Part X4.1 - Purification of the Leper
CHAPTER XIV. THE PURIFICATION OF THE LEPER.
Leviticus 14:1-32. We have here in a special ordinance, given to Moses alone (since these are directions for priestly service, not instruction in the exercise of it), " the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing." The " day of his cleansing" marks the oneness and identification of the whole matter in its various details. The leper is brought to the priest, and that is the act of faith which is the gift of God. The priest goes out to the leper, and so exhibits the grace of the Lord coming forth to seek and to save that which is lost. They meet in the place and circumstances into which the leper’s condition has brought him, without the camp (Matthew 8:1-34.; Luke 17:12). Then, when the priest sees that the leprosy is healed, he proceeds with the process of cleansing (Luke 17:14). The healing is the secret act of God’s power; the cleansing is the detailed apprehension of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. See John 3:1-36; Ephesians 1:2.; 1 John 5:1. The disease of leprosy brands man as utterly lost and degraded by nature; he has found out that death is the wages of sin; and in this condition his first need, without which every other blessing would be nothing, is life. And the supply of his need is typified by the offering of the two birds, for which there is no specific designa- *******p.142 - omitted (please supply if you find it) His own are constantly typified in Scripture by the emblem of the cedar; and we find the place and circumstances of His identification with the hyssop in John 19:29.
Compare Php 2:8 with John 19:28-30. But in this ordinance the requirement is cedar-wood, which seems to show that the intrinsic nature of the cedar, rather than its lofty height, typified the character of the Lord Jesus.
Scarlet in Scripture is emblematical of splendour, high station, and imperial dignity. See 2 Samuel 1:24; Daniel 5:7; Matthew 27:28-29 ; Revelation 17:3-4; Revelation 18:12, Revelation 18:16. A scarlet thread marked the first-born of the twins of Tamar (Genesis 38:28); and was also the sign of the deliverance of Rahab (Joshua 2:18): while in Song of Solomon 4:3, the beautiful lips of the bride are likened to it. The colour is also used to mark the extremity of the evil condition of sin, as in Isaiah 1:18. All these particulars wondrously illustrate the character of Him Who was represented by the scarlet. And His was the regal dignity by right, though men gave it to Him in derision. The scarlet is mentioned between the cedar and the hyssop. For the Lord’s kingly dignity does not belong to His highest and divine character exclusively, nor yet to His condition of humiliation ; but it is given to Him as the exalted Son of man, the One That is worthy of it. He has put away the hindrance of sin, and has perfectly obeyed; therefore, the regal dignity is His; for He has thus deserved it.
We have here, then, life and purity, intrinsic personal excellence and exalted glory, the deepest and most entire humiliation, the darkest dye of sin, and the official dignity given to Christ as being worthy.
Leviticus 14:5. Then we have death introduced, that which was the needed extent of His humiliation. One of the *******p.144 - omitted (please supply if you find it) In the power of this cleansing the leper must henceforth cleanse himself. All that has been done hitherto has been done by the priest, or at his command, for and to the leper. It is in this place that the " wherefore " so frequently used by Paul in his epistles comes in; there is knowledge and understanding, and there must follow a perfecting of holiness in the fear of God.
Leviticus 14:8. The first thing the person to be cleansed is directed to do for himself is to " wash his clothes." This is the immediate outward exhibition of the inward purity which he has obtained; it is that which meets the eye of others, viz., testimony. He shall " shave off all his hair," thereby renouncing all strength and comeliness in his own person. He shall " wash himself in water;" by which is signified the practically " cleansing himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." And this is " the washing of water by the Word " spoken of in the epistles, " the renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Ephesians 5:26). He is now permitted to come " into the camp," but must " tarry abroad out of his tent seven days." Of the camp it is said (Deuteronomy 23:14)-"The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy." The man is thus allowed access to God and association with His people, and with their joy of hope ; but as yet, during the seven days, he has no actual personal possession of a place. The seventh day has its own appropriate work of cleansing, while on the eighth the sacrifice in all its completeness is to be offered, and it is then, as we have before seen, that the glory of the Lord appears, then that the cleansed leper will have an abiding place as his own.
