Leviticus 13-14 "Lessons in Purity: Unclean Bodies"

Read 13:1-17

The same procedure is followed for boils, burns, rashes, and itches (verses 18-37).

Read 13:38-14:20

Verses 21-32 explain that the poor Israelite may substitute two birds for two of the sheep.

Read 14:33-57

13:1-46 skin diseases

The word translated "leprosy" in this passage means simply to be struck,

and by implication means to be struck by God.

It includes more than just the disease we now call "leprosy."

Any disease which disfigured the skin could be called "sara'at,"

and anyone who had such a disease would be quarantined-

separated from the community.

This was not primarily due to contagion (though that doubtless plays a role),

but rather focuses again on proper function.

Internal diseases are not in view.

For that matter, contagious diseases are not in view.

Rather, the focus is on visible diseases.

Israel must be clean in order to worship God and partake of holy things.

Therefore Israel must be visibly pure.

If a person has a visible diseases,

then he is rendered unclean, and must be put out of the community.

So if you had a rash, or swelling, or spot, or itch,

then you would go to the priest to ascertain whether you were unclean.

The priest would examine you, and then put you in isolation for a week,

and then examine you again.

If your problem did not get worse, then you would be declared clean.

(It was only a temporary blemish, not a disease)

But if it got worse over a two-week period, then you would be declared unclean.

Some have suggested that this is all about hygiene,

but that cannot explain verses 12-13.

Here, curiously, if the disease has turned his whole body white, then he is clean.

And this does not say that it's not really a disease.

No, the point is that a person with a skin disease is mixed up.

He doesn't look right.

But if the disease is so thorough that his entire body is covered,

then he is no longer mixed up.

This demonstrates that hygiene and contagion are not the primary factors in these laws.

It has primarily to do with the visible purity of the OT church.

There are five OT cases of leprosy (sara'at):

Numbers 12:10-where Miriam was struck with leprosy,

and rendered unclean for seven days.

2 Kings 5:1-Naaman, who was cleansed by dipping in the Jordan seven times

2 Kings 5:27-Gehazi, who received Naaman's leprosy as judgment for his coveteousness

2 Kings 7:3-the four lepers who discovered the flight of the Syrians

2 Kings 15:5-King Azariah who was struck by God with leprosy for his sins,

forcing him to live in a separate house,

while his son ruled the country.

13:47-59 diseased garments

since the disease could be transmitted from the object to the person,

it was important to eliminate any disease from garments.

If you can get rid of it by washing, then the garment may be cleansed,

but otherwise, the only way to purify the community is by fire.

It's remarkable how frequently this sequence is used in Scripture:

water is frequently followed by fire:

The Flood and the Final Judgment;

Jesus baptism at the Jordan and the baptism of his death;

Chapter fourteen gives us the ritual for cleansing a person who has been healed. (14:1-32)

Affliction with sara'at (leprosy) was a living death;

therefore the ceremony for cleansing was a resurrection ceremony

the person was being brought back to the life of the community

and to fellowship with God.

The initial rite of cleansing is enacted by the priest.

The leper is dead-he has no ability to bring a sacrifice to God because he is unclean.

Therefore the priest brings two birds.

One is killed by the priest's assistant in an earthenware vessel over fresh water.

Then the priest takes the live bird,

the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop,

and dips them into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.

He even dips the live bird in the blood of the dead bird.

Then he sprinkles the ex-leper seven times,

pronounces him clean,

and lets the live bird fly into the open field.

Only at this point, once the sacrifice has been offered,

and the scapegoat (or scapebird, in this case) has been released into the field,

only now can the Israelite himself do anything.

Restoration to the community is something that God does through his priest.

But now that God has cleansed the leper,

the ex-leper now has covenant obligations once again.

The sovereign grace of God calls forth the response of faith and obedience.

First he must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water,

and then he shall be clean.

But although he is clean, there is still one more step required.

He must bring a sacrifice.

And if an Israelite is going to bring a sacrifice to the Lord,

what day is it?

The eighth day.

As we have seen over and over again,

the worship of Israel occurs on the eighth day.

On the seventh day of his purification he

"shall shave off all his hair,

and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water,

and he shall be clean."

The old is gone-washed away in the waters of baptism-

the new has come.

Now he is ready to worship God.

"And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish,

and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish,

and a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil

and one log of oil."

One of the male lambs was for the guilt offering-along with the oil.

The guilt offering was designed to remove unintentional sins

regarding the Lord's holy things (Lev 5:14ff).

(And the meat was for the priests).

The leper, being unclean,

had been unable to partake of the worship of God for some time.

The guilt offering removes any sin attached to his failure to worship God.

And the priests would take some of the blood of the guilt offering,

and put it on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand,

and the big toe of his right foot (14:14).

This is just like in the consecration of the priests.

The Israelite is being restored to the true worship of God,

the holy priesthood that God had established in Exodus 19.

Likewise, the ex-leper is receives the oil on the same ear, thumb and toe,

along with his head.

He is being restored to the anointed people.

