Leviticus 21:7 A cohen is not to marry a woman who is a prostitute, who has been profaned or who has been divorced; because he is holy for his God.
We think we know what these words mean but let's take a closer look to see if we're missing anything. The implication here has staggering consequences as we'll see at the end of this post.
Divorced
H1644 גָּרַשׁ garash (gaw-rash') v.
(gimel resh shin)
1. to drive out from a possession
2. especially to expatriate or divorce
(AHLB)
Cast out: To drive, thrust or cast out or away.
Cast out: Pasture: The land surrounding a city was inhabited by the lower class people or outcasts. This land is also covered with pastures for raising the flocks and herds of the city.
Do you feel you have been cast out? Do you feel abandoned?
This is not being outcast from the world due to you choosing to follow Yeshua (Jesus). It's more a feeling of abandonment you may carry. It seems we all tend to struggle with rejection from time to time but abandonment is rejection that sticks. You never really feel as though you belong.
And you need to belong.
We're talking about belonging to the Body of the Messiah. Becoming an active participant within your church community and (ideally) the church body at large gives you a sense of belongingness. We all long to be part of something larger than ourselves, and there is nothing larger than the Bride.
If you struggle with abandonment, it's time to join a body that accepts you for who you are -- warts and all. Then learn what it means to be unrejectable.
The importance of community can not be underestimated here. It's what will bring you into a marriageable state -- and as we'll find out, it's critical you get there.
Fair warning: We're not talking about difficult people here. Being a difficult person means you are begging others to reject you because if reinforces a lie you believe about yourself. If you are generally argumentative, unpleasant, or disagreeable, do us all a favor and consider remaining a hermit if you aren't willing to change.
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Profaned
H2491 חָלָל chalal (khaw-lawl') adj.
(chet lamed lamed)
1. pierced (especially to death)
2. (figuratively) polluted
(AHLB)
I. Pierce: II. Begin: The spot to be drilled is first scored to make an indentation to accept the drill and the beginning of the drilling is the most difficult as the drill can easily slip out. III. Common: To make something common that is meant to be set apart for a special function.
Root: chet lamed
Bore co: Hole ab: Pain: A hole is drilled with a tool called a bow drill. The string of the bow is wrapped around the drill. By moving the bow back and forth, and firmly pressing down, the drill spins around drilling the hole.
Aside from the two times this word is used in Leviticus 21, the interpretation is always "wounded" or "slain". So the question becomes, are you wounded?
We've all been hurt by someone at some point. There is no avoiding it. But hurts that fester into open wounds never seem to get better. Putting a band-aid on it only covers up the problem.
But we seek the root in order to get healing.
Unless you determine the cause of the wound, you will always be treating symptoms. And, as pretty much every drug advertisement can testify, treating symptoms inevitably leads to side-effects.
Someone that is wounded is going to have a hard time being vulnerable because they may get hurt again. If you can't be vulnerable, you will lack connectivity. Without connectivity, there will be no intimacy. And without intimacy, there is no relationship.
Therefore, healing is not just useful, but critical.
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Prostitute
H2181 זָנָה zanah (zaw-naw') v.
(zayin nun hey)
1. to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment)
2. (figuratively) to commit idolatry
(AHLB)
Whore ab: Whoredom: In the sense of being spread broad.
Root: zayin nun
Harvest: Mattock: The pictograph zayin is a picture of an agricultural cutting implement such as the mattock or hoe. The nun is a picture of a seed. Combined these mean "mattock of the seed". One of the many agricultural tools was a hoe or mattock. This implement had a wide blade for cutting a plant stalks at the roots. The crops were harvested for a supply of foods, which were stored in jars.
Are you spread broad? How many lovers do you have? You love them, but how many love you?
Do you really know why you are here on earth?
Pro-tip: it isn't for the things of the world.
But we want those things so badly we'll do almost anything to get them: provision, authority, comfort. These are what Yeshua was tempted with in the wilderness, and we should expect the temptations we encounter to fall under one of these three categories, as well.
Love of money, the thirst for power, and a strong desire to have no problems cause us to make very compromised decisions. Sadly, we tend to not even recognize these decisions when we make them and over time these mound up into a tangled web of deceit. Not that we are deceiving others, but are being deceived by ourselves.
What then can we do?
Well, what did Yeshua do? He rebuked the tempter with the Word of God. Do you have this ability?
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This is a law for the priest choosing a bride.
But Yeshua is our High Priest. And we are supposed to be His Bride.
Which means we need to be accepted, healed, and solely committed to Him in order for Him to legally marry us. Before you get up in arms about this, know these are all things that can be resolved if you can just humble yourself.
So, can Yeshua actually take you as His Bride?
If not,
1. Receive His invitation into true intimacy and go after it with everything you have. Here you will be accepted.
2. Seek healing and you will find it. Either through Him directly or through His many servants that have been obedient developing His tools.
3. Put away everything that has no eternal value. Destroy the idols and seek first the Kingdom of God.