Leviticus 14:9. On the seventh day the cutting of the hair is more specially mentioned; not the least appearance of personal strength or comeliness must be suffered to remain. The man’s clothes and flesh are again to be washed in water, and again it is said, " he shall be clean." The eighth day is near; how urgently does the Lord press upon us the necessity of being " diligent that we may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless " (2 Peter 3:14). This was the great end to which Paul was labouring for the saints, that every man should be perfect in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:2; Colossians 1:1-29; Php 4:1-23).
Leviticus 14:10. But the cleansing is continued on the eighth day, and then at length it is perfected. We should live in that day by faith, as knowing that all things are already accomplished, as waiting for the glory which is to be revealed. For the perfect practical sanctification of body, soul, and spirit, is the result of the power of those things which are now the subjects of eighth day revelation to faith by the Spirit, and will soon be actually realized. And all things are made known to faith, in order that their unhindered power upon us may prepare us to meet their actual manifestation. Hereafter we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And to strive by faith for the attainment of this likeness is now the duty and privilege of every poor leprous sinner. The eighth day was* the day of the complete sacrifice; because it is only in the spiritual power of resurrection that we can obtain a full understanding of what Christ has wrought for us. It was indeed completed long ago, but we have to learn of it, and appropriate it to ourselves. The eighth day in Leviticus 9:1-24 included in its ordinances the priests and the whole congregation assembled before the door of the tabernacle. Here it is more the concern of an individual, of a leper who is seeking to realize the completion of his cleansing, preparatory to his entering into the full enjoyment of the privilege of the people of God, from which his leprosy had debarred him.
Leviticus 14:10. On this eighth day the leper is to bring the offering for himself; and he and his offering are to be presented by the priest at the door of the tabernacle. The offering is to consist of two he lambs, one ewe lamb of the first year, three tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, and one log of oil.
There is special mention only of the purpose for which one of the animals is required. The priest is to take one he lamb for a trespass offering, and is afterwards directed to sacrifice a sin offering and a burnt offering without any instruction in regard to the animals. But in the primary ordinances the male animal only is used in burnt offering, and a female kid of the goats is appointed for a sin offering for " any one of the common people." The order here appointed is, first, the trespass offering; then, the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the meat offering.
Leviticus 14:12. The priest, after he has presented the leper, together with what he has to offer for his cleansing, before the Lord, is directed to take one he lamb for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. What is here held up in the hands of the priest for the Lord to look upon is twofold.
It is both that which puts away the continual trespass to which the leper in his yet partially cleansed state is liable, and that which will empower him to enjoy the privileges to which the cleansing will entitle him, that is, the Holy Ghost. These open the way for the last general offering for sin, for the offering of acceptance and full access, and, lastly, for that of service and participation. The lamb is to be slain in the place where the sin offering and the burnt offering are killed; it is most holy; and, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest. And thus the priest, as here intimated, not only partakes of the sin offering, but knows also the fellowship of continual failure as signified in the trespass offering. The priest shall then apply the blood of this trespass offering, as the blood of the ram was applied in his own consecration, to the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot, of him that is to be cleansed. This indicates the special character of his trespass and also of his cleansing. Those members which should be entirely consecrated to God were in the trespass, but are now cleansed. The oil was then to be applied upon the parts which had been touched with the blood. For the Holy Ghost can only be where the cleansing blood is. Afterwards the oil was to be sprinkled seven times before the Lord. And this act seems to indicate that it was in God’s sight sufficient for the proposed object. He was satisfied, and the leper might be confident. The remnant of the oil is then poured upon the head of the person to be cleansed. This is his complete anointing, and herein is atonement made for him before the Lord. Then follows the offering of the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the meat offering; and these, being now presented in full understanding of their value and efficacy, complete the cleansing. Thus the whole ordinance sets forth the gradual and progressive knowledge of the value and sufficiency of Christ and of our completeness in Him. The sin offering in this case at once sums up the whole question, of sin, and of sin put away, and of the knowledge that it is so.
Therefore there are no particulars mentioned. So also in the burnt offering, the entire question of acceptance is considered to be fully settled ; and, in the meat offering, that of service and participation in all that the altar typified, viz., all that is acceptable to God. Such are the requirements for the perfect cleansing of a leprous sinner, and they are all to be found in Christ. These rites do but set forth the learning in detail of all that which in Him belongs to us as summed up in the words, " Ye are complete in Him." And now comes the final declaration of that which was announced on the first day-" he shall be clean."
