Old Testament

Leviticus 15:1-18
Discharging Discharges, Part 1

You’ve heard the verses read. I bet you’re all excited to get into them. Discharges and emissions and… oh boy.

The word “discharge” has several meanings depending on the context. It can be a noun, as in the act of discharging someone from the hospital or from the military. Donald Trump is famous for that. As a noun, it can also be the action of discharging something like a liquid. “Look out! The pressure in that wastewater tank might lead to an explosive discharge.” If that ever happens – I speak from experience – get ready for a long, long shower.

It can be a verb, where you take the action of expelling someone – “I am discharging you from your job as chief operator of the wastewater plant.” It can also be a verb which means to allow something to flow out when it was confined. You allowed a discharge to discharge.” See, were getting good at this.

There are noun and verb discharges in today’s verses. In the whole chapter, there are 24 total. Add in emissions, and there are 26 total. It’s obviously something that is important to the Lord, or it wouldn’t be in His word, but as always, we need to contemplate why this is so.

These things were told to those under the law. And lots of those people were in favor with the Lord. It doesn’t apply to us now, and yet we know we are loved because of Christ. And as we know, the law only points to Christ, to His work, and to the fallen state of man in relation to that. If we can just remember this, then it will all begin to make sense as we evaluate the verses.

Text Verse: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” Galatians 5:16, 17

Paul implores us to walk in the Spirit. The flesh is what is opposed to the Spirit, and so he says to not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The word basar, or flesh, is used quite a few times in Leviticus 15. In the NKJV, it is translated as “body.” Discharges from the body, or discharges from the flesh, are what we are looking at today.

They result in a state of uncleanness. In order to remove the uncleanness, we need to end what the discharges are picturing. If that can happen, then we will be clean. In other words, we need to discharge the discharges. How, I ask, can we do that? The answer is found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Unnatural Discharges (verses 1-12)

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

Like verse 14:33 the address is once again made to both Moses and Aaron. What is ahead discusses defilement and ritual purification due to bodily discharges. It is a law coming from the Lord, and therefore it is given through the lawgiver, Moses, but it also deals with priestly purification, and so Aaron is addressed as well. As we continue to see, Moses and Aaron are jointly addressed at the giving of the laws which concern overall defilement.

The chapter itself is going to be divided up first, into defilement of men. This will go from verses 2-18. Next it will cover defilement found in women from verses 19-30. After this, a final summary is made in verses 31-33, highlighting the reason for the contents of the chapter.

² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:

As we have seen on several important occasions, the Lord is speaking through Moses and Aaron, but His audience is specifically the children of Israel. What is being conveyed is not simply for the priests to have rolled up in a scroll and secreted away for times of need, but it is to be regular instruction for the people at all times.

It was to be as commonly held knowledge to them as driving on the right side of the road is for us today. That is of course, unless you’re in a country where they drive on the left side of the road, which would then be the right side of the road for you to drive on, even though it’s really the left side.

^2 (con’t) ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.

As I said, the first section, which now begins in verse 2, is directed to uncleanness in men. The word for “discharge” is zuv. It indicates that which flows or gushes. It is the word used first in Exodus 3:8 to describe the land of Canaan which flows with milk and honey.

The word for “body” is basar, or literally, “flesh.” It speaks of the body itself, but it is also used euphemistically of he organ of generation, as when a male is circumcised in the foreskin of his flesh. It can also mean blood relations, such as when saying, “You are my brother in the flesh.”

And again, it can be used to indicate man over against God in his fallen state as in, “Sam walks in the flesh and not in the Spirit.” And finally, it can speak of all living creatures, as in “All flesh is known to God.” Both testaments give these to some extent.

Understanding these various connotations of the word will help us to understand what the Lord is showing us in this chapter. The term “body,” or “flesh,” in this chapter is used in a couple ways. The first is that of the private parts of a person. The Greek translation of the OT translates ha’zav, or “the discharge,” as “the gonorrhea.” However, in some verses, such as verse 16, it is probably speaking of the whole body.

Because it speaks of the private parts concerning the discharge, some scholars immediately jump on it as resulting from the sin of illicit sex. However, this may or may not be the case. It could indicate that, or any other type of discharge that a person gets – whether through illicit sex or simply catching an infection in some other way. However, for a New Testament picture, it indicates something which causes spiritual uncleanness.

³ And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness.

Here we have a word found only once in Scripture. It is the verb rur, or run. It actually means to drool, and so by implication, it is something which runs out of his body. The other word meaning “stopped up” is new to Scripture, khatham. It indicates to seal, as a king would seal a document. Thus, by implication, it indicates the discharge is stopped up. In either case – running discharge, or one which is stopped up, the person is considered unclean.

In type, both picture sins of the flesh. One is active, one is passive. The running discharge is a sin of the flesh that is seen and noticed by all. A person engaged in making porn films might be such a person. On the other hand, the stopped up discharge would be a person who looks at pornography. One is outwardly evident, the other is inwardly so. This same concept can be seen in multiple types of sins of the flesh. In such, the person is defiled and unclean.

⁴ Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.

As we have seen elsewhere, defilement is not limited to people alone, but to the things a person comes in contact with. In this case, it extends to any bed upon which a person lies, or anything on which he sits. The word “everything” here is a word which indicates a utensil. Thus it extends to saddles, chairs, something as an improvised chair, a blanket, or whatever else.

The bed and the chair are both places one occupies. The bed is where one rests; the seating is where one engages in fellowship and discourse. The place that a person who is engaged in sins of the flesh lies or sits is considered as unclean because the person who occupies it is unclean. For a clean person to go to their place of rest or fellowship, is then to indicate that they have accepted their unclean state in order to participate in it. As Paul says –

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” ³⁴ Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:33, 34

That is then pictured in the next verses…

⁵ And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

This corresponds to the first half of verse 4. From the uncleanness which has spread from the infected person to the bed, their place of leisure, so the uncleanness transfers also to another person who would then touch that infected article. In Numbers 5:2, such a discharge was sufficient to put anyone so infected outside the camp, just as a person with leprosy was to be. Sin is an infectious disease, and it renders all who come in contact with it unclean.

To be expelled from the camp means that one is out of fellowship with the congregation. As long as the sins of the flesh are running and evident in the person, they are to be treated as one entirely out of fellowship. For such a person in the church, Paul explains what is their punishment –

“In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵ deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 1 Corinthians 5:4, 5

He explains what that means in verse 13 of the same chapter –

“Therefore ‘put away from yourselves the evil person.’” 1 Corinthians 5:13

For someone who is not running with such a sin of the flesh, but who comes in contact with them, they also become defiled through that contact. This is why we are told to not have fellowship with deeds of darkness, but we are to put on holiness like a garment and keep ourselves from participating in these things. We are to separate ourselves from such evil.

⁶ He who sits on anything on which he who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

This corresponds to the second half of verse 4. Like the bed of the first half, the same is true with anything which is sat on in the second, anyone who sits on whatever the person with the discharge sits is likewise unclean. As I said, the place where one sits is their place of discourse and fellowship. For a person to hang around and fellowship with someone who is engaging in sin would then defile that person. During the time of his defilement, he is excluded from the benefits of the sanctuary. He has touched the place which is occupied by a person engaged in a discharge of the flesh, and he has acquired his defilement as well.

⁷ And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

Here, the same word is used which has already been seen, basar, or flesh. This may or may not be taken in the general sense of the word, indicating his body. Or, it may still be speaking euphemistically about his private parts in particular.

The many uses of the word often make it necessary to deduce exactly what is being referred to. In this instance it is probably touching the euphemistically noted part of the body which renders another unclean, and requiring to go through the same rituals as the other circumstances.

This will be explained in greater detail in verse 13. For the Israelite, this verse doesn’t give any exceptions, and so it would seem that even a priest or physician who touched the unclean person would be defiled by the touch.

To touch a person engaged in a spiritual discharge of the flesh is symbolic of actively participating in that sin with them. One could use as an example a person who is caught up in drugs. It is an open and running discharge in their life. A person in the church might slip and join together with the drug addict. This would be comparable to what is seen here.

He isn’t a drug addict, but he touched, or joined, with the person who is an addict during a moment of weakness. This is what is seen in this verse. This could go with any such sin of the flesh. They have made themselves unclean by joining with the person who is actively engaged in such things.

⁸ If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

Now is seen a verb used only here in Scripture, raqaq, or spit. From it comes the noun roq, which is the spit in one’s mouth. That is used several times, including Isaiah 50:6 which is a prophecy of Christ being spat upon by others –

“I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.” Isaiah 50:6

That is then fulfilled in Jesus’ words in the New Testament –

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; ³⁴ and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” Mark 10:33, 34

As Gentiles were considered unclean, then this would be considered a source of defilement just as being spat upon by an unclean person would cause another to become unclean. What is not explicit, but which could be assumed, is that this is speaking of both purposeful and accidental spitting. It is the spit which defiles the next person, regardless as to the intent of how it got on him.

If we were to look for what this is picturing, it is that which proceeds out of the mouth, and thus unclean communication. It could be immoral, perverse, lewd, or vulgar speech. This defiles a person, but it also defiles those who hear it. In the end, just as evil company corrupts good habits, so evil communication corrupts good discourse and manners between men.

⁹ Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean.

The merkav, or saddle, is introduced here and will be seen three times. It comes from the word rakav, or to ride, and so it is more than just a saddle, but the seat of any conveyance. It is elsewhere translated as a chariot, and as a seat in a palanquin. The word then is tied also to merkavah or chariot, which is now today’s modern tank in Israel. Anything upon which an unclean person sat which is intended for transportation was likewise deemed unclean.

Above, we saw where the place where one lays or sits is tied to their place of rest and their place of fellowship or discourse. The mode of conveyance would be a symbol of position. A rider on a donkey would be perceived as humble, a rider on a horse might be an officer. A rider on a white horse might be a general or a king. One who sits in a chariot likewise signifies a certain position as does one who rides in a palanquin.

A person who runs with sins of the flesh defiles such a position with their discharge of sin. This follows through to those who would touch what they have sat on. The position of doctrine which is pictured here is explained by Paul in Ephesians 4 –

“..that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” Ephesians 4:14

¹⁰ Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening.

This corresponds to what occurred in the leprosy verses. For example, a person who went into a leprous house would be unclean until evening, but if someone lay down in that house, they would not only be unclean, but would have to also wash their clothes.

If someone touched the thing that was under such a person, they would be unclean. To actively touch is to participate in, but only in a limited way. A person may go to a church where the pastor is preaching a false message. They have touched, or passively participated, in that. They have incurred defilement from it. Touching the thing defiled by a person with a discharge causes uncleanness until evening, but…

^{10 (con’t)} He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

An additional requirement is levied upon anyone who carried such an unclean thing. They needed to wash their clothes, bathe, and remain unclean until evening. Here we can see that an incidental engagement with sin is treated differently than a purposeful one.

One might be in a room where a TV is playing and the person on the TV is cursing. That would defile a person’s mind, even if they were not able to avoid that. But a person who sits down to watch a TV show with cursing requires a greater amount of cleansing to be purified from their defilement.

As the seat of the conveyance signifies a type of authority, it would be more suitable to the picture to go back to the church with the pastor who is preaching a false message. Someone who actively supports that, such as giving donations, helping out in the church, and so on, would incur a greater guilt than the one who simply came in and listened. This is what is seen here.

¹¹ And whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

There are actually two ways of interpreting this verse. Who is it that is to wash his hands? First, it could be that there is an unclean person because of a discharge. If he touches another person, it could be that it is acceptable if he first washes his hands. In this case, no defilement is transferred. But if he touches someone else without having washed his hands, then the other person becomes unclean and must then wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. This, on the surface, seems right.

However and secondly, it could be that the person who is touched by the unclean person immediately washes his hands, and is thus symbolically purified. If he doesn’t do this, then he needs to wash his clothes, bathe, and remain unclean until evening.

Either way, problems arise, because only the hands are mentioned, even if a different part of the body actually touched the other person. And so either way, the transfer of defilement is symbolic. Because of this, I would go with the second possibility. If a defiled person touches a clean person, that clean person could wash his hands, symbolizing purification, and not be considered unclean.

This is the more likely in picture, because washing one’s hands elsewhere pictures innocence. The unclean person is already unclean, but the one he touches is not necessarily so. And so in order to proclaim their innocence and in an immediate rejection of the sin which has been thrust upon them, they wash their hands in acknowledgment of that. Three examples of this from Scripture will show the symbolism –

“If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, ² then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities. ³ And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke. ⁴ The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. ⁵ Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. ⁶ And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁷ Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. ⁸ Provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. ⁹ So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 21:1-9

A declaration of innocence is made, and it is accompanied by the elders, meaning the city’s representatives, washing their hands over the dead substitute. “We proclaim our innocence.”

“I will wash my hands in innocence;
So I will go about Your altar, O Lord,
⁷ That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
And tell of all Your wondrous works.
⁸ Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house,
And the place where Your glory dwells.” Psalm 21:6-8

In the Psalm David clearly ties the washing of his hands in with his innocence. He then says this allows him to go about the Lord’s altar. This is something he could not have done if he were unclean until evening. And finally, the most notable occurrence of washing one’s hands in all of Scripture is seen in Matthew 27 –

But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. ²¹ The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”
They said, “Barabbas!”
²² Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”
They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”
²³ Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?”
But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”
²⁴ When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”
²⁵ And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”
²⁶ Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. Matthew 27:20-26

As unlikely as it seems at first, it appears that the washing of hands is actually a symbolic proclamation of innocence by the one who has been touched, rather than being a preemptive washing by the one who has the discharge in order to touch others. In all of the verses we have so far seen, there is the implied warning to those who are in Christ that they are to abstain from close relations and conversations with those who are impure in life and in doctrine. Such defilement will certainly transfer from one to another, and none are immune from becoming defiled.

¹² The vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

Here we have two different vessels, the first is kheres, or earthenware. It is that which is common, porous, and absorbent. It is from the earth, and it has never been alive. The second is ets, or wood. It is more valuable, considered non-porous, and thus non absorbent. It was made from something with life in it.

It is a picture of two states of man. The first is an unregenerate person who has never been spiritually alive. They absorb into themselves the unclean sin of another, they are reprobate, and they are to be destroyed. The other is a person who is from that which is alive. Even if touched by a person who is unclean, they can be rinsed and cleansed. It is a picture of being penitent, being made alive in Christ, and being immersed through baptism.

This is certainly what is seen here, or otherwise, it would have mentioned vessels of copper, brass, and so on. But the wood is used to make a picture for us. It would then stand as representative of any non-porous vessel for the Israelite, but the picture for us is maintained by only mentioning the wood. This practice actually is noted in the New Testament in Mark 7. The Pharisees and scribes had designed an elaborate system of such washings based on this passage. What they had missed was the spirit and intent of what the passage is conveying to us. Like earthen vessels, they were set for destruction because they failed to pay heed.

I wash my hands in my innocence before You, O God
I do not know about this thing which has come about
I have been careful to walk circumspectly on this path I trod
And in this matter I am guiltless, no doubt

But who can be pure in Your eyes? Can such a thing be?
In one matter we are innocent, but in ten thousand others, guilty
Lord, how can we be freed from the guilt and be cleansed before You?
Can such a thing ever come about?

