The following is Pastor Nate’s teaching transcription from Calvary Monterey’s 9/28/21 Tuesday Night Service. We apologize for any transcription inaccuracies.
Leviticus 13
1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, 3 and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean.
Leviticus 13:1 says, "The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, 'When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling, or an eruption, or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priest. And the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair and the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean.'" And with this, we turn to everyone's favorite subject in the Bible, leprosy and skin conditions. I say this humorously of course. We are about to enter into a few messy chapters here in the book of Leviticus.
And what we're going to see are the priests, that they had a duty to examine the symptoms of God's people. To at times if someone according to God's word was a patient who had leprosy, they would prescribe isolation for a period of time. And then once a person was considered clean, they would administer ceremonies to reintroduce that person back into the worship of God and the covenant community with other Israelite believers.
One thing that's absent in the priestly ministry are spells or incantations, or even a drive to try to bring healing to these individuals. And of course in our modern context, we believe or I think should believe that healing is possible by the hand of God. When Jesus came to earth, he came preaching and teaching, but he also came healing. And at times, delivering lepers from their sickness and illnesses. I do think it's a shame that some have interpreted Jesus' healing ministry to mean that Christians should always be healed of their illnesses if they for instance have enough faith or something like that.
That's an erroneous belief. Jesus came and suffered. His apostles suffered, and many of them died. Paul himself probably one of the greatest figures of faith in all of scripture had an ailment that he prayed to the Lord three times about. And Jesus said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness." The idea that we would always be healed is actually an illogical idea, because what about old age and inevitable death? Why would those who think that faith in the younger years should always heal you be okay with the idea of aging, and decay, and then eventually the body getting sick and perishing? It's just an inconsistent, incongruent idea. When Jesus came healing and working miracles, he was not setting a template for how all future generations would do ministry or even giving us our mission. He came announcing the kingdom. The kingdom of God is a hand. And those miracles were a way to demonstrate the foreshadowing of what God's kingdom would ultimately be about. When Jesus returns, every tear will be wiped away. All sickness will be banished, and health will be the experience of all of his people.
So sometimes God will break through to heal miraculously in our modern era. But the normal Christian experience is to endure suffering pain, including sickness for and towards God's glory. So do it faithfully. This opens up doors of opportunity in ministry to other people because people suffer in like manner.
So all that to say that the priests are not here trying to heal people, but they are just determining when a person is better so they can restore them into the covenant community. And when a person was considered infected with this thing that here is called leprosy, they were considered unclean. And we'll see that phrase throughout the rest of this passage, they were considered unclean. Not necessarily sinners, but just ceremonially unclean. They could not come into the corporate worship of the people of Israel.
The First Skin Disease Test
Now many in our modern time have done work on the word leprosy that's mentioned here in chapter 13 and also in chapter 14. And most modern theologians and scholars have concluded that the ancient leprosy that is being spoken of in these chapters is not actually the modern Hansen's disease or leprosy that we think of it in our modern terms. The idea here, the word that's used here could include various skin diseases. Even mildew is mentioned in this passage that's in front of us. So although it would include what we would consider in our modern day leprosy, it was probably a broader word that meant much more than just Hansen's disease or what we would consider modern leprosy.
But this leprosy here in this passage is an excellent picture of sin. As we look at this passage, we're going to see a glimpse or an image of what sin is like. And that when it's there, its tendency is to spread and affect all things. Therefore, it must be dealt with in isolation. It must be expunged from the community, lest it spread and affect everyone and make everyone unclean. So we're going to see a little glimpse as to what sin is like in this passage. And we're going to think beyond Moses to Jesus, our great physician, who was wounded so that we might be healed. And again, Isaiah 53:5, "By his stripes, we are healed." That is sometimes used by people who think that Christians should always be physically healed, but those are just bad hermeneutics. That's not a real New Testament principle or a concept. The idea is that we have spiritual healing from the Lord.
So this section is going to urge us towards self-inspection, making sure that we are clean spiritually before God, and that we're not allowing an area of sin into our lives that could eventually spread and affect everything else. In other words, we want to be vigilant in our walks with the Lord.
4 But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. 5 And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up for another seven days. 6 And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7 But if the eruption spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. 8 And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.
Now, the priest in verse three as they inspected, they would at times pronounce someone unclean if they discovered that they had this leprosy upon them. But in verse four, it goes on to say, "If the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day. And if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up for another seven days. And the preach shall examine him again on the seventh day. And if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is only an eruption, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. But if the eruption spreads in the skin after he's shown himself to the priests for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest, and the priest shall look. And if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous disease."
So here in these first eight verses, we have some requirements for those who are considered unclean, and those who are considered unclean and then eventually become clean or also those who were originally and always clean in the sight of God.
And one of the things that has always stood out to me about this passage is just the intensely personal nature of the priestly ministry. I'm sure some of you who are watching this or listening to this, you have a medical bent. You might even be in the medical profession. You might not be squeamish around blood, or incisions, or the types of things that are described in this chapter. But I'm not in your company. So whenever I read this passage or think about this passage, it always stands out to me that these priests, they were required to get into someone else's business. This is not an appealing activity for the priest to engage in.
But this is ministry. This is the Christian life. As we've seen in the book of First Peter, which I've alluded to in our time here in Leviticus, as Christians, we are a priesthood of believers. That means that we are representing the Lord to the world that we live in. And a lot of times, it seems that what we want is for ministry to others to be a clean experience. But it's not always clean. There are times where getting into the fabric of someone else's life is an unpleasant experience filled with awkward encounters, and sometimes terrible discoveries. But these priests as we'll see throughout this whole chapter, they were going to the tents. They were inside the homes. They were inspecting the skin, looking at the wounds of these people in Israel.
It of course reminds us ultimately of Jesus, the greatest pastor and priest who ever lived, who is ministering to us today. Jesus is willing to get involved in the more grotesque parts of our lives. He's willing to deal with past wounds. He's willing to deal with our sinful tendencies. That's Jesus. And as Christians, we're to take our cues for ministry to others from him. So these priests have always stood out to me as a model of that kind of life.
So the priest here at the very beginning, what he's really worried about is the spreading of this condition. And if you read the Book of Genesis, you discover that sin has that spreading type of effect. Adam and Eve, Cain, killing Abel, and the spread very quickly reaching the entire human race until the days of Noah. So it has that spreading effect, therefore it must be dealt with severely.
The Second Skin Disease Test
9 “When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest, 10 and the priest shall look. And if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not shut him up, for he is unclean. 12 And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, 13 then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. 14 But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15 And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. 16 But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest, 17 and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean.
Verse nine. There's another test that's mentioned. It says, "When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest and the priest shall look. And if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body. And the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not shut him up for he is unclean. And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that be leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot so far as the priest can see, then the priest shall look. And if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease. It is all turned white and he is clean. But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it as a leprous disease. But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest and the priest shall examine him. And if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall the disease person clean. He is clean."
The Third Skin Disease Test
18 “If there is in the skin of one’s body a boil and it heals, 19 and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, then it shall be shown to the priest. 20 And the priest shall look, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil. 21 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days. 22 And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease. 23 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
And again, I told you, these are some uncomfortable passages talking about raw flesh and things like that. But that's the big thing the priest was looking for here. Has the skin begun to heal, or is it still open as a wound? "If there is," verse 18, "In the skin of one's body, a boil and it heals. And in the place of the boil, there comes a white swelling or a reddish spot, then it shall be shown to the priest. And the priest shall look. And if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil. But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in it, and it does not deeper than the skin, but is faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days. And if it spreads in the skin then the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a disease. But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil and the priest shall pronounce him clean."
So here we're seeing these different quarantine regulations before someone was able to be declared clean and receive a clean bill of health. And this would be helpful to the nation because in an encampment like that or in the settlements that they would eventually establish in Canaan, you would not want someone who had a highly transmissible disease to be walking around and in the community. It just was wise for them to be in isolation until they went through this seven days of being declared clean.
The Fourth Skin Disease Test
24 “Or, when the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white, 25 the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 26 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but has faded, the priest shall shut him up seven days, 27 and the priest shall examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 28 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn.
Verse 24, "When the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish white or white, the priest shall examine it. And if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease. But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot, and it is no deeper than the skin, but is faded, the priest shall shut him up seven days. And the priest shall examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease. But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin, but is faded, it is a swelling from the burn and the priest shall pronounce him clean for it is the scar of the burn." And these are the same symptoms and regulations from the previous section, just repeated here for a potential burn, which has become infected or turned septic.
And again, here you are as a person in Israel. You're being governed by this word from the Lord. God is the one deciding what is clean and what is unclean. And he's getting into very specific details. So they would search the word and look it up. And God would be the one to make these declarations.
The Fifth Skin Disease Test
29 “When a man or woman has a disease on the head or the beard, 30 the priest shall examine the disease. And if it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard. 31 And if the priest examines the itching disease and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days, 32 and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the disease. If the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, 33 then he shall shave himself, but the itch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days. 34 And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch, and if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35 But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, 36 then the priest shall examine him, and if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean. 37 But if in his eyes the itch is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed and he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
"When a man or a woman," verse 29, "Has a disease on the head or the beard, the preach shall examine the disease. And if it appears deeper than the skin and the hair, and it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard. And if the priest examines the itching disease and it appears no deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days. And on the seventh day, the priest shall examine the disease."
"If the itch has not spread and there is in it and no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, then he shall shave himself, but the itch, he shall not shave. And the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days. And on the seventh day, the priest shall examine the itch. And at the itch is not spread in the skin and it appears no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean and he shall wash his clothes and be clean. But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, then the priest will examine him. And if the itch has spread in the skin, the need not seek for the yellow hair. He is unclean. But if in his eyes the itch is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed and he is clean and the priest shall pronounce him clean."
