Leviticus 16

Leviticus 16:1

Leprosy of the Head

Leprosy on the head or in the beard is the worst form of leprosy. The investigation shall be carried out in the same way as in the other cases. But the pronouncing of uncleanness takes place in more seriously, more emphatic terms: the priest “shall surely pronounce” him unclean (Leviticus 13:44). This is understandable when we consider that leprosy on the head has to do with thinking. Anyone who has unholy thoughts about the Lord Jesus or God’s Word is a great danger to his surroundings. There should be no dealings with a false teacher (2 John 1:10-11; 2 Timothy 2:17-22).

Leprosy on the head represents having one’s own ideas. It points to the reasoning of the things of God with the human mind, the pride of the intellect. It is the assumption of a place in the things of God that do not belong to him. It is not for nothing that God strikes Uzziah with leprosy at his forehead (2 Chronicles 26:16; 20).

Leviticus 16:2

Leprosy of the Head

Leprosy on the head or in the beard is the worst form of leprosy. The investigation shall be carried out in the same way as in the other cases. But the pronouncing of uncleanness takes place in more seriously, more emphatic terms: the priest “shall surely pronounce” him unclean (Leviticus 13:44). This is understandable when we consider that leprosy on the head has to do with thinking. Anyone who has unholy thoughts about the Lord Jesus or God’s Word is a great danger to his surroundings. There should be no dealings with a false teacher (2 John 1:10-11; 2 Timothy 2:17-22).

Leprosy on the head represents having one’s own ideas. It points to the reasoning of the things of God with the human mind, the pride of the intellect. It is the assumption of a place in the things of God that do not belong to him. It is not for nothing that God strikes Uzziah with leprosy at his forehead (2 Chronicles 26:16; 20).

Leviticus 16:3

Leprosy of the Head

Leprosy on the head or in the beard is the worst form of leprosy. The investigation shall be carried out in the same way as in the other cases. But the pronouncing of uncleanness takes place in more seriously, more emphatic terms: the priest “shall surely pronounce” him unclean (Leviticus 13:44). This is understandable when we consider that leprosy on the head has to do with thinking. Anyone who has unholy thoughts about the Lord Jesus or God’s Word is a great danger to his surroundings. There should be no dealings with a false teacher (2 John 1:10-11; 2 Timothy 2:17-22).

Leprosy on the head represents having one’s own ideas. It points to the reasoning of the things of God with the human mind, the pride of the intellect. It is the assumption of a place in the things of God that do not belong to him. It is not for nothing that God strikes Uzziah with leprosy at his forehead (2 Chronicles 26:16; 20).

Leviticus 16:4

Acknowledgment of Uncleanness

The leper must indicate by his appearance and by his confession that he is unclean. He must also be removed from the daily contact with his fellow citizens, as happened with Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:21a). Everything is a protection for God’s people, but above all a duty to the holiness of God Who dwells with His people. He cannot tolerate sin in His presence. The leper is excluded and may not enter the sanctuary. In the church too, the evil must be removed from the midst (1 Corinthians 5:13b).

The leper is forced to acknowledge his uncleanness. In a spiritual sense, this is not a confession that can be seen as a beginning of restoration. Restoration only comes when there is repentance of sin. This restoration begins by crying “unclean!, unclean!”, followed by “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”, as the ten leprous men do who meet the Lord Jesus (Luke 17:12-13).

Torn clothes indicate that there is no covering before God. The uncovered hair of the head symbolizes the acknowledgment of the head exposed to God’s wrath. To cover the moustache was a sign of mourning (Ezekiel 24:17; 22). This was generally done by throwing the skirt of the garment over the lower part of the chin. To cover the moustache or upper lip means that nothing can be said that is to the glory of God. The only thing that such a person can proclaim is his own uncleanness.

Leviticus 16:5

Acknowledgment of Uncleanness

The leper must indicate by his appearance and by his confession that he is unclean. He must also be removed from the daily contact with his fellow citizens, as happened with Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:21a). Everything is a protection for God’s people, but above all a duty to the holiness of God Who dwells with His people. He cannot tolerate sin in His presence. The leper is excluded and may not enter the sanctuary. In the church too, the evil must be removed from the midst (1 Corinthians 5:13b).

The leper is forced to acknowledge his uncleanness. In a spiritual sense, this is not a confession that can be seen as a beginning of restoration. Restoration only comes when there is repentance of sin. This restoration begins by crying “unclean!, unclean!”, followed by “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”, as the ten leprous men do who meet the Lord Jesus (Luke 17:12-13).

Torn clothes indicate that there is no covering before God. The uncovered hair of the head symbolizes the acknowledgment of the head exposed to God’s wrath. To cover the moustache was a sign of mourning (Ezekiel 24:17; 22). This was generally done by throwing the skirt of the garment over the lower part of the chin. To cover the moustache or upper lip means that nothing can be said that is to the glory of God. The only thing that such a person can proclaim is his own uncleanness.

Leviticus 16:6

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:7

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:8

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:9

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:10

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:11

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:12

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:13

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:14

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:15

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:16

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:17

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:18

Leprosy on Fabrics

Leprosy can occur not only in people, as described so far, but also in a garment. The next chapter also mentions leprosy on houses (Leviticus 14:33-53). Leprosy in a garment speaks of sin in behavior, in attitude, in what is seen of someone. People are what is present in someone, a garment is what is seen to or from someone.

In this sense Jude also uses it in his letter when he writes: “Hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 1:23). Jude writes that in connection with helping others who have come under the power of sin to be delivered from it. He warns that this help will not result in the care provider himself being affected by the defilement in which the others find themselves. He must hate every touch, every influence of uncleanness on his behavior – presented in “the garment polluted by the flesh” – and keep far away from him.

The importance of a garment is the meaning it has. Thus is the tunic of the Lord Jesus “seamless, woven in one piece” (John 19:23). This is a symbolic indication of Who He Himself is. His conduct, His way of acting, His whole revelation is perfect, from His coming from above, from heaven, to His return to heaven. There is never any wrong or contradiction in what He says or does.

We may have ‘leprosy’ in our habits, in our behavior, in the profession we exercise, in the places we go to. It concerns everything that the people around us perceive of us. They do not hear what we have to say in the first place, but they see how we live.

If the mark of leprosy in a garment has spread after seven days of quarantine, it must be burned. If there is no spreading, it must be washed and quarantined again for seven days. If it turns out that the disease has spread anyway, it still has to be burned with fire. The water of cleansing did not help. If there is no spread, the marked area must be torn out of the garment.

This treatment of a garment on which the mark is seen shows in picture that the Word of God must be applied to our external behavior, our habits, and not just to our hearts. There are professions that a believer cannot exercise. Think of the owner of a bar or dealer in slot machines and all kinds of other professions that incite people to sin. When a person comes to faith, he will change his profession in these cases. There are also professions of which certain sub-parts can be sinful, for example, to declare an amount in excess of the actual costs. These can be ‘torn out’. The rest is preserved. The Word of God is indispensable as a guideline in this.