Surely You have prepared a way; it is certainly true
Of this, O God, there isn’t a doubt
Lead us to the Fount from where all cleansing does flow
Show us the way, and to there we shall go

II. Cleansing from Discharges (verses 13-15)

¹³ ‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing,

For the cleansing of his discharge, a set time period of seven days is given to confirm that the discharge had certainly ended. This is the set time for purification where the person continues in their defilement, just as we have seen elsewhere.

^{13 (con’t)} wash his clothes,

The washing of the clothes, as we have seen several times, is symbolic of the outward reflection of the inward change in the person. The garments go from defiled to purified. It is the purification which symbolizes the work of Christ in us.

^{13 (con’t)} and bathe his body

The words here say, “and bathe his flesh.” Six times so far, it says, “and bathe.” Now only it adds in the words, “his flesh.” For this reason, this is certainly referring to the euphemistic use of the word “flesh,” meaning private parts. This seems more sure because in verse 16, it will add in the words eth kol, or “all.” That verse then is set in contrast to this where only a part of the body is washed.

^{13 (con’t)} in running water;

The Hebrew here says, b’mayim khayim, or “in living water.” The private parts of the person are where life issues from. The living water is a picture of Christ as is specifically noted in John 4 and John 7. It is from Christ where the Living Waters come. And so, a person who so washes himself is a symbolic picture of new life cleansed in Christ’s Living Water. Though it isn’t the kind of thing one would naturally teach openly in Sunday school, it is something that the Lord has placed in His word to show us the marvel of what happens to a person who is cleansed by Christ.

^{13 (con’t)} then he shall be clean.

As we have seen in other passages, everything in verses like this occurs simultaneously. We call on the Lord, we are made spotless, we are made spiritually alive, and we receive the Living Waters of eternal life. At that moment, we are considered justified, sanctified, and purified. We are clean. The same is true with what is pictured in the next two verses…

¹⁴ On the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons,

On the eighth day, the day of new beginnings, the healed soul is granted the right to come before the Lord, into the sanctuary, in order to receive final atonement. With him, he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. As we have seen, these birds picture Christ in their simplicity, purity, and humility. Further, the affection of the dove for its mate makes it a splendid picture of Christ who is so affectionate for His people that He came to dwell among them and give Himself for them in order to purify them.

^{14 (con’t)} and come before the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest.

The door of the tent of meeting means the altar of burnt offering. It is that altar which symbolically allows access for the atoned sinner into the Holy Place. There at the altar, which is before, or in the face of the Lord, the person is to give the birds to the priest.

¹⁵ Then the priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.

Both birds picture the work of Christ. One is as a sin-offering for forgiveness of the sins of life. He found the life acceptable, and therefore He then accepts His sin offering in our place. That is seen in several places in Scripture, such as in Hebrews 9:28. The other as a burnt offering as a life wholly offered to God as an acceptable and sweet smelling aroma to Him. That is seen in Ephesians 5:2.

^{15 (con’t)} So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord because of his discharge.

The life of sin, pictured by the discharge, is atoned for and covered over. The penalty for that life of sin is transferred to the innocent animal. In picture, the atonement and vicarious death are made by Christ on our behalf. Reconciliation has come; new life has begun.

Cleansed! Cleansed from the defilement I bore
My garments are clean, yes radiant white
I have been purified, cleansed to the core
By the merciful hand of the Lord, all is now right

The sin offering has been made; I am free from guilt
The whole burnt offering has been accepted as well
Christ’s life was offered, and His precious blood was spilt
I am saved and free, no longer condemned to hell

The Lord is gracious; He has done it all for us
He has freed us from our unclean discharge forevermore
All hail the glorious name of Christ Jesus
Now eternally cleansed, and eternally pure

III. Natural Discharges (verses 16-18)

A few things about verse 16, and those to come. First, most commentators say verse 16 is an involuntary emission. Nothing here says that. One commentator I read goes so far as to say –

“…which, though involuntary, might arise from some lustful dream or imagination. But if it was voluntary, and by a man’s own procurement when awake, it was esteemed abominable, and a degree of murder. See Genesis 38:9.” Matthew Poole

That is a complete abuse of what is being relayed in Genesis 38. If you want to know what those verses are saying, watch the sermon. The issue of whether this is voluntary or involuntary is completely irrelevant to what is being conveyed, and why it is being said.

Secondly, these verses are a part of the Law of Moses. They are done. Done means done. What they pictured is now fulfilled. The last thing Christianity needs is a whole bunch more neurotic people than we already have. Legalism has so many people, in so many churches, bound up in its claws that there is a heavy weight of guilt upon people’s shoulders that simply doesn’t need to be there. Understanding that, let’s look at these verses with a view to seeing why this is being mentioned at all.

¹⁶ ‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening.

In this verse, it mentions an emission of semen. The shekavah, or emission, has only been seen in one other account, Exodus 16. It was referring to the layer of dew which evaporated and left behind the manna for the children of Israel. If you want to know what that is about, go watch the sermon.

Now it is used to indicate a shikvat zara, or emission of seed. If someone had one of these, it would render them unclean. They would remain in that state until evening at the time of the new day. That terminology was carefully explained in Leviticus 11 as pointing to the work of Christ. If you missed that sermon, or if you forgot this, go watch the sermon. On a day that ended at 6pm, it didn’t matter if it happened at 8pm and thus it would go on for 22 hours, or if it happened at 5:59 pm and thus last for 1 minute. If evening on that day was 6pm, the uncleanness ended.

But why would an emission of semen render a person unclean? Before answering, this is something that is known to exist in many religions. Ancient Egypt knew this. Islam practices it. Babylonians, Hindus, and so on all knew this. Judaism obviously follows this precept if they adhere to the law. Other religions as well understand this defilement. It is something ingrained in the religious psyche. But is does not carry on to Christianity. Why?

The answer is Christ. The seed of man is how sin travels to the next generation of humans. All people are born of man’s seed, and thus all inherit Adam’s sin through the male. All of these other religions intuitively know there is inherent sin, even if they don’t understand why it is so. This is why circumcision was given to Abraham.

In cutting the male member, it pictured cutting the transfer of sin in humanity. But it was only a picture, a picture of Christ. Christ came born of a woman, but with no human father. Thus He cut the line of sin because no human seed from a father was transmitted to Him. The picture is fulfilled, the requirement in the law is ended. The neurosis can end. We are cleansed when we come to Christ, pictured by the coming of the new day at evening.

For the law-abiding Israelite, he was told to wash all his body in water. This is in contrast to verse 13 which left off the word “all,” showing us that it was speaking of his private parts only there. After washing, he remained unclean until evening. As we saw before, this then is a ceremonial defilement of the conscience. Now, in Christ, our consciences are to be cleansed. We are free from the consciousness of sin, because we are freed from all sin through the work of Christ.

¹⁷ And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening.

The Hebrew says, “And all garments and all skin.” The garments are representative of the external appearance of a person, as we saw just a few verses back, as are items of skin. As coverings, they were considered unclean until evening because of the transfer of the seed bearing Adam’s sin. Jude understood this, and was certainly thinking of this verse when he wrote –

“And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³ but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” Jude -22, 23

In type, our coverings are cleansed and purified though the work of Christ, pictured by the evening, or the start of the new day.

*¹⁸ Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

A verse for neurotics if not properly understood. First point. This was not the case at the creation. Nothing is said about this in Genesis 1:28. All it says is, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.’” Further, nothing is said of this until this time in history. It is a precept of the law intending to look forward to Christ.

Second point, which so many scholars seem to overlook – it is the emission of semen, and not the act which led to it, that is unclean. The act between the man and his wife (which it must be according to the Bible, in all dispensations and in all circumstances), is never considered either sinful nor to be abstained from, except when mandated by the Lord, under the law, and for specific reasons. The New Testament not only says that the law is done away with, but it further clarifies the truth that the uncleanness from the emission is no longer unclean as well –

“Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Hebrews 13:4

The marriage bed is undefiled. No defilement results from the marriage bed. But the law says it does. Thus, we have another implicit reference (of the hundreds elsewhere) to the ending of the the law. The man and wife of Israel who had sex resulting in an emission became unclean until sundown in order to teach them of their need for freedom from the law, freedom from uncleanness, and freedom from sin. As there were lots and lots of Israelites, there were lots and lots of folks unclean until evening. They obviously didn’t mind the state of being unclean that much. It was a normal part of their daily lives. So much so, that it was talked about openly. When King Saul was looking for a good time to kill David, a hint of this law is evident at the table he sat at –

Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast. ²⁵ Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. ²⁶ Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean.” 1 Samuel 20:24-26

It didn’t matter what reason he thought David was unclean, he simply thought it was so. It was a regular part of the life of an Israelite to be unclean and unable to interact with others at various times. These things had a purpose, and they have served their purpose well if… if we learn what that purpose was. It was to lead us to the knowledge that the law couldn’t save anyone, that it simply showed us how sinful sin really is, and it showed us that we need something else, something better. We need Christ. In Him, all defilement is washed away. In Him, all ills are healed. In Him, there is complete restoration and full redemption. Nothing is lacking, and all is made right.

When we read the law, we are looking at the life of Christ, because He is the fulfillment of the Law. Therefore, let us look to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Let us run the race that is set before us with our eyes on Christ.

Closing Verse: Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1

Next Week: Leviticus 15:19-33 Some more discharge verses to get through… (Discharging Discharges, Part II) (26^th Leviticus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if you have a lifetime of sin heaped up behind you, He can wash it away and purify you completely and wholly. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Discharging Discharges

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying
These are the words to them He was relaying

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:
‘When any man has a discharge from his body
His discharge is unclean
This is how it shall be

And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—
Whether his body runs with his discharge, as I address
Or his body is stopped up by his discharge
It is his uncleanness 

Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies
And everything on which he sits shall be unclean
———-as to you I apprise

And whoever touches his bed shall
Wash his clothes and bathe in water, as I say
And be unclean until evening
At the turn of the new day

He who sits on anything
On which he who has the discharge sat
Shall wash his clothes and bathe in water
And be unclean until evening, yes because of that 

And he who touches the body
Of him who has the discharge shall, as I say
Wash his clothes and bathe in water
And be unclean until evening time of day 

If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean
Then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water too
And be unclean until evening
Such as I am instructing you

Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides
Shall be unclean, and nothing else besides

Whoever touches anything that was under him, as I say
Shall be unclean until evening; the turning of the day

He who carries any of those things
Shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, as well
And be unclean until evening
As to you I now clearly tell 

And whomever the one who has the discharge touches
And has not rinsed his hands in water, as you know
He shall wash his clothes and bathe in water
And be unclean until evening; certainly it shall be so 

The vessel of earth
That he who has the discharge touches, this is not good
[It] shall be broken
And shall be rinsed in water every vessel of wood

‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge
Then he shall count for himself for his cleansing seven days
Wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water
Then he shall be clean; He has entered a clean phase

On the eighth day he shall take for himself
Two turtledoves or two young pigeons; so he shall obey
And come before the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting
And give them to the priest, as to you I now say 

Then the priest shall offer them
The one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering
So the priest shall make atonement for him
Before the Lord because of his discharge; this his proffering

‘If any man has an emission of semen
Then he shall wash in water all his body
And be unclean until evening
So shall it certainly be

And any garment and any leather
On which there is semen evident
It shall be washed with water
And be unclean until evening; until the day is spent 

Also, when a woman lies with a man
And there is an emission of semen, such is seen
They shall bathe in water
And until evening be unclean

Lord God, it is we who have been unclean
It is we who had walked away from You
Our sins defiled us, only stained garments were seen
Our iniquities stained us through and through

But in Your amazing love, and in your magnificent mercy
You made a way for us to be brought back to You
Through the blood of Christ, ended the great controversy
We have been reconciled! Wonderful things You did do

Hallelujah to Christ our Lord!
Hallelujah to the Purifier of our souls
For each person cleansed by His precious blood
Who have been recorded there in heaven’s rolls

We praise You, our matchless King
We praise You now and for all of our days
To you forever will the saints break forth and sing
And to You, O God, we give all of our praise

Hallelujah and Amen…

Leviticus 14:33-57
Leprosy in the House

Eons ago, I was in a church down the road which I was attending. A guy who also attended there was a mildew specialist. While talking with him about his job, I suddenly remembered this particular passage from Leviticus and the symbolism of it flooded over me in a moment. Right then, I thought, “Now I know exactly what that passage is telling us.”

It’s funny how something like that works. When I got home, I typed up a commentary and posted it on my old website. This was a long time ago, and I never went back and read it until the day I typed this sermon. Lots of stuff on that old site that I have no idea about anymore. But, for the most part, my thoughts, even back then were correct about what we are being shown. Unfortunately, the symbolism was shoddy at best, and so after finishing the study for this sermon, I went back to the old site and deleted the page.

It would be fine for a general understanding of the passage, but with some incorrect pictures, I couldn’t let the thing remain. Studying a passage word by word and verse by verse brings out much more exacting pictures of what the Lord is trying to tell us.

But as I said, the major idea of the passage was correct. It is symbolic of other things that are going on in redemptive history, and all which point to Christ, and our relationship with Him.

Text Verse:Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”

⁴ “I will send out the curse,” says the Lord of hosts;
“It shall enter the house of the thief
And the house of the one who swears falsely by My name.
It shall remain in the midst of his house
And consume it, with its timber and stones.” Zechariah 5:3, 4

In this passage from Zechariah, it speaks of consuming a house, with its timbers and its stones. The same terminology is used back here in Leviticus. The Lord there shows us that sin, in that case thievery and perjury, are what brought about the curse, and that curse results in the destruction of the house. Knowing this gives us a general idea of what is being relayed back here in Leviticus.

The word of the Lord is consistent, and one passage will often lead us to a fuller understanding of other passages. However, we still need to be careful with our evaluations of what is going on, and – as I learned from my old website page on this passage – we need to be sure to not trust everything we read. Something may sound convincing, but it can also have error in it, just like my old page about this very passage.

Everything needs to be checked and verified, and everything needs to be carefully evaluated from time to time, lest our doctrine gets off course. I don’t regret posting that old page. There is a time where we simply need to write about what we know. Even the older Genesis sermons are like this. I can go back and see how quickly I went through them and how much I missed. If I could do the book all over again, I would.

But the evaluation is done and the Lord will judge it with His perfect knowledge of my submissions. What is correct will be worth a reward, and what is incorrect will be burned up and gone. He is the Judge, and so to Him we need to give our very best in all things. But we are His children through faith in Him, and so where we are wrong, He will graciously correct us as a Father would to His own children. I’m glad about that because James 3:1 says that teachers will be held to a stricter judgment. I pray that each thing I submit henceforth is worthy of a thumbs up on that Day.

His word is precious, and its truths are wonderful. Let us cherish it always and hide it deep in our hearts. Great things are to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Leprous House (verse 33-47)

³³ And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

Like verse 13:1, the address is now again made to both Moses and Aaron. What is ahead discusses defilement and ritual purification of houses. It is a law coming from the Lord, and therefore it is given through the lawgiver, Moses, but it deals with a new section under the leprosy law, including priestly purification, and so Aaron is also addressed. As one can see, Moses and Aaron are jointly addressed at the giving of the laws which concern overall defilement. First of people and of garments, and then of houses.

