In some translations of the Bible you'll find the skin ailments in Chapter 13 referred to as "leprosy". But since the word "leprosy" was used for a variety of skin conditions, the more modern translations simply refer to any potentially infectious skin ailment as a "skin disease". We'll be studying how the priests acted as public health officials on behalf of Israel and how people of that time with skin diseases or suspected skin diseases had to socially distance themselves from the remainder of the community to help prevent the spread of these types of illnesses.
"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest.'" (Leviticus 13:1-2) As we said yesterday, we are in the middle of a section of Scripture that involves matters of health, and particularly the health of the community as a whole. The regulations regarding these health matters have more to do with concern for the entire nation of Israel than for anyone's own personal liberties. Sound familiar? We are going through a time in our nation and in our world where each citizen is being asked to consider the health and safety of their neighbor and of their community at large by following health guidelines (such as wearing masks and social distancing) that help to protect those around us. Many people, at least in the United States, appear to be far more concerned right now with what they consider their "personal liberties" than they are with the safety of those around them. I don't feel this is a Biblical attitude to harbor, and today's passage of Leviticus helps to show us that even in the most ancient times the Lord expected people to care about the health and wellbeing of their neighbors, even if it inconvenienced them to care about their neighbors.
The person who has an outbreak of a skin condition that could be potentially contagious and serious must go to one of the priests for medical evaluation. "The priest is to examine the sore on the skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling skin disease. When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean." (Leviticus 13:3) There was no cure for leprosy in those times. Any suspected case of leprosy had to be taken seriously to prevent an outbreak in the community. If the priest suspects leprosy he must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean which means the person cannot be a part of religious activities at the tabernacle and cannot visit the homes of others and cannot mingle in public unless and until the condition clears up.
In some cases the priest will see signs of the condition not being something like leprosy but it will be too early to say for certain. In those cases a temporary quarantine of seven days is enforced and then the person's skin condition will be reevaluated. "If the shiny spot on the skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days." (Leviticus 13:4)
Seven days is enough for very minor skin issues to resolve or to be on their way to resolving. The priest will recheck the area after seven days. "On the seventh day the priest is to examine them again, and if he sees that the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, he is to isolate them for another seven days." (Leviticus 13:5) If the sore looks pretty much as it did during the first examination, the person must isolate for another seven days to give it a further chance to heal. It's a good sign if the affected area has not grown larger but the fact that it has not appeared to heal any is concerning, so the person must not come in close contact with others for another seven days when he will be rechecked by the priest.
"On the seventh day the priest is to examine them again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a rash. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean." (Leviticus 13:6) There are all sorts of rashes and bumps a person might get on their skin that are not contagious to others and that only inconvenience the person who has them. (For example, things like eczema, psoriasis, acne, an irritated area from an ingrown hair, rashes contracted from coming in contact with something like poison ivy, and so on.) After a week or two of close observation it will become clear whether a skin ailment is something that affects only the person who has it or whether the community at large must be protected.
"But if the rash does spread in their skin after they have shown themselves to the priest to be pronounced clean, they must appear before the priest again. The priest is to examine that person, and if the rash has spread in the skin, he shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease." (Leviticus 13:7-8) If the skin condition continues to worsen during the period of quarantine then further steps must be taken, as we'll study in tomorrow's passage.
But for now I want us to think about personal liberties and the safety of the community as a whole. I'm not looking at this subject in a political manner but in a religious manner. What does the Bible tell us we should do if we come down with something that might be contagious to those around us? It's clear that we are expected to take appropriate steps to keep from transmitting our illness to others, especially when that illness is one that is fatal to many who contract it. Leprosy was usually a death sentence in the ancient world. Death didn't necessarily come swiftly, but since there was no treatment this meant leprosy was a progressive, incurable disease. Covid-19 has been fatal to hundreds of thousands of people. My own church will be holding a service tonight for one of our members who died of Covid-19 on Monday. This is the second church member who has died so far and we have several more who are ill and quarantined with the virus right now, including three of my own family members. Observing the recommended health guidelines is not going to prevent everyone from contracting a viral illness because due to the nature of a virus it is difficult to completely contain it. But observing the guidelines very well may keep some of our family members and friends and fellow church members from falling ill or dying or being left with lifelong complications as a result of contracting Covid-19.
I understand people's concern over personal liberties but I also feel that loving our neighbor as ourselves and keeping the spirit of what we've read in our passage today involves doing what we can to try to keep those around us safe. What did Jesus do while He walked the earth? Was He concerned with His personal liberties? Or was He primarily concerned with helping others? If we ask ourselves, "What would Jesus do?" I don't think we can help coming to the conclusion that Jesus would have shown more concern for those around Him that He would have shown for Himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment