As we move on into Chapter 14 we'll be studying the procedures that take place when a person has been healed of a skin disease that formerly made them unclean, such as leprosy. Although this disease was usually a lifelong ailment and often disfiguring or fatal, some persons experienced spontaneous remissions. These spontaneous remissions are documented even in modern times and this backs up what Chapter 14 is telling us: that sometimes people were healed of this disease despite the fact there was no medical cure for it in ancient times.
When a person realized the Lord had miraculously healed him or that his body's robust immune system had successfully fought off the infection, there were specific regulations that had to be followed for their cleansing and reintroduction to society. These are the regulations Jesus was speaking of when He healed lepers in the New Testament, saying to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them." (See Mark 1:44, Luke 5:14, Luke 17:14.)
"The Lord said to Moses, 'These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest. The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them." (Leviticus 14:1-3a) This person cannot come back inside the camp until he is declared clean, so the priest has to go outside the camp to him. I did some background study on how leprosy is spread because I was wondering how the priests managed not to become infected. After studying the way leprosy is transmitted, I was able to come to the conclusion that the risk to the priest was very low. Leprosy isn't contagious on a level comparable with the common cold, for example. A person usually has to come in contact with large and repeated amounts of mucosal fluids from an infected person (by inhaling droplets or vapors from a sneeze or cough) and it's been proven that 95% of reasonably healthy people will not become ill from one or even several incidents of inhaling such droplets or vapors. It's actually possible sometimes to live for months and even for several years in close proximity to a leper before having enough exposure to the disease to overwhelm the immune system. Casual contact, such as the type of contact the priest will have with a leper, is unlikely to cause any problems in a person with a normally functioning immune system. In addition, we learned in Chapter 13 that the leper must wear a face covering over his nose and mouth. This will help to prevent droplets or vapors from being released into the air while the priest is examining those suspected of having leprosy and those who believe they've been cured of leprosy. In a case where a person truly has been healed of leprosy, no risk of infection even exists, so the main risk would be when a priest is examining a person with an active case of leprosy and even then the risk appears to be quite small.
If the priest determines the person truly has been healed of the disease, the rituals for the person's cleansing must follow. "If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease, the priest shall order that two clean live birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields." (Leviticus 14:3b-7)
What is the meaning of a ritual like this that seems so strange to us in modern times? I am not sure and, based on my study of a number of commentaries, scholars don't agree with each other on the significance of the ritual and the items used in it. But I don't think there's any doubt that the redemptive death of Christ is symbolized by these items. We find one bird dying and one bird being set free, which may be a metaphor for Christ giving His life on the cross to set us free from slavery to sin. The cedar wood may symbolize the cross, although the type of wood that comprised the cross is not known. But cedar is a wood that is very resistant to decay and to infestation by vermin, so perhaps it represents the restoration of the leper's body to health---the casting out of decay and infestation. Or perhaps it represents the permanence of our redemption through Christ.
The blood certainly must symbolize the blood Christ shed for mankind, since all the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament pointed toward a coming sacrifice that was powerful enough to cleanse forever all who would put their trust in Christ. The scarlet wool (and the color scarlet itself) is found a number of times in the Old Testament in cases where calamity passes over a person or persons and they are saved from destruction. This is because scarlet symbolizes the saving blood Christ will shed on our behalf, the blood of our Passover Lamb that allows the wrath of God to pass over us on the day of judgment. Hyssop was used for medicinal purposes to purify the body from various ailments. It was useful in cleansing the digestive system but could also be effective in clearing up congestion from respiratory ailments. It may symbolize the healing the leper has received. Also we find hyssop being used in the Bible as a symbol for cleansing from sin.
The fresh water in the clay pot is literally "living water" in the original Hebrew. This means it had to be taken from a running stream or flowing spring, not from a pond or lake where water could be stagnant. Who is it that provides us with the living water of a fresh, new, changed life? The Lord Jesus Christ. (John 4:10-11, John 7:28, Revelation 7:17) I think this fresh water symbolizes the living water with which Christ refreshes us. Lastly, what is the meaning of the clay pot of water over which the one bird is killed? This one is difficult but I found one explanation that I favor: the clay pot represents the body of flesh the Lord Jesus took on when He came to earth to redeem us, for human bodies are made of the dust of the ground according to Genesis 2:7 and Genesis 3:19. The bird that dies represents Christ and the clay represents the earthly body in which He died.
The Lord is giving these instructions to Moses about 1400-1500 years before God the Son will be born into the world in a human body, but we see the birth, life, and death of Christ depicted in the ceremony held for the healed leper. We see our own ugly past and our own sins symbolized in the leper healed by the grace of God, for our sins are a deadlier illness than leprosy and only by God's grace do we receive forgiveness for our sins. Only by His grace are we the bird that is set free in this ceremony. And I think also the bird that is set free and flies away may represent the resurrection of Christ and His ascension to heaven where He sits at the right hand of His father. If so, the free-flying bird may even symbolize our own future resurrection from the dead when we will be given immortal bodies like Christ's.
What a beautiful picture has been presented to us in today's study by our first brief look at the cleansing ceremony of the former leper! We who are in Christ are like former lepers who have now been set free from bondage to sin and decay and eternal separation from the light of God. As a popular song called "Jesus, Friend Of Sinners" by Casting Crowns says, we are grateful lepers at His feet. Let's not neglect thanking Him anew today for the awesome and mighty work He has done by bringing us out of death into life!
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