Leviticus 14

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:31:58utc

Purification after healing of leprosy 14:1-32

The sacrifice that has to be brought for the purification of a leper is one of the most beautiful and meaningful rituals in the book Leviticus.

In vs. 1-20 we read about the sacrifices which the common man and the affluent citizen had to bring. Vs. 21-32 deal with the sacrifice of the man who is too poor to be able to afford the first kind of sacrifice.

The ritual had to be performed when the patient was actually healed of his sickness or when the sickness had run its full course and the patient was declared clean because he was no longer contagious. The latter case is described in ch. 13:12,13. There is only the one case in the Old Testament of a person who was spontaneously healed of leprosy. It was Naaman, the Syrian general, who was not in a position to bring this kind of sacrifice since he was not a Jew.[ 1 ] When Jesus healed the leper in Mark's Gospel and told him: "See that you do not tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them,"[ 2 ] may have been the first time that this law was applied. According to what we read in the following verse in Mark's record, the man did not obey the command.

The first thing that strikes us is that the priest had to go outside the camp to visit the man who was there in isolation. The priest's place was before the Lord and outside the camp. The purpose of going outside the camp was to bring the man who was there before the Lord.

The first sacrifice that was brought for the purification was brought outside the camp. This sacrifice consisted of two birds, that had to belong to the category of clean animals. One of the two birds was killed above a clay pot containing fresh water so that the blood was caught in the pot. A piece of cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop were added to this. The term "fresh water" is used in the NIV. Most other translations use "running water." So it could be that the pot was to be held over a stream. The literal meaning is "living water." This expression gains depth by Jesus' use of it. Speaking to the Samaritan woman Jesus said: "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."[ 3 ] But, in spite of the spiritual implications, the text is clearer if we read "fresh" or "running" water.

As far as I know, this sacrifice of the bird is the only one that is ever brought outside the camp. In the light of this sacrifice, what the author of Hebrews says acquires a deeper meaning. We read: "And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore."[ 4 ] The sacrifice of this bird expresses, more clearly than anything else, the reality of Jesus' death on the cross. The cedar wood, the color of the scarlet yarn and the hyssop that were used in Egypt to apply the blood of the lamb to the door posts all point in the direction of the cross of Calvary.

The clay pot stands for the temporary character and the fragility of our human life on earth. This is the sense in which Paul uses the object in his second epistle to the Corinthians. He says: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."[ 5 ]

The streaming water, or running water, which forms the basis of the action is an image of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit of God this sacrifice would have no meaning at all since it was by the Holy Spirit that Jesus gave Himself, as we read in Hebrews: "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"[ 6 ]

Nothing more is said about the bird that was killed. The stress was on the blood of the bird. The meat was not offered as a sacrifice, nor burnt, nor eaten as far as we know. It was, most likely, thrown away. But the blood was caught in the clay pot. The hyssop suggested that the blood had to be applied somewhere, as was the case in Egypt. The scarlet yarn refers to the disgrace Christ bore. Scarlet is the color of royalty. When the soldiers mocked, Jesus we read: "They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him."[ 7 ] The cedar wood speaks of the cross where Christ shed His blood.

Then the living bird was dipped in the blood, together with the above mentioned objects. The leper himself was sprinkled seven times with this blood. Then came the surprise: the living bird, carrying the blood of the dead one on his wings, was given his liberty and flew away. This is the most beautiful and meaningful symbol of resurrection from the dead in the Old Testament. In the symbolic enactment two birds were needed to what, in reality, happened to one man in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The purification of the leper was nothing less than an identification with death and resurrection. The seven drops of blood that were sprinkled on this man connected him irrevocably with the greatest event in the history of Heaven and earth.

There is similarity between this sacrifice and the two male goats of the Day of Atonement.[ 8 ] There, also, two animals were used to express what happened, in reality, to one man. But in that enactment the carrying away of the sin of the world was stressed, not the resurrection from the dead. The goat that was sent away was cursed. The bird that flew away was blessed. In every bird that flies there is a hint of resurrection. Every flight is a victory over the law of gravity, just as the resurrection is a victory over death.

Through the sprinkling of the blood of the dead bird, the leper had been identified with death and at the same time he was linked with the resurrection through the living bird that flew away. Only if we have identified ourselves with the death of Jesus Christ will we be partakers of His resurrection.