Leviticus 14:21. But here again, as before, the Lord meets in the fulness of His grace the need of one who is " poor, and cannot get so much " as the appointed sacrifices. The animals for the sin offering and the burnt offering may be replaced by " two turtle doves, or young pigeons," even such as he is able to get." But the trespass offering remains the same; he must know the need of his own case, though his apprehension of all the relations of value in that which meets it may be feeble. The meat offering also may be reduced to one tenth deal instead of three.* This intimates that the man’s service, and participation in service, are weak and imperfect : but not so his cleansing; that is complete and full. Therefore, the oil, in its detailed application, as well as in its pouring out and its sprinkling before the Lord, is used just as when the appointed offering is brought. * The meat offerings always bear a proportion to the other offerings. See Numbers 28:1-31.
Leviticus 14:32. This last ordinance is specially mentioned as " the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing." It tells us, as we are again and again told in Scripture, of the love and grace of God to poor sinners.
Leviticus 14:33-53. Now follow further instructions for the exercise of priestly discernment in the case of leprosy in a house. The Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron. " When ye be come into the land of Canaan," &c., points to the knowledge of full blessing. And, consequently, the infection of a house is the subject of this ordinance. The house is the Church in its corporate and collective character, composed of a number of individuals united in the assumed possession of certain privileges. In 1 Timothy 3:15, we have mention of " the house of God, which is the Church of the living God." And the Epistle to the Ephesians describes the full privilege and blessing that belongs to it, with the Spirit as the seal and earnest. The Lord is here said to " put the plague in the house." This is the influx of evil into the Church, from want of watchfulness. Compare Mark 13:34 ; Matthew 13:25 ; 1 Corinthians 3:1 C, 1 Corinthians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 5:2; 2 Corinthians 6:15. The owner of the house is Christ, the Son (Hebrews 3:6). In this character He discerns the existence of the evil, and calls into exercise the priestly office. (See Psalms 91:10; Proverbs 3:33; Leviticus 5:4; 1 Peter 2:1-25; Amos 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:1-26.)
Leviticus 14:36. The priest’s first proceeding is to command that they empty the house before he goes in to see the plague, lest all that is in the house should be made unclean. This is the humbling of the Church, the divesting of ornaments, and renouncing of those appearances which only hinder the discerning of the evil, and tend to contamination. Compare 1 Corinthians 4:1-16 ; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Exodus 33:6; Revelation 2:1-29, Revelation 3:1-22. The indications of the disease, which guide the priest to shut up the house, are the colours of its appearance (the same as in the case of the garment), and the fact of the plague being in the walls with hollow streaks, which in sight are lower than the mere surface of the wall.
Leviticus 14:38. " The priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days." On the seventh day he returns to look; and, if the plague he spread, he directs the removal of the stones in which it is observed, as well as a general precaution in scraping the house " within round about" Then the stones which have been removed, and the dust which has been scraped off, are to be carried without the city, and cast into an unclean place. The priest leaves the house in order that the disease, if it exist, may manifest itself, and so it does. This process of cleansing is shown, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Php 3:1-21; 2 Timothy 2:21; Revelation 2:1-29, Revelation 3:1-22.
Other stones and mortar are then to be supplied in the place of that which has been removed. The character of those who are cast out is seen in Revelation 22:15 ; that of the renewed stones, when the plague does not spread, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. But this process of cleansing may not be sufficient; and if, after it the plague be observed to spread, it is a fretting leprosy; the house is unclean. The only thing left to be done is the breaking down and casting out of the whole house (Revelation 3:16; Revelation 14:18; Revelation 17:1-18.). This is the judgment upon the great house. (Compare Zechariah 5:1-11; Matthew 24:2; Jeremiah 3:13; 1 Kings 9:6-9.)abiding in the wilderness, the place of tents, is not supposed. But the house and the city belong to Canaan, and the eighth day is the manifestation of the Church in glory. The present life is the time of cleansing, the seventh day. And the result of it is the removal of every polluted stone, the scraping oft’ of all that contains the infection, the discovering that the plague is at a stay ; and lastly, the offerings for cleansing. All this will be seen to have been accomplished when the eighth day comes. The cleansed priest is now engaged in the service of cleansing the house.