³⁴ “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession,

This is the first time that eretz kenaan, or “the land of Canaan” is mentioned in Leviticus. The Lord had promised to bring them to this land in Exodus, and that was based on a previous promise to the patriarchs that their descendants would be returned there. Several times in Exodus, the promise was that the Lord would drive out the inhabitants there. This verse in Leviticus now confirms that this will surely be the case. It is taken as a given that they will enter, they will disposes, and they will dwell there. There is no “if” involved.

The entire passage is based wholly on this future idea then. It is something that will only come to pass in Canaan, and it is one reason why it is listed last in the order of leprosy, but it is not the only reason. The Lord started with leprosy in a person. Then to leprosy in a garment. Now he moves out to leprosy in a household. Each is an expansion of the former thought as is next seen…

^{34 (con’t)} and I put the leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession,

v’natati nega tsaraat – “and I put plague leprosy.” The Lord specifically says that He is the one to put a plague upon the house. Here the Lord claims authority not only over the people, but over their possessions, which extends even to their houses. They were to sanctify themselves, they were to have their garments undefiled, and they were to have their houses kept pure and undefiled as well.

Having said that, throughout Scripture, the Lord often represents as having done things which, through the events of life, He merely permits to be done. In other words, if the symbolism of what is presented is something which the Lord allows, thus He can say, “I have put the leprous plague in a house.”

And then, having said that, it is claimed by ancient Jewish writers that, like the leprosy in the garments, that this is a unique leprosy not found anywhere else. Thus it is a type of divine judgment upon the people of the land for various infractions against the moral code. Whether that is true or not can not be known today. What the leprosy here pictures, however, is clearly symbolic in nature, as will be seen with the verses to come.

³⁵ and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, ‘It seems to me that there is some plague in the house,’

What is evident here is that even if the person is certain that he has leprosy in his house, as is described by the law, it is not for him to make the determination. I can know that someone in my house has the flu, but we still take him to the doctor who gets out that annoying nasal swab, and does his swipe. After that, a confirmation is made, and the appropriate remedy is prescribed. This is the law because only some have the authority to prescribe medicines. In Israel, only the priest had the authority to confirm the plague and prescribe the cure.

In type, we can see that our sick condition of sin may be known to us, but it is the Lord who confirms that state, and it is He who determines the cure. It is not up to us, but to the Lord, to select the healing remedy or the judgment to be imposed.

³⁶ then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house.

This verse actually takes a bit of consideration. There is leprosy in the house, but the priest has not yet proclaimed the house as such. And so before going in to do so, he gives the command that the entire house be emptied. Anything left in there, after the house is declared unclean, will also be declared unclean.

Therefore, the law, as such, did not consider the leprosy as infectious in and of itself. This kindness of having the goods removed, was to keep from there being unnecessary loss, which would otherwise be the case. However, we can see that because the leprosy was declared as such when the priest says so, this is obviously a symbolic type of plague. In picture, we already know that leprosy indicates sin. Therefore, we can see presented here sins which are open, obvious, and can spread.

³⁷ And he shall examine the plague; and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be deep in the wall,

With the house emptied, the priest alone was to examine the plague. In this, he was to look for certain specific signs of infection. The first is ingrained streaks. The word is sheqaarurah, a word found here and nowhere else. Hello and goodbye to it.

There are two possible roots for the word. The first is qara, meaning to tear. Thus it indicates a look as if streaks have been torn from the wall. The second is shaqa, meaning to sink. Thus it would indicate depressions in the wall.

This affliction of the wall then corresponds to the affliction of the leper in verse 13:3, where the leprosy was deeper than the skin. And so either way, these depressions will be greenish or reddish. The word “greenish” is yeraqraq. It was first seen in verse 13:49. It is believed to give the sense of having a yellowish tone to it rather than being fully green. Although it is such a rare word that there is disagreement on this. The last use of it is in Psalm 68 when describing gold, and so it probably means either yellowish or glistening.

The word “reddish” is adamdam. It has been seen five times so far in the Bible, since verse 13:19. This is now the sixth and last time it will be seen. You can bid this word adieu. Finally, it says that the streaks appear to be deep in the wall. The word is shaphal, and it was first seen in 13:20. In all, this matches the infection of leprosy in man. It is symbolic of an infection which is displayed in unclean works. There is a turning, or a perversion of what should exist.

³⁸ then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.

This corresponds to shutting up the leper or the leprous garment. An interval is given to determine if any change has taken place.

³⁹ And the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look; and indeed if the plague has spread on the walls of the house,

In the case of it having spread, the same thing is noted as for the leper or the leprous garment…

⁴⁰ then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city.

There is a pronouncement of uncleanness. However, it is not total. Rather, there is a hoped-for remedy to the situation, which is to merely remove any plagued stones, and cast them to a place set apart as unclean, and which is outside the city.

The word for “take away,” as in taking away the stones, is a new word, khalats. It gives the sense of pulling off, but it is normally used in the Bible as being armed, or prepared for battle. The reason is that a person is being pulled off regular life when being counted among the ranks of the army. In the case of these stones, they are being pulled off from what they were purposed for – a home which was to be a clean place – and they are to be cast into a place which is unclean. Being in an unclean place, they would never again be of use for any purpose.

⁴¹ And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside, all around, and the dust that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city.

Here we have another new word, qatsa, or scrape. It will only be seen here and in Ezekiel 46:22 where it is translated as corner. Like this, a second new word, qatsah, is also used. It is very similar to the other word, with a meaning to cut off or scrape off.

What is to happen here is that the entire inside of the house was to be scraped. The house has had a leprous plague, and thus the inside is unclean, just as the furniture would have been if it was still inside. By removing the infected rocks first, no other rocks would be deemed unclean. Such would not be the case if the house was scraped first. If that was the case, then all the rock walls would be considered unclean.

So, 1) remove the infection, and then, 2) remove that which had been defiled by it. Everything is scraped, and then, 3) even the aphar or dust had to then be taken outside the city to an unclean place and poured out. The word aphar, or dust is the same as that used in Genesis 2:7 when man was formed from the aphar, or dust of the earth. The words of this verse can be tasted in Jesus’ words to His disciples –

“But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ ¹² But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.” Luke 10:10-12

The very dust from which man was taken which is defiled by sin will be scraped off as unclean, and it will be cast into an unclean place where there is only destruction.

⁴² Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other mortar and plaster the house.

The Hebrew reads, “And they shall take stones other and put them in the place the stones, and dust other he shall take and overlay the house.” The word for “plaster” is a new one, tuakh. It means to overlay, overspread, besmear, and so forth.

What needs to be seen here is that the term brick has not been used at any time. A brick is something made by man. But abanim, or stones, and aphar, or dust, are both made by God. Certainly a picture is being made here, or it would have surely said, the stones or the bricks.

What is also necessary to highlight is that there are eight verbs used in this process in verses 40-42. Six are plural – “they shall take & they shall cast” of verse 40; “they shall scrape & they shall pour” of verse 41; “they shall take & they shall put” of verse 42. Two are singular – “he shall take & he shall plaster” in verse 42.

⁴³ “Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house, and after it is plastered,

Here the word parakh or blossom is used as it was several times in Chapter 13. If the plague blossoms again after the remedial actions were taken…

⁴⁴ then the priest shall come and look; and indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is an active leprosy in the house. It is unclean.

No time-frame is given here, but verse 48 implies that the house was again shut up after the re-plastering for a set time, after which another inspection was to be made. This would be the end of the third period of seven days. If at this time the plague returned, just like in a garment, the leprosy was considered maar or active. It is the same word used in verses 13:51 & 52 concerning the malignant leprosy of the garments. If this was the case, the house was to be declared unclean. And if unclean…

⁴⁵ And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place.

The action here is the same as condemning a leper as unclean and thus being excluded from the camp, or for a garment where the plague reappears and which is then to be destroyed.

⁴⁶ Moreover he who goes into the house at all while it is shut up shall be unclean until evening.

This corresponds to verse 11:39 where a person who touches a dead animal is unclean until evening. A house which had been declared leprous conveyed its unclean state to any who entered it, but it was an uncleanness of such a slight nature that it ceased in the evening.

As we have seen, if someone went in at 7am or 5pm, the same uncleanness lasted only until the evening. As we saw before, this term, “until the evening,” looks forward to the work of Christ in the believer. At the end of the age, all defilement will cease, whether a person came to Him on the day of Firstfruits after His resurrection, or 1 second before the rapture. There is a set time where all will be declared fully cleansed actually, just as we are now in Christ positionally.

⁴⁷ And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.

The same defilement for eating the carcass of an animal that dies naturally, or carrying such a carcass (11:40) is seen here. What verses 46 & 47 show us is that there is no consideration of infection, but rather there is merely symbolic uncleanness which results from these actions.

And in reality, it is the law itself which makes the people unclean through their actions. If the law did not say this, then there would be nothing to declare them unclean. Once the law was introduced though, uncleanness for such a thing caused the defilement to be considered. Thus, this is showing us, as it has continuously, that the law itself, and all of its precepts, are merely pointing to spiritual truths about moral uncleanness in the world around us.

There is leprosy in the house, a cancer is seen
It is one which must be made known and then treated
It has streaked the walls reddish and green
If it isn’t taken care of, we will all become unseated

Let us remove the stones which carry the infection
And send them off to an unclean place
They have been identified through a process of detection
And we need to remove every leprous trace

And then let us fill in the void with stones that are new
And cover them with that which is holy and sound
In this, we will be acting in a manner true
And in our home, purity will again be found

II. The Leprous House Explained

A house is something in which people dwell. For Israel of old, the house was a place for home and family, meals and memories, sleeping and swapping stories. If a leprous sore was found in it, the actions required by the law were taken. These were, like everything we have seen, simply pictures of spiritual things.

In the New Covenant of Christ, a house represents on a smaller scale, the local church. Quite a few times, Paul mentions in his letters to greet the saints who meet in this house or that. Thus the house was the place of meeting. On a larger scale, the house of God speaks of the church as a whole. It is the smaller houses to which these pictures are directed. Even today, we often hear people say, “We’re off to the house of God” when speaking of the Superior Word, Sarasota’s precious local church.

The land of Canaan symbolizes the land possessed by the Lord. It is where the people of God live. This then is any place where the people of God now congregate as a church. In such a place, churches take root and meet. But it is certain that everywhere they meet, a plague of sin is bound to appear.

This type of sin is obvious, it is marked by certain traits which cannot be hidden, and it is a deep infection, all indicated by the words describing it. It is one that tears at the church and causes it to sink into a state of unholiness rather than purity.

Reading the seven letters to the seven churches of Revelation shows us this quite clearly. The infection sets in, and the Lord warns that it needs to be excised. When such an infection then arises, it needs to be isolated. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul instructed the church about a member who was engaged in sexual immorality.

When such a plague is identified, it is to be shut up and evaluated. In Israel, the priest using the law as his guide would do his evaluation. In the church, the Lord, through His word identifies that which is plagued.

The fact is that a person in Israel could simply ignore the plague and let it fester, and nobody else would be any the wiser. This doesn’t negate the plague’s existence, it simply means that the person refuses to acknowledge what is obvious. This would be most of the mainstream churches of this day. They will eventually be dealt with. They will be destroyed entirely, to their last stone and timber. All will be cast into the burning Lake of Fire. It’s a sad commentary on what will be the fate of many churches which have ignored the word of the Lord.

But for the church that identifies and isolates such a plague, it is to be evaluated. If there is repentance, reflected in the non-spreading of the plague, then the house is clean. If there is not, then the stones are to be removed – back to 1 Corinthians 5:12, 13 –

“For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? ¹³ But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

How do know this is correct? Because in the New Testament, stones are equated with people, such as in 1 Peter 2:4, 5 –

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:4, 5

A church is a house; people are stones from which it is made. When the stones have a plague, they are to be removed. As I said, only the word abanim, or “stones,” and the word aphar, or “dust” are used here. These are created by God. They are His, and thus there is symbolically no works involved in the process of building His house. Christ determines what His house is constructed of.

When people are filled with unrepentant sin, they are to be excised from the church. After that, the church is to be given instructions in what necessitated the removal of the offenders, symbolized by the removal of the defiled plaster. After that, the church can add its replacement stones and be re-covered with sound doctrine.

However, there is the obvious possibility that the problem is systemic. The doctrine is unsound, the infection is too deep. Such a church is of no value to the Lord. It will have its lampstand removed, it will be destroyed, it along with all who are in it. They will be sent to an unclean place. This is true with the church that doesn’t reveal it’s leprous plague as well.

As I said, a person could have such a plague in his house and ignore it. That doesn’t negate the unclean state of it, nor does it negate the Lord’s judgment. Hiding unrepentant sin in a church is no different than exposing it openly for all to see. In the end, the infection will be destroyed.

This process explains the use of the plural and singular verbs in verses 40-42. The church as a whole removes the stones, or expels the offenders. They together remove any offending doctrine and begin again with a clean slate, even bringing in new members. This is reflected by the use of the plural in 1 Corinthians 5, for example. As a church, they are to do these things. It also fits with Jesus speaking to the church as a whole in the letters to the seven churches.

However, the elder of the church is responsible for ensuring that the new direction is sound, symbolized by the taking of the mortar and the plastering of the house. This is reflected in the pastoral epistles where the words of doctrine and instruction are provided for the one responsible for these matters. In the end, the one responsible for the working of the church will have his church destroyed if he does not take care of the lingering infections in it.

Lord, our house has a cancer, sin infects this place
We know what we need to do, so help us as we do what is right
If we fail, from us You shall surely turn Your face
And upon us will come a pall, like the blackness of the night

Help us to be strong and stand against this sin
No matter what the world says, this is what is right
Against the evil infection, we are sure to win
If we hold fast to Your word; our guiding light

And when we have taken care of what needs to be done
May our doctrine be pure and never fail us
May we proclaim the grace of the giving of Your Son
And hold to the holiness found in the Lord Jesus

III. The Ritual of Purification (verses 48-57)

⁴⁸ “But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.

Hallelujah! The period for inspection has passed, and no indication of a spreading plague is found. Instead it is healed. This is now the last time that the word pasah, or spread, is found in Scripture. It was introduced in verse 13:5, and astonishingly, it has been seen 22 times since. But now we say sayonara to it. The house is healed, and so it is declared clean by the priest. With this good news, comes the same ritual which was seen for the cleansed leper…

⁴⁹ And he shall take, to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.

This verse is very similar to verse 14:4. The only major difference is the birds there are described as alive and clean. This however is now understood, and thus unnecessary. The same pictures for the same things, and having the same meanings are seen in these items.

⁵⁰ Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water;

This verse corresponds directly to verse 14:5.

⁵¹ and he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

Though not in the same order of items mentioned in verse 6, the same procedures are followed here that were followed then. Everything here carries the same marvelous symbolism of the cleansing ritual we looked at then, and which encompassed verses 1-9. If you didn’t see that sermon, your instructions for this afternoon should be clear… go catch up.

⁵² And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and the running water and the living bird, with the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet.

In verse 7, the leper was sprinkled seven times. Here the house is sprinkled seven times. But the same symbolism carries through for the cleansed leper as is now seen for the cleansed house.

