Sermon - AudioLev 14-15 - Audio
Lev 14-15 - Daily Reading
Daily Insights - Please Comment
Cleansing of the Lepers
14:4 - Cedar, a highly prized wood, which Solomon used extensively in his building projects, may have been chosen because it gives off a strong, pleasant scent and, being very resistant to decay, symbolizes endurance. Scarlet thread, by reason of its bright red color, is used to mark things of great significance (eg, Gen 38:28, 30; Josh 2:18, 21). The color red symbolizes blood and expiation, the victory of life over death (Isa 1:18). Though unexpressed, the thread probably bound the hyssop to the cedar. - WBC
+Remember, that as long as someone had this disease (leprosy) they were outside of the covenant community. This means that they couldn't give, couldn't partake in sacrifices/rituals, and were viewed as unclean. This is not the only time in the Bible where people are expelled from community, Can you think of others?
+The sacrifices/offerings that need to be given may seem extreme. However, the person is completely being transformed from unclean to clean. This is a huge deal and requires a lengthy process to ensure entrance back in the covenant community.
+The number "7" is used a lot in these verses (v7, v8, v9, v16, v27, v38, v51, etc). Actually, I did a quick word search and see that the number 7 is used 370 times throughout the Bible. However, I only searched the word "seven," so I'm sure there are lots more. Some of the books I looked at stated over 650 times!
+The offerings that are given for this "unclean" person are much like our new birth. There is complete transformation happening with this person becoming clean. God now looks down on this person as a covenant member of the community. Look what happens to us at our new birth:
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." 2 Peter 1:3-4
Also, Romans 5:6-11 = When we were "unclean," seen as "wicked," or "unwanted," Christ reconciled us! The Great High Priest has reconciled us back to God through the washing of His blood...how awesome is that?
Cleansing Houses
+I don't think this is much different than the way we currently would take care of mold in our houses, do you? Of course, without the offering part :)
+I'm going to do a bit of "midrash" here...When there is sin in our life it is important that we explore it to the very heart of the issue. It's okay to take out the items in the house, but don't expect that to "fix" the core problem. The 4th step in AA says "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." This means searching the "house" for the root of the disease. Once those are found and taken out, can we be deemed "clean." This is a much harder process than a quick sleep of the floor. However, the disease just grows unless we get to the heart of the issue and clean it up.
Laws about Bodily Discharge (ummmm...)
I'm going to "mail this one in."
V1-15 = Man Abnormal discharge
V16-18 = Unclean/Clean with normal discharge
V19-24 = Unclean/Clean during menstruation
V25-30 = Women Abnormal discharge
V31-33 = God makes it clear that he wants a separation of sex/discharges from worship to Him. This may be in response to the pagan gods who the people would have sex in front of to "please" the gods. This is not to say that sex was bad, but it just made them unclean for a time. It was rather easy to become "clean" again, and be in midst of the tabernacle.
Yup...I "mailed that chapter in."
5 comments:
I appreciate the midrash on the house cleaning. Does this correspond with our bodies being God's temple? Also in my Bible (Life Recovery) it says "I (God) may contaminate some of your houses with an infectious mildew." the NIV says "I put a spreading mildew in a house". So is God the creator of mildew...of course He is...but that He would put it in some of the houses? (Like Larry and Linda's so they would get a new house out of the deal?:)
A couple more notes--and again a Jesus connection to this matter of impurity (see yesterday's comment)
The process to be brought back into the community and into the presence of God after a skin disease is one of the most complex and lengthy in Hebrew Torah. The entire procedure was sometimes called “the sacrifice of one who has returned from the dead”. This tells us that the skin disease a person had was no small thing (perhaps why it was later equated with the disease of leprosy). Because of the severeness of the disease we should not imagine that this is a regular occurrence. Nor should we see mold in a home as a normal happening in ancient Israel. Both of these were extreme cases.
14.3: The goal of the ceremony of cleansing it to bring a person back into the community and back to the presence of God. The role of the priest is vital in this. Notice that after Jesus heals the 10 lepers that he tells them to go show themselves to the priests (Luke 17.11ff). To show themselves meant they would go through this very extensive ritual. What is very interesting is that Luke 17.14 says that while the lepers were on their way “they were cleansed”. According to Leviticus such cleansing happens after washing and the sacrifices—but as with the woman who had the problem of bleeding, contact with Jesus brings cleansing, not the ritual.
More Jesus connections plus other stuff
14.5: “fresh water” is literally “living water”. Living water is water that comes from a spring or other fresh source. This water is seen as life giving—an appropriate symbol of this person who is coming back from death. Also the people believed that only God could provide living water—so the healing here is attributed to God. Jesus in the gospel of John on the last and greatest day of the feast (i.e. the feast of tabernacles/Sukkot) declares to the world that he is living water (John 7.37-38 see also John 4.13-14).
14.33ff: A home, like a person, can become infected. If the infection is not dealt with is can lead to the “death” of the home. The actual Hebrew word in 14.45 speaks of the total destruction of the home.
14.36: The assumption is made that the house is pure until the priest declares it otherwise. Getting your stuff out keeps it from being declared impure. Impure stuff often needed to be destroyed. The Rabbis said that this stipulation from God was a grace to keep people from undue economic hardship.
Last Jesus' day connections
15.25-30: “discharge of blood” relates to illness that causes a continuing flow of blood. This is what the women whom Jesus healed dealt with. As such anyone she came in contact with at any time would become unclean. It had to be a very difficult way to live.
15.31: Failing to deal with impurity causes it to collect in the tabernacle/temple until the amount of impurity forces a pure God to leave.
The symbolism in these chapters is deeper than we may assume. If you look at this in relation to the cross. The water, earthen vessel,cedar, scarlet, hyssop, letting one bird go. Are we looking at a shadow of the cross. Cedar the cross, scarlet for suffering, hyssop for faith, letting one live and another die.
When we see the mixing of blood and oil, If the blood would be symbolic of the Word and the oil symbolic of the Holy Spirit, are we looking at the application of the word and spirit in our life. When we apply the blood and oil to our ears it helps us hear and understand God, When we apply it to our hands its for our Christian work, and when we apply it to our feet its for our Christian walk. There is a lot of depth to these OT passages that we may just be getting the surface of.
Chris P.
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