So later we'll have a test to make sure that you remember all of these regulations, all of these rules. God is just writing these things down, communicating them to Moses and Aaron so that later the priest could reference this and they'd know how to treat each one of these figures. But this paragraph that we just read deals with kind of a fungal infection it seems on the skin, especially the head, on the face kind of area. So he gives the restrictions and then tells him how to go through the cleaning process.
• 38 “When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, 39 the priest shall look, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin; he is clean. 40 “If a man’s hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. 41 And if a man’s hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. 42 But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, 44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.
Verse 38, "When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, the priest shall look. And if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin. He is clean. If a man's hair falls out from his head, he is bald. He is clean. And if a man's hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead. He is clean. But if there's on the bald head or on the bald forehead a reddish white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. Then the priest shall examine him. And if the diseased swelling is reddish white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease and the skin of the body, he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean. His disease is on his head." So if a man just naturally went bald as he got older, either his entire head or just part of his head that he was still considered clean. But if there was some kind of sore that broke out on his head, then he needed to be inspected.
45 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.
"The leprous person," verse 45, "Who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose. And he shall cover his upper lip and cry out unclean. He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp." Again, isolation is what was required for the lepers or those who had these skin conditions. That was the sentence that they all received until they could become ritually clean in the eyes of God. Even in the Book of Luke, we find Jew and Samaritan living together in an unclean leper colony or community. So the idea is that unclean as drove you from the covenant community and population, and you were on your own until you could become ceremonially clean before God.
Many believers who have wandered off into willful rebellion against the Lord and have come under the disciplinary hand of their local church have complained at the isolation that has come.
Now, Paul talked about a man in the Corinthian church who was in need of that sort of discipline. He needed to be cast out from the covenant community. Paul said so that he would be surrendered to Satan for the destruction of his flesh. The idea is that that isolation could actually lead to him being cleansed from his sin so that he could be restored to the covenant community, but there in the protection of the church family without dealing with any consequences of his uncleanness, he might persist in his sin and rebellion.
Here we have a little picture of that in the isolation that these lepers would experience in the previous era or covenant. They would walk around saying unclean unclean 54 times in Leviticus, 13, 14, and 15, the word unclean is used. It speaks of a ceremonial defilement that made the person unfit for the social gathering or community, and especially participation in worship at the tabernacle or at the temple.
I think in a sense, all of us should have a spirit that says, "Woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips." These lepers were to walk around covering their upper lip and saying, "Unclean unclean." You remember Isaiah in Isaiah chapter six, the great and venerated prophet. He ministered to many different generations and had a many decades long ministry. But at one point, he had a vision of the temple of God in heaven. And he saw the train of the Lord's robe filling the temple. And he saw the glory of the Lord and he heard the worship of the angels. And he said, "Woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips." You see, in comparison to God, I think all of us would have that sense of uncleanness. And this humble spirit is good for us to live in and to operate in. But the idea here is that this leprosy had affected everything about the individual who possessed it.
Pastor Riley shared recently from Psalm 51 with our church. And when David prayed that prayer of confession, he talked about his eyes, his mind, his ears, his bones, his heart, and his mouth, and his hands all being affected by the sin that he'd committed against Uriah, against Bathsheba, against the entire nation of Israel, and ultimately against God. And what he needed was for God to cleanse him. "Cleanse my heart, my hands, my eyes, my ears, my mouth." Oh Lord, he had to receive God's cleanness back into his life. And the Lord, he is gracious and merciful. The Bible says that if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to cleanse us from our sin, to forgive us of our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Now when we sin in our modern era, I think one of the things that we have to remember is that there are different levels of the effect of our sin. We might be before God considered clean, but there might be consequences to the sin that we've committed. And some sins carry with them bigger consequences towards the self and towards others or the community that we're in. So there might be a process that we have to go through internally or with others to get back into that clean status, even after we've received cleanness from God. But here, the idea is that sin has this isolating effect.
47 “When there is a case of leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment, 48 in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, 49 if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin or in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease, and it shall be shown to the priest. 50 And the priest shall examine the disease and shut up that which has the disease for seven days. 51 Then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a persistent leprous disease; it is unclean. 52 And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire.
Verse 47, "When there is a case of leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or linen garment, in a warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, if the disease is greenish or reddish and the garment or in the skin or in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease. And it shall be shown to the priest. And the priest shall examine the disease and shut up that which has the disease for seven days. Then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, and the warp, or the woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a persistent, leprous disease. It is unclean. And he shall burn the garment or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased. For it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire."
It is a part of the reason why we can be fairly certain that this is not just talking about what we think of as leprosy, but even something like mildew is being pointed out here in this passage like a skin condition. Mold and mildew get into certain articles and begin to ruin them. And so if it's in them than they needed to be destroyed.
