DAD;S RAMBLINGS -- LEPROSY

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – LEPROSY

"This is the law for any leprous sore and scale, for the leprosy of a garment and a house, 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." (Leviticus 14:54-57)

In Leviticus chapters 13 and 14, God gave extended and precise instruction regarding leprosy – how to determine if it was truly leprosy or if it was just a boil, a scab or some other rash. We do not have the problem of leprosy today because of better hygiene and drugs that provide a cure. Leprosy is a disease caused by bacteria, and as we see in chapter 14, could infect clothes and houses. It was controlled by hygiene and isolation. (Does this sound like COVID?) This was the difference between a common skin eruption or rash and leprosy.

When a person suspected that he might be leprous – if he had a swelling, a scab, or a white spot, and it appeared to be deeper than the skin, he was to go to the priest, and after inspecting the sore, the priest would make a decision whether it was just a skin problem, or if it was truly leprosy. The priest had specific things to look for – the color, or if it was under the skin, or if it was localized or spread over a large area. Based on these symptoms, the priest would declare the person clean or unclean. Blemishes or flaws were not leprosy and these were considered "clean." If the priest determined that it was leprosy, the person would be declared unclean, and would be isolated to dwell alone outside the camp so that he or she would not be contagious to other people, and was required to alert other people to his condition, by crying, "Unclean! Unclean!" (Leviticus 13:46).

Leprosy is not sin, but it is a picture of sin. Consider some parallels. One of the tragedies of leprosy is that it separates people from people. But Sin separates us from our holy God. We need God's cleansing to make us holy and to bring us into close fellowship with Himself.

Also, sin, like leprosy, begins small – perhaps seeming just to be an insignificant sore spot, but then, like a cancer, it grows and infects the entire being. It doesn't seem to be so bad in its initial stages. But if not attended to, it will infect other parts of the body.

Leprosy disfigures the body, with loss of body parts and marred facial features. Looking at a leprosy victim is repulsive. Sin disfigures a person also. A body ravaged by sin is not a pretty picture.

Another parallel of leprosy to sin is the cure. If you read closely the Levitical approach and also the Gospel accounts when Jesus cured people from leprosy, it was not called a healing. It was cleansing. Leviticus 14:1 says, " 'This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing.' " People in those days did not have the medical understanding that leprosy was caused by bacteria, but God knew the difference.

When Jesus cured leprosy, it was a cleansing. For example, "Behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing, be cleansed.' Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 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 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-44; Luke 5:12). Or the time when Jesus healed the ten lepers. They were ostracized from society, and stood afar off. But they cried to Jesus, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" And Jesus told them, " 'Go, and show yourselves to the priests.' And so it was as they went, they were cleansed" (Luke 17:11-19). Likewise, we may be afar off from Jesus, but when we cry out to Jesus for mercy, sin is cleansed.

Character flaws may need healing, but they are not the same as sin. Sin needs cleansing rather than healing. In the salvation experience, we are not healed from sin – we are cleansed. Praise God for His cleansing. I'm so glad that despite my flaws and blemishes, I stand before my Holy God cleansed and in the righteousness of Jesus. As Paul wrote: "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" (I Corinthians 6:11). And John wrote, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin" (I John 1:6). Revelation 1:5 states, "To Him who loved us and washed us in His own blood." Clean before my Lord I stand.

Love, Dad