⁵³ Then he shall let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field, and make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.

The wonderful letting loose of the second bird, and all the marvel it pictures, is seen for the house as well as for the leper. The bird is loosed in the open, atonement is made for the house, and it is declared clean. The infection is healed, the doctrine of the church is sound, its members are pure, and the Lord accepts them, having died for them and carried their sins away.

In this, there is truly the sense of at-one-ment which is implied by the term atonement. There was a rift, the rift is healed, and a sense of unity between the Lord and His church is realized. It is symbolized in this purification ritual which was explained in detail in the sermon on verses 1-9.

⁵⁴ “This is the law for any leprous sore and scale,

This and the next three verses are a summary of everything which has been seen in chapters 13 & 14. The sore is noted all the way through verses 13:2-46, but the scale is noted solely between verses 13:31-37 where it is mentioned 13 times in just those few verses.

⁵⁵ for the leprosy of a garment and of a house,

The leprosy of a garment is found in verses 13:47-59, and that of a house comprises most of our verses here in this sermon.

⁵⁶ for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot,

These symptoms are a repeat of verse 13:2.

*⁵⁷ to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.”

This final verse is given as a note of closing over a matter which is obviously very on the mind of the Lord. A total of 116 verses have been dedicated to these two chapters to teach Israel a lesson concerning obedience to strict rules of maintaining holiness in the congregation, separating that which is pure from that which is defiled. But as we have seen, these things are mere shadows and types of real, spiritual infections which come up among people as individuals and as groups.

The obvious thing that we see here in these two chapters is that the Lord has no tolerance of sin. He calls it a leprosy, He calls one infected with it a leper, He gives instructions on what to do to excise it, and if those instructions are not followed, He tells what the final remedy is – banishment from the people of God if a saved person; destruction if an unsaved person.

The pictures have been exact, the wording has been precise, and the consequences for our disobedience are sure to come. My heart goes out to you today. If you are engaged in sin; if your life is being lived contrary to the word of God; and if you think that you have hidden it well enough to fool the Lord, you are mistaken. You are a leper and you are unclean. The Lord will search you out, and He will expose your infection.

I plead with you now to take heed to these past two chapters and to come to the Lord for healing. If you have been saved, return to Him. If you have never called on Him, do so today. He truly loves you, and He truly desires the best for you – and your sin is not what He desires. Come to the cross and be restored through the blood of Christ.

Closing Verse: The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the home of the just.
³⁴ Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.
³⁵ The wise shall inherit glory,
But shame shall be the legacy of fools. Proverbs 3:33-35

Next Week: Leviticus 15:1-18 You just gotta know these verses will be a whole heap of fun… (Discharging Discharges, Part 1) (25^th Leviticus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if you have a lifetime of sin heaped up behind you, He can wash it away and purify you completely and wholly. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Leprosy in the House

And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
These are the words to them he was relaying

“When you have come into the land of Canaan
Which I give you as a possession, so I say
And I put the leprous plague in a house
In the land of your possession, a plague arises some given day

And he who owns the house comes
And tells the priest, saying
‘It seems to me that there is some plague in the house
Yes, to him is this thought he is relaying

Then the priest shall command that the house they empty
Before the priest goes into it to examine the plague
———-even the pet mouse
That all that is in the house may not be made unclean
And afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house 

And he shall examine the plague
And indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house, this is his call
With ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish
Which appear to be deep in the wall 

Then the priest shall go out of the house; inside no one stays
To the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days 

And the priest shall come again
On the seventh day and look
And indeed if the plague has spread
On the walls of the house according to his book

Then the priest shall command that they take away
The stones in which is the plague, on those stones having no pity
And they shall cast them into an unclean place
Outside the city 

And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside all around
And the dust that they scrape off, every little bitty
They shall pour out in an unclean place
Outside the city 

Then they shall take other stones
And put them in the place of those stones as well
And he shall take other mortar and plaster the house
So to you, I now these instructions tell

“Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house
After he has taken away the stones, as instructed to do
After he has scraped the house
And after it is plastered too

Then the priest shall come and look
And indeed if the plague has spread in the house,
———-Oh! What does it mean?
It is an active leprosy in the house
It is unclean

And he shall break down the house
Its stones, its timber, and such in this case
And all the plaster of the house
And he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place 

Moreover he who goes into the house, yes inside he is seen
At all while it is shut up shall be until evening unclean

And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes
So he shall do
And he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes
He shall do as I am instructing you

“But if the priest comes in and examines it
And indeed the plague has not spread in the house; so it is revealed
After the house was plastered
Then the priest shall pronounce the house clean
———-because the plague is healed 

And he shall take, to cleanse the house; so he shall do
Two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop too

Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel
———-over running water
And he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet
———–and the living bird
And dip them in the blood of the slain bird
And in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times
———-According to this word

And he shall cleanse the house
With the blood of the bird, as to you I tell
And the running water and the living bird
With the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet as well 

Then he shall let the living bird loose
Outside the city in the open field
And make atonement for the house
And it shall be clean; yes it is healed

“This is the law for any leprous sore and scale
For the leprosy of a garment and of a house, when it is seen
For a swelling and a scab and a bright spot
To teach when it is unclean and when it is clean

This is the law of leprosy
This is how it is to be

Lord God, help us to keep our house holy and pure
Keep defilement away through doctrine sound and true
Please guide us as we take the path which is sure
And stay obedient to Your word, and to You

Should sin come and defile our house
Should an infection arise in this sacred place
Help us to be sure the infection to douse
So that You will again turn to us Your face

We are prone to wander, it is true
But through Your word we have a light shining bright
May we cherish this guide lovingly given by You
And to its precepts which direct us aright

Glory to You in the highest our great and precious Lord
Hallelujah to You for Your superior word

Hallelujah and Amen…

Leviticus 14:10-32
Purified from All Defilement

The thought of having leprosy must have been one of the worst thoughts of all for the Israelite of old. It would have to be comparable to receiving news nowadays that you had somehow contacted AIDs or something similar. There would be expulsion from the camp of God’s people, there would be a shunning by almost everyone who saw you, and there would be an existence which was dirty and festering.

People wouldn’t care how you got it, they would just see you as a person who had become an outcast. Nothing pleasant about such an existence could be truly realized. But if you stop and look at the typology which we drew out from it, the leprosy is just a state of the vile sinner in need of a Savior. It could be, and it was, any one of us before we came to Christ.

The subject of leprosy has been discussed now for all of Chapter 13, which included leprosy of garments, and it has continued on into chapter 14. Today, we will conclude the rites required for atonement to be complete for the healed leper.

What is important to understand, as I noted last week and as I will note again this week, is that everything in the cleansing process is immediate. When we come to Christ, every type and picture that we have seen, and will see, is realized in Him.

The Lord has logically broken down these things into a sequence of events which actually take place in us at once, but which are noted in a set order so that we can see all of them occurring and what they mean to us. The New Testament explains them as well, but before the Antitype and the explanation of His work, we have the foreshadowing type. By presenting it this way, we can be absolutely sure that what we read about in Christ’s fulfillment of them is complete, and it is totally satisfactory to meet every requirement set down by the Law of Moses. This is the beauty of what God has done for us.

What is even niftier is that when He walked among His people Israel, they had a chance to see this Old Testament symbolism come to life. That way, it would be fresh on their minds when He fulfilled the typology. Unfortunately, so many of them missed it, either willingly or by not paying heed. One such example was read last week. It is repeated today as our text verse…

Text Verse: When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Matthew 8:1-4

As we saw last week, it is the Lord who heals, not the priest. Instead, the priest was simply to determine if healing had really taken place, and then to conduct the rites for that healing. Here we have that same pattern taking place. The Lord Yehovah – our Lord Jesus – did the healing. From there, the leper was told to go to the priest, who himself pictured Christ, and to offer the gift that Moses commanded, which also pictures Christ.

If you can see it, the entire law is being fulfilled before their eyes. They were without excuse when Christ rose from the grave. The details of their ancient law which had been shown to them through the work of Jesus was a proof of His messiah-ship. As a whole, they failed to recognize it. Now it is they who are outside the camp, suffering as lepers, and it is we, the redeemed of the Lord from both Jew and Gentile who have been healed, cleansed, and brought into eternal fellowship with our heavenly Father. Amazing, simply amazing. It’s all to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Atonement Before the Lord (verses 10-20)

The time has come! The cleansed leper has gone through his time of personal purification, and now he is ready to be fully reincorporated into the fellowship by making his offerings at the sanctuary. Until this time, he has been allowed in the camp, but he remained outside of his tent. He has also been kept from the sanctuary. But now that his time of purification is past, to the sanctuary he shall go.

¹⁰ “And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil.

It is the eighth day, the number of new beginnings in Scripture. As a leper, he was excluded not just from the sanctuary, but also from the camp. The first ceremony was performed outside the camp, and it allowed the leper to come in among the brethren. The second ceremony, which will now be detailed, would restore him to all of the privileges of a covenant relationship with Yehovah.

As I said, these things happen at one time when we receive Christ, but they are divided into different rites, with different offerings, to show us an entire broad picture of all that Christ has done for each one of us. On this day of new beginnings, the healed-leper is to bring as offerings four things which will comprise three types of offerings. The first consists of sh’nai kebasim, or two male lambs, or more correctly “rams.” Kebes comes from a root which means “to dominate.” It thus pictures Christ’s domination over sin, something which has been pictured in his cleansing. These are to be, tamim, or “without blemish.” Thus they picture Christ in whom no defect was found.

Next, he is to bring kabsah akhat, or one ewe lamb. This is the feminine of the word just used, kebes. This is to be of the first year and also without blemish. This female ewe lamb is rarely seen in the Bible – eight times, in Genesis 21, here, Numbers 6, and 2 Samuel 12.

Thirdly, he is to bring a grain offering of 3/10th of an ephah, or three omers, of fine flour mixed with oil. It is believed that the three omers of flour were brought in connection with the three animal offerings, a tenth for each.

And lastly he is to bring something new to Scripture, a log of oil. This is the first of five times the log will be seen, all in this chapter. It comes from a root meaning to deepen. The word is cognate to the Arabic word meaning be deep, depth, and abyss. The log is a set measure for liquids. Tradition says the measure of the log was equal to six hen’s eggs.

¹¹ Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

The words, “The priest who makes him clean” obviously mean, “The priest who performs the ritual.” It is the Lord who cleansed, and it is the Lord who accepts the ritual of atonement. However, the priest here is typical of Christ our Priest in that it is He who presents us to the Father in purification through Himself. In the ancient type, the healed-leper is presented with his offerings before the face of Yehovah at the door of the tent (not tabernacle) of meeting. Every detail points to Christ – the Offering, the Lord, the Door, even the tent itself, as we saw in Exodus.

The term “at the door of the tent of meeting” signifies the place of the brazen altar. As we have seen many times, it is the offerings at the altar which symbolically allows access through the door.

¹² And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.

Something different occurs here with this asham, or trespass offering than any other such in Scripture. The entire live animal, along with the log of oil, is waved before the Lord. To understand the significance of this, we can take a departure to Numbers 8 –

And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall gather together the whole congregation of the children of Israel. ¹⁰ So you shall bring the Levites before the Lord, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites; ¹¹ and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord like a wave offering from the children of Israel, that they may perform the work of the Lord. ¹² Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls, and you shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.

¹³ “And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. ¹⁵ After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them like a wave offering. Numbers 8:9-15

As you can see from that account, the Levites were waved, setting them apart to the Lord and for His service. Thus, it is showing us that, in picture, the lamb (which is the substitute for the healed leper) pictures him being set apart for the service of the Lord, being dedicated to Him. The log of oil being waved is more than just representing the Spirit. As I said, the word log indicates deepen or depth. Paul explains the Spirit’s work, indicated by the log, in 1 Corinthians 2 –

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10-12

The live animal, signifying the power of Christ for cleansing, the log, signifying the Spirit of God who has searched the spirit of the man, and the waving, signifying the omnipresence of God, are made a substitute asham, or trespass offering, for the healed leper.

¹³ Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.

The place where the sin and burnt offerings are killed is on the north side of the brazen altar. This is the same location where this trespass offering, which has already been waved before the Lord, is killed. As this offering is considered most holy, it belongs to the officiating priest. He and the male members of his family could eat it within the court of the sanctuary. As already stated, this asham, or trespass offering, pictures Christ. In Isaiah 53, He is specifically called our asham, or guilt offering –

But the LORD was pleased 
            To crush Him, putting Him to grief; 
            If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, Isaiah 53:10 (NASB)

¹⁴ The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

This rite is similar to that of the consecration of Aaron and his sons in Chapter 8. The application of the blood to the healed leper signifies the acceptance of the substitute. Blood symbolizes life. Shed blood thus symbolizes death. In the leper’s consecration, he has now symbolically died to self and henceforward is to live for God.

That each point of application is on the right side has meaning in and of itself. The right is the side of strength, blessing, authority, honor, judgment (in salvation), wisdom, cleansing, etc. Applying the blood to the right includes in some measure, each of these.

First, blood is applied to the tenuk, or lobe of the ear. This signifies obedience in the sense of spiritual hearing. He was to heed the Divine voice which would speak to him either through the law or the prophets. He was to be consecrated to this hearing of the word, in the sense of applying it to his life.

Next, it was to be applied to the bohen, or thumb, of the right hand. The fingers symbolize human activity. Here, the thumb represents the whole hand. His hand, thus meaning his spiritual activity, was to be set apart to God, to holiness, and to only that which was sanctified. He was to be a member of the congregation to not only hear the Divine voice, but to respond to it through daily life.

Lastly, the blood was to be applied to the bohen, or big toe, of his foot. This symbolized that he was to walk only in paths of holiness, directing his steps toward God in the race set before him. This verse, with the three principle points of application, is explained by Paul in Colossians 1 –

“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; (ear) ¹⁰ that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, (toe) being fruitful in every good work (thumb) and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; ¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” Colossians 1:9-12

In the application of the blood to these three extremities, there is the sense that his entire life was to be enclosed in the service of God. From head to toe and from hand to foot, he was sanctified as as acceptable. The leper, as we saw, pictured the man in sin. He once did not hear the word of God, his works were defiled by sin, and his walk was down a contrary and evil path. But now, he is sanctified and set apart for the service of God. It is you, and it is me, cleansed by Christ.

¹⁵ And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.

The blood was given to signify the shedding of Christ’s blood by which sins are atoned for. The oil signifies the Spirit by which the person is renewed. This is poured by the priest into the priest’s left hand. The word “priest” is noted twice in the Hebrew to ensure that it is understood to be into his own left hand into which it is poured, but not into the hand of the one being cleansed. Christ our High Priest is the One from whom the Spirit issues.

¹⁶ Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.

Here the priest is said to dip his finger in the oil. It is the same word used in verse 6 when the bird was plunged into the water/blood mixture. He turned toward the tent of meeting, and then he would dip and sprinkle, dip and sprinkle, repeating this seven times. It is symbolic of the seven-fold Spirit of the Lord noted in Isaiah and in Revelation.

¹⁷ And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering.