53 “And if the priest examines, and if the disease has not spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, 54 then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease, and he shall shut it up for another seven days. 55 And the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the appearance of the diseased area has not changed, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire, whether the rot is on the back or on the front. 56 “But if the priest examines, and if the diseased area has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment or the skin or the warp or the woof. 57 Then if it appears again in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire whatever has the disease. 58 But the garment, or the warp or the woof, or any article made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean.”
"And if the priest examines," verse 53, "And the disease is not spread in the garment, and the warp, or the woof, or in any article made of skin, then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease. And he shall shut it up for another seven days. And the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the appearance of the diseased area has not changed, or the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall go burn it in the fire, whether the rot is on the back or on the front. But if the priest examines and if the diseased area has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment, or the skin, or the warp of the woof. And then if it appears again in the garment and the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire whatever has the disease. But the garment or the warp or the woof, or any article made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time and be cleaned."
Some things could not be washed apparently. They needed to just be completely destroyed and burned with fire. Interestingly enough, when Jesus spoke about hell, he used the word…, which referred to the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem, where the trash from Jerusalem will be burnt up and destroyed. That's the idea of what hell is supposed to be for the devil and his angels. They will be destroyed forever, expunged from our experience. And of course, we also learn in the Bible that it becomes also the place for those who reject Christ as well.
And so the idea is that that uncleanness cannot eternally be present. It must be burnt with fire. But practically speaking, there just are some things in the Christian life that will tempt us, that will bring us into sin. That we just can't have around the house, that we just have to destroy completely. But for you, it might be an app that you can't have.
I've always felt that it's unwise to give a teenager an unfiltered, unmonitored cell phone in our modern day. I personally think that it's unwise for any man or woman, especially if they experience a strong inclination, temptation, or if they have a history towards looking at pornographic images or light pornographic images, which I think you can find in many social media feeds in our modern time. I personally think that it's unwise for even an adult to have an unfiltered, unmonitored internet connection or a cell phone. I think it's a great idea at times to say, "You know what? I can't handle that in my life. So I'm going to set up with the help of others in my Christian community some fences that keep that out of my life. But there are just some things that cannot co-exist with us."
59 This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean.
He says in verse 59, "This is the law for a case of leprosy disease and a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp of the woof or in any article made of skin to determine whether it is clean or unclean."
Leviticus 14
Now moving on into chapter 14, I think we could all safely say that chapter 13 was not the most encouraging chapter that we've ever read in God's word. There likely aren't a lot of verses in chapter 13 that you'll cut, and paste, and text to a friend, or make a cute Instagram image for. More than likely if you're anything like me, you get a little bit discouraged. You just see the ravaging effects of sin and brokenness there in that chapter. But here in chapter 14, we get a little bit of hope. A leper could be cleansed. A leper could be restored. And this reminds us of course, that God is a Redeemer. And he loves to fix that which is broken. He loves to cleanse that which has been dirtied or muddied by sin.
Laws For Cleansing Lepers
The bad news of judgment is present in chapter 13, but it highlights the beauty of the good news in chapter 14, just as the news of our sin, and brokenness, and depravity highlights the good news of the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ.
So the person that would be cleansed we'll learn in this chapter a would go through a ritual where they offered a couple of birds outside the camp. One would die. One would live. Followed by a ceremonial washing, and then a series of sacrifices eight days later. And with that, man they were back in to the community. They were fully restored, which is so exciting.
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, 3 and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, 4 the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. 5 And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. 6 He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field. 8 And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. 9 And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. 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.
So it says in verse one, "Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest and the priest shall go out to the camp, and the priest shall look. Then if the case of leprous disease has healed in the leprous person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed, two live clean birds and cedar wood and scarlet yarn and hyssop, and the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. He shall take the live bird with the cedar wood and the Scarlet yarn and the hyssop and dip them in the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.'"
"'And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field. And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water. And he shall be clean. And after that, he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. And on the seventh day, he shall shave off all of his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair. And then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body and water, and he shall be clean.'"
All right. So a couple of elements here about this cleansing process. First of all, "The priest goes outside the camp," it says there in verse three. And they meet this now ex leper who has been cleansed and needs to go through this cleansing ceremony so that they can be fully restored. He goes outside the camp.
Jesus is described as he who seeks and saves that which is lost. He'll go anywhere to find anyone. He will go outside the camp. He's called in the Bible a friend of tax collectors and sinners. He is a great physician who helps those who need a doctor to heal them. And he will go to us wherever we are to try to minister to us just like these priests would go. And I think it's wise for the church to be thinking about in their modern era how can we with discernment and with grace still holding fast to the truth do what we can to reach out to the world that we're in, to go out of the camp to minister to those who are unclean, who need Christ.
In the process of offering this two bird sacrifice, the living bird, they kill one, but they living bird is set free and flies away to go it says in verse seven, "Into the open field." The idea is that the slain bird represents the death or the disease that the leper had just escaped like, "Wow. That could have, should have, was me." And then the living bird is representative of the new life that they've been given and the cleanness that they are now 'flying in' and experiencing.
