Leprosy and Sin
Chapters 13 and 14 of Leviticus deal with the issue of disease and the worshipper. The test case before us is skin disease.
When an Israelite had any abnormality, sickness or disease he/she was declared unclean and could not join with the other worshippers. This was ceremonial and not purely medical.
This first thing we should see is that disease is not normal and the result of the fall. Sin, corruption and decay has infiltrated a once very good world. When sin entered so did God’s curse. Something very tragic happened to God’s creation; sin entered and destroyed what was once good. Disease was not part of God’s original design and it will not be part of the New Heavens and the New Earth. For now, however, it’s here and it’s part of living in this world.
How should we respond when someone is ill? How should we respond when someone has needs? I pray that our Church would meet those needs through love and care. If that is to happen then everyone must pitch in and help. We must sign up to take meals to those who have needs. We must go visit those who are ill. This is not just a job for the pastor, elders and deacons. This is for all the Church.
When is the last time you took a meal and visited a member with a need? I would remind you we have a way to organize meals and encourage you to participate the next time the need arises.
As we read this section of 13, we will discover that it covers many types of skin diseases, some minor and some very serious. Even though the word Leprosy is used many times, that is the translation of a Hebrew word saraat which means scaly skin and most often does not mean full blown Leprosy which was actually fairly rare even in the ancient world but did happen and was a concern.
We saw last time the main reason a new mother was declared unclean was due to her bleeding after birth and continuing for a few weeks. No blood could enter into the holy place except sacrificial blood.
In today’s Scripture that same thing is true for open skin diseases but also the Leprosy or scaly skin disease which may not produce open bleeding areas but is an aspect of bodily decay due to the fall. The saraat bearer was treated in a manner similar to a corpse. Skin disease was an outward expression of death and decay. That aspect of death was incompatible with the purity and holiness of the sanctuary.
Open sores, bleeding, oozing, scaly skin were cause for someone to be declared unclean.
1. The Person with the Skin Disease is Brought to the Priest for Examination
(13:1-44)
Minor swelling, rashes, spots…
13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, 3 and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean. 4 But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. 5 And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up for another seven days. 6 And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7 But if the eruption spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. 8 And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.
Chronic skin diseases…
9 “When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest, 10 and the priest shall look. And if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11 it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not shut him up, for he is unclean. 12 And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, 13 then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. 14 But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15 And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. 16 But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest, 17 and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean.
Diseases in scars…
18 “If there is in the skin of one’s body a boil and it heals, 19 and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, then it shall be shown to the priest. 20 And the priest shall look, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil. 21 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days. 22 And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease. 23 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
Diseases in burns…
24 “Or, when the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white, 25 the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 26 But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but has faded, the priest shall shut him up seven days, 27 and the priest shall examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 28 But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn.
Diseases in the scalp…
29 “When a man or woman has a disease on the head or the beard, 30 the priest shall examine the disease. And if it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard. 31 And if the priest examines the itching disease and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days, 32 and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the disease. If the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, 33 then he shall shave himself, but the itch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days. 34 And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch, and if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35 But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, 36 then the priest shall examine him, and if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean. 37 But if in his eyes the itch is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed and he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
False alarms…
38 “When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, 39 the priest shall look, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin; he is clean.
40 “If a man’s hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. 41 And if a man’s hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. 42 But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43 Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, 44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.
Through these verses we see how the priest was to go about determining the severity and the quarantine period for the unclean person.
No one unclean could enter the sanctuary because they were the picture of the beginning stages of death and a corpse’s decomposition and that state was incompatible with the holiness of God’s sanctuary.
This section also deals with full-blown leprosy. This is the disease that has been compared to sin.
-Sin like Leprosy usually starts very small, like Leprosy with just a small white spot.
James 1:13–15 (ESV)
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
-Sin like Leprosy leads to separation from God
Isaiah 59:2 (ESV)
2 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
– The Priest Decided if the Person Should be Separated from the Congregation
Leviticus 13:44–46 (ESV)
44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.
45 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.
This idea has been put forth by John Calvin…
Calvin brings up 1 Corinthians 5… The priest looked on the man, evaluated the situation, made the decision whether he was leprous or not. And if he was leprous, he [the priest] ordered the man to go outside the camp. That was the decision of the priesthood.
Calvin makes the assessment that this is exactly a picture of Church discipline when there is sin in the camp or sin in the Church, the infectious person is to be put out.
– The Priest decided when to let the person back into the congregation.
Leviticus 14:1–3 (ESV)
14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, 3 and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person,
Leviticus 14:8 (ESV)
8 And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days.
It was the priest’s decision when that man was allowed back in. It was the priest’s decision when he did not represent a threat to the congregation. Similarly, a minister decides when someone can be allowed back into the congregation who was separated because of sin.
-Leprosy is the State of Living Death
Numbers 12 we have the account of Miriam speaking against Moses and God strikes her down with Leprosy.
Numbers 12:1–16 (ESV)
12 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. 2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. 3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. 4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. 5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. 6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.
10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. 12 Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” 13 And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” 14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” 15 So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. 16 After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
– Like Sin, Leprosy Could Not Be Cured Without Divine Intervention
2. The Leprous Person Lived Outside the Camp as a Corpse
(13:45-46)
45 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.
Here we see the case of full-blown Leprosy. The diseased person wore torn clothes, long stringy hair, partial facial covering, and cried out unclean, unclean. The Leper was a walking corpse.
He was placed outside the camp.
This had many implications…First, since God’s presence was seen as being inside the camp, this meant he was away from the presence of God or separated from God.
It was also symbolic of Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden.
Execution of criminals also took place outside the camp.
Something else took place outside the camp where Lepers lived…
One day outside the City of Jerusalem there walked a man beaten so badly that he did not even look like a man…He looked like a Leper. This Leper was carrying a cross. You see Jesus went outside the camp where we live because we were infected with the Leprosy of sin. He came to us outside the camp where the unclean live…
Hebrews 13:12–13 (ESV)
12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
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