Read Leviticus 14
Cleansing From Defiling Skin Diseases
14 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest: 3 The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease, 4 the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. 5 Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. 6 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. 7 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.
8 “The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off all their hair and bathe with water; then they will be ceremonially clean. After this they may come into the camp, but they must stay outside their tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day they must shave off all their hair; they must shave their head, their beard, their eyebrows and the rest of their hair. They must wash their clothes and bathe themselves with water, and they will be clean.
10 “On the eighth day they must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil. 11 The priest who pronounces them clean shall present both the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
12 “Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil; he shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. 13 He is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy. 14 The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. 15 The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand, 16 dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the Lord seven times. 17 The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. 18 The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed and make atonement for them before the Lord.
19 “Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from their uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering 20 and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for them, and they will be clean.
21 “If, however, they are poor and cannot afford these, they must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for them, together with a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of oil, 22 and two doves or two young pigeons, such as they can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
23 “On the eighth day they must bring them for their cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. 24 The priest is to take the lamb for the guilt offering, together with the log of oil, and wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. 25 He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. 26 The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27 and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the Lord. 28 Some of the oil in his palm he is to put on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering—on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. 29 The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for them before the Lord. 30 Then he shall sacrifice the doves or the young pigeons, such as the person can afford, 31 one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed.”
32 These are the regulations for anyone who has a defiling skin disease and who cannot afford the regular offerings for their cleansing.
Cleansing From Defiling Molds
33 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 34 “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land, 35 the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’ 36 The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. 37 He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. 39 On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mold has spread on the walls, 40 he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. 41 He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. 42 Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.
43 “If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, 44 the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean. 45 It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.
46 “Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. 47 Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash their clothes.
48 “But if the priest comes to examine it and the mold has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the defiling mold is gone. 49 To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. 50 He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. 51 Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. 53 Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”
54 These are the regulations for any defiling skin disease, for a sore, 55 for defiling molds in fabric or in a house, 56 and for a swelling, a rash or a shiny spot, 57 to determine when something is clean or unclean.
These are the regulations for defiling skin diseases and defiling molds.
Go Deeper
What do rashes and moldy houses have to do with God? Aren’t these personal problems that an individual or the home-owning family have to deal with? In modern American thought, yes, but what can we learn from this ancient Jewish writing that the Holy Spirit has preserved for us today?
First, we can see that God cares about cleanliness. Now, this is more than just one’s mother telling them to clean their room before the guests come over. This is ceremonial cleanliness. This kind of cleanliness would be something that would keep someone out of community life for a time if they were deemed unclean. In the case of a skin disease, this is wise as they would want to prevent the spread of the disease, but why destroy an entire house because of mold? Well, we know now that there are types of mold and fungus that can cause serious harm to people. Again, God cares about the physical safety of His people as well as the continuity of the community.
But still, this doesn’t seem very spiritual, does it? Not in the way many think of “spiritual,” at least. We do see here, however, that God cares about the day-to-day lives of His people. He cares when someone has to go to the hospital. He cares when someone has to stay home from school or work. He cares when the shame of having this or that disease creeps up and tells you no one wants to be around you…and Jesus had something to say about this.
In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, in Luke 10, isn’t it strange that neither the priest nor the Levite would stop for the dying man? Not terribly, no. See, since we don’t have the same context of clean vs. unclean today that the ancient Jews did, we assume these were just pompous people when actually they were trying to follow the Law. Jewish Law said that touching anything dead would make someone unclean, so, had the man died in their arms, they would’ve missed their opportunity to serve in the Temple, which was a huge deal. Jesus clarifies with this parable that God doesn’t care about ceremonial cleanliness of the outside, but of the heart. This is the cleanliness of Christ, the kind that would help a dying man no matter the cost.
Questions
- Has there ever been a moment in your life that made you feel “unclean”? How did you feel at that time?
- Was there someone who went “outside of the camp” to help you?
- Is there someone in your life today that you can go “outside of the camp” to help? Talk both questions 2 & 3 over with your community.
By the Way
The writer of Hebrews plays on this theme of a priest going outside the camp in Hebrews 13:11-14 in discussing Jesus and how we are to follow Him:
The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
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8 thoughts on “Leviticus 14”
Clean vs unclean
Holy vs unholy
All this equals spiritually living vs spiritual death.
verse 6 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.
Living water
NAS John 19:34 but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water. 35 And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
The discussion about the living water is important because it was part of the Leviticus law and Jesus fulfilled it. Every jot and tittle had to be completely completed for us. Living water meant continually flowing, not as in a river, stream, well or pond, they could dry up. Living water was from a spring underground. Living water is used in many sacrifices throughout OT. Jesus was saying that He was the REAL source for purification, and it NEVER dried up; the source was unlimited. Water purification makes the unclean person clean, and sacrificial blood makes the clean person holy……and because Jesus Christ is said to be the one who fulfilled all the requirements of the sacrificial system, can we actually make a solid connection between the two.