The danger is not the garment itself, but that it affects the person. I can live in an environment that is not good. Then I have to ‘burn’ it, which for me means that I have to leave and live somewhere else. I can work in an environment that poses a special danger to me, for example, that a Christian must behave in a worldly way as a hostess and because of that must give up her Christian identity. Perhaps that part of the work could be ‘torn out’ by asking if she does not need to perform that task. If that is not possible, it may become necessary to change jobs.

Leviticus 16:20

Introduction

Leprosy is a picture of sin that becomes active in the believer, not as a temporary effect, but as a part of life. The picture of leprosy also focuses on the defiling effect of sin. We all can be caught in any trespass (Galatians 6:1; James 3:2). That is something else than living in sin and that is what it is about with leprosy as a picture of sin.

Leprosy is the sin that defiles a person permanently. Its characteristic is perseverance in one’s own will. Such a person must be removed and dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). For the church this means: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13b). The removal of the leper is with a view to self-preservation for the people, but also with a view to healing and restoration of the leper, because restoration is possible. This chapter describes how to deal in case of restoration.

Cleansing of the Leper

The LORD speaks here only to Moses (cf. Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:33), because he is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator, as the One Who makes it all right between God and the member of God’s people who has lived in sin.

When the priest hears of the healing of a leper, he goes to the leper. In this we see a characteristic of a spiritual believer: he will pay attention to indications that there is a change for the better in someone who has been removed from among the believers because of perseverance in sin.

The priest does not do anything about healing, nor can he. He can only determine whether the infection of leprosy has healed. Then the cleansing can begin. The leprosy in the spiritual sense is disappeared when the believer “confesses and forsakes” sin (Proverbs 28:13). Then there will be complete humiliation noted.

If someone is healed, he cannot return to the camp immediately. Cleansing must happen first. The cleansing represents in picture that the Lord Jesus and His work in various aspects are placed before the attention, so that such a person may again take the right foundation before God. He has lost sight of this through his sin. Something has disappeared – the infection, the sin – and instead something, or rather: Someone, another Person: the Lord Jesus, must come. Confession is not enough. We must also become aware that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for that sin.

Two clean birds should be taken on the first day. They are a picture of the Lord Jesus. Actually this is not an offering. Nothing is brought on the altar and no blood is offered to God. The offerings will only come on the eighth day (from Leviticus 14:10). The two birds together must depict that the Lord Jesus is the Man Who came from heaven, Who died, but rose again. One bird is slain. The other is identified with it and is let go free over the open field. This shows that the Lord Jesus is both “delivered over because of our transgressions” and “raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). After living in sin for a period, we must become aware of this again.

The blood of the slain bird is in an “earthenware vessel” in which is “running water”. That too refers to the Lord Jesus and His work. The earthenware vessel indicates that He became Man (Hebrews 2:14a). Running water is water that rises from the earth. It is not stagnant water, but there is life in it. It refers to the Word of God that is made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord Jesus we see the Holy Spirit at work; the Word of God is in Him; He is the Word and is eternal. In addition, there is the blood as a result of His death.

When the Lord Jesus died and one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). Blood and water are both needed for cleansing. Blood is for atonement, “for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). The blood is more in connection with God. The water has more to do with confession and is more connected to the sinner. If he confesses his sins, he may know that God is “faithful” to His Word “and righteous” in view of the work of Christ, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There are other things: cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. Cedarwood comes from Lebanon. It speaks of impressive, natural grandeur. Hyssop is a small, little plant that does not impress. Solomon speaks of both as extremes (1 Kings 4:33a). Crimson or scarlet is a picture of royal, earthly glory. All this is present with the Lord Jesus. We see that in the Gospels. It is all gone in the death, His death. But He has risen and because of that these things regain their meaning.

All previous actions are then applied to the leper. In this picture we see that cleansing is not removing the wrong thing, but getting a view of the Lord Jesus and His work again. Then he who has been cleansed must wash his clothes, which speaks of bringing his conduct under the control of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). He must also shave off all his hair, which says that he renounces all natural honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Then he must bathe himself in water, which means that he places his whole life under the Word of God, so that there is no more room for sin.

He is allowed to come back to the camp, but has to stay outside his tent for seven days. He has been taken up again in the people of God, but has not yet taken his own familiar place again. Someone who has a gift can be restored to God’s people after a sinful way, but cannot immediately exercise that gift again. That too takes time. After a fullness of time, seven days, he has to shave off all his hair again and wash his clothes and body and then he is clean.

Leviticus 16:21

Introduction

Leprosy is a picture of sin that becomes active in the believer, not as a temporary effect, but as a part of life. The picture of leprosy also focuses on the defiling effect of sin. We all can be caught in any trespass (Galatians 6:1; James 3:2). That is something else than living in sin and that is what it is about with leprosy as a picture of sin.

Leprosy is the sin that defiles a person permanently. Its characteristic is perseverance in one’s own will. Such a person must be removed and dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). For the church this means: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13b). The removal of the leper is with a view to self-preservation for the people, but also with a view to healing and restoration of the leper, because restoration is possible. This chapter describes how to deal in case of restoration.

Cleansing of the Leper

The LORD speaks here only to Moses (cf. Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:33), because he is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator, as the One Who makes it all right between God and the member of God’s people who has lived in sin.

When the priest hears of the healing of a leper, he goes to the leper. In this we see a characteristic of a spiritual believer: he will pay attention to indications that there is a change for the better in someone who has been removed from among the believers because of perseverance in sin.

The priest does not do anything about healing, nor can he. He can only determine whether the infection of leprosy has healed. Then the cleansing can begin. The leprosy in the spiritual sense is disappeared when the believer “confesses and forsakes” sin (Proverbs 28:13). Then there will be complete humiliation noted.

If someone is healed, he cannot return to the camp immediately. Cleansing must happen first. The cleansing represents in picture that the Lord Jesus and His work in various aspects are placed before the attention, so that such a person may again take the right foundation before God. He has lost sight of this through his sin. Something has disappeared – the infection, the sin – and instead something, or rather: Someone, another Person: the Lord Jesus, must come. Confession is not enough. We must also become aware that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for that sin.

Two clean birds should be taken on the first day. They are a picture of the Lord Jesus. Actually this is not an offering. Nothing is brought on the altar and no blood is offered to God. The offerings will only come on the eighth day (from Leviticus 14:10). The two birds together must depict that the Lord Jesus is the Man Who came from heaven, Who died, but rose again. One bird is slain. The other is identified with it and is let go free over the open field. This shows that the Lord Jesus is both “delivered over because of our transgressions” and “raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). After living in sin for a period, we must become aware of this again.

The blood of the slain bird is in an “earthenware vessel” in which is “running water”. That too refers to the Lord Jesus and His work. The earthenware vessel indicates that He became Man (Hebrews 2:14a). Running water is water that rises from the earth. It is not stagnant water, but there is life in it. It refers to the Word of God that is made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord Jesus we see the Holy Spirit at work; the Word of God is in Him; He is the Word and is eternal. In addition, there is the blood as a result of His death.

When the Lord Jesus died and one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). Blood and water are both needed for cleansing. Blood is for atonement, “for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). The blood is more in connection with God. The water has more to do with confession and is more connected to the sinner. If he confesses his sins, he may know that God is “faithful” to His Word “and righteous” in view of the work of Christ, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There are other things: cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. Cedarwood comes from Lebanon. It speaks of impressive, natural grandeur. Hyssop is a small, little plant that does not impress. Solomon speaks of both as extremes (1 Kings 4:33a). Crimson or scarlet is a picture of royal, earthly glory. All this is present with the Lord Jesus. We see that in the Gospels. It is all gone in the death, His death. But He has risen and because of that these things regain their meaning.

All previous actions are then applied to the leper. In this picture we see that cleansing is not removing the wrong thing, but getting a view of the Lord Jesus and His work again. Then he who has been cleansed must wash his clothes, which speaks of bringing his conduct under the control of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). He must also shave off all his hair, which says that he renounces all natural honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Then he must bathe himself in water, which means that he places his whole life under the Word of God, so that there is no more room for sin.

He is allowed to come back to the camp, but has to stay outside his tent for seven days. He has been taken up again in the people of God, but has not yet taken his own familiar place again. Someone who has a gift can be restored to God’s people after a sinful way, but cannot immediately exercise that gift again. That too takes time. After a fullness of time, seven days, he has to shave off all his hair again and wash his clothes and body and then he is clean.

Leviticus 16:22

Introduction

Leprosy is a picture of sin that becomes active in the believer, not as a temporary effect, but as a part of life. The picture of leprosy also focuses on the defiling effect of sin. We all can be caught in any trespass (Galatians 6:1; James 3:2). That is something else than living in sin and that is what it is about with leprosy as a picture of sin.

Leprosy is the sin that defiles a person permanently. Its characteristic is perseverance in one’s own will. Such a person must be removed and dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). For the church this means: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13b). The removal of the leper is with a view to self-preservation for the people, but also with a view to healing and restoration of the leper, because restoration is possible. This chapter describes how to deal in case of restoration.

Cleansing of the Leper

The LORD speaks here only to Moses (cf. Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:33), because he is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator, as the One Who makes it all right between God and the member of God’s people who has lived in sin.

When the priest hears of the healing of a leper, he goes to the leper. In this we see a characteristic of a spiritual believer: he will pay attention to indications that there is a change for the better in someone who has been removed from among the believers because of perseverance in sin.

The priest does not do anything about healing, nor can he. He can only determine whether the infection of leprosy has healed. Then the cleansing can begin. The leprosy in the spiritual sense is disappeared when the believer “confesses and forsakes” sin (Proverbs 28:13). Then there will be complete humiliation noted.

If someone is healed, he cannot return to the camp immediately. Cleansing must happen first. The cleansing represents in picture that the Lord Jesus and His work in various aspects are placed before the attention, so that such a person may again take the right foundation before God. He has lost sight of this through his sin. Something has disappeared – the infection, the sin – and instead something, or rather: Someone, another Person: the Lord Jesus, must come. Confession is not enough. We must also become aware that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for that sin.

Two clean birds should be taken on the first day. They are a picture of the Lord Jesus. Actually this is not an offering. Nothing is brought on the altar and no blood is offered to God. The offerings will only come on the eighth day (from Leviticus 14:10). The two birds together must depict that the Lord Jesus is the Man Who came from heaven, Who died, but rose again. One bird is slain. The other is identified with it and is let go free over the open field. This shows that the Lord Jesus is both “delivered over because of our transgressions” and “raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). After living in sin for a period, we must become aware of this again.

The blood of the slain bird is in an “earthenware vessel” in which is “running water”. That too refers to the Lord Jesus and His work. The earthenware vessel indicates that He became Man (Hebrews 2:14a). Running water is water that rises from the earth. It is not stagnant water, but there is life in it. It refers to the Word of God that is made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord Jesus we see the Holy Spirit at work; the Word of God is in Him; He is the Word and is eternal. In addition, there is the blood as a result of His death.

When the Lord Jesus died and one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). Blood and water are both needed for cleansing. Blood is for atonement, “for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). The blood is more in connection with God. The water has more to do with confession and is more connected to the sinner. If he confesses his sins, he may know that God is “faithful” to His Word “and righteous” in view of the work of Christ, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There are other things: cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. Cedarwood comes from Lebanon. It speaks of impressive, natural grandeur. Hyssop is a small, little plant that does not impress. Solomon speaks of both as extremes (1 Kings 4:33a). Crimson or scarlet is a picture of royal, earthly glory. All this is present with the Lord Jesus. We see that in the Gospels. It is all gone in the death, His death. But He has risen and because of that these things regain their meaning.

All previous actions are then applied to the leper. In this picture we see that cleansing is not removing the wrong thing, but getting a view of the Lord Jesus and His work again. Then he who has been cleansed must wash his clothes, which speaks of bringing his conduct under the control of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). He must also shave off all his hair, which says that he renounces all natural honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Then he must bathe himself in water, which means that he places his whole life under the Word of God, so that there is no more room for sin.

He is allowed to come back to the camp, but has to stay outside his tent for seven days. He has been taken up again in the people of God, but has not yet taken his own familiar place again. Someone who has a gift can be restored to God’s people after a sinful way, but cannot immediately exercise that gift again. That too takes time. After a fullness of time, seven days, he has to shave off all his hair again and wash his clothes and body and then he is clean.

Leviticus 16:23

Introduction

Leprosy is a picture of sin that becomes active in the believer, not as a temporary effect, but as a part of life. The picture of leprosy also focuses on the defiling effect of sin. We all can be caught in any trespass (Galatians 6:1; James 3:2). That is something else than living in sin and that is what it is about with leprosy as a picture of sin.

Leprosy is the sin that defiles a person permanently. Its characteristic is perseverance in one’s own will. Such a person must be removed and dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). For the church this means: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13b). The removal of the leper is with a view to self-preservation for the people, but also with a view to healing and restoration of the leper, because restoration is possible. This chapter describes how to deal in case of restoration.

Cleansing of the Leper

The LORD speaks here only to Moses (cf. Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:33), because he is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator, as the One Who makes it all right between God and the member of God’s people who has lived in sin.

