Leviticus 14-15    Listen

Great news! The leprosy is gone! (Leviticus 14:1-9)

1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “This shall be the law of the leper 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 examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper,
4 then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
5 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water.
6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.
7 And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field.
8 He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, and shall stay outside his tent seven days.
9 But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows—all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.

Any inexplicable chronic skin condition probably got the tag of leprosy back then. That's why the priest had a procedure for determining whether or not the skin condition was contagious in Leviticus 13 (see notes). Of course, if you were deemed to be contagious, then you were exported outside the camp to endure a very lonely existence. Whenever approached by anyone of good health, the leper was required to cry out, "unclean, unclean!" Once you were moved outside the camp with leprosy, it was generally felt that you wouldn't be back...ever! But what if your leprosy went away? Well, you didn't just walk back into camp and take up a normal lifestyle; there was an elaborate ceremony of sacrificing that had to be accomplished that clearly marked the day when you were pronounced leprosy free. That ceremony is found in this chapter. Understand this: The very-public ritual system was not for the purpose of cleansing the leprosy, but rather to formally declare that the one who was once declared to be a leper was now clean and in good standing among the congregation of Israel.

This formal cleansing ceremony for the leper was no casual affair. Take note of the steps involved over a seven-day period:

• Two birds were required; one was killed as a symbol of purification and the other was released as a symbol of the man’s newfound freedom (verses 4-7).
• The former leper was to wash all over and shave off all of his hair (verses 8-9)

Here's something worth noting. This is the only instance found in Mosaic Law in which purifying blood is applied to a human.

So, you're walking through the camp of Israel back in the wilderness days and you see a strange-looking man with no hair, no beard. WOW! He doesn't even have any eyebrows! Whoa! He's been shaved all over! Oh...and despite his appearance, he seems really, really happy. What's his story? He's just been pronounced clean from leprosy and was required to shave his whole body. But he didn't mind; he's just happy to be alive and part of civilization again. However, there's still more he must do beginning on the eighth day.

The newly-cleansed leper has more to do (Leviticus 14:10-20)

10 ¶ “And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil.
11 Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
12 And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
13 Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.
14 The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
15 And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.
16 Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.
17 And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering.
18 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. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD.
19 ¶ “Then the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering.
20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

Beginning on the eighth day, four offerings must be made on behalf of the newly-cleansed leper - trespass, sin, burnt, and grain offerings. These offerings are explained in Leviticus 1-7 (see notes).

The newly-cleansed poor lepers catch a break (Leviticus 14:21-32)

21 ¶ “But if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, a log of oil,
22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford: one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
23 He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, before the LORD.
24 And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
25 Then he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, 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 Then the priest 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 tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.
29 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 one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, such as he can afford—
31 such as he is able to afford, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the LORD.
32 This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford the usual cleansing.”

For those who were too poor to provide a second lamb, they were permitted to provide two turtledoves or young pigeons for the second lamb to serve as sacrifices for the burnt offering and sin offering. However, no substitute was allowed for the trespass offering.

In Luke 5:12-15 (see notes), when Jesus healed the man with leprosy, he gave him specific instructions in Luke 5:14, "And He charged him to tell no one, 'But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.'" This modified procedure of appearing before a priest was apparently still a requirement of the Law in Jesus' day. The procedure for being declared clean was a lot of trouble, but I'm guessing the leper would have been willing to do this and much more just to be pronounced "clean" once again.

Help! My house has leprosy! (Leviticus 14:33-57)

33 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
34 “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put the leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession,
35 and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, “It seems to me that there is some plague in the house,’
36 then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house.
37 And he shall examine the plague; and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be deep in the wall,
38 then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.
39 And the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look; and indeed if the plague has spread on the walls of the house,
40 then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city.
41 And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside, all around, and the dust that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city.
42 Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other mortar and plaster the house.
43 ¶ “Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house, and after it is plastered,
44 then the priest shall come and look; and indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is an active leprosy in the house. It is unclean.
45 And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place.
46 Moreover he who goes into the house at all while it is shut up shall be unclean until evening.
47 And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
48 ¶ “But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
49 And he shall take, to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
50 Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water;
51 and he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
52 And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and the running water and the living bird, with the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet.
53 Then he shall let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field, and make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.
54 ¶ “This is the law for any leprous sore and scale,
55 for the leprosy of a garment and of a house,
56 for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot,
57 to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy.”