The blood symbolized dying to self and henceforward living for God. It was given as a token of forgiveness of the trespass. The oil is now emblematic of healing. Thus we see Christ’s blood that justifies, and Christ’s Spirit that sanctifies. The oil is applied to the same points of the body as before. In type, it is the person prepared for service to the Lord; and is now enabled for service to the Lord.

¹⁸ The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed.

Any remaining oil in the priest’s hand, after the sprinkling and the application to the body, was to be put on top of the cleansed-leper’s head. It was not to simply be wiped off of the hand or drained onto the ground. As the oil is emblematic of the Spirit, it is to be given without measure to the healed leper. In other words, the remaining amount is an unspecified amount. Thus it is applied to the head symbolizing the abundance of the Spirit as determined by the Spirit alone for head knowledge which is sanctified knowledge. As Paul says in Ephesians 4 –

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Ephesians 4:7

^{18 (con’t)} So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.

These words are speaking of the process which has been accomplished, but it is not specifically atonement as in propitiation for sin. That is coming in the next verse. Rather, there has been a gulf which separated the leper from the Lord. This trespass offering has been given to cover this and to make an AT-ONE-MENT relationship once again. From there, the specific sins will next be atoned for…

¹⁹ “Then the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness.

This sin offering would be the ewe lamb mentioned in verse 10. It is typical of Christ who was made sin and also a sin offering for His people. This sacrificial lamb was prophesied in Isaiah 53:7 –

“He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,” Isaiah 53:7

It is again noted in a prophecy spoken by John the Baptist –

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

There is first the trespass offering, then there is the sin offering. Each is typical of the coming work of Christ. And then…

^{19  (con’t)} Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering.

The olah, or burnt offering is last. The burnt offering is emblematic of one’s life given wholly to God. For the healed leper, he gives his burnt offering, typical of Christ who gave His life wholly to God. The healed leper is saying that he will emulate the offering with his own life. As Christ died to self, so the burnt offering is killed, emblematic of the healed leper dying to self as a burnt offering.

²⁰ And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

A burnt offering is one described as a sweet smelling savor. In this, it is emblematic of Paul’s words concerning Christ –

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. ² And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Ephesians 5:1, 2

The grain offering as verse 10 noted, was to be fine flour mixed with oil. The fine flour as seen in Chapter 2, reflects Christ, the finest grain which comprises the Bread of Life. It is then mixed with oil, symbolic of His life being completely permeated with the Spirit of God. Only a portion of this would have been burnt up on the altar after having frankincense added into it.

This memorial portion pictured Christ and His work being offered up to God as a fragrant offering. The rest of the grain offering would then belong to the priests. Once this final offering was made, full atonement was made and the healed leper was now deemed clean. He had the same full rights and access of any other member of the congregation. As I said, all of these offerings are only types of things which occur instantaneously in the believer. Christ’s work is immediate, and it is all-sufficient to restore the plagued soul once and for all.

This spotless lamb, so innocent and pure
Has to die for me to be fully purified
In its shed blood is to be found the cure
I shall be healed after it has died

I have been a poor leper, my wounds open and sore
My sin has kept me far from the people of God
This affliction I don’t want anymore
Now I hope for a new path to trod

My heart is open, to the spotless Lamb, innocent and pure
Who died for me to be cleansed and purified
In His shed blood I have found the cure
I can be healed because for me He died

Hallelujah to the Lamb of God, our Christ Jesus!
Hallelujah to the One who has done such things for us!

II. Provision for the Poor (verses 21-32)

²¹ “But if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, a log of oil,

Provision is mercifully made for the poor to bring a lesser sacrifice, but without some sacrifice there could be no cleansing. As the New Testament shows, there is no remission without the shedding of blood. And so even a poor person was required to bring at least one male lamb. Likewise, it is true that anyone who comes to God must bring with him the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus. The requirement is set here because the typology must be maintained. Without Christ, there is no cleansing; no healing; no redemption.

One can see here that the typology of Christ the Lamb as our asham, or guilt offering, is extremely important in God’s mind. To not require this lamb for our guilt would then violate the typology for the New Testament. One could say, “See, I can come to God apart from the Lamb.” Such however is not the case. It is only Christ the Lamb through whom we are reconciled to God. Rich or poor, all must come through Him.

In the case of the poor person, the adjective used is dal. It signifies to dangle, and so by implication it means weak or thin, as a poor person certainly is. Such a person would be hard-pressed to provide the previous offerings. The Hebrew reads v’ain yadow maseget – “and no his hand can reach.” In other words, he is so poor that his hand cannot reach out for a sufficient amount to purchase the previous offerings.

And so one male lamb is required for the trespass, or guilt, offering, to be waved. Along with that would be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil instead of three tenths. Also, as before, a log of oil. Requiring the same log of oil shows us that there is one Spirit, and only He can search out the deep things of God. The rich man cannot buy more of the Spirit, and the poor man is not acceptable with less, if that were possible. The same Spirit is equally necessary to each, one as to the other.

²² and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford: one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.

In the case of the poor person, instead of a second male lamb, and a ewe lamb, he could bring two turtledoves or two doves. As it says, asher tasig yadow – “which can reach his hand.” In this case, one is for the sin offering, and the other for the burnt offering. It is the same allowance which was made for the poor woman who conducted her ritual of purification after childbirth which was recorded in Leviticus 12.

As it says in Acts 10:34, “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.” Such is the case here. God accepts the rich and the poor alike, and He is willing to give great mercy to the poor when necessary. As long as he first comes through the Lamb, there is full redemption.

These birds picture Christ in their simplicity, purity, and humility. Further, the affection of the dove for its mate makes it a splendid picture of Christ who is so affectionate for His people that He came to dwell among them and give Himself for them. Both of these thoughts fit so perfectly with a poor person who has come to Him. They are humble and yet so very loved by their Lord.

²³ He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, before the Lord.

This verse combines thoughts from verse 10 and verse 11 which surround the named offerings, but it is the exact same thought. It is on the eighth day of his cleansing when he brings his offerings to the priest at the door of the tent of meeting before the Lord.

²⁴ And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.

The wording here closely resembles that of verse 12. However, instead of it being one of the males lambs, it is the only male lamb. Other than that, it is the same procedure with the same meaning. This verse now has the fifth and last use of the word log in the Bible. You can say goodbye to the log now.

²⁵ Then he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

This verse closely resembles verses 13 and 14, but in a more brief form. But the requirements are just the same as before.

²⁶ And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand.

With just a few words of difference, this is identical in thought to verse 15.

²⁷ Then the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord.

Again, with a few words of difference, the thought here is identical to verse 16. The intent is wholly the same.

²⁸ And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.

And again, the procedures are the same as before. For rich man and for poor, the same rites and the same purifications are conducted.

²⁹ The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord.

The remaining oil in the priest’s hand is once again put on the head of the poor healed leper. The same procedures with the same full cleansing are given to him as to the richest noble. In Christ, there is no partiality, but rather there is the same love and grace poured out on all. The Spirit is given to both poor and rich without measure.

³⁰ And he shall offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, such as he can afford—

Now the changes to the rite become evident. In this it says that one of the birds is to be selected me’asher tasig yado, or “of which can reach his hand.” His poor state is highlighted here, indicating that the Lord is granting an additional mercy to him because of his plight. And again, this state is noted with the next verse…

³¹ such as he is able to afford,

The words are repeated specifically to show his diminished state, but it is not to show it and highlight it, as if he is somehow of less value to the Lord. Instead, it is to show and even highlight that he has found the same favor as a rich man before the Lord. There is no consideration of his impoverished state, except in that the Lord is magnified through His goodness to him because of it.

^{31 (con’t)} the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the Lord.

These words substantially repeat the thought of verses 19 & 20. One of the birds replaces the ewe lamb, and the second bird replaces the second male lamb. The small grain offering is accepted in place of the larger one, and atonement is made for the poor healed leper, there liphne Yehovah or, before the Lord.

*³² This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford the usual cleansing.”

One final time, the words “Which not can reach his hand” are given. Considering what the plague of leprosy pictured over these past many verses, it is a marked and wonderful note to end them on. The Lord has extended His hand to even the poorest of all of the poor beggar sinners of the world, and none are exempt from His kindness, if they will just come to Him for cleansing.

As a great summary of the parts of Chapters 13 & 14 which pertain to leprosy in people, John Gill provides us the following words to consider and take to heart –

“…it may be observed that a great deal of notice is taken of a leper, and strict inquiry made into the nature of leprosy, and the various signs of it given; and a great deal to do about the cleansing and expiation of him; all which shows what notice God takes of leprous sinners, and what a diligent scrutiny should be made into the evil nature of sin, and what a provision God has made for the cleansing and atonement of sinners by the blood and sacrifice of his Son; which is here typified by all sorts of offerings, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the burnt offering, and the meat offering.” John Gill

What is more to add onto his words is that God has made provision not just for sinners, but all sinners. The refuse of the world, its very off-scouring, can be purified through a humble act of petition and by a verbal act of confession. Paul, who mostly explains these ancient types and shadows, tells us exactly what we need to do in order to receive this marvelous Fount of cleansing. In the 10^th Chapter of the book of Romans, he says –

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:8-13

Vile sinner… come to Christ and be healed of your plague. Come into God’s camp and be counted among the cleansed, the purified, the redeemed and sanctified people of the Lord.

Closing Verse:  For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— ³¹ that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Next Week: Leviticus 14:33-57 Be sure to be here, but please leave behind your pet mouse… (Leprosy in the House) (24^th Leviticus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if you have a lifetime of sin heaped up behind you, He can wash it away and purify you completely and wholly. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Purified From All Defilement

“And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish
One ewe lamb of the first year without blemish too
Three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil
As a grain offering, and one log of oil; so he shall do

Then the priest who makes him clean
Shall present the man who is to be made clean; this he shall be completing
And those things, before the Lord
At the door of the tabernacle of meeting 

And the priest shall take one male lamb
And offer it as a trespass offering, according to this word
And the log of oil, and wave them
As a wave offering before the Lord 

Then he shall kill the lamb
In the place where he kills the sin offering, there it shall be
And the burnt offering, in a holy place
For as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering
———-It is most holy

The priest shall take some of the blood
Of the trespass offering
And the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear
Of him who is to be cleansed; he shall do this thing

On the thumb of his right hand as well
And on the big toe of his right foot, as to you I now tell

And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, please understand
And pour it into the palm of his own left hand

Then the priest shall dip his right finger
In the oil that is in his left hand, according to this word
And shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger
Seven times before the Lord

And of the rest of the oil in his hand
The priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear
Of him who is to be cleansed
On the thumb of his right hand, as you now hear

And on the big toe of his right foot, so he shall do this thing
On the blood of the trespass offering

The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand
He shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, so do
So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord
This is what I am instructing you

“Then the priest shall offer the sin offering
And make atonement for him; a covering it shall bring
Who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness
Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering 

And the priest shall offer the burnt offering
And the grain offering on the altar
So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean
In these things, the priest shall not falter

“But if he is poor and cannot afford it
Then he shall take one male lamb; this he shall do
As a trespass offering to be waved
To make atonement for him, as I am telling you

One-tenth of an ephah of fine flour
Mixed with oil as a grain offering
A log of oil, and two turtledoves or two young pigeons
Such as he is able to afford: surely he can do this thing

One shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering
So shall be his proffering

He shall bring them to the priest
According to this word
On the eighth day for his cleansing
To the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord

And the priest shall take the lamb
Of the trespass offering and the log of oil, do heed the word
And the priest shall wave them
As a wave offering before the Lord

Then he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering
And the priest some of the blood shall take
Of the trespass offering
For the cleansed man’s sake

And put it on the tip of the right ear of him
Who is to be cleansed, as I to you tell
On the thumb of his right hand
And on the big toe of his right foot as well 

And the priest shall pour some of the oil, please understand
Into the palm of his own left hand 

Then the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger
According to this word
Some of the oil that is in his left hand
Seven times before the Lord

And the priest shall put some of the oil
That is in his hand on the tip of the right ear
Of him who is to be cleansed
As you now hear

On the thumb of the right hand
There he shall do this thing
And on the big toe of his right foot
On the place of the blood of the trespass offering

The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand
Pay careful heed to this word
He shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed
To make atonement for him before the Lord

And he shall offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons
Such as he can afford— such as he is able to afford
The one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering
With the grain offering, there before the Lord

So the priest shall make atonement for him
Who is to be cleansed before the Lord
This is the law for one who had a leprous sore
Who cannot the usual cleansing afford

Lord God Almighty, how marvelous is the story
Of what Christ has done for lepers like us
We have gone from defilement unto glory
All because of the wonderful work of Jesus

How can it be that You would care for fallen man
Stepping out of eternity to walk with us
Wondrous are Your ways, glorious is Your plan
Thank You, O God, for the wonderful work of Jesus

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

Leviticus 14:1-9
Set Free in and Open Field

When you think of the movie The Sound of Music, surely what must come to mind before anything else is the moment where Julie Andrews spreads out her arms on the open field of the mountaintop. There is a feeling of freedom when you’re in an open space like that. No matter how far you stretch your arms, there is always more room to do so. The heart can feel a sense of satisfaction like no other in such a spot.

David wrote about that several times, noting that the Lord delivered him and brought him out into a broad place. Although the verses today might seem curious, and we might feel a tweak of sadness as we see one bird killed and another dipped into the blood of the dead bird, we still must certainly get a feeling of relief when we read about the remaining bird being set free.

I know I do. Every time that I have read that verse, I get a happy sensation. There is freedom and there is the chance to live anew in that freedom. What a blessed little bird! But the question is, what does all of this mean? It does seem rather odd, but the Lord decided these things, and all things, as we know, look forward to the Person and work of Christ. So all we need to do is take things slowly and carefully, and all will be revealed. There is a leper who is healed, and there is a need for cleansing. This much we know just from a cursory reading of the verses.

Text Verse: Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1

There is a person who is healed, there is a priest who inspects, and who then performs a ritual, and then there is the cleansed person who is asked to do certain things after he is pronounced clean. Sounds like a fun study, does it not? I don’t know about you, but I was as excited as a Mexican jumping bean to get into these verses and study them as I had never done before. At the end of the day (which was a long day of study and contemplation), I was both tired and yet perfectly happy with the hours spent looking into what is presented here. Even the part about shaving the beard.

It’s not something I would personally look forward to, and so I’m glad these things are fulfilled in Christ. Unless I get the thing caught in a hammer drill again, I plan on keeping this one a long, long time. Oh, have I never told you about that? Well, I will do so and then we will get into this marvelous set of verses. Great stuff is to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. When the Leprosy is Healed in the Leper (verses 1-9)

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Despite Aaron being the high priest, and having been addressed along with Moses at the beginning of the last major section, which comprised all of Chapter 13, the Lord now speaks only to Moses. Unlike the last section which dealt with identifying leprous outbreaks, this section deals with the purification rituals. They are words of law, and thus Moses, the lawgiver receives them. This is seen in the next words…

² “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing:

A couple things need to be seen here. First, this is referring to a person who is unclean because of leprosy, which as we saw is a picture of defilement from sin. He was unclean, and thus was separated from the Lord’s people. The leprous plagues, as we have seen, picture various types of people caught in various types of sin.