When the priest hears of the healing of a leper, he goes to the leper. In this we see a characteristic of a spiritual believer: he will pay attention to indications that there is a change for the better in someone who has been removed from among the believers because of perseverance in sin.

The priest does not do anything about healing, nor can he. He can only determine whether the infection of leprosy has healed. Then the cleansing can begin. The leprosy in the spiritual sense is disappeared when the believer “confesses and forsakes” sin (Proverbs 28:13). Then there will be complete humiliation noted.

If someone is healed, he cannot return to the camp immediately. Cleansing must happen first. The cleansing represents in picture that the Lord Jesus and His work in various aspects are placed before the attention, so that such a person may again take the right foundation before God. He has lost sight of this through his sin. Something has disappeared – the infection, the sin – and instead something, or rather: Someone, another Person: the Lord Jesus, must come. Confession is not enough. We must also become aware that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for that sin.

Two clean birds should be taken on the first day. They are a picture of the Lord Jesus. Actually this is not an offering. Nothing is brought on the altar and no blood is offered to God. The offerings will only come on the eighth day (from Leviticus 14:10). The two birds together must depict that the Lord Jesus is the Man Who came from heaven, Who died, but rose again. One bird is slain. The other is identified with it and is let go free over the open field. This shows that the Lord Jesus is both “delivered over because of our transgressions” and “raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). After living in sin for a period, we must become aware of this again.

The blood of the slain bird is in an “earthenware vessel” in which is “running water”. That too refers to the Lord Jesus and His work. The earthenware vessel indicates that He became Man (Hebrews 2:14a). Running water is water that rises from the earth. It is not stagnant water, but there is life in it. It refers to the Word of God that is made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord Jesus we see the Holy Spirit at work; the Word of God is in Him; He is the Word and is eternal. In addition, there is the blood as a result of His death.

When the Lord Jesus died and one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). Blood and water are both needed for cleansing. Blood is for atonement, “for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). The blood is more in connection with God. The water has more to do with confession and is more connected to the sinner. If he confesses his sins, he may know that God is “faithful” to His Word “and righteous” in view of the work of Christ, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There are other things: cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. Cedarwood comes from Lebanon. It speaks of impressive, natural grandeur. Hyssop is a small, little plant that does not impress. Solomon speaks of both as extremes (1 Kings 4:33a). Crimson or scarlet is a picture of royal, earthly glory. All this is present with the Lord Jesus. We see that in the Gospels. It is all gone in the death, His death. But He has risen and because of that these things regain their meaning.

All previous actions are then applied to the leper. In this picture we see that cleansing is not removing the wrong thing, but getting a view of the Lord Jesus and His work again. Then he who has been cleansed must wash his clothes, which speaks of bringing his conduct under the control of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). He must also shave off all his hair, which says that he renounces all natural honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Then he must bathe himself in water, which means that he places his whole life under the Word of God, so that there is no more room for sin.

He is allowed to come back to the camp, but has to stay outside his tent for seven days. He has been taken up again in the people of God, but has not yet taken his own familiar place again. Someone who has a gift can be restored to God’s people after a sinful way, but cannot immediately exercise that gift again. That too takes time. After a fullness of time, seven days, he has to shave off all his hair again and wash his clothes and body and then he is clean.

Leviticus 16:24

Introduction

Leprosy is a picture of sin that becomes active in the believer, not as a temporary effect, but as a part of life. The picture of leprosy also focuses on the defiling effect of sin. We all can be caught in any trespass (Galatians 6:1; James 3:2). That is something else than living in sin and that is what it is about with leprosy as a picture of sin.

Leprosy is the sin that defiles a person permanently. Its characteristic is perseverance in one’s own will. Such a person must be removed and dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). For the church this means: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13b). The removal of the leper is with a view to self-preservation for the people, but also with a view to healing and restoration of the leper, because restoration is possible. This chapter describes how to deal in case of restoration.

Cleansing of the Leper

The LORD speaks here only to Moses (cf. Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:33), because he is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator, as the One Who makes it all right between God and the member of God’s people who has lived in sin.

When the priest hears of the healing of a leper, he goes to the leper. In this we see a characteristic of a spiritual believer: he will pay attention to indications that there is a change for the better in someone who has been removed from among the believers because of perseverance in sin.

The priest does not do anything about healing, nor can he. He can only determine whether the infection of leprosy has healed. Then the cleansing can begin. The leprosy in the spiritual sense is disappeared when the believer “confesses and forsakes” sin (Proverbs 28:13). Then there will be complete humiliation noted.

If someone is healed, he cannot return to the camp immediately. Cleansing must happen first. The cleansing represents in picture that the Lord Jesus and His work in various aspects are placed before the attention, so that such a person may again take the right foundation before God. He has lost sight of this through his sin. Something has disappeared – the infection, the sin – and instead something, or rather: Someone, another Person: the Lord Jesus, must come. Confession is not enough. We must also become aware that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for that sin.

Two clean birds should be taken on the first day. They are a picture of the Lord Jesus. Actually this is not an offering. Nothing is brought on the altar and no blood is offered to God. The offerings will only come on the eighth day (from Leviticus 14:10). The two birds together must depict that the Lord Jesus is the Man Who came from heaven, Who died, but rose again. One bird is slain. The other is identified with it and is let go free over the open field. This shows that the Lord Jesus is both “delivered over because of our transgressions” and “raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). After living in sin for a period, we must become aware of this again.

The blood of the slain bird is in an “earthenware vessel” in which is “running water”. That too refers to the Lord Jesus and His work. The earthenware vessel indicates that He became Man (Hebrews 2:14a). Running water is water that rises from the earth. It is not stagnant water, but there is life in it. It refers to the Word of God that is made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord Jesus we see the Holy Spirit at work; the Word of God is in Him; He is the Word and is eternal. In addition, there is the blood as a result of His death.

When the Lord Jesus died and one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). Blood and water are both needed for cleansing. Blood is for atonement, “for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). The blood is more in connection with God. The water has more to do with confession and is more connected to the sinner. If he confesses his sins, he may know that God is “faithful” to His Word “and righteous” in view of the work of Christ, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There are other things: cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. Cedarwood comes from Lebanon. It speaks of impressive, natural grandeur. Hyssop is a small, little plant that does not impress. Solomon speaks of both as extremes (1 Kings 4:33a). Crimson or scarlet is a picture of royal, earthly glory. All this is present with the Lord Jesus. We see that in the Gospels. It is all gone in the death, His death. But He has risen and because of that these things regain their meaning.

All previous actions are then applied to the leper. In this picture we see that cleansing is not removing the wrong thing, but getting a view of the Lord Jesus and His work again. Then he who has been cleansed must wash his clothes, which speaks of bringing his conduct under the control of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). He must also shave off all his hair, which says that he renounces all natural honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Then he must bathe himself in water, which means that he places his whole life under the Word of God, so that there is no more room for sin.

