[EGW editor’s preface:  As with any questions concerning what we hope to learn from the Bible, we must always strive to apply good hermeneutics and to let the Bible interpret itself.
     For more tips on good Bible-reading skills, click the subjects Hermeneutics and Bible study.
     For more discussion about what God calls sin and why, see these articles: What is Sin? - part 1;  What is Sin? - part 2.]

     One of our readers from Virginia sent in this question.  “Where did dwarfs / dwarfism originate according to the Bible?  Are there references in the Holy Bible regarding Dwarfs – did they exist when the bible was written?  A sister that I worship the Lord with says that Dwarfs are the produce of intercourse between blood relatives, i.e. father/daughter, nephew/aunt.  Please answer my questions.”
     There was some more from our reader along with her question given here, but this is enough to present the gist of what she’s asking.  Namely, is being a dwarf (or “little person”) caused by someone else’s sinful behavior and does that make being a dwarf sinful, i.e. separate him or her from God as being unfaithful? (skip explanation and go straight to summary)

     There are a number of words used in our culture to designate “little people.”  “Dwarf” is one name that some people use as a overall term for any adult whose physical height is about four feet tall or less, and that some use as a specific term for a particular medical condition.  We will be using the broader definition in this article.
     Physically speaking in general terms, dwarves are dwarves because they were born that way.  Some because the combination of healthy genes from their parents leaned toward being short.  Some because one or both parents provided unhealthy or damaged genes.  Some because while developing in the womb, they suffered a lack of proper nutrition and/or were exposed to unhealthy chemicals.  Just as no one chooses for himself whether or not to be born with eyes, fingers, and toes, no one chooses whether or not to be born a dwarf.
     To understand more about the different physical causes for being a dwarf, I recommend reading a good medical encyclopedia or a biology-course book

     Spiritually speaking, there are a few ways to approach answering our title question.
     One way is to examine if physical handicaps are God’s punishments for sins, like the disciples ask Jesus about a man born blind in John chapter 9, and we would discover the answer is “no.”
     Another is to examine if children are accountable for their parents’ sins, like God examines with the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 18, and again we would discover the answer is “no.”
     In this case, let’s approach the answer by examining if God considers that dwarfs can be faithful or if He automatically rejects them as sinful.

• Digging into the Scriptures:

     I found only one reference specifically mentioning dwarves, an Old Testament passage in Leviticus 21:16-23.

     Leviticus 21:16-23 — And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron, saying:  ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God.  For any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too long, a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch.  No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord.  He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.  He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy;  only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profane My sanctuaries;  for I the Lord sanctify them.’”

     While this passage does treat dwarfism as a physical limitation like blindness or lameness (or even a broken hand), it also shows me that simply being a dwarf has nothing to do with whether one obeys or disobeys God.
     The passage here mentions eating the holy bread (or food, depending upon your translation).  The priests and Levites were allowed to eat from certain portions of the sacrifices and offerings.  This was part of how God used the other tribes to provide for the tribe of Levi, which God had set apart for handling the sacrifices.  See Numbers 3:5-13; 18:1-32 & Deuteronomy 18:1-8.
     This passage in Leviticus instructed the Israelites that the dwarf descendants of Aaron were still permitted to eat from the sacrifices offered, even though they were not permitted to perform the sacrifices.  “He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy;” (Lev. 21:22).  This compares to those Levites who by birth were NOT direct descendants of Aaron and therefore could not perform sacrifices, but were still allowed to eat from these provisions (see again Numbers 18:8-32, especially verses 11 & 12 permitting only the faithful Levites to eat).
     There were several reasons a Levi would not have been permitted to perform the sacrifices, and yet still would have been considered a faithful obedient child of God.  However, only the “clean” or faithful Levites could eat of God’s provisions for the Levites, and this group included dwarves.  It seems to me, therefore, that when evaluating the spiritual condition of a person, God looks at dwarves like anybody else – on the basis of their obedience.

     The only other place in the Bible I recall reading about a little person is in Luke 19:1-10, although the word “dwarf” is not used.

     Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.  Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
     Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
     And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;  for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

     Here, too, it seems that Zacchaeus’ obedient faith and repentance affected his salvation more than his height did.

     So … just what was the real point of that passage in Leviticus prohibiting certain faithful people from offering the Old Testament altar sacrifices?
     The instructions in the passage were part of a lengthier set of instructions to the priests about keeping themselves free from both spiritual and physical defects so they could acceptably perform the sacrifices from the people for God.  Likewise, the offerings themselves were to be free from physical defects (see Lev. 22:17 & following).
     From the New Testament we learn that the whole sacrificial process under the Mosaic law looked forward to the sacrifice of the Messiah, Jesus — partly to explain beforehand the nature of Jesus’ sacrifice, and partly to imitate beforehand the involved concepts into the Jewish worship & lifestyle so they, as a people, could understand what was happening when the Messiah finally came.  This explanation and reflection also included the defect-free aspect of Jesus, both as a sacrifice and as a sacrificer.  And we learn that just as redemption of sins under the New Covenant is dependent upon Jesus’ death and resurrection, likewise redemption of sins under the Old Law was also dependent upon this.  Fortunately for us as Christians because of Jesus we have a better covenant to live under than the Jews had under the Mosaic law, but from the Old Testament we can still learn many valuable lessons about Jesus.

     Hebrews 7:23-28 — Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.  But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.  Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.  For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
     Hebrews 9:23-28 — Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;  not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another — He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world;  but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.  To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
     1 Peter 2:20 — For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:  ‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return;  when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;  who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed.
     Hebrews 9:11-15 — But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

     
• Summary: (back to place in article)
     
     The Bible doesn’t say how some people are dwarfs or little people, but we can know some of that from modern medicine.  The Bible does mention dwarves, so we know that they existed in Bible times at least as far back as when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and probably before that.  Whether or not a person is a dwarf has nothing to do with whether that person is faithful or sinful toward God.  For that matter, whether or not a person suffers any physical limitations or handicaps has nothing to do with whether that person is faithful or sinful toward God.
     Or, as God explained it to the prophet Samuel when He refused David’s older brothers before selecting David to be the next king of Israel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.  For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

     For more discussion about what God calls sin and why, see these articles: What is Sin? - part 1;  What is Sin? - part 2.