Let us now consider the various defects that disqualify a person from the priesthood.
Blindness (v. 18b) disqualified a person from the priesthood. Blindness signifies a lack of sight for seeing because of the shortage of Christ as the enlightening light. If we are short of Christ in His light, we shall not have the adequate sight, and this shortage will disqualify us from the priesthood.
As New Testament believers, we are God’s priests, yet we still need the sight to see spiritual things. For this, we need to experience Christ, particularly in the sense of light. If we experience Christ in this way, we shall be under His enlightening. Then we shall receive the light and the sight to see what others cannot see.
Lameness (v. 18c) signifies the lack of strength for acting because of the shortage of the strengthening Christ. Many believers today are lame, crippled, and are thus disqualified from the New Testament priesthood. The old way of meeting and serving in traditional Christianity is a cause of this lameness, for it annuls the organic function of the believers and thereby annuls their qualification to serve as priests.
We need to learn to do everything in the strengthening Christ. Paul could say, “I can do all things in Him who empowers me” (Phil. 4:13). If we learn to enjoy Christ’s strengthening, we shall not be lame and shall not walk in a crippled way.
A flat nose (v. 18d) signifies the lack of Christ as our sensation in our service of God. Many things in the spiritual realm cannot be seen or touched, but they can be sensed, that is, “smelled.” If we would be able to sense these things, we need a proper nose. This means that in order to serve God as priests, we need a keen sense of smell. This is a necessary part of our spiritual life. The seeker in Song of Songs is praised for having a nose “as the tower of Lebanon” (S.S. 7:4b). This kind of nose is not flat but is elevated and has a keen sense of smell.
Having one limb longer than the other (v. 18e) signifies overstepping and overtouching outside of Christ. Some saints overstep or overtouch outside of Christ. We, however, should remain within our limit, and our limit is Christ. We should be limited by our experience of Christ. If we are limited in this way, we shall be balanced and not have one limb longer than another.
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