And then there's the "house leprosy." You gotta hate it when your house gets leprosy! Actually, if you'll recall from Leviticus 13 (see notes), the Hebrew word (tsaw-rah´-ath) translated "leprosy" (derived from the Greek word "lepra") literally means "a scaliness." So, it's really a general word for something growing on the surface that really shouldn't be; that can make you sick. Notice how in verse 37 it describes "greenish" or "reddish" hollow indentations in the wall - maybe some sort of a fungus? I think we can all agree - NASTY! The house is unclean. The procedure sort of reminds me of the asbestos removal procedures of the late twentieth century for buildings erected in the 1950's. We see in verse 41 that the house was to be "scraped" throughout. Literally, the visible surfaces were to be stripped. The scrapings were to be dumped outside the city in an "unclean" place before they put in new stone and mortar throughout the house. If that doesn't do it, verse 45 says that we just tear the house down; who wants a house with leprosy! So, the priest was also your building inspector and health inspector in Israel. I'm glad I'm not a priest!

You'll notice that these procedures were to be applied to dwellings that they would one day occupy in Canaan (verse 34). Who knew it would be forty years before these regulations would be applicable? Maybe the Canaanites don't mind living in those nasty houses, but the Hebrews are going to clean them up when they arrive.

You will notice in verses 49-53 that the procedure for cleansing a house was the same as the first stage of the leprous person in Leviticus 14:4-7 (see above); it required the priest to have at hand two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, hyssop, and earthen vessel and water.

Some very delicate issues of health (Leviticus 15)

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.
3 And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness.
4 Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.
5 And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
6 He who sits on anything on which he who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
7 And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
8 If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
9 Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean.
10 Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
11 And whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
12 The vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
13 ¶ “And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean.
14 On the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest.
15 Then the priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD because of his discharge.
16 ¶ “If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening.
17 And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening.
18 Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
19 ¶ “If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.
20 Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean.
21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
22 And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
23 If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening.
24 And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
25 ¶ “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean.
26 Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity.
27 Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
28 ¶ “But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
29 And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
30 Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for the discharge of her uncleanness.
31 ¶ “Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them.
32 This is the law for one who has a discharge, and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby,
33 and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with her who is unclean.’ ”

Leviticus 15 deals with some delicate issues. Numbers 5:1-4 (see notes) gives some additional instructions regarding the terms of this separation during the period of uncleanness. This chapter deals with some common, as well as uncommon, health issues.

Note the following physiological issues that are dealt with in this chapter:

• Verses 1-15 deal with some kind of disease, assumedly (by many Bible teachers) venereal disease. While the language in verses 1-15 is a little cryptic about this issue, this seems to be the correct understanding. It's obviously a reference to an abnormal discharge. This diagnosis seems to be supported by the content of the rest of the chapter. Sin and burnt offerings had to be made on behalf of these.
• Verses 16-18 deal with normal male discharges, thus lending to the assumptions made in verses 1-15. You will observe that sexual relations during the day rendered the couple unclean until evening. No offerings were required.
• Verses 19-24 concern normal female menstrual discharges (no disposable modern conveniences available for women in those days). One week of vacation each month - the Hebrew women had to be thinking, "This is not so bad." That's what I glean from verse 19, "...she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening." No offerings were required. According to Numbers 5:1-4 (see notes), it would appear that these spent this week away from their homes outside the camp.
• Verses 25-30 deal with female discharges that go beyond the normal length of time. Can you say, "extended vacation?" Sin and burnt offerings had to be made on behalf of these.