10 “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. 11 And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
And in response to this ceremony, he would shave everything. His beard, his hair, his eyebrows kind of symbolizing, a cleansing, a starting fresh kind of experience. "And on the eighth day," verse 10, "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. And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who has to be cleansed and these things before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meetings." So they're now going to offer all the sacrifices that we looked at in the earlier chapters of Leviticus. So the eighth day, that was his first day back, his first full day back as a cleansed man. And what he would do on that first full day back is sacrifice to God. It just sort of spoke of the priority of worship. What's the first thing you're going to do when you get to come back into the covenant community? They didn't go to see mom, or dad, or siblings, or spouses, or children, or friends. They went straight to the house of God to reestablish their ongoing relationship with him. You see, your relationship with God is foundational to all of those other secondary and very important relationships. But the ex-leper was meant to prioritize his relationship with God.
12 And the priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 13 And he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary. For the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. 14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand 16 and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 17 And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. 18 And 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. Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.
"And the priest," verse 12, "Shall take one of the male lamps and offer it for a guilt offering along with the log of oil and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. And he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering in the place of the sanctuary. For the guilt offering like the sin offering belongs to the priest. It is most holy. The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot."
"Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour into the palm of his own left hand, and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. And some of the oil that remains in his hand, the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansing, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot on top of the blood of the guilt offering. And 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. Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord."
So this man who's been now living outside the camp, he goes through this beautiful ceremony to be brought back in and accepted. And the priest puts the blood and also the oil on his right ear lobe, his right thumb, and his big toe. So he's covered now by the blood, covered by the oil. He's been atoned for, but also the spirit is upon his life.
19 The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
"The priest," verse 19, "Shall offer the sin offering to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward, he shall kill the burn offering. And the priest shall offer the burn offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus, the priest shall make atonement for him and he shall be clean.”
21 “But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil; 22 also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord. 24 And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 25 And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering. And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. 28 And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put. 29 And 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. 30 And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or pigeons, whichever he can afford, 31 one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for him who is being cleansed. 32 This is the law for him in whom is a case of leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.”
“But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waived to make a tone that for him. And a 10th of an ephah fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and a log of oil. Also two turtle doves, or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. And on the eighth day, he shall bring them for his cleansing to the entrance of the meeting before the Lord and the priest she'll take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil. And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot."
"And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the Palm of his own left hand. And he shall sprinkle with his right finger 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 lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot in the place where the blood and the guilt offering was put. And 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."
"And he shall offer of the turtle doves or pigeons, whichever he can afford. One for a sin offering and the other for a burn offering along with a grain offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for him who's being cleansed. This is the law for him in whom is a case of leprous disease who can not afford the offerings for his cleansing." So just like with the original sacrifices that we saw in the first seven chapters for lepers who were being cleansed, there was a prescription for those who were poor. They had another way to offer a sacrifice to God that satisfied him and would make them clean.
One of the highlights of this whole chapter and idea is the idea that the priest is making atonement six times. That word as mentioned in the passage that we've just read. This means that the sins were covered. They were forgiven.
33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 34 “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, 35 then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house.’ 36 Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean. And afterward the priest shall go in to see the house. 37 And he shall examine the disease. And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, 38 then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days. 39 And the priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the disease has spread in the walls of the house, 40 then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. 41 And he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around, and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house.
"The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron," verse 33 saying, "When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, 'There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house.' Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease lest all that is in the house be declared unclean. And afterward, the priest shall go in to see the house and he shall examine the disease."
"And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, then the priests should go out of the house, 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 if the disease has spread in the walls of the house, then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. And he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around. And the plaster that they scrape off the wall, 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, and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house."
So this portion that we just read is an extension of what we saw about the inspection of garments and homes. He's giving further directions on how to do it here in this chapter. And the curious phrase comes in verse 34, where God says, "And if I put a case of leprous disease in a house," the idea being that God is sovereign over the Israelite life. And good or bad ultimately is determined by God himself. That the creator of life needs to be turned to by his people. So the idea here is that God is sovereign over their lives.
43 “If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, 44 then the priest shall go and look. And if the disease has spread in the house, it is a persistent leprous disease in the house; it is unclean. 45 And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place. 46 Moreover, whoever enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening, 47 and whoever sleeps in the house shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
Then he says in verse 43, "If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, then the priest shall go and look. And if the disease has spread in the house, it is a persistent leprous disease in the house. It's unclean. And he shall break down the house with stones, and timber, and all the plaster of the house. And he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place. Moreover, whoever enters the house will it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever sleeps in the house shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes."
This is the idea of a returning mildew. It just won't go away. This of course might bring up in your mind some of those relationships or places that are just cancerous to your walk with God, where try as you might you just can't make progress. The same old sins keep rearing their ugly head because of that place, or relationship, or time, or space. So we've got to just say as they did in this era, "This house has got to go. We've got to start afresh elsewhere."