Then the priest offers the sin offering and the burnt offering,

and he shall be clean (14:19-20).

Now, if he is too poor, then one male lamb and two pigeons or turtledoves will suffice.

But either way, restoration to the covenant community is not cheap.

Lev. 14:33-57 then deals with the cleansing of houses.

There is a simple explanation for this:

mold or other diseases in the house could spread to humans.

It's dangerous, so God gave them provision for it.

But he could have given a civil law, like,

"any house with mold must be decontaminated."

After all, there are laws that every flat roofed house must have a parapet.

There are no special ceremonies for building parapets.

But there is a special ceremony for cleansing a house of mold or rot.

This is because the house is the dwelling place of the Son of God.

After having given such careful instruction for the purity of his people,

God is not going to allow his people to dwell in impure houses.

He is showing Israel a picture of the connection between the Son of God and houses.

As we are seeing in John's Gospel,

"The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us."

And next week we will see how Jesus claimed to be the temple,

the dwelling place of God among men.

So God cares very much where you live!

In Leviticus 14, the priest was to come and examine the house.

If he found disease, then he was to shut the house up for seven days,

just like a person,

and then if the problem is still there,

then the problem area must be removed to an unclean place.

Indeed, if the problem returns, after the contaminated materials have been removed,

then the whole house must be destroyed.

Uncleanness has the power to contaminate all that it touches.

Unless it is cleansed, it will destroy the community.

But if the disease is successfully removed,

then the priest follows the purification ceremony for lepers,

with the two birds,

killing one and dipping the live bird in the blood of the dead bird.

These are the laws for leprous diseases.

So what?

What do we learn from these laws?

The New Testament treatment of leprosy is particularly helpful.

In Matthew 8, a leper comes to Jesus and says,

"Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."

Jesus stretches out his hand, touches the leper,

and says, "I will; be clean."

Then he told the leper to go to the priest and offer the gift that Moses required.

What is Jesus doing by healing the leper?

And then he sends him to the priests?

Why does Jesus require him to follow Moses?

Some use this as proof that Jesus is following the law.

But there's a problem with that.

Jesus touches the leper.

According to the law, Jesus should have been defiled by that contact.

Jesus should have been rendered unclean.

But Matthew says nothing about that.

When Jesus tells the leper to go to the priest,

he is not saying that Moses remains fully in force.

Rather, he is saying, go and show the priests that the new creation has come.

In the old covenant, the contamination of uncleanness was contagious.

In the new covenant, the power of Christ's cleanness is contagious!

The leper is told to "offer the gift that Moses commanded for a proof to them."

Jesus is demonstrating the power of the kingdom.

The power of the kingdom is a power beyond the power of the priests.

When John the Baptist asks if Jesus is the one who was to come,

one of the signs Jesus points to is that "lepers are cleansed." (Luke 7:22)

God is restoring the outcasts.

Jesus touches the untouchables,

and even stops to eat at the house of Simon the leper (Mark 14:3).

It may be that he cleansed Simon first!

But the point is that Jesus is breaking the boundaries that the law had established.

What do you learn from Leviticus 13-14?

You learn that God's purpose is to cleanse the unclean,

to take the wretched outcasts and give them a home.

You learn that the holiness of Christ is more powerful than any uncleanness.

We should not be afraid of the "contamination" of the world.

We must live in this world, while we remain not of this world.

I think of Harvie Conn,

who spent many years as a missionary in Korea.

He ministered to the pimps and prostitutes,

because he believed that the holiness of Christ

was more powerful than any uncleanness.

He got beat up many times,

but he brought the cleansing power of the gospel to thousands.

Do you believe that the gospel has the power to cleanse the unclean?

Then act like it!

In 1 Corinthians 5,

Paul is dealing with certain problems in this area.

The Corinthians had developed a sort of separatism,

where they were afraid that if they came in contact with sin,

it might defile them.

Paul says,

"I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people

-not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world,

or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters,

since then you would need to go out of the world." (1 Cor 5:9-10)

Paul is encouraging the church to hang out with sexually immoral people.

You should be spending time with greedy swindlers and idolaters.

NOT ones who call themselves Christians-but with outright pagans.

The holiness of Christ cannot be contaminated by them.

Indeed, the contamination goes the other way.

In 1 Corinthians 7:14,

Paul makes it clear that the holiness of the believing spouse sanctifies the unbeliever,

so that your children are holy.

The holiness of the believer renders all that you touch holy.

The unclean cannot contaminate you anymore.

A point of clarification: Paul is not saying, go ahead, give in to temptation!

Paul is saying, "You are holy in Christ.

Therefore be holy in all your contact with these people,

and your holiness will rub off on them."

Yes, sometimes they won't like it, and you'll suffer for your faith.

But a gracious life of holiness has a radiance

that those who walk in darkness cannot help but be attracted to

-even if it also repulses them.

But if all you ever do is hang out with Christians,

then you are practically denying the power of the gospel,

the power of the kingdom of God which has brought about the new creation.