It is interesting to see how this principle of death and resurrection is also found among the Me tribe of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. They have a ritual which is called "no-mune," in which, at the death of a female member of the tribe, two pigs are taken. One is killed and the other is given to a relative to be raised. Probably, this ritual or similar ones are found among other tribes of the Mountain Papuans.

This symbolic representation of the resurrection is followed by an enactment of the new birth in the washing of the clothes of the healed leper and the shaving of all the hair on his body. The washing of the clothes is a picture of the righteousness with which God clothes us when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. There is a clear connection between this ritual and Revelation: "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."[ 9 ] The shaving of the hair gives the impression of a new-born baby. This expresses the spiritual renewal, which is called the new birth in John chapter 3.

Obviously, there are stages of purification. The healing in itself means purification. We read in the story of Jesus' healing of a leper: "A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, 'If you are willing, you can make me clean.' Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured."[ 10 ] Or, as the RSV puts it: "And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean."

After the bathing and the shaving vs. 9 states again that the leper is clean, but he cannot sleep in his tent yet. After eight days, he is finally pronounced clean. This process points rather to a growing awareness of cleansing than to a process of progressive cleansing . Since the basis of the purification is outside the man, his cleansing becomes a fact the moment the blood is sprinkled on him. It is as if God wants the man to become slowly accustomed to his new condition of being clean. In the same way, a man with frozen limbs cannot immediately be put into warm water and a starved person cannot be given a full meal. So a cleansed leper has to slowly get used to his new status. This does not mean, however, that positional cleanness takes that long before God.

On the eighth day, which is the day on which the resurrection is commemorated and celebrated, the man himself brings his sacrifice. On the first day it was the priest who took charge and ordered things to be done, but now it is the man himself who takes the authority and the initiative, the same way as any other clean person would do.

It is interesting to see that the first animal to be brought is sacrificed as a sin offering, as if the sickness were a sin committed before God. Evidently, leprosy falls into the category of unintentional sins.

On the eighth day the man appeared with his sacrifices before the Lord: the man himself with the sin offering and the burnt offering. Isn't this typical of our appearance before God? Our sins have been atoned for, but we have to come before the Lord as a constant reminder that our sins have been forgiven. We have to keep on reminding ourselves how our redemption came about.

The sin offering and the oil had to be lifted up and waved before the Lord and then the meat of the sacrifice was given to the priest who had brought the sacrifice. Again, the place where the animal was to be killed was mentioned, as it accentuates the unity of all sacrifices; it was not only the place where the burnt offering was brought, as in 6:25 and 7:2, but also the place of the sin offering. This tied all the sacrifices together into one event.

Then came the most interesting part of this ritual: part of the blood of this sin offering was applied to the right earlobe, the thumb, and the big toe of the leper and, on top of this, the oil is applied. We see the same actions at the dedication of the priests in ch. 8:23,24. But there, it is not said that the oil was put on top of the blood. Aaron and his sons were only anointed with oil and, afterwards, sprinkled.

The implication is clear: the cleansing of the leper consisted of atonement for his sins and regeneration and also a restoration of his hearing and obedience, of his walk and actions. Hearing the Word of God means doing the work of the Lord and going in obedience where He sends. The key to all obedience is the ear.

God reproached Israel by means of Isaiah's prophecy that they had an ear but they did not use it to hear. "Be ever hearing, but never understanding."[ 11 ] Jesus repeats this exhortation in Matthew and Revelations. "He who has ears, let him hear."[ 12 ] "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."[ 13 ]

The atoning and the sanctification of these three vital members of the body were reserved only for the lepers who were cured. No other curse produced this kind of blessing. In the Kingdom of Heaven a sinner who is born again is made equal to a priest. This priesthood consists in the hearing of God's Word, the doing of God's work, and the going of God's ways.

The rest of the oil that was used in this ritual was placed, with the person and his sacrifice, before the Lord. It was as if the Scriptures said here that the oil came from God, which is a symbolic way of saying that God pours out His Spirit upon man. The accent is upon the practical aspect. The coming of God's Spirit into our lives is not only an experience that sets our hearts on fire, but it fills those parts of our lives to which the blood of Christ has been applied. Atonement and regeneration are not just generalities.