48 “But if the priest comes and looks, and if the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed. 49 And for the cleansing of the house he shall take two small birds, with cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop, 50 and shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water 51 and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the live bird and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn. 53 And he shall let the live bird go out of the city into the open country. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.”
"But if the priest comes and looks," verse 48, "If the disease is not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean. For the disease is healed. And for the cleansing of the house, he shall take two small birds with cedar wood, and scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and shall kill one of the birds in the earthenware vessel over fresh water. And shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn along with the live bird and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times. Thus, he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the fresh water, and with the live bird, and with the cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet yarn. And he shall let the live bird go out of the city into the open country. So he shall make atonement for the house. And it shall be clean."
54 This is the law for any case of leprous disease: for an itch, 55 for leprous disease in a garment or in a house, 56 and for a swelling or an eruption or a spot, 57 to show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprous disease.
“This is the law for any case of leprous disease. For an itch, for the leprous disease in a garment or in a house, and for a swelling or an eruption or a spot to show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprous disease.”
So again, just thinking about these two chapters, we have to confess God is sovereign. He decides what is clean, what is unclean. And God is interested in bringing someone from the position of uncleanness into cleanness.
Now I'd be remiss not to mention the ministry of Jesus that when he healed lepers in the New Testament, often the phrase that is used is that he made them clean. There was a leper in the early portion of Mark's gospel who approached Jesus and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." It wasn't, "Lord if you're willing, you can heal me," that was implied. But the thing that he was looking for was to be made clean. And Jesus reached out, touched the leper. Which according to everything that we just read, could have made him ceremonially unclean had the leprosy transferred to him. But the leprosy did not transfer to Jesus. Instead, Jesus' cleanness transferred to the leper, and he was made clean.
You see, I think in life, there are many times where though ambiguous, though hard to put our finger on, we feel unclean. Perhaps it's something that's been done to us. It's not sin at all, as is the case with these innocent lepers in Leviticus 13 and 14 who without any doing of their own, they contracted some kind of sickness. Perhaps it's a sin that we've committed in our past that makes us feel unclean. It could be a lot of different things where uncleanness has come into our lives. Perhaps we saw things that we should never have been exposed to, heard things we should've never heard. Maybe we indulged in them ourselves, or maybe they were thrust upon us.
But Jesus, he is the one the Bible teaches who can make us clean. He can replace our uncleanness with cleanness. So he is so good at dealing with the shame that we so often experience because of uncleanness. And I think this concept actually is often a concept that's easier for us to embrace and understand then at times even the concept of sin, as real and true is that reality is. There's also just an uncleanness within that effects us. Jesus as we come to him, he cleanses us more and more. He purifies us from within.
Leviticus 15
Now I would like to look at chapter 15 with you today, so let's read it together. In this chapter ... it goes well with the others because 24 times, there will be another kind of grody subject. It will be the subject of a bodily discharge. This is the flow of liquid from a human body. It's sometimes just a healthy, natural flow of liquid as is the case with semen from a man. Or it could be unhealthy like gonorrhea, or diarrhea, or something like that due to sickness. It's not that they were considered sinful. But the worshiper was considered unclean for the purposes of worship as a result of these discharges, even if it was just for a day.
1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, **2** “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.
So verse one, it said, "The Lord to Moses and Aaron saying, 'Speak to the people of Israel and say to them when any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.'" I should mention that in this portion where he's talking about the discharge from a man particularly, it's possible that the Lord is actually dealing with discharges that come from venereal diseases like gonorrhea. Some wonder if there's any sexual connotation at all. Maybe this is just some kind of illness that someone receives, they have diarrhea or something like that for a period of time. Not to gross you out, but that is kind of the debate in this passage. I tend to think it's all inclusive. It could be something someone has contracted through being sexually promiscuous. It could be something someone has contracted through a bad meal, something like that.
**3** And this is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is blocked up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. **4** Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. **5** And anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. **6** And whoever sits on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. **7** And whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. **8** And if the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. **9** And any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. **10** And whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. **11** Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. **12** And an earthenware vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
He says in verse three, and this is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge, "Whether his body runs with his discharge or his body is blocked up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean. And everything on which he sits shall be unclean. And anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And whoever sits on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. And whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening."
"And if the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. And whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. Anyone with whom the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And the earthenware vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water."
So in a sense, all you really have here is the infection being taken seriously from a medical standpoint. But of course, what you're also seeing is ceremonial uncleanness that occurs when someone comes in contact with a person experiencing this kind of constant discharge or touching something that they touched. They're considered unclean for the day, and then they go through a cleansing process. You don't need to get the priests involved in all of that. They're going to be clean the next day. They're unclean until the evening is the idea.
**13** “And when the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes. And he shall bathe his body in fresh water and shall be clean. **14** And on the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. **15** And the priest shall use them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.
