Sojourners and hired servants did not stay in the house for good. They were in the family for a time, but they were not truly part of it, so they could not eat the holy things (Leviticus 22:10). But a servant born in the house or bought with money belonged to the household as a lasting part of it, so even though he was a servant, he could eat the holy things (Leviticus 22:11). Only those who make God’s house their lasting home can enjoy its comforts. People who only believe for a time, just to serve a present need, are treated as temporary guests and have no share in the matter.

The same principle applied to the children of the family. There was no question about the sons, since they were priests themselves. But the daughters were treated differently. As long as they stayed in their father’s house, they could eat the holy things. If they married men who were not priests, they lost that right (Leviticus 22:12), because they were now no longer part of the priestly household. But if a priest’s daughter became a widow with no children, and returned to her father’s house, she was again to be counted as a daughter and could eat the holy things. If God’s providence makes some women sorrowful widows, and they lose the rest they had in a husband’s house, yet find it again in their father’s house, they have reason to thank the God who cares for widows and does not leave them alone.

There is also a demand for restitution from anyone who ate the holy things without the right to do so, even if it happened by mistake (Leviticus 22:14). If he did it on purpose and in contempt of God’s law, he was liable to be cut off by God and punished by the magistrate. If he did it through weakness and lack of thought, he was to restore the value and add a fifth part, and then bring an offering to make atonement for the trespass (see Leviticus 5:15-16).

This law could be set aside in a case of necessity, as when David and his men ate the showbread (1 Samuel 21:6). Our Lord defended them and gave the reason that gives a lasting rule for such cases, that God desires mercy and not sacrifice (Matthew 12:3-4, Matthew 12:7). Religious rules must give way to moral duty.

This also teaches gospel ministers, who are stewards of the mysteries of God, not to admit everyone without distinction to the holy things. They must separate the precious from the worthless. Those who are openly ignorant or godless are strangers and outsiders to the family of the Lord’s priests, and it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to them. Holy things are for holy people, at least for those who are holy in profession (Matthew 7:6).