Restoring The Worshipper
Chapter 13 was a chapter that spoke about the different types of skin diseases and how the priest was to handle each case. From minor skin irritations and rashes to full blown Leprosy.
(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 where death was.
Chapter 14 turns the corner and offers hope to those God heals of their Leprosy. After they were healed, they were to be reinstated into the camp and into the corporate worship of Israel.
To reinstate the cleansed worshipper required two rituals: the first was a ritual to declare the person clean and then the second was an atonement.
1. Lepers Were Outside the Camp So, the Cleansing Had to Go Outside the Camp (14:1-9)
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, 4 the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. 5 And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. 6 He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field. 8 And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. 9 And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.
The first part of the ritual of cleansing was done outside the camp where the Lepers were.
The worshipper was examined by the priest to determine if he had been healed. We must understand that the priest in no way ever tried or could heal the diseased person. He only examined them to determine if they were infected and upon their recovery, to declare them healed. God alone could heal Leprosy.
Last time we also compared Leprosy to sin and commented on the similarities. So, the Leper was outside the camp until God worked. This is what the priest was to determine.
The first part of the ritual the worshipper brought two live birds, cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop.
This ritual may seem somewhat odd to the modern-day reader but we must see a few things here. This is a symbolic act to ceremonially declare the worshiper cleansed. They were already healed from their disease. The healing was accomplished by God alone. We today, must acknowledge the exact same thing. I have less and less confidence in the medical world. What they really care about is the multi-billions that flow through Doctors to Pharmacists to patients. Only God can heal.
The Leper remained outside the camp until God worked. If God chose not to work then the Leper died outside the camp.
Every recovery was a miracle of God’s power. It was also a picture of a new beginning for the worshipper.
The priest was summoned to go outside the camp to examine the once diseased person. If the priest determined that he was healed then he would perform this ritual…
Two live birds- One bird was killed. Its blood was mixed with clean water in a clay pot. Some of the mixture was sprinkled on the worshipper using the Cedar wood, the scarlet thread and the hyssop branch as a paint brush to throw the blood upon the person. The living bird was dipped in the water and released. As it flew away the worshipper acknowledged that he too had been set free from his disease.
Keil a commentator from last century wrote that the bird that flew away represented two possible fates of the one who had the disease of Leprosy…Life or Death. He understood that his life was in God’s hands and either death or life is also in God’s hands.
This ritual pictures very vividly the sinner. Will he be healed and cleansed from sin? The result is in God’s hands. Will he be the bird torn in two or will he be the bird released from bondage and set free? What a celebration it was for the ex-leper to be healed and then cleansed and brought into the fold.
I don’t think its too much of a stretch to picture in the cedar wood, the cross of Christ or in the scarlet thread the love of God that held Jesus to the cross or the hyssop branch to place the blood upon those who are diseased with sin.
This is how we are cleansed from our Leprosy/sin. God alone places the blood upon us as we believe. As we trust in Christ and all His work for us, God takes the hyssop and splatters the blood on us and declares us clean.
1 John 1:7 (ESV)
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Hebrews 9:22 (ESV)
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 10:3–7 (ESV)
3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
The next part of the ritual was for the worshipper to stop looking like a corpse. They shaved their long stringy hair, took a bath, washed their clothes or even acquired new clothes and then waited. There was one final week outside the camp to make sure the disease was over with and healed. On the eight day the priest had the person to shave again and he examined him…what a celebration took place when the former Leper entered back into the gate and into the worshipping community.
The ritual outside the camp was now over and the priest was confident that the person was actually healed of his disease. God had done a work. The restored person could now enter back into the camp. However, he could not enter into his tent yet…there was still another part that needed to done.
2. The Atoning Sacrifice (14:10-32)
10 “And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil. 11 And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 12 And the priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 13 And he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary. For the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. 14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 15 Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand 16 and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 17 And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. 18 And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. 19 The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
21 “But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil; 22 also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23 And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord. 24 And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 25 And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering. And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 26 And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. 28 And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put. 29 And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord. 30 And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or pigeons, whichever he can afford, 31 one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for him who is being cleansed. 32 This is the law for him in whom is a case of leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.”
The priest took one of the lambs and offered it as a guilt offering. This was required because while the Leper was outside the camp and not in attendance with the congregation, he did not give God his portion or tithe. This lamb represented those missed tithes and God restores him back to where he is to be. It was to bring his account up to date…restored.
Next the priest would anoint the worshipper with blood, connecting him to the sacrifice and then with oil, connecting him to the priest. So that the sacrifice would be considered to be made on his behalf and the priest, his mediator through the oil.
Now the worshipper can begin offering his own sacrifices once again.
It’s important here to see that God provided everything needed to restore the person back into the covenant community. The ritual was very detailed and required a lot of steps to make sure he was healed and then to reinstate the ex-leper back into the worshipping community.
two birds, blood and water, sacrifices, blood and oil—all served to sanctify and consecrate the healed person so that they might be dedicated to a new and fresh beginning. What a joyous time for the worshipping community to see someone restored and brought back into the fold.
We would do well to rejoice when God heals today. When God restores and when God brings one back into the fold.
Deuteronomy 32:39 (ESV)
39 “ ‘See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
The Leper whom God healed of his disease can rightly praise God for his healing…
Exodus 15:26 (ESV)
26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”
For us, this is a very good reminder of what Jesus has done. He is our Healer and our Priest we are the Lepers. Before we can be admitted into the Church, God has to do something. He must save us from our sin and restore us to Himself. That’s why Church membership must only be saved, born again people. What we do in the Church must mimic what God has done. When God admits one into His Kingdom then we must admit them into the Church. I’m afraid there are far too many unsaved within the Church roles.
Resources Used:
Holiness in the Lord by Allen P Ross
Leviticus by Mark Rooker
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