He is allowed to come back to the camp, but has to stay outside his tent for seven days. He has been taken up again in the people of God, but has not yet taken his own familiar place again. Someone who has a gift can be restored to God’s people after a sinful way, but cannot immediately exercise that gift again. That too takes time. After a fullness of time, seven days, he has to shave off all his hair again and wash his clothes and body and then he is clean.

Leviticus 16:25

Introduction

Leprosy is a picture of sin that becomes active in the believer, not as a temporary effect, but as a part of life. The picture of leprosy also focuses on the defiling effect of sin. We all can be caught in any trespass (Galatians 6:1; James 3:2). That is something else than living in sin and that is what it is about with leprosy as a picture of sin.

Leprosy is the sin that defiles a person permanently. Its characteristic is perseverance in one’s own will. Such a person must be removed and dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). For the church this means: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13b). The removal of the leper is with a view to self-preservation for the people, but also with a view to healing and restoration of the leper, because restoration is possible. This chapter describes how to deal in case of restoration.

Cleansing of the Leper

The LORD speaks here only to Moses (cf. Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:33), because he is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator, as the One Who makes it all right between God and the member of God’s people who has lived in sin.

When the priest hears of the healing of a leper, he goes to the leper. In this we see a characteristic of a spiritual believer: he will pay attention to indications that there is a change for the better in someone who has been removed from among the believers because of perseverance in sin.

The priest does not do anything about healing, nor can he. He can only determine whether the infection of leprosy has healed. Then the cleansing can begin. The leprosy in the spiritual sense is disappeared when the believer “confesses and forsakes” sin (Proverbs 28:13). Then there will be complete humiliation noted.

If someone is healed, he cannot return to the camp immediately. Cleansing must happen first. The cleansing represents in picture that the Lord Jesus and His work in various aspects are placed before the attention, so that such a person may again take the right foundation before God. He has lost sight of this through his sin. Something has disappeared – the infection, the sin – and instead something, or rather: Someone, another Person: the Lord Jesus, must come. Confession is not enough. We must also become aware that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for that sin.

Two clean birds should be taken on the first day. They are a picture of the Lord Jesus. Actually this is not an offering. Nothing is brought on the altar and no blood is offered to God. The offerings will only come on the eighth day (from Leviticus 14:10). The two birds together must depict that the Lord Jesus is the Man Who came from heaven, Who died, but rose again. One bird is slain. The other is identified with it and is let go free over the open field. This shows that the Lord Jesus is both “delivered over because of our transgressions” and “raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). After living in sin for a period, we must become aware of this again.

The blood of the slain bird is in an “earthenware vessel” in which is “running water”. That too refers to the Lord Jesus and His work. The earthenware vessel indicates that He became Man (Hebrews 2:14a). Running water is water that rises from the earth. It is not stagnant water, but there is life in it. It refers to the Word of God that is made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord Jesus we see the Holy Spirit at work; the Word of God is in Him; He is the Word and is eternal. In addition, there is the blood as a result of His death.

When the Lord Jesus died and one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). Blood and water are both needed for cleansing. Blood is for atonement, “for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). The blood is more in connection with God. The water has more to do with confession and is more connected to the sinner. If he confesses his sins, he may know that God is “faithful” to His Word “and righteous” in view of the work of Christ, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There are other things: cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. Cedarwood comes from Lebanon. It speaks of impressive, natural grandeur. Hyssop is a small, little plant that does not impress. Solomon speaks of both as extremes (1 Kings 4:33a). Crimson or scarlet is a picture of royal, earthly glory. All this is present with the Lord Jesus. We see that in the Gospels. It is all gone in the death, His death. But He has risen and because of that these things regain their meaning.

All previous actions are then applied to the leper. In this picture we see that cleansing is not removing the wrong thing, but getting a view of the Lord Jesus and His work again. Then he who has been cleansed must wash his clothes, which speaks of bringing his conduct under the control of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). He must also shave off all his hair, which says that he renounces all natural honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Then he must bathe himself in water, which means that he places his whole life under the Word of God, so that there is no more room for sin.

He is allowed to come back to the camp, but has to stay outside his tent for seven days. He has been taken up again in the people of God, but has not yet taken his own familiar place again. Someone who has a gift can be restored to God’s people after a sinful way, but cannot immediately exercise that gift again. That too takes time. After a fullness of time, seven days, he has to shave off all his hair again and wash his clothes and body and then he is clean.

Leviticus 16:26

Introduction

Leprosy is a picture of sin that becomes active in the believer, not as a temporary effect, but as a part of life. The picture of leprosy also focuses on the defiling effect of sin. We all can be caught in any trespass (Galatians 6:1; James 3:2). That is something else than living in sin and that is what it is about with leprosy as a picture of sin.

Leprosy is the sin that defiles a person permanently. Its characteristic is perseverance in one’s own will. Such a person must be removed and dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). For the church this means: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13b). The removal of the leper is with a view to self-preservation for the people, but also with a view to healing and restoration of the leper, because restoration is possible. This chapter describes how to deal in case of restoration.

Cleansing of the Leper

The LORD speaks here only to Moses (cf. Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:33), because he is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator, as the One Who makes it all right between God and the member of God’s people who has lived in sin.

When the priest hears of the healing of a leper, he goes to the leper. In this we see a characteristic of a spiritual believer: he will pay attention to indications that there is a change for the better in someone who has been removed from among the believers because of perseverance in sin.

The priest does not do anything about healing, nor can he. He can only determine whether the infection of leprosy has healed. Then the cleansing can begin. The leprosy in the spiritual sense is disappeared when the believer “confesses and forsakes” sin (Proverbs 28:13). Then there will be complete humiliation noted.

If someone is healed, he cannot return to the camp immediately. Cleansing must happen first. The cleansing represents in picture that the Lord Jesus and His work in various aspects are placed before the attention, so that such a person may again take the right foundation before God. He has lost sight of this through his sin. Something has disappeared – the infection, the sin – and instead something, or rather: Someone, another Person: the Lord Jesus, must come. Confession is not enough. We must also become aware that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for that sin.

Two clean birds should be taken on the first day. They are a picture of the Lord Jesus. Actually this is not an offering. Nothing is brought on the altar and no blood is offered to God. The offerings will only come on the eighth day (from Leviticus 14:10). The two birds together must depict that the Lord Jesus is the Man Who came from heaven, Who died, but rose again. One bird is slain. The other is identified with it and is let go free over the open field. This shows that the Lord Jesus is both “delivered over because of our transgressions” and “raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). After living in sin for a period, we must become aware of this again.