Also the dabbing of blood, on the right ear, the right-thumb, and the right- big toe, is the same procedure we saw in Chapter 8 used for consecrating priests into the priesthood. This is cleansing and the consecration was from “head to toe”…..the whole person was now pure. All the sacrifices are costly, in time and money. But to be in right standing with God was the main objective of their life. We should be so grateful and thankful. We just believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and are saved, or born again. Not because with are so special but because of THE GREATEST SACRIFICE. Our cost is zero BUT GOD’s was so much more.
I have been reading lessons from Torah Class. It is a Messianic Jewish professor that is teaching. The details that provides is mind blowing.
God thank You for Your provision, Your details, Your making the way for me to be Your child. God thank You for learning s much detail. God thank You that I can come to You minutely to ask for guidance, help and instructions for my daily walk. Thank You God that I do not take any of Your grace, mercy and kindness for granted. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY are You Lord God Almighty, Holy is the Lamb, Your are HOLY!!!!!!! God may I abide and seek You more and more all day and everyday. Blessed be the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose me in Him before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined me for adoption to Himself as a daughter through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed me in the Beloved. In Him I have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of my trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon me in all wisdom and insight making known to me the mystery of His will, according to his purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. God thank You for these minutes of this day that I can glorify You in all I say and do in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In Levitical law we read of the unclean being separated and in isolation until deemed clean by the priest and necessary sacrifices given. Our great High Priest, Jesus, bore our sorrows so that we do not have to suffer alone; he joins us in our trials as one who is a very PRESENT help in time of need. He (Jesus) who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
3 “The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease,“
Yes, we need people to come outside the camp for us. We need to be willing to go outside the camp ourselves to help others. Not easy!
PS – I am confused as to why the Israelites have houses. Weren’t they nomadic at the time, making their way to the holy land, therefore living in temporary conditions, tents, etc.?
Leviticus 13 & 14 bring to mind my own “unclean” experience. BE ADVISED — ick alert! Skip my comments if you creep out easily.
One summer when my kids were little, we all contracted a wicked case of head lice (I suspect by way of one of those summer day camps where all the kids napped together on the floor.)
At first I tried to ignore the incessant scratching. (It’s not real if I don’t acknowledge it, right?) Eventually, though, we had to face up to the problem — a full-on, family-wide infestation. (Only dear husband escaped — one of the rare advantages of having almost no hair! 😉)
I’ve never dealt with something so pervasive in my life. Every piece of fabric we owned had to be washed and dried on the highest possible heat setting. Anything upholstered we couldn’t wash got sprayed with some nasty, might-leave-a-permanent-stain solution. We bagged up SIX full jumbo-sized yard waste bags of stuffed animals for at least a month, hoping to smother and kill all the critters.
And our hair! OMG all that hair-washing and laborious, painstaking hair-combing! Particularly of my youngest daughter, whose hair was very long, very thick … and VERY infested.
There’s a whole new level of “family togetherness” that comes from checking each other’s heads for nits….
Wash. Comb. Wait. Inspect. Repeat.
Even worse was having to battle, along with those tiny, terrible bugs, all the disgust and shame. As if this loathsome affliction were somehow my fault. Lice is one of those life trials that just makes you feel icky … at fault … and so very isolated. On the rare occasions we were around other people, I felt I should call out a warning.
“Stay back! Unclean!”
It. Was. Awful.
However, eventually, finally, we were fully bug-free. We celebrated with cake and a grand reopening of all those bags of stuffed animals. (You’d have thought it was Christmas morning!)
While our particular “skin condition” wasn’t life-threatening (like some of the diseases addressed in Leviticus), it was certainly life-impacting.
And I find in it a powerful object lesson for dealing with “sin-festation”:
• If I ignore it, it’s only going to get worse.
• If I’m going to be rid of it, I must do whatever it takes … as often as it takes … for as long as it takes.
• I cannot get rid of sin all on my own — but must humbly submit myself to the intimate inspection and care of others.
And most importantly, there will come a time when I am finally, fully free of all and every sin.
What a celebration that will be!
There might even be cake.
Yes, having head lice certainly gives a glimpse of what being “unclean” is like. The Covid experience was similar. You couldn’t be near the people you love if anyone was “unclean”!
So true!
I’m reminded (again!) that sin, like infectious disease, separates and isolates us. Lord, please heal me and restore me to full relationship with others … and with you!
If Israel wants to live in God’s Holy presence, then they also need to become holy by dealing with their sin. God’s desire is to repair relationship.