"And when," verse 13, "One with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing and wash his clothes. And he shall bathe his body and fresh water and shall be clean. And on the eighth day, he shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons, and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. And the priest shall use them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burn offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge."
So the person had to go through a time of testing before they were declared to be clean. A waiting period of seven days. I think that's wise that a person goes through a time of testing. It's one thing to say, "I've defeated a sin, I'm over it." It's another thing to demonstrate it over a period of time before full trust is restored. Forgiveness should be given, but it might take a while to rebuild trust when we are given over to habitual sin. The priest did not need to examine this person as was the case with leprosy. There was nothing outward in other words for the priest to inspect. It was a more personal and private matter. But God designed a process for this person to be restored into fellowship, which is of course beautiful. It just expresses the heart of God. What we should be thinking about and seeing in all of this is the desire of God to keep bringing someone back into not just the community of Israelites, the covenant community of his people, but in a fellowship with himself. That's the heart of God. So this is all gospel preparation that when Jesus came, his mission was to bring us back. Take us out of uncleanness and bring us into cleanness before God.
Which of course is a statement that offends the modern sensibility, the idea that we would be unclean in any way before God. But this is part of the gospel message. We've got to understand it and believe it. God is so great, wonderful, pure, holy and righteous, we cannot approach him unless something happens to the uncleanness that is within.
Now, this passage reminds us of a few things about sin. It doesn't say them explicitly, but reminds us. One thing that it reminds us of is that sin is easily transmitted. People were just touching a saddle that someone unclean had sat on. They became unclean by extension. Sin is easily transmitted. It gets around, and we must be vigilant to watch out. It must be sequestered and handled with severity. You might say, "Well, these are really extreme restrictions. I'm so glad I live in the New Testament era. And that there's this grace and all of that." Well, Jesus said, "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It's better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It's better that you lose one of your members and your whole body go into hell." This is Jesus in the New Testament.
So in a sense, I think a Christian, we have greater light when it comes to the understanding of what sin does to us. We know about sin's destructiveness. We see it written in the word. We understand the doctrines surrounding human depravity. We get these things. We have a rich biblical history from which to draw. So we should be in a sense handling it with greater severity than they ever did in the previous eras.
And it also helps us see that that sin or uncleanness, it must be avoided. It must be avoided. Paul told Timothy in Second Timothy two verse 16, "But avoid irreverent babble for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness. And their talk will spread like gangrene." There are just certain sins that must be avoided lest they spread.
**16** “If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. **17** And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. **18** If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.
Now verse 16 goes on and it says, "If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening."
So here you have normal sexual activity. Some of it is between a man and a woman. Some of it is a nocturnal emission that a man experiences. There's nothing really moral that's being dealt with here. It's just there's an emission of semen. So ceremonially, they are unclean. The idea was that there's no sacrifice that needs to be offered for a married couple who enjoys each other physically. It's just that bodily discharge made them ceremonially unclean until the end of that day. And then they were clean before God. It did not make the married couple sinful. But we can say that in a sense, at least it did affect their relationship with God to a degree. They're focusing on each other in that moment rather than focusing on the Lord, and God was fine with that. He gave them as gifts to one another. I think we can say safely that God created the marital sexual relationship for a lot of good things.
God created married sexual relationship in part for the betterment of human society. He wanted to create strong, good, healthy societies, and covenantal, monogamous, male-female marriage is the best way for a society to be built, and preserved, protected, and flourish. So because God is into human flourishing, he created this relationship together.
**19** “When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. **20** And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean.
"When a woman," verse 19, "Has a discharge and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days. And whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean." So the woman during her monthly period, she was considered ceremonially unclean, as well as everything she sat on or touched, or excuse me, lied down on. Again, no guilt is prescribed. There's no offering she has to offer to become clean after all of this is over. It just means that maybe a little space she gets, she gets a slow down a little bit, and the sexual relationship with her husband takes pause.
**21** And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. **22** And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. **23** Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. **24** And if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
"And whoever touches her bed," verse 21, "Shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening. And if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days. And every bed on which he lies shall be unclean."
So again, the idea here is that if the man touches his wife during that time of her menstrual impurity, he would be unclean just for that day until the next day or until the evening. If he enjoyed intercourse with her during her menstrual impurity, he would be unclean the full seven days as well just like her. So practically, what this meant is that the married couple each month would have this period seven days where they took a sexual break from one another. And maybe this would be protective to the woman if she's experiencing cramps and any kind of symptoms that go along with her menstrual cycle.
But of course, what we know from the New Testament and all of scripture is that sex is good and created by God. Paul said in First Corinthians seven verse two, he said, "Because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband." It seems that there were some in the church in Corinth that wanted Paul to endorse celibacy at the expense of monogamous marriage. They thought, "This is the really godly thing to do. We should be celibate." And they looked at Paul's life. He was a single man and celibate before God. And they wanted Paul to agree, but he wouldn't. I mean he did, but just not exclusively. He recommended the single life to those who could embrace it, but he would not force that upon anyone. In fact, Paul extolled the virtues of marriage all throughout his writings. In First Timothy four verse three, he rebuked those who forbid others to be married. He encouraged in First Timothy five verse 14 younger widows to get married. And he commanded pastors in First Timothy three verse two to be married to one woman. I think you can have a man who's single be a pastor. But if they are married, they need to be a one woman man.