The oil was first sprinkled seven times before the Lord and after that applied to man. It was God who took possession of the ear, the thumb and the big toe. After this the man was anointed as the oil was poured over his head. Leprosy became a symbol of everything that is the undoing of man. God uses this one symptom of a disease to show how man is rehabilitated by the death and resurrection of His Son.

The crowning part of the ritual of purification was the killing of the burnt offering and the simultaneous burning on the altar of the burnt offering and the grain offering. This symbolized that the man who was redeemed and purified gave himself to his God because he loved Him and to his Creator because he was made by Him. With this, the last trace of the devastating work of the Evil One was eradicated from his life. The healed leper had overcome the enemy "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of [his] testimony; [he] did not love [his] life so much as to shrink from death."[ 14 ]

In the verses 21-32 we find regulations for a man who could not afford to kill two sheep. The second sheep was replaced by two turtle doves or two young doves. In so doing, the sacrifices were enriched in that another sin offering was added. It also, at the same time, gives us an interesting insight into the economic aspect of the Israelite community. An Israelite was conscious of his own financial responsibilities. The economic life of these people did not consist of a web of loans and debts, as we see among some primitive tribes.[ 15 ] They live with a system that is more or less capitalistic. The society took no responsibility for the welfare of the individual. No doubt, every leper would have had family members who could have loaned him a sheep but, evidently, this was not the custom. Everyone was responsible for his own sacrifices.

One of the doves had to be brought as a sin offering to indicate that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ provides for the condition that is brought about by our sinful nature. For the rest, the sacrifice of the poor man was the same as that of the rich. Probably, most lepers would have fallen into the category of the poor. The isolation and expulsion to which they were subjected were not conducive to economical advance. This fact emphasizes anew that man is not able to pay the debt he has before God.

d. Leprosy in Houses 14:33-57.

The commandments regarding leprosy in houses were given while Israel was still in the desert and lived in tents. So these commandments foreshadowed the victory which was yet to be won. The "land of milk and honey" was not pictured as a utopia where there would be no trace of corruption, nor was the land on the other side of the Jordan River perfect. The fact that the people would move from their tents into houses of stone would not protect them from the plague of sin.

In vs. 34 God said clearly that He gave the land as their possession. But in the same verse He took responsibility for the plague. We see in this verse the same mystery as in Exodus where God says to Moses: "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?"[ 16 ] And at the same time the Bible says: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."[ 17 ]

With this law God wanted to teach His people a lesson concerning that land and the houses therein, so that they would not establish themselves there to the point that they never wanted to leave anymore but wanted to remain there throughout eternity.

Man has come where God wants him to be, and he lives the life that God wants him to live with his wife and children. Then enters the enemy to destroy what God intended. And God Himself allowed the enemy to enter, and we find that our only security is in Him, not in our houses or in our families.

The implication in this chapter is that the same sickness that enters the house can infect man also. It does not seem that the sickness of the house is the same as the leprosy that affects man as we know it now. The NIV calls it "spreading mildew." It is more likely that there were forms of mildew which could thrive in objects, as well as in the human skin. We have already seen that there was a "leprosy" that affected textile and leather (13:47-59).

The owner of the house was held responsible to warn the priest. After the first inspection, the priest would order the house to be emptied and shut for seven days. If, after that, it became apparent that the plague had spread, the stones that were affected would be removed and the house plastered anew. If the plague returned after that, the house had to be torn down.

The same sacrifice as for a healed leper was brought for the cleansing of the house. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the principle upon which our houses and families are to be built.

[ 1 ] II Kings 5:1-19

[ 2 ] Mark 1:44

[ 3 ] John 4:10

[ 4 ] Heb. 13:12,13

[ 5 ] II Cor. 4:7

[ 6 ] Heb. 9:14

[ 7 ] Matt. 27:28

[ 8 ] Lev. 16:17-22

[ 9 ] Rev. 7:14

[ 10 ] Mark 1:40-42

[ 11 ] Isa. 6:9

[ 12 ] Matt 13:9; Rev. ch. 2 and 3

[ 13 ] Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22.

[ 14 ] Rev 12:11

[ 15 ] Such as the Me in Irian Jaya, Indonesia.

[ 16 ] Ex. 4:11

[ 17 ] James 1:17