Secondly, from the outset the priest had nothing to do with the cleansing of the leper. He was unclean with leprosy, and now his condition has apparently changed. He was outside of fellowship, and now he is hopefully to be accepted into it. He had a plague which pictured sin and separation, and now he seems to be healed. This was all apart from the priest’s ability to cleanse.

As I explained in chapter 13, the word or, meaning skin, is used 99 times in the Bible, and yet 46 of them were mentioned in that one chapter. The or is the covering of the man. Having an affliction in the skin then was an outward sign of uncleanness. As you saw, it signified an uncleanness which pictures sin in man; a plague of death. Now, the word “skin” is never mentioned in chapter 14. There is life and health, leading to spiritual restoration.

^2 (con’t) He shall be brought to the priest.

The healing precedes the inspection. The priest is not the healer, but rather the Lord is. It is the priest’s job to determine if the person is actually healed and then to perform the purification rites. The Lord, in fact, healed the man, but he was then sent to the priest according to the law.

³ And the priest shall go out of the camp,

Verse 2 said that he was to be brought to the priest, but this only means in the sense of inspection, not in the sense of the leper’s previous locality. The leper would be brought from his place of seclusion, as defined in verse 13:46, to a place near the camp.

It is to this place that the priest would go to outside of the camp in order to meet the leper, not the other way around. Until the leper is declared clean, he is not only separate from the priest, meaning the sanctuary as well, but he has been kept from the entire assembly, outside of the camp and outside of fellowship.

^3 (con’t) and the priest shall examine him; 

In the decided location, the priest is to inspect the leper. It is an inspection of the eye. He is to look over the person, and to make his evaluation based on what he sees, as the word raah implies.

^3 (con’t) and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper,

The word says, v’hinneh nirpa nega ha’tsaraat min ha’tsarua – “And behold! (If) be healed the plague the leprosy from the leper.” The words are excited and sure. The priest has looked, and his eyes have beheld the work of the Lord. The word for healing is rapha. It is the word used when the Lord claimed a special title for Himself in Exodus 15. There He said –

“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:26

This is seen now. The priest has gone forth not to heal, but to determine if healing has taken place. Yehovah Rapha, or the Lord who Heals, is the One who accomplishes the healing. If the leper is so healed, a particular ritual is to be conducted. It is a ritual which is actually a parable being expressed through action.

⁴ then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds,

It must be noted that this ritual by the priest is conducted outside of the camp, before the man is allowed to come in. Though healed, he is not yet cleansed. The cleansing of the once-leprous person takes on two distinct parts. The first is cleansing to come into the camp. This is seen in verses 4-8. Only after that will he then be purified to come to the sanctuary where he will perform his own sacrifices for complete restoration.

The priest now commands to bring shete tsiporim khayot tehorot, or “two birds living (and) clean.” However, no particular bird is described. The word for bird, tsippor, is the basis for the name of Moses’ wife, Tsipporah. The tsippor is used elsewhere as a picture of those who are joined as the people of God, and thus those in the church – be it Old or New Testament. The 84th psalm shows that the bird can find a home where the Lord dwells –

“Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.” Psalm 84:3

Jesus gives the same basic idea in the New Testament –

“Then He said, “’What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.'” Luke 13:18, 19

The use of the bird for cleansing then is to signify acceptance into the people of the Lord.

^4 (con’t) cedar wood,

Along with the two clean birds, he is to bring ets eretz, or wood cedar. The cedar is introduced into the Bible here. The word is derived from a root which means to be firm, or strong. It is the same word used to describe the cedars of Lebanon and even the cedars of God in Psalm 80. Thus they are large, magnificent, firmly fixed trees.

^4 (con’t) scarlet,

u-sh’ni tolaat, or “and scarlet (of the) crimson grub worm,” is to be brought. The implication is scarlet yarn. Two words here are used to describe the color. The first is shani, which means “scarlet.” The second is tola. This is actually a worm known as the crimson-grub. However, it is used only in this manner concerning the color from it, and cloths dyed with it.

Taken together, they are translated as “scarlet,” but implying the scarlet which comes from the tola or grub worm. The double words “implies that to strike this color the wool or cloth was twice dipped” (Clarke). The scarlet, or red, in the Bible pictures and symbolizes war, blood, and/or judgment. In this case, it is judgment, as in judgment on sin.

^4 (con’t) and hyssop.

And finally, ezov, or hyssop, is to accompany these things. The word hyssop that we use today comes from the Hebrew through the Greek. In Greek, it is hussopos, and this is a transliteration from the Hebrew ezov. You can hear the similarity ezov/hyssopos/hyssop. It is an herb native to the Middle East and elsewhere. It has antiseptic, cough relieving, and expectorant properties.

Because of this, it is used as an aromatic herb and for medicine. It is a brightly colored shrub with dark green leaves. During the summer, it produces bunches of pink, blue, or, more rarely, white fragrant flowers. It is contrasted to the cedar in 1 Kings 4, showing its diminutive size –

“He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. ³³ Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.” 1 Kings 4:32, 33

⁵ And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed

“And shall command the priest and slaughter the bird the one.” As has been seen, and as will be seen throughout Scripture, there is no cleansing without the shedding of blood. Likewise, there is no atonement without the shedding of blood. In order for there to be purification, something must die. In this case, one of the birds is slaughtered for the once-leprous man to be cleansed. This first bird is to be slaughtered…

^5 (con’t) in an earthen vessel

el keli kherets, or “to a vessel earthen.” This is the only acceptable vessel for the rite. It cannot be gold, it cannot be silver, it cannot be bronze. It must be in an earthen vessel alone.

^5 (con’t) over running water.

al mayim khayim – “over water living.” The English translation is a bit misleading. The water wasn’t running as the bird was killed. Rather, living water signifies water from a spring as it comes forth from the ground. Thus the water in the bowl is to be living water, and into it, the blood of the bird was to drip and mix. The symbolic meaning is that the water was pure, having come up from the earth, and without having gathered any impurities.

⁶ As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.

Ancient sources state that the wings and the tail of the living bird were extended. And then, while in this position, it was tied together lengthwise with the bundle of hyssop and the cedar wood, and then dipped into the blood and water in the earthen dish. The word for dip is tabal. It means to dip or plunge. It comes from a primitive root meaning to immerse. It is, for example, used of Naaman the Syrian going into the Jordan seven times in order to be purified of his leprosy. Thus, it is an immersion. The entire handful of contents was dipped into the earthen vessel of living water.

⁷ And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy,

There are several traditions concerning this sprinkling. One says it was on the covering over the face of the leper, one says it was on his forehead, and one says it was on the back of his hand. The Bible doesn’t say, and so that is completely irrelevant. All the Bible is concerned with is that he is to be sprinkled seven times. Seven is, as we have seen many times, the number of spiritual perfection. The sprinkling is something that it referred to and explained in the book of Hebrews –

For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” ²¹ Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. ²² And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Hebrews 9:19-22

^{7  (con’t)} and shall pronounce him clean,

Once the rite of sprinkling is accomplished, the leper is then pronounced clean. The word taher signifies that which is purified. Once this is accomplished, then a marvelous rite of freedom is conducted…

^{7  (con’t)} and shall let the living bird loose in the open field.

The living bird which went through something that was certainly traumatic in the extreme for it, is set free in the sadeh, or open field. This word comes from an unused root which means “to spread out,” and thus it is an open space.

⁸ He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes,

The word for wash is kebes. It means to trample, and thus to wash by stamping with the feet, as in the fulling process. This was the first step of his own personal preparedness for returning to life within the camp.

^8 (con’t) shave off all his hair,

The next step is to shave off all of his hair. Hair in the Bible, as we have seen many times, signifies awareness, but especially an awareness of sin. Every bit of his hair is to be shaven, and this is given in greater detail in verse 9. After this…

^8 (con’t) and wash himself in water,

A bath for the body is in order…

^8 (con’t) that he may be clean.

v’taher – “and pure.” Each step is in preparation for the wondrous moment of rejoining the people of God. He is to do these things and then…

^8 (con’t) After that he shall come into the camp, and shall stay outside his tent seven days.

The reason for this isn’t stated, but it seems obvious that it was to keep him from any type of defilement which could occur and thus interrupt his own purification process.

⁹ But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair

On the seventh day, after a week in his purification, the person is to shave again. This time it is defined first as all the hair…

^9 (con’t) off his head

The word for head is rosh. It comes from a root meaning “to shake,” as the head is that part which is most easily shaken.

^9 (con’t)and his beard

As we saw in the previous chapter, the zaqan, or beard comes from the verb zaqen, which means to be or become old, and so it can be translated as “old man.”

^9 (con’t) and his eyebrows

The gav, or eyebrow, is introduced here, and this is the only time it is used to describe the brow of the eye. It simply means “rim.” It comes from a root which means “to hollow” or “to curve.” Thus it is the curves of the eyes. As this is the only instance where this is used to speak of the brow of the eye, it is actually the eyes which are the subject here. One doesn’t actually shave their eye, but they will shave the brow of the eye.

^9 (con’t) —all his hair he shall shave off.

Again, hair indicates an awareness, specifically that of sin. All of the evident hair is to be shaven.

^9 (con’t) He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water,

After the shaving, the clothes and the body are washed, and then…

*^9 (fin) and he shall be clean.

The man plagued with leprosy is now clean. He is not yet through with the requirements he is expected to deal with, but he is now considered fully accepted into the community, and he can now proceed to the sanctuary as any other Israelite could do.

Healed from leprosy, clean and pure
I am ready to enter into a new life with my Lord
I have been cleansed, and that is sure
No longer alienated; so says the word

Freed from sin, I am whole once again
Cleansed by God and granted new life in my Lord
I have been justified and sanctified among the sons of men
Cleansed by the washing of water through the word

It is all by the grace of God that this has come about
I am free from what once confined me
Through the death of Another, I am purified, no doubt
Thank God for Christ Jesus who has set me free

II. Pictures of Christ

Here we have a passage which seems so odd, and so obscure to our modern senses, that it is actually completely foreign to anything we would consider as necessary after getting over a skin disease. But if we just remember what those skin diseases pictured in the previous chapter, then we can again look at these verses and know that we are being given more pictures.

If the leprosy was a picture of sin and death, then this must be picturing purification from that. First, we need to remember that the healing of the leprosy comes from the Lord. It did not come from a doctor or a priest. As the priest is the mediator for the people on behalf of God, and as our true Mediator is Christ, then we can make the obvious connection that the Lord is filling several roles at once.

Thus, this means that what is happening here is a process which, even though it is occurring in a set order, actually may have many aspects occurring simultaneously. Just as when a person believes in Christ, they are saved, they are justified, they are sanctified, and they are sealed with the Holy Spirit all at one time. So it is with what is occurring in these verses. A process is taking place which pictures another process in us; one that occurs instantaneously.

It needs to be noted that the killing of the live bird here does not actually denote a true sacrifice. That will be detailed in the following verses next week. However, at the same time, it pictures the same things as a true sacrifice. And so in this case, there is a representation of the state in which the leper had legally been, and it signifies what would have happened to him if there was no remedy for his affliction to be found.

But a cure was found and, as I said, it is represented by the same things which marks a true sacrifice under the law. There is the truth that one takes the place of another. This will become evident as we go on.

The person who has the leprous plague is healed; the person who is plagued with sin is healed. It is the Lord who heals. This is the person who comes to Christ by faith in His finished work. The priest, Christ, examines him, and indeed, the Lord has healed him. Christ is Yehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals. The malady of the skin which was seen 46 times in the previous chapter is no longer mentioned. There is life and health, signifying spiritual renewal.

We are told that the priest went outside the camp to meet the leper, the sinner, and all of the rites of purification by the priest are done outside of the camp. Christ left heaven in order to meet with sinners. He assumed a human nature, and came forth from His Father, going into the world to save them. Likewise, Hebrews 13:11 says that Christ suffered outside the camp, meaning Jerusalem, in order to sanctify the people with His own blood.

It is there that the priest meets with the one who is to be cleansed of leprosy; it is there where Christ meets the one who is to be purified from sin. Such is the Lord who is ready to meet with sinners. There, in his still-defiled state, the leper and the sinner are inspected. As the priest inspects the leper, Christ so reads the hearts and minds of he who calls out to Him.

And so there, at the inspection it says, “And behold! (If) be healed the plague the leprosy from the leper.” That is equated directly to, “And behold! He is cured from his sin.” He has believed in Christ. Christ has inspected, and Christ has determined.

In acknowledgment of the clean state, a ritual is now conducted which pictures the work of Christ, and it is a work of Christ which is now realized in the believer. As I said, though these are done in an order here in Leviticus, they are symbolic of that which happens at once in the believer.

Two living birds, cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop are brought at the priest’s command. The two living birds both picture Christ. The cedar wood pictures Christ, and the hyssop pictures… Christ. The pictures, however, like all such things, picture Christ on behalf of His people, and thus it is a process which includes those “in Christ.”

As I said, the bird elsewhere in the Bible symbolizes those who are joined as the people of God. The two birds are described as living and clean. It is an obvious picture of Christ who is alone without sin. He is Life, and he is Purity. Why there are two birds will be seen as we progress.

Along with the two birds is ets eretz, or wood cedar. The word signifies firm or strong. What is occurring in this rite is something permanent. It carries the strength of the process. It is symbolic of Christ who is the strength of God for salvation. As Paul says in Romans 5 –

“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6

The sh’ni tolaat, or scarlet of the crimson grub worm, pictures Christ who is described by the same word, tola, in the 22^nd Psalm, a psalm about the cross of Christ –

“But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.” Psalm 22:6

As we have seen throughout Exodus, the scarlet color signifies judgment. In this case, it is judgment on sin. This is what happened at the cross of Christ, and this is what the scarlet signifies here. A description of this crimson dye, which is obtained from the tola is given to us by Henry Morris –

“When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might ‘bring many sons unto glory.’ He died for us, that we might live through him!” Henry Morris

The hyssop, as I noted earlier, was contrasted to the cedar by Solomon to show its humble size and nature. Where cedar denoted firmness and strength, the hyssop denotes humility. Other than the one instance given by Solomon, it is always used in the Bible in conjunction with purification. Paul shows us how this humble plant, used in purification, looks forward to Christ –

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, andcoming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:5-8

After calling for these things, each of which pictures Christ, it says that the priest is to kill the first bird over living water in an earthen vessel. The earthen vessel and the living water picture Christ. He came in the likeness of man; man whom Paul describes as an earthen vessel –

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7

As I said earlier, only an earthen vessel would suffice for this purification. The reason is that only Christ’s incarnation, coming as a Man in an earthen vessel, could purify the lost sinner. The living water is described by Christ Himself as that which flows from Him. It is He who is the pure and undefiled Water pictured here –

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37, 38

The slaughtering of the first bird over the earthen jar, and then mingling its blood into the living water symbolizes Christ’s death. It is this act which allows the fountain of purification and cleansing from sin.

Once that is accomplished, then the other bird is immersed into the mixture, along with the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop. It is symbolic of the burial of Christ. His strength, his judgment on sin, and his humility in coming as a human were all buried. But that isn’t the end of the story. It is this mixture which is then sprinkled seven times on the one to be cleansed. The mixture of the blood of the bird and the living water, along with the cedar, scarlet, and hyssop, is seen in John’s words of his first epistle –

“This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.”1 John 5:6

Seven is the number of spiritual perfection, and so the seven-fold sprinkling is symbolic of the perfect sprinkling of the seven-fold Spirit of the Lord which is cited in Isaiah 11 –

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
² The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:1, 2

This Spirit of the Lord, which rests upon Christ, is sprinkled on all who believe. It is the sealing of the Spirit which Paul mentions in Ephesians 1:13, 14.

Once the person is so sprinkled, he is then pronounced clean. He is considered purified by this act. And so it is with the Spirit. Paul, writing to those in Rome, tells them what they once were, and what they now are in Christ. It is a perfect picture of the defiled person of Chapter 13, and the now cleansed person of Chapter 14 –

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Romans 6:9-11

The Spirit sanctifies the believer, just as the water and blood mixture was sprinkled on the leper in order to cleanse him. And after that occurs, it says that the living bird is to be loosed in an open field. It is typical of the resurrection of Christ. The bird had been immersed into death, and it was raised out of it. That death is what purified the sinner, and the resurrection is what justified him. Paul explains it to us in Romans 4 –

“Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ²⁴ but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:23-25

As I said, these things are typical of Christ, but what Christ did is then applied to all who are in Christ. The leper has gone from his place of confinement because of being unclean, to a place of freedom because of his cleansing. The bird too was confined, but it was then released in an open field. But, it was released still covered in the water/blood mixture.

It is typical of Christ who was confined in the pit for judgment on our sin, but who was released and who now fills the heavens. It is also now emblematic of the sinner who was trapped in sin and destined for the narrow confines of hell, but who has been brought out to the open expanses of heaven. He is covered in the work of Christ; the water of life, and the blood of atonement. Because of Christ, so it is also of the justified, purified, and sanctified sinner.

The believer is immersed with Christ in His death, and the sins which he bore for us die with Him. In His resurrection, man stands justified before God, just as Paul says in Romans 4:25.

After these things, the person was told to wash his clothes. It is the first active thing that he is instructed to do. As I said, the word implies to wash by trampling. It is symbolic of purifying one’s life through trampling out the sin in our lives. Jude’s words which speak of the garments defiled by the flesh explain the symbolism. In coming to Christ, we are to trample out the defilement.

It then next says that the cleansed leper is to shave off all his hair. It is symbolic of removing anything which reminds us of sin. We are to remove any awareness of sin from our lives and so bring on an awareness and knowledge of God. Paul explains it in these words –

“Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:34

After this comes the washing of the body. It is symbolic of purifying oneself after having the knowledge of God. This is explained in the New Testament with these words –

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27

After these things have been done, the cleansed leper can then enter the camp. He has joined to the people of God, and he is no longer an unclean outsider. But it then notes that he is not to go into his tent for seven days. It is not until the 8^th day that another process needs to be conducted.

This is to be considered the time when sinners are cleansed by the Lord, but they need to not get distracted by the things of the world. There needs to be a time of being among the people of God and separate from anything distracting, thus causing them to become defiled again.

As I said, many of these things occur simultaneously in the believer, but the verses ahead, which we will look at next week, go through an elaborate process of offerings which are to be presented to the Lord. Like the previous offerings which we looked at, they will point to the work of Christ.

After they are complete, in verse 20, it will say, “And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.” He has already been declared clean, and yet there is still the need for atonement, something provided through the work of Christ, in order to be considered clean. Each step is a necessary part of the process of going from being a defiled sinner, to a cleansed member of the congregation. These Old Testament types and shadows, which really took place in Israel, typify marvelous spiritual truths which occur in each person brought into the church today.

It all points to the finished work of Christ, but each step is a process which is accomplished in the believer because of his faith in what has already been done. The last thing we saw in our nine verses today was basically an expansion of verse 8. On the seventh day, the cleansed leper was to shave off all the hair on his head, his eyebrows, and his beard.

As we have seen, hair indicates an awareness of sin. He is to again purge himself of any new hair, thus any new awareness of sin. This is to be done before the sacrifice for his atonement is made. I detailed these three body parts for you, but will remind you of them now, showing why the Lord specifically named them in verse 9.

First was the rosh, or head. It comes from a root meaning “to shake,” as the head is that part which is most easily shaken. It speaks of the attitude that the believer is to have, removing sin and holding fast to Christ, even through afflictions –

“Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, ² and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, ³ that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. ⁴ For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.” 1 Thessalonians 3:1-4 

We are to remain firm and fixed in Christ, and not to have our faith shaken by what occurs around us.

Next is the zaqan, or beard which comes from the verb zaqen, meaning to be or become old, and so it can be translated as “old man.” Paul tells us to leave behind the old man –

“But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:20-24

And then are the eyebrows. As I noted, as this is the only instance where the word is used to speak of the brow of the eye, it is actually the eyes which are the subject here. One doesn’t actually shave their eye, but they will shave the brow of the eye. Paul shows us how this precept is to be applied to our lives –

“…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power ²⁰ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. Ephesians 1:17-21

Each of these is a positive precept from Paul, just as they are positive commands for the healed leper in the Old Testament. Don’t be shaken, put off the old man, and have the eyes of your understanding enlightened. This is what we are asked to do. In the end, the healed leper is me or you. It is any person who has come to God and been cleansed by the work of Christ. A New Testament example of this is found in the book of Matthew.

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. ² And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

³ Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴ And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Matthew 8:1-4

As you can see, there is the leper, there is the Lord, Jesus, who heals – and who alone can heal – and then, only then is the person instructed to go to the priest. Although this passage we have looked at today is not the offering that the leper is to offer, this rite had to be accomplished first as an acknowledgment that the Lord had accomplished this cleansing on his behalf. Only after that will the leper then make his offering.

The priest was to see and avow that the Lord had healed. But the priest was also only a picture of the Lord as the Mediator between God and man. And so it is the Lord who heals, and it is the Lord who accepts that healing. In the end, it is all about the work of the Lord. It is He who frees us from our sin.

Instead of the confining pit of hell, we have been granted the wide open spaces of heaven’s vast expanse. It was a gift for us, and it is a gift to anyone who will simply reach out and receive it. If you have never been one who is cleansed by the atoning death of Christ, please make today the day. You are a leper headed on a one- way path to destruction, but through Him, you will be a pure and spotless child of God on the way to an eternal place of glorious wonder and delight. Be wise, be discerning, call on Christ today.

Closing Verse: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, ¹² teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, ¹³ looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14

Next Week: Leviticus 14:10-32 Something required for every Ma’am and every Gent… (Purified From All Defilement) (23^rd Leviticus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if you have a lifetime of sin heaped up behind you, He can wash it away and purify you completely and wholly. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Set Free in an Open Field

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying
These are the words He was then relaying

“This shall be the law of the leper
For the day of his cleansing; yes on that day
He shall be brought to the priest
As to you I now say 

And the priest shall go out of the camp
And the priest shall examine him
And indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper
No longer is his future leprosy-filled and grim 

Then the priest shall command to take
For him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds
Cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop
According to these words

And the priest shall command that one of the birds
Be killed in an earthen vessel over running water
According to these words

As for the living bird, he shall take it
The cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop too
And dip them and the living bird in the blood
Of the bird that was killed over the running water
———So shall he do

And he shall sprinkle it seven times
On him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy
And shall pronounce him clean
And shall let the living bird loose in the open field
———-So shall it be

He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes
Shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water
———- that he may be clean
After that he shall come into the camp
And shall stay outside his tent seven days; so it shall be seen

But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair
Off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, so this shall be seen
All his hair he shall shave off; he shall wash his clothes
And wash his body in water, and he shall be clean

Lord God Almighty, how marvelous is the story
Of what Christ has done for lepers like us
We have gone from defilement unto glory
All because of the wonderful work of Jesus

How can it be that You would care for fallen man
Stepping out of eternity to walk with us
Wondrous are Your ways, glorious is Your plan
Thank You, O God, for the wonderful work of Jesus

Hallelujah and Amen…

Leviticus 13:38-59
The Law of Leprosy, Part III

Once again, we come to a passage that is as clearly designed to show us spiritual truths as anything possibly could be. The first half finishes our verses on leprosy of the skin. It includes a couple verses about being bald. If a person’s hair falls out and nothing more, he is bald but he is clean. That’s a genuine relief for some of us. It would be a bit more than tragic if people were unclean simply because they were bald. Shine on men; all is well.

After that, there is the note about what a person who is declared unclean is required to do. It is, again, a really nice thing that these things only belonged to the law of Moses, and that being unclean in these ways was only a temporary part of what is seen in redemptive history. The poor lepers of Israel were excluded from society, they were to make it visibly and audibly known that this was the case, and unless they were cured of their affliction, they remained this way permanently.

And then, of course, there is the final major section of our verses, that of leprous garments. As you will see, there is no known parallel to what is described here in these verses. What is given applied only to Israel, and only during the time of the law. As there is nothing to match what is described here anywhere else in history, or at any other location, then it is a clear indication that these verses are given to show us spiritual truths. This is 100% certain.

Text Verse: “And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³ but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” Jude 1:22, 23

Nowhere in the New Testament is there any hint of literal garments being defiled, and thus being considered unclean. This is good because when I finish my morning jobs, especially the one at 7-11, someone might otherwise want to send me to a priest for an evaluation. And even worse were the things I used to wear when I worked in the wastewater business. That might lead to a lifetime sentence against me. But such is not the case.

Verses in the New Testament, and even passages from the Old Testament, speak of garments as spiritual metaphors of either pure or unclean lives. To wash one’s garments signifies having one’s life purified. To have garments defiled by the flesh speaks of having one’s life defiled by earthly lusts and pleasures.

Now that you know this, the seemingly irrelevant and even tedious final verses of Leviticus 13 should be considered neither irrelevant nor tedious. Instead, they should be a delightful banquet for you to sit down and consume as we continue our journey through this magnificent gift from God; His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Unclean! Unclean! (Verses 38-46)

³⁸ “If a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, specifically white bright spots,

We now have, once again, the specific identification which was first seen in verse 29 – “a man or a woman.” Here, the Hebrew states the affliction being considered – beharoth beharoth levanoth, or “bright spots, bright spots white. The same word for this condition, bahereth, was first used in verse 2. It is a bright spot which draws attention to itself. In this case, it is also specified as white, a color denoting works.

³⁹ then the priest shall look; and indeed if the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is a white spot that grows on the skin. He is clean.

The priest is to evaluate the bright spots to determine if they really are “bright.” If they are, it would be another matter entirely. But, if they are instead kehot levanoth bohaq, or darkish white eczema, then there is nothing to worry about. The word bohaq, is only found here in Scripture. It is a word that has continued to be used in the Middle East though. It corresponds to an Arabic word pronounced the same. It is a known affliction which does not render a person unclean, and therefore he is pronounced as such.

The symbolism seems obvious. If a person’s life is literally covered in works which are evident for all to see, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are prideful in their deeds, even though it may appear that way on the surface. This would be the person who literally gives himself away in doing good for others, so much so that they would wear the skin off their body in the process. God continues to use afflictions of the body to teach us spiritual lessons.

⁴⁰ “As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald, but he is clean.

The words translated as “hair has fallen” is a new verb, marat, which is derived from a root meaning, “to polish.” Another new word is the adjective qereakh, translated as “bald.” This particular word signifies baldness on the back of the head. It is only used here, and of the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 2:23. As hair in the Bible signifies awareness, and in particular awareness of sin, being bald would signify being naive to sin, and a readiness to receive, or “discover,” Christ. Such a person is clean.

⁴¹ He whose hair has fallen from his forehead, he is bald on the forehead, but he is clean.

Now a different type of baldness is defined. It is where the hair falls mi’peath panav, or from the side toward his face. When the hair falls off the head in this manner then gibeakh hu, or “his forehead is bald.” This word, gibeakh, or bald forehead, is found only here in the Bible. The root it comes from signifies “to be high” as in the forehead.

In the Bible, the forehead is the place of conscience and identification. Therefore, this symbolizes a person who sets their mind on something. As there is no leprous outbreak, the person pictured here is described by Paul in Colossians which says –

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:1, 2

This person is considered clean. However, in contrast to him…

⁴² And if there is on the bald head or bald forehead a reddish-white sore, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead.

Here are two nouns, qarakhath, and gabakhath, which will each be seen only four times, and all in this chapter. The first signifies to be bald or bare on the back part, the second signifies the same, but on the forehead. If a reddish-white sore appears on either location, it is an indication of leprosy. Inspection is needed…

⁴³ Then the priest shall examine it; and indeed if the swelling of the sore is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, as the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body,

The priest is to inspect the leprous sore and make a determination as if it has the appearance of any other leprous sore elsewhere on the body. If this is so, then he is to make his pronouncement…

⁴⁴ he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head.

In picture, the sore on the back of the head is a person who is not seeking Christ. The sore on the front of the head is a person seeking that which is carnal. Such people are unclean and are thus rendered unclean by the priest. As it says, b’rosho nigo, in his head is the plague. Paul describes such as these –

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: ¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.” Philippians 3:18, 19

⁴⁵ “Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’

The torn clothes, the disheveled hair, and the covered upper lip are all seen elsewhere in the Bible as signs of mourning and/or shame. The cry of “Unclean! Unclean!” was a sign and a warning to others of the disgrace they bore. Albert Barnes rightly notes their state –

“The leper was a living parable in the world of the sin of which death was the wages; not the less so because his suffering might have been in no degree due to his own personal desserts: he bore about with him at once the deadly fruit and the symbol of the sin of his race. As his body slowly perished, first the skin, then the flesh, then the bone, fell to pieces while yet the animal life survived; he was a terrible picture of the gradual corruption of the spirit worked by sin.” Albert Barnes

Sin is a deep infection, and the varied kinds of sin which are reflected in these various skin maladies, render a person unclean. Such people will ultimately be separated forever from the people of God, unless they turn to Christ for healing. Such is seen next…

⁴⁶ He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

The sin which causes a person to be unclean keeps them defiled until they come to the Physician in order to be healed. Only Christ can do this. And so they are not to be considered a part of the community of the saints. The word translated as “alone” however, is not technically correct. It is badad, a verb which indicates alone, but as if in isolation. In other words, if there are other lepers, they could, and were, isolated together. It is reflective of the division between those deemed as clean, and those deemed as unclean. All the days that a person was unclean, they were to dwell not among the clean, but among the unclean.

Unclean! Unclean! My sin is an infectious wound
It has separated me from God’s purified people
In a land of exile, I have been marooned
Kept from fellowship there beneath the church steeple

I have had my mind set on earthly things
My eyes have lusted after that which is not pure and good
Only sadness and pain this type of life brings
And of this truth I have finally understood

Heal me of my infectious wound O Lord
Cleanse me by the shed blood of the perfect Christ
And I will ever after turn my life toward
The One who on Calvary’s cross was sacrificed

Purified, whole, and forever made clean
In garments of white, radiant, pure, and pristine

II. Leprous Garments (verses 47-59)

⁴⁷ “Also, if a garment has a leprous plague in it, whether it is a woolen garment or a linen garment,

The word now turns to leprosy of a garment. Here, two types of fabric are named – tsemer, or wool, and pesheth, or flax linen. What seems curious is that a garment is said to have leprosy. Different theories about this have arisen to somehow explain that this isn’t actually leprosy, but the wording and the symptoms of the plague warn against these introductions.