The Bible extols the virtues of marriage over and over again. Genesis Two, God instituted it for companionship, for godly offspring Malachi 2:15, "As a picture of the love of Jesus for his people," Ephesians 5. For sanctification, that we might grow together. There's nothing like being married to shape you into the image of Jesus. But here, the idea is that sexual love is part of the married covenant and relationship. And Paul knew that in the New Testament. And of course, it was a truth in the Old Testament as well. So the idea from Leviticus is not that they become unclean because they've sinned. But God is just making some dictates for the people of Israel.
**25** “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. **26** Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. **27** And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. **28** But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. **29** And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. **30** And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.
Now verse 25, "If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge, she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge shall be to her is the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days. And after that, she shall be clean. And on the eighth day, she shall take two turtle doves are or two pigeons and bring them to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge."
Now there's a couple of things that are interesting about this. One is just that there was a woman in the New Testament who interacted with Jesus. She had a flow of blood for 12 years. And Jesus, she touched Jesus in faith. Remember the story about the hem of the garment? "If I could just touch the hem of his garment, I know that I will be healed." And Jesus called her daughter. He said, "Daughter, today your faith has made you well." What a powerful statement from the Lord.
But the other thing that's interesting here is that in this chapter where you have the discharge for the man and the discharge for the woman, and there's a lot about their marital sexuality together, they're put on equal footing. The man mention, the woman mention, and kind of getting that equal treatment here before God.
**31** “Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”
He says in verse 31, "Thus, you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst." So this is about the congregation. We've kind of lost a lot of that I think in our modern versions of Christianity. Many churches have gone the route and many believers have gone the route of buying into the cultural view of what religion offers. Many people think of religion or even the church as an optional fixture that helps them as an individual attain their goals and pursuits in dreams. But that's not the idea of the Old or New Testament. God is about a community of people that he's trying to preserve, protect, and work through.
**32** This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby; **33** also for her who is unwell with her menstrual impurity, that is, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean.
He says in verse 32, "This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has an emission of semen becoming unclean thereby. Also for her who is unwell with her menstrual impurity, that is for anyone, male or female who has a discharge, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean."
So an odd passage here as we've looked at Leviticus chapter 15. But again, I just want to highlight the idea that sex is holy. It is meant to be held in high esteem. And this is important in our modern view in our modern world. Many people think of sex with what some scholars have called the natural impulse view. The idea that as long as I have the desire or the drive, I should carry out my impulse and my desires. But logically, this breaks down. I mean, we think about debt for instance. If I have the impulse to buy, and buy, and buy, and go into all kinds of debt, is that really good for me? Isn't a measure of self-control and other areas of life beneficial? So why would we say that rules that pertain to dieting for instance, the way that I eat, should not pertain to my sexuality? No, if there are wise guardrails that I should put on what I eat, might there be wise guardrails for my impulses that I might have sexually?
So what is wild or natural if we're honest about it is not always good. We as humans form societies with rules for a reason. So I don't think we can buy into the natural impulse view of things when it comes to sex.
There's also the affection view. The idea that if there's feelings of intimacy, then a sexual relationship should be pursued. I see a lots of young Christian couples even falling into this, or even not so young Christian couples falling into this that are not yet married. They think, "Well, we love each other. We care about each other. Doesn't God want us to enjoy each other sexually? Isn't this a way for us to experience greater intimacy?" But the reality is that if it's feelings that are driving you, feelings of affection that are driving you together, what's going to happen when those feelings of intimacy aren't there? That's too fickle of an emotion to be trusted with something so weighty and so important. Sex involves lives that are completely and totally shared with each other. I think that's part of the reason why in Leviticus 15, the man and woman, they were unclean together. They were going through this together before God.
And I have seen time and time again that sex takes a couple who's merely experiencing the hormonal high of infatuation, and it binds them together prematurely. So it takes away their ability to think more clearly about the relationship and whether it's healthy or unhealthy.
I think that the Christian biblical view is the best. The abstinence view that marriage with complete faithfulness to your partner is where we want to be sexually. And if not that, then total abstinence. Complete and total abstinence. See sex is natural, sex is enjoyable, sex is helped by intimacy. But it should not be used merely for physical gratification, but for the expression of deep love and affection. And that really can only happen in the committed covenantal love of marriage.
So here in Leviticus 15, God is getting into the bedroom of his people. Getting into the lives of his people, the homes of his people. Declaring the chapter 13, 14, and 15 what is clean and what is unclean. He sees it all, and he wants to cleanse so that we can be brought into deeper fellowship with him. God bless you church. Have a great week.