The blood of the slain bird is in an “earthenware vessel” in which is “running water”. That too refers to the Lord Jesus and His work. The earthenware vessel indicates that He became Man (Hebrews 2:14a). Running water is water that rises from the earth. It is not stagnant water, but there is life in it. It refers to the Word of God that is made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord Jesus we see the Holy Spirit at work; the Word of God is in Him; He is the Word and is eternal. In addition, there is the blood as a result of His death.

When the Lord Jesus died and one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). Blood and water are both needed for cleansing. Blood is for atonement, “for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). The blood is more in connection with God. The water has more to do with confession and is more connected to the sinner. If he confesses his sins, he may know that God is “faithful” to His Word “and righteous” in view of the work of Christ, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There are other things: cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. Cedarwood comes from Lebanon. It speaks of impressive, natural grandeur. Hyssop is a small, little plant that does not impress. Solomon speaks of both as extremes (1 Kings 4:33a). Crimson or scarlet is a picture of royal, earthly glory. All this is present with the Lord Jesus. We see that in the Gospels. It is all gone in the death, His death. But He has risen and because of that these things regain their meaning.

All previous actions are then applied to the leper. In this picture we see that cleansing is not removing the wrong thing, but getting a view of the Lord Jesus and His work again. Then he who has been cleansed must wash his clothes, which speaks of bringing his conduct under the control of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). He must also shave off all his hair, which says that he renounces all natural honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Then he must bathe himself in water, which means that he places his whole life under the Word of God, so that there is no more room for sin.

He is allowed to come back to the camp, but has to stay outside his tent for seven days. He has been taken up again in the people of God, but has not yet taken his own familiar place again. Someone who has a gift can be restored to God’s people after a sinful way, but cannot immediately exercise that gift again. That too takes time. After a fullness of time, seven days, he has to shave off all his hair again and wash his clothes and body and then he is clean.

Leviticus 16:27

Introduction

Leprosy is a picture of sin that becomes active in the believer, not as a temporary effect, but as a part of life. The picture of leprosy also focuses on the defiling effect of sin. We all can be caught in any trespass (Galatians 6:1; James 3:2). That is something else than living in sin and that is what it is about with leprosy as a picture of sin.

Leprosy is the sin that defiles a person permanently. Its characteristic is perseverance in one’s own will. Such a person must be removed and dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). For the church this means: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13b). The removal of the leper is with a view to self-preservation for the people, but also with a view to healing and restoration of the leper, because restoration is possible. This chapter describes how to deal in case of restoration.

Cleansing of the Leper

The LORD speaks here only to Moses (cf. Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:33), because he is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator, as the One Who makes it all right between God and the member of God’s people who has lived in sin.

When the priest hears of the healing of a leper, he goes to the leper. In this we see a characteristic of a spiritual believer: he will pay attention to indications that there is a change for the better in someone who has been removed from among the believers because of perseverance in sin.

The priest does not do anything about healing, nor can he. He can only determine whether the infection of leprosy has healed. Then the cleansing can begin. The leprosy in the spiritual sense is disappeared when the believer “confesses and forsakes” sin (Proverbs 28:13). Then there will be complete humiliation noted.

If someone is healed, he cannot return to the camp immediately. Cleansing must happen first. The cleansing represents in picture that the Lord Jesus and His work in various aspects are placed before the attention, so that such a person may again take the right foundation before God. He has lost sight of this through his sin. Something has disappeared – the infection, the sin – and instead something, or rather: Someone, another Person: the Lord Jesus, must come. Confession is not enough. We must also become aware that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for that sin.

Two clean birds should be taken on the first day. They are a picture of the Lord Jesus. Actually this is not an offering. Nothing is brought on the altar and no blood is offered to God. The offerings will only come on the eighth day (from Leviticus 14:10). The two birds together must depict that the Lord Jesus is the Man Who came from heaven, Who died, but rose again. One bird is slain. The other is identified with it and is let go free over the open field. This shows that the Lord Jesus is both “delivered over because of our transgressions” and “raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). After living in sin for a period, we must become aware of this again.

The blood of the slain bird is in an “earthenware vessel” in which is “running water”. That too refers to the Lord Jesus and His work. The earthenware vessel indicates that He became Man (Hebrews 2:14a). Running water is water that rises from the earth. It is not stagnant water, but there is life in it. It refers to the Word of God that is made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord Jesus we see the Holy Spirit at work; the Word of God is in Him; He is the Word and is eternal. In addition, there is the blood as a result of His death.

When the Lord Jesus died and one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). Blood and water are both needed for cleansing. Blood is for atonement, “for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). The blood is more in connection with God. The water has more to do with confession and is more connected to the sinner. If he confesses his sins, he may know that God is “faithful” to His Word “and righteous” in view of the work of Christ, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There are other things: cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. Cedarwood comes from Lebanon. It speaks of impressive, natural grandeur. Hyssop is a small, little plant that does not impress. Solomon speaks of both as extremes (1 Kings 4:33a). Crimson or scarlet is a picture of royal, earthly glory. All this is present with the Lord Jesus. We see that in the Gospels. It is all gone in the death, His death. But He has risen and because of that these things regain their meaning.

All previous actions are then applied to the leper. In this picture we see that cleansing is not removing the wrong thing, but getting a view of the Lord Jesus and His work again. Then he who has been cleansed must wash his clothes, which speaks of bringing his conduct under the control of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). He must also shave off all his hair, which says that he renounces all natural honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Then he must bathe himself in water, which means that he places his whole life under the Word of God, so that there is no more room for sin.

He is allowed to come back to the camp, but has to stay outside his tent for seven days. He has been taken up again in the people of God, but has not yet taken his own familiar place again. Someone who has a gift can be restored to God’s people after a sinful way, but cannot immediately exercise that gift again. That too takes time. After a fullness of time, seven days, he has to shave off all his hair again and wash his clothes and body and then he is clean.

Leviticus 16:28

Introduction

Leprosy is a picture of sin that becomes active in the believer, not as a temporary effect, but as a part of life. The picture of leprosy also focuses on the defiling effect of sin. We all can be caught in any trespass (Galatians 6:1; James 3:2). That is something else than living in sin and that is what it is about with leprosy as a picture of sin.

Leprosy is the sin that defiles a person permanently. Its characteristic is perseverance in one’s own will. Such a person must be removed and dwell outside the camp (Leviticus 13:46). For the church this means: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Corinthians 5:13b). The removal of the leper is with a view to self-preservation for the people, but also with a view to healing and restoration of the leper, because restoration is possible. This chapter describes how to deal in case of restoration.

Cleansing of the Leper

The LORD speaks here only to Moses (cf. Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 14:33), because he is a picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator, as the One Who makes it all right between God and the member of God’s people who has lived in sin.

When the priest hears of the healing of a leper, he goes to the leper. In this we see a characteristic of a spiritual believer: he will pay attention to indications that there is a change for the better in someone who has been removed from among the believers because of perseverance in sin.