Charles Ellicott notes that administrators of the law during the second temple period believed that the “leprosy of garments and houses was not to be found in the world generally, but was a sign and miracle in Israel to guard them against an evil tongue.” In other words, this was a real, unique plague that was only found in Israel.

Both of these materials were used for garments as coverings. They were never to be mixed in the same garment though. That is forbidden in Deuteronomy 22:11.

⁴⁸ whether it is in the warp or woof of linen or wool,

The translation here is extremely hard to pin down as to its true meaning. First, two new words are again introduced. The shethi, translated as warp, will be seen 9 times in this chapter, and never again. They are the lengthwise yarns that are held in tension on a frame or loom to create cloth. This comes from a word which means “to set.” Next also is translated the erev, or woof. They are the threads which are drawn through, inserted over-and-under, the lengthwise warp. Erev signifies mix or mingle. Elsewhere it is translated as “foreigner.” Together, these form a fabric.

But, because it seems more than improbable that a material would have an infection in threads going in one direction, but not in another, I don’t think this is what is being relayed here. One scholar says, “the inside, or the outside.” Others say it is the yarn to be used for the warp or woof, but not yet sewn. But once they are sewn, it would still be impossible to tear one out and not the other.

There are two likely possibilities. The first is what is seen in several modern translations. They separate the two by saying “woven or knitted material.” In that, they distinguish between the types of fabric which have been made, not based on cloth for the material, but how the material is made. That is actually ingenious after eons of translations saying “warp and woof.”

The other possibility is that it is speaking of the two materials, the wool and the linen, being sewn into two different types of cloth. It is the material which is being described. This is what I would go with. The roots of the words seem to give us the answer.

The shethi is the linen. It indicates that which is set. Thus it is an Israelite. The erev is the wool. It signifies mixture or mingling, and is also translated “foreigner.” Thus it is a foreigner, just as the Zemarites of Genesis 10:18 are foreigners, having descended from Noah’s grandson Canaan. This would then perfectly explain the spiritual meaning of why wool and linen were forbidden to be mixed in Deuteronomy 22:11.

^{48 (con’t)} whether in leather or in anything made of leather,

Here it also mentions or, or “skin,” and thus it is a leprous plague in a hide, or in anything made of a hide. This is a third category. There are those of Israel, and there are those of the Gentiles, but what does the or, or “skin,” signify? The word signifies to be exposed, or bare. I would suggest that it speaks of the universality of man – Jew and Gentile. One could make a distinction between the two by the first two terms, but the third term unites the two where there is now no distinction between Jew and Gentile. All must come to Christ in the same way.

⁴⁹ and if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the leather, whether in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a leprous plague and shall be shown to the priest.

The word yeraqraq or “greenish” is introduced here. It is believed to give the sense of having a yellowish tone to it rather than being fully green. Although it is such a rare word that there is disagreement on this. It is used only three times. The third is in Psalm 68 when describing gold, and so it probably means either yellowish or glistening. If the material or garment or any other thing made of skins, such as a wineskin, etc, is greenish or reddish, it is to be considered leprous and requiring the priest to examine it.

⁵⁰ The priest shall examine the plague and isolate that which has the plague seven days.

Like the leprosy on a person who is then to be isolated seven days, so it is with the item made of one of these materials. Seven, being the number of spiritual perfection, are the number of days required in order to provide a sufficient time for an evaluation to be made, and see if any positive or negative changes occur during that time.

⁵¹ And he shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, in the leather or in anything made of leather, the plague is an active leprosy. It is unclean.

The word maar, or malignant, is brought in here. It will be seen three times in Leviticus, and once in Ezekiel. It indicates a prick, as if from a brier, but it comes from a root which means bitter, or causatively, to embitter. If the plague spreads during that seven days of isolation, the leprosy is considered active, and thus the garment is unclean. Bad news for the garment…

⁵² He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether warp or woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the garment shall be burned in the fire.

Unlike today, where we go shopping for clothes on any given day, and wear them until we tire of them and then toss them out, in Israel, a garment had much greater value. The same is true with any thing made of leather. Things were kept as long as possible because they cost a much larger percentage of a person’s budget than now. However, if there was a spreading leprosy in the item, it was toast. One would speculate that it would be the priest himself who would guarantee the garment was burned in order to ensure that the plague was destroyed.

⁵³ “But if the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather,

If, in the determination of the priest, the leprosy has not spread, then it may not be malignant at all. Despite it being a leprosy, it may just be one which is stalled and can be taken care of in another way. If this is the case…

⁵⁴ then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the plague; and he shall isolate it another seven days.

If after seven days, there was no change in the garment, then it is to be washed and then isolated once again. The word for wash, kabas, is used 51 times in the Bible, almost every instance of which it is speaking of garments. Of the few exceptions to this, the most notable is found in Psalm 51 where it is used twice –

Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
³ For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
⁹ Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities. Psalm 51:1-9

One other time it doesn’t specifically refer to garments being washed is in Jeremiah 2 –

“For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap,
Yet your iniquity is marked before Me,” says the Lord God.” Jeremiah 2:22

Subtle hints of other things are certainly being seen in these choicely selected words.

⁵⁵ Then the priest shall examine the plague after it has been washed; and indeed if the plague has not changed its color, though the plague has not spread, it is unclean, and you shall burn it in the fire; it continues eating away, whether the damage is outside or inside.

What might seem surprising at first, but which isn’t at all when considered, is that if there is no change in the leprous plague, the garment was to be destroyed. One might at first have thought that its not spreading was a good thing. But it is the plague, not its spreading, which is unclean. Unless the plague retreated, signifying that it was in complete remission, it was just as much a plague as it was when it was identified.

The translation here says, “has not changed its color.” However, the Hebrew says, “not changed the plague its eye.” In other words, “its appearance.” The word “color” lacks the whole aspect of the intent of the word. As the eye perceives, so is its “eye” or “appearance.” If the plague remains after being washed, it is described by a word used just this once in the Bible; it is a pekhetheth – an eating. The word thus means “a pit.”

And what actually is surprising is that in this verse are the two nouns, qarakhath, and gabakhath, which were first seen in verse 42, there translated as “bald head” and “bald forehead.” Here, they are translated as “outside” and “inside.” Regardless as to whether the plague is on the side which is seen, or the inside which is not seen, it is still a leprous plague, and it is to be burnt in the fire. With this verse, we can now say goodbye to the words qarakhath and gabakhath.

⁵⁶ If the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has faded after washing it, then he shall tear it out of the garment, whether out of the warp or out of the woof, or out of the leather.

The verse is pretty much self-explanatory. The word faded means to darken. Instead of being a glistening plague, it has now dulled. If this occurs, then the part which contains it is to be torn out of it. Whatever material it is made of, that portion which is defiled is to be torn from it.

⁵⁷ But if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a spreading plague; you shall burn with fire that in which is the plague.

Bad news again. If at any time the plague reappears in any garment as described, the plague is to be considered a malignant one, and the entire garment is to be burnt.

⁵⁸ And if you wash the garment, either warp or woof, or whatever is made of leather, if the plague has disappeared from it, then it shall be washed a second time, and shall be clean.

If the first washing was fully successful in cleaning the garment, then there is no need to tear anything out of it. Instead, it is to be given a second washing, and wahlah, it is considered clean.

*⁵⁹ “This is the law of the leprous plague in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or in anything made of leather, to pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean.”

As we saw already, the garment or utensil itself was infected with the scourge. It didn’t merely transmit a disease as we would think of something communicable today. Rather, the garment itself bore the disease, and thus it was a sign and it was a miraculous curse for Israel to learn from. And as Israel was to learn from this, so we too are to learn from it. What literally happened in Israel, is something which carries spiritual meaning for us today.

The leprous article has essentially the same spiritual application as that of leprosy on a person. Further, as I showed above, the words translated as “warp” and “woof” actually look to the materials of which the garments are made. One was from linen, picturing Israelites; the other was from wool, picturing Gentiles. The third category, leather, or literally “skin,” signifies any without distinction.

If a plague of leprosy is found, as it is with all people bearing original sin, it is an indication of grievous sin, just as it was in the skin of people in the early verses of this chapter. It must be dealt with – through purification of healing, or through purification in destruction by fire.

When a garment bears the curse of sin it is to be isolated for seven days. This is the time allotted for any person during the course of their life. It is emblematic of the time deemed by God as their pre-appointed span. If they are shown to be unregenerate, and if their leprosy spreads during that span, they have had their chance. Without purification, for them it is off to the Lake of Fire for what is truly divine purification – eternal and final.

If however, there is no change after the first evaluation, meaning there is still original sin, but there is no further spreading of the leprous plague, it is to be isolated another seven days. If there is no change in the garment after that, meaning whatever time of grace the person is given to be purified, the person is still sent off to be eternally burned.

As I said in that verse (55), it is the plague itself which is unclean, not whether it has spread or not. As we bear original sin, we stand unclean. Even if we live a life full of good works, and our original sin never spreads, we are still tainted with the plague. It must be purified. In this case it wasn’t, and so it is off to the Lake for purification through fire.

In the next example, the plague has gone into remission and the plague has faded (56), that portion of the garment is to be torn out. The plague has been excised, but there is a warning that if it returns again, the garment is to be burnt with fire. The instructions for this situation never proclaim the garment clean. It simply leaves the note that if the plague appears again, it will be burned. A garment which is not declared clean, is by default unclean. A person who purifies their life, and removes every vestige of sin, is no closer to being declared clean than the most vile sinner. There is only the sense that spreading sin could return at any time and reinfect the poor soul.

The final example is the garment which was washed, and the plague has disappeared, that garment shall be washed a second time, and it will be declared clean. The first time, the priest commanded the owner to wash the garment. This is then the person who is attentive to the word and who takes it to heart. When the conversion is seen, the second washing, that of cleansing and purification through the blood of Christ, is what truly cleanses. The declaration is, “Clean!”

In the end, the passage concerning the leprous garment only has one way to be declared clean, and that is through the second washing, picturing the work of Christ. There are some who are obviously defiled. Their garments are stained, and they continue to stain them. Their plague is active, and it will end in destruction.

There are those who hear the word and who do nothing with it. They may rely on their own washing, but their plague remains. They are the ones spoken of by Jeremiah. They wash themselves with lye, but their iniquity is still there before the Lord. It is an open sore which is not healed. Their end is also destruction.

There are those who hear the word and who clean themselves up in accord with the word, even to the point where their sin is no longer evident. But they are never declared clean. It is only a hopeful signal of future good. It is one which is left unanswered as to what they will finally do with their lives.

Unless they receive the second birth through the washing of water through the word, taking the message of Christ in and having no trace of the plague of defilement, they are simply garments with holes torn out of them, unable to serve the purpose for which they were originally intended.

And then there are those who come to the great Physician, who have their garments purified by Him, and who are saved from the eternal fire which awaits any and all who fail to do likewise. The lesson here is that of grace. The infection is already in the garment, and it must be removed. The Priest could just say, “This is infected, burn it.” And He would be well within His rights to do so. But when grace is offered, and when it is received, He can take that which was defiled and purify it wholly and completely.

If you are still awaiting your declaration of purity – your guarantee of eternal life because of the removal of that which separates you from God – call on Christ Jesus, be washed in the blood of the Lamb, and be purified whiter than snow itself.

Closing Verse: “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶ and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5, 6

Next Week: Leviticus 14:1-9 What will these nine verses yield? (Set Free in an Open Field) (22^nd Leviticus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if you have a lifetime of sin heaped up behind you, He can wash it away and purify you completely and wholly. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Law of Leprosy

“If a man or a woman has bright spots
On the skin of the body, specifically white bright spots
———-such is the sight
Then the priest shall look; and indeed
If the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white

It is a white spot that grows on the skin
He is clean; surely this is worthy of a super happy grin

“As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head
He is bald, but he is clean
Don’t worry Charlie
This is all that it does mean

He whose hair has fallen from his forehead; only forehead is seen
He is bald on the forehead, but he is clean

And if there is on the bald head or bald forehead
A reddish-white sore
It is leprosy breaking out on his bald head
Or his bald forehead; it is leprosy for sure

Then the priest shall examine it
And indeed if the swelling of the sore is reddish-white
On his bald head or on his bald forehead
As the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body is the sight

He is a leprous man. He is unclean
The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean
His sore is on his head
This is what that sore does mean

“Now the leper on whom the sore is
His clothes shall be torn and his head bare
And he shall cover his mustache, and cry
‘Unclean! Unclean!’ A most distressing affair

He shall be unclean
All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean; it is so
He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone
His dwelling shall be outside the camp; out there he shall go

“Also, if a garment has a leprous plague in it
Whether it is a woolen garment or a linen garment, whichever
Whether it is in the warp or woof of linen or wool
Whether in leather or in anything made of leather

And if the plague is greenish or reddish
In the garment or in the leather
Whether in the warp or in the woof
Or in anything made of leather, yes anything whatsoever

It is a leprous plague and shall be shown to the priest
This applies to everyone, from the greatest to the least

The priest shall examine the plague
And isolate that which has the plague seven days
And he shall examine the plague on the seventh day
If the plague has spread in the garment, in any of these ways

Either in the warp or in the woof
In the leather or in anything made of leather it is seen
The plague is an active leprosy
It is unclean; this is what that does mean

He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague
Whether warp or woof, in wool or in linen; ready the burning pyre
Or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy
The garment shall be burned in the fire

“But if the priest examines it
And indeed the plague in the garment has not spread
Either in the warp or in the woof
Or in anything made of leather, as I have said

Then the priest shall command that they wash the thing
In which is the plague, they shall do this as I say
And he shall isolate it another seven days
Thus shall it be this way

Then the priest shall examine the plague after it has been washed
And indeed if the plague has not changed its color at all
Though the plague has not spread, it is unclean
And you shall burn it in the fire, this is My judgment call

It continues eating away, it is unclean
Whether the damage is outside or inside; this is what it does mean

If the priest examines it
And indeed the plague has faded after washing it
Then he shall tear it out of the garment
Whether out of the warp or out of the woof, or out of the leather
———– so to you I do submit

But if it appears again in the garment
Either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather
It is a spreading plague; you shall burn with fire
That in which is the plague, yes in anything whatsoever

And if you wash the garment, either warp or woof
Or whatever is made of leather, whatever material is seen
If the plague has disappeared from it
Then it shall be washed a second time, and shall be clean

“This is the law of the leprous plague
In a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof as is seen
Or in anything made of leather
To pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean

Lord God, we were all unclean before Your eyes
Each of us deserved to be cast into the eternal Lake of Fire
But You treated us like a marvelous prize
And rescued or souls from that terrible burning pyre

What value is man that You would do such for us?
What do You see in us that this thing has been done?
You took our uncleanness and placed it upon Jesus
There on Calvary’s cross; laid upon Your Son

Though it is beyond our ability to understand
We receive the Gift and now call out in praise to You
For what You have done; so marvelous and grand
Thank You for Christ our Lord; who is ever faithful and true

Praises, yes praises we call out now and forevermore
Whether here on earth, or upon that heavenly shore

Hallelujah and Amen…