We are studying Chapter 13, a chapter that deals with outbreaks on the skin. The priests were to serve as public health officials in these cases and this means they were the ones to take a look at the skin issue and decide whether or not it appears to be a contagious ailment. As we learned yesterday, if the priest can't tell for certain during his first examination, he has the person quarantine themselves for seven days and then come back for a recheck. If the area improved during seven days then it was just a common rash and the person was free to go about his business. If the area had not improved, but also had not worsened, the person quarantined themselves for another seven days. If there was improvement he could reenter regular society. If the rash worsened he was considered contagious unless and until he condition cleared up.
Today we'll look at some more examples of what the priests would consider a clean or unclean skin condition. We must keep in mind that the section of Leviticus we're studying has to do with health regulations that the Lord is putting in place for the wellbeing of the community as a whole so that no virulent illness breaks out among them and infects the entire population.
"When anyone has a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to the priest. The priest is to examine them, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white and if there is raw flesh in the swelling, it is a chronic skin disease and the priest shall pronounce them unclean. He is not to isolate them, because they are already unclean." (Leviticus 13:9-11) Leprosy is the main disease the priest is to be on the alert for when he's checking out these rashes. When a person comes to the priest with white swelling (scales) of the skin and raw areas of flesh, the priest doesn't need to have the person quarantined for seven days to perform a recheck a week later. In this case he can already tell that it's a more serious type of skin condition and he can go ahead and pronounce the person unclean.
A person with an unclean skin condition could not function normally in society. It was a very isolating way to live. You've probably heard of the leper colonies formed by those who were outcasts due to their contagious skin ailments. Banned from normal society, they formed a society of their own because human beings need other human beings. Isolating those with a contagious, incurable, eventually fatal disease like leprosy was the only effective method of protecting the community at large in ancient times. We may be feeling pretty isolated due to our social distancing practices during the Covid-19 pandemic, but I can assure you that what we're going through doesn't begin to compare with what a person diagnosed with an unclean skin condition experienced in ancient times.
"If the disease breaks out all over their skin and, so far as the priest can see, it covers all the skin of the affected person from head to foot, and if the disease has covered their whole body, he shall pronounce them clean. Since it has all turned white, they are clean." (Leviticus 13:12-13) These two verses are puzzling because you'd expect a head to toe rash to be considered quite alarming, but from what little I was able to find out about this, leprosy wouldn't affect the entire surface of the skin at once and, even if it did, it wouldn't all be white at the same time. It would have fresh new areas of red infection as it ate deeper into the skin. Apparently being covered all over in white scales or white flaking skin meant the immune system had done its job and the outbreak was healing and would eventually disappear.
I'm reminded of the time my father-in-law had an allergic reaction to a prescription medication. It broke him out in a red itchy rash from head to toe but, as he recovered from the reaction and his skin began to heal, the redness was replaced by white peeling skin similar to the type of peeling skin that occurs after a blistering sunburn. If my father-in-law had lived in Moses' day, at the point when his rash turned white all over and began to peel he would have been pronounced clean by the priests. His skin condition was not contagious.
But if new areas of redness begin to break out after a person has reached the point of white peeling skin, the situation has to be reevaluated. "But whenever raw flesh appears on them, they will be unclean. When the priest sees the raw flesh, he shall pronounce them unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; they have a defiling skin disease. If the raw flesh changes and turns white, they must go to the priest. The priest is to examine them, and if the sores have turned white, the priest shall pronounce the affected person clean; then they will be clean." (Leviticus 13:14-17)
In some cases maybe the immune system hasn't quite fully gotten a handle on the skin issue and new redness will appear. This has to be evaluated by the priest and the person must self-isolate until the newly affected areas turn white like the previous areas did. At that point the priest decides they are clean. They may have a chronic, lifelong skin condition like eczema or psoriasis which can be unsightly but is no danger to anyone around them. My husband and several members of his mother's side of the family are afflicted with psoriasis, although thankfully my husband's issues with it are very mild and he only gets a small spot of it from time to time on his scalp where no one can see it. It first appears as a round, red, itchy spot and eventually turns white and flaky.
But one of my husband's family members is not so lucky. His psoriasis tends to break out in large patches up and down his arms and legs. This makes the rash very visible to others. When he was a child he was sometimes ostracized by other kids when they saw the rashes. He was chased out of a public pool once by some kids who thought he was swimming in the pool with a contagious skin disease. Can you imagine how embarrassing and psychologically damaging it must have been for a young child to be treated as if he were unclean? This is why in our current chapter of Leviticus the person whose skin condition is not contagious is to be pronounced clean by someone of high authority---for his own sake and for the sake of everyone in the community. This person needs to hear the priest say the words, "You are clean." This person needs to know that the community is aware the priest has pronounced him clean so he won't be shunned by his friends and neighbors.
As we discussed yesterday, Leviticus 13 makes it quite clear that the main concern with any outbreak of disease is that the community as a whole be protected. The welfare of the whole community is considered more important than the rights of just one person. I'm reminded of a quote from one of my favorite TV series, Star Trek, in which Spock says to Captain Kirk, "Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Captain Kirk agrees and replies, "Or the one." In our current chapter the Lord reveals to us that the needs of the many (the community at large) outweigh the personal liberties of the few or the one. I believe this lines up quite well with the mask mandates we have around our nation right now. My personal liberty does not outweigh the needs of my fellow man to be protected. I'm the type of person who could easily be a carrier of Covid-19 without knowing it since I typically go years at a time without catching any virus going around and since I've never even had the flu as far as I know. Obviously I've had to have been exposed time and time again to all the viruses around me but my immune system manages to fight off illness most of the time. But this also means I could be an asymptomatic carrier and that means I could be putting others at risk. So at work today I'm going to wear my mask whenever I deal with customers because even though my immune system seems to be strong, maybe theirs isn't. Or maybe they have a family member at home who has a serious health issue that could make contracting Covid-19 fatal. I already know three people who have died from it. I know two middle aged and formerly healthy people whose lungs have been permanently affected by it. I've lost count of how many people I know who have been sick with it and who currently have it. I personally feel that doing what we can to protect our fellow man is obeying the Lord's command to love our neighbor as ourselves.
In my community we have a lot of people asking, "Why am I responsible for those around me? Why is their health my concern?" Well, we can see from our study of Leviticus 13 that the Lord expects it to be our concern. The New Testament also proves to us that the Lord expects the wellbeing of others to be our concern. "Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." (1 Corinthians 10:24) "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4) "For the entire law is fulfilled in this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Galatians 5:14)
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