The priest does not do anything about healing, nor can he. He can only determine whether the infection of leprosy has healed. Then the cleansing can begin. The leprosy in the spiritual sense is disappeared when the believer “confesses and forsakes” sin (Proverbs 28:13). Then there will be complete humiliation noted.

If someone is healed, he cannot return to the camp immediately. Cleansing must happen first. The cleansing represents in picture that the Lord Jesus and His work in various aspects are placed before the attention, so that such a person may again take the right foundation before God. He has lost sight of this through his sin. Something has disappeared – the infection, the sin – and instead something, or rather: Someone, another Person: the Lord Jesus, must come. Confession is not enough. We must also become aware that the Lord Jesus had to suffer and die for that sin.

Two clean birds should be taken on the first day. They are a picture of the Lord Jesus. Actually this is not an offering. Nothing is brought on the altar and no blood is offered to God. The offerings will only come on the eighth day (from Leviticus 14:10). The two birds together must depict that the Lord Jesus is the Man Who came from heaven, Who died, but rose again. One bird is slain. The other is identified with it and is let go free over the open field. This shows that the Lord Jesus is both “delivered over because of our transgressions” and “raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). After living in sin for a period, we must become aware of this again.

The blood of the slain bird is in an “earthenware vessel” in which is “running water”. That too refers to the Lord Jesus and His work. The earthenware vessel indicates that He became Man (Hebrews 2:14a). Running water is water that rises from the earth. It is not stagnant water, but there is life in it. It refers to the Word of God that is made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord Jesus we see the Holy Spirit at work; the Word of God is in Him; He is the Word and is eternal. In addition, there is the blood as a result of His death.

When the Lord Jesus died and one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, “immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). Blood and water are both needed for cleansing. Blood is for atonement, “for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). The blood is more in connection with God. The water has more to do with confession and is more connected to the sinner. If he confesses his sins, he may know that God is “faithful” to His Word “and righteous” in view of the work of Christ, “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There are other things: cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop. Cedarwood comes from Lebanon. It speaks of impressive, natural grandeur. Hyssop is a small, little plant that does not impress. Solomon speaks of both as extremes (1 Kings 4:33a). Crimson or scarlet is a picture of royal, earthly glory. All this is present with the Lord Jesus. We see that in the Gospels. It is all gone in the death, His death. But He has risen and because of that these things regain their meaning.

All previous actions are then applied to the leper. In this picture we see that cleansing is not removing the wrong thing, but getting a view of the Lord Jesus and His work again. Then he who has been cleansed must wash his clothes, which speaks of bringing his conduct under the control of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). He must also shave off all his hair, which says that he renounces all natural honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Then he must bathe himself in water, which means that he places his whole life under the Word of God, so that there is no more room for sin.

He is allowed to come back to the camp, but has to stay outside his tent for seven days. He has been taken up again in the people of God, but has not yet taken his own familiar place again. Someone who has a gift can be restored to God’s people after a sinful way, but cannot immediately exercise that gift again. That too takes time. After a fullness of time, seven days, he has to shave off all his hair again and wash his clothes and body and then he is clean.

Leviticus 16:29

Cleansing on the Eighth Day

*One log is about half a liter.

Then the eighth day comes. That speaks of a new beginning. This new beginning is again characterized in a special way by the Lord Jesus, His Person and work, as expressed in the offerings brought on that day.

The first offering is a guilt offering (Leviticus 14:12). Living in sin is a choice, an act, by which someone is taking guilt on himself. The three cases of leprosy of the people of God in the Old Testament – Miriam, Gehazi and Uzziah (Numbers 12:5-10; 2 Kings 5:20-27; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21) – show this. For this reason, a guilt offering must be brought, which speaks of the awareness that the Lord Jesus had to undergo the judgment of God because of that choice for sin. This was the only way in which this guilt could have been extinguished.

The blood of the guilt offering is put on the lobe of the right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The whole practical life is brought under the value of the blood. The question we have to ask ourselves when we listen to something, when we want to do something or when we want to go somewhere is: Is it all sanctified by the blood?

Oil is put on the blood. Oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The blood of Christ for justification and the anointing of the Holy Spirit for sanctification are inextricably linked. After the price of the blood through which we are justified and purchased, follows a life of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit allows us to live according to the value of the blood applied.

The rest of the oil is put on the head of the one to be cleansed. It is a special blessing for someone who, as a believer, confesses his sinful way. It is not necessary to live in sin to get such a blessing. It is the privilege of every priest. To be a priest, it is not necessary to have been a leper first. This requires fellowship with God. This leads to higher blessings.

Then the sin offering and the burnt offering are brought. This results in full restoration. The full scope of the Lord Jesus’ work is placed before the attention of the restored believer. He sees how the source, the root, of sin was judged in the Lord Jesus and how he is accepted by God on the basis of His work and in Him. He is clean.

Leviticus 16:30

Cleansing on the Eighth Day

*One log is about half a liter.

Then the eighth day comes. That speaks of a new beginning. This new beginning is again characterized in a special way by the Lord Jesus, His Person and work, as expressed in the offerings brought on that day.

The first offering is a guilt offering (Leviticus 14:12). Living in sin is a choice, an act, by which someone is taking guilt on himself. The three cases of leprosy of the people of God in the Old Testament – Miriam, Gehazi and Uzziah (Numbers 12:5-10; 2 Kings 5:20-27; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21) – show this. For this reason, a guilt offering must be brought, which speaks of the awareness that the Lord Jesus had to undergo the judgment of God because of that choice for sin. This was the only way in which this guilt could have been extinguished.

The blood of the guilt offering is put on the lobe of the right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The whole practical life is brought under the value of the blood. The question we have to ask ourselves when we listen to something, when we want to do something or when we want to go somewhere is: Is it all sanctified by the blood?

Oil is put on the blood. Oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The blood of Christ for justification and the anointing of the Holy Spirit for sanctification are inextricably linked. After the price of the blood through which we are justified and purchased, follows a life of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit allows us to live according to the value of the blood applied.

The rest of the oil is put on the head of the one to be cleansed. It is a special blessing for someone who, as a believer, confesses his sinful way. It is not necessary to live in sin to get such a blessing. It is the privilege of every priest. To be a priest, it is not necessary to have been a leper first. This requires fellowship with God. This leads to higher blessings.

Then the sin offering and the burnt offering are brought. This results in full restoration. The full scope of the Lord Jesus’ work is placed before the attention of the restored believer. He sees how the source, the root, of sin was judged in the Lord Jesus and how he is accepted by God on the basis of His work and in Him. He is clean.

Leviticus 16:31

Cleansing on the Eighth Day

*One log is about half a liter.

Then the eighth day comes. That speaks of a new beginning. This new beginning is again characterized in a special way by the Lord Jesus, His Person and work, as expressed in the offerings brought on that day.

The first offering is a guilt offering (Leviticus 14:12). Living in sin is a choice, an act, by which someone is taking guilt on himself. The three cases of leprosy of the people of God in the Old Testament – Miriam, Gehazi and Uzziah (Numbers 12:5-10; 2 Kings 5:20-27; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21) – show this. For this reason, a guilt offering must be brought, which speaks of the awareness that the Lord Jesus had to undergo the judgment of God because of that choice for sin. This was the only way in which this guilt could have been extinguished.

The blood of the guilt offering is put on the lobe of the right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The whole practical life is brought under the value of the blood. The question we have to ask ourselves when we listen to something, when we want to do something or when we want to go somewhere is: Is it all sanctified by the blood?

Oil is put on the blood. Oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The blood of Christ for justification and the anointing of the Holy Spirit for sanctification are inextricably linked. After the price of the blood through which we are justified and purchased, follows a life of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit allows us to live according to the value of the blood applied.

The rest of the oil is put on the head of the one to be cleansed. It is a special blessing for someone who, as a believer, confesses his sinful way. It is not necessary to live in sin to get such a blessing. It is the privilege of every priest. To be a priest, it is not necessary to have been a leper first. This requires fellowship with God. This leads to higher blessings.

Then the sin offering and the burnt offering are brought. This results in full restoration. The full scope of the Lord Jesus’ work is placed before the attention of the restored believer. He sees how the source, the root, of sin was judged in the Lord Jesus and how he is accepted by God on the basis of His work and in Him. He is clean.

Leviticus 16:32

Cleansing on the Eighth Day

*One log is about half a liter.

Then the eighth day comes. That speaks of a new beginning. This new beginning is again characterized in a special way by the Lord Jesus, His Person and work, as expressed in the offerings brought on that day.

The first offering is a guilt offering (Leviticus 14:12). Living in sin is a choice, an act, by which someone is taking guilt on himself. The three cases of leprosy of the people of God in the Old Testament – Miriam, Gehazi and Uzziah (Numbers 12:5-10; 2 Kings 5:20-27; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21) – show this. For this reason, a guilt offering must be brought, which speaks of the awareness that the Lord Jesus had to undergo the judgment of God because of that choice for sin. This was the only way in which this guilt could have been extinguished.

The blood of the guilt offering is put on the lobe of the right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The whole practical life is brought under the value of the blood. The question we have to ask ourselves when we listen to something, when we want to do something or when we want to go somewhere is: Is it all sanctified by the blood?

Oil is put on the blood. Oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The blood of Christ for justification and the anointing of the Holy Spirit for sanctification are inextricably linked. After the price of the blood through which we are justified and purchased, follows a life of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit allows us to live according to the value of the blood applied.

The rest of the oil is put on the head of the one to be cleansed. It is a special blessing for someone who, as a believer, confesses his sinful way. It is not necessary to live in sin to get such a blessing. It is the privilege of every priest. To be a priest, it is not necessary to have been a leper first. This requires fellowship with God. This leads to higher blessings.

Then the sin offering and the burnt offering are brought. This results in full restoration. The full scope of the Lord Jesus’ work is placed before the attention of the restored believer. He sees how the source, the root, of sin was judged in the Lord Jesus and how he is accepted by God on the basis of His work and in Him. He is clean.

Leviticus 16:33

Cleansing on the Eighth Day

*One log is about half a liter.

Then the eighth day comes. That speaks of a new beginning. This new beginning is again characterized in a special way by the Lord Jesus, His Person and work, as expressed in the offerings brought on that day.

The first offering is a guilt offering (Leviticus 14:12). Living in sin is a choice, an act, by which someone is taking guilt on himself. The three cases of leprosy of the people of God in the Old Testament – Miriam, Gehazi and Uzziah (Numbers 12:5-10; 2 Kings 5:20-27; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21) – show this. For this reason, a guilt offering must be brought, which speaks of the awareness that the Lord Jesus had to undergo the judgment of God because of that choice for sin. This was the only way in which this guilt could have been extinguished.

The blood of the guilt offering is put on the lobe of the right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The whole practical life is brought under the value of the blood. The question we have to ask ourselves when we listen to something, when we want to do something or when we want to go somewhere is: Is it all sanctified by the blood?

Oil is put on the blood. Oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The blood of Christ for justification and the anointing of the Holy Spirit for sanctification are inextricably linked. After the price of the blood through which we are justified and purchased, follows a life of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit allows us to live according to the value of the blood applied.

The rest of the oil is put on the head of the one to be cleansed. It is a special blessing for someone who, as a believer, confesses his sinful way. It is not necessary to live in sin to get such a blessing. It is the privilege of every priest. To be a priest, it is not necessary to have been a leper first. This requires fellowship with God. This leads to higher blessings.

Then the sin offering and the burnt offering are brought. This results in full restoration. The full scope of the Lord Jesus’ work is placed before the attention of the restored believer. He sees how the source, the root, of sin was judged in the Lord Jesus and how he is accepted by God on the basis of His work and in Him. He is clean.

Leviticus 16:34

Cleansing on the Eighth Day

*One log is about half a liter.

Then the eighth day comes. That speaks of a new beginning. This new beginning is again characterized in a special way by the Lord Jesus, His Person and work, as expressed in the offerings brought on that day.

The first offering is a guilt offering (Leviticus 14:12). Living in sin is a choice, an act, by which someone is taking guilt on himself. The three cases of leprosy of the people of God in the Old Testament – Miriam, Gehazi and Uzziah (Numbers 12:5-10; 2 Kings 5:20-27; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21) – show this. For this reason, a guilt offering must be brought, which speaks of the awareness that the Lord Jesus had to undergo the judgment of God because of that choice for sin. This was the only way in which this guilt could have been extinguished.

The blood of the guilt offering is put on the lobe of the right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The whole practical life is brought under the value of the blood. The question we have to ask ourselves when we listen to something, when we want to do something or when we want to go somewhere is: Is it all sanctified by the blood?

Oil is put on the blood. Oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The blood of Christ for justification and the anointing of the Holy Spirit for sanctification are inextricably linked. After the price of the blood through which we are justified and purchased, follows a life of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit allows us to live according to the value of the blood applied.

The rest of the oil is put on the head of the one to be cleansed. It is a special blessing for someone who, as a believer, confesses his sinful way. It is not necessary to live in sin to get such a blessing. It is the privilege of every priest. To be a priest, it is not necessary to have been a leper first. This requires fellowship with God. This leads to higher blessings.

Then the sin offering and the burnt offering are brought. This results in full restoration. The full scope of the Lord Jesus’ work is placed before the attention of the restored believer. He sees how the source, the root, of sin was judged in the Lord Jesus and how he is accepted by God on the basis of